Imalent MS12 Mini C

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Imalent MS12 MINI C specifications

Brand/model	Imalent MS12 Mini C
Flashlight Category	Search and rescue / Lumenmonster
LED	12* CREE XHP70.2
Max. output	65,000 lm
Max. beam intensity	286,600 cd
Max. beam distance	1036 meters
Battery config.	Battery pack (4*21700)
Onboard charging	USB-C PD 65W
Modes	7
Blinkies	–
Waterproof	IP56
Review date	April 2024

Hey, didn’t we already review the Imalent MS12 Mini? Yep, back in 2022 we did, but this is the upgraded version with a carry handle, and USB charging.

The MS12 Mini C is the third edition in the MS12 series of Imalent. And the Mini and Mini C share the same specifications, with 12*XHP70.2 LEDs, 1036 meters of beam distance, and almost 270 kcd beam intensity.

Anyway, Imalent is probably the only flashlight manufacturer that tries to produce the most powerful flashlights on the planet.

Let’s find out how the new Mini C compares to its predecessor and some competitors.

Package quality.

The MS12 Mini C is shipped in a cardboard box with some accessories inside. This is what’s inside:

• The flashlight: Imalent MS12 MINI C (with 4*21700 battery pack built-in)
• Carry handle (attached)
• USB-C charging adapter and charging cable
• O-rings
• Manual

Before your first use, remove the plastic insulator from between the battery and the head.

If you compare the MS12 with all the other MS flashlights, including the Imalent MS18 and Imalent MS32, you can understand why it’s called the MS12 Mini C. The first MS12 was a much bigger light, about the size of the MS18.

Because this battery pack contains 4*21700 batteries, the diameter of the battery tube is noticeably larger than the ones with 4*18650 batteries. This makes it a bit harder for people with small hands.

But Imalent has a solution because they now include a removable handle. This makes carrying the MS12 Mini C much easier, especially in Turbo mode.. More on that later. However, the handle doesn’t really line up with the switch; it’s actually located almost opposite the switch. I wish they’d tried to line this up a little better.

The box did not include a lanyard, so the best way to carry it, is simply by the handle.

Imalent didn’t build a tripod mount either, which could benefit large lights. If it did, it could be even more versatile, especially if you went camping, etc.

Still, I don’t like one thing about the Imalent MS series: the switch. It’s hard to find in the dark because it’s flat and black. I have kept pointing this out in my reviews, but Imalent doesn’t seem to listen.

I’d prefer a larger switch that’s either sticking out or has something to make it easy to find. Something along the lines of the switch used on the MicroFire Excalibur H20—not exactly like that, but at least something physical.

The battery looks a bit like the MS08, but with deeper lines. I like this much better. It also gives more grip, so that’s a good thing.

There are only two parts you can separate: the body and head. The threads are anodized, so you can easily break any electric connection by unscrewing the body by just 1/10th of a turn. The threads are thick and covered in plenty of lubrication. Then, there’s a single O-ring below the threads to keep water out. It seems to have one unused slot to add another O-ring for more waterproofness.

I’m not sure how much that would help, though, because the things I worry about most are the fans. There are three cooling fans to keep the temperature down, but I’m not sure how waterproof they are. The MS12 Mini’s water resistance rating (IPX rating) is just IP56, so I wouldn’t recommend using it in wet environments or during rainstorms.

The fans still make quite a bit of noise.

Unlike the Imalent MS08 and RS50, the MS12 MINI C doesn’t have a plastic shell with the fans built-in. They still don’t seem to be controlled by temperature, but turn on at 5,000 lumens or more (which means from Middle1 mode onward).

Warranty according to website Imalent:

24 Months’ Free Repair: Within 24 months after receipt and under normal use, any quality problem with your IMALENT flashlight, you can send it to repair for free; Torch with built-in battery and battery stick, 12 months warranty.

3. Lifetime Limited Maintenance: IMALENT provides you with lifetime limited maintenance for your flashlight, after the 24 months’free repair period ,any probems with your flashlight,IMALENT can repair and maintain it ,repairing fee will be charged on an actual cost basis,no labor cost charged

Imalent MS12 Mini vs Imalent MS12 Mini C

Here is an overview of the differences between these 2, and some extra information

1. The handle can be mounted on the MS12 Mini (but can damage the anodizing if you tighten it strongly
2. MS12 Mini C charges with USB-C, instead of a DC power plug like the MS12 Mini
3. Battery pack of old MS12Mini can be used on MS12 Mini C head, but not vice versa
4. Old MS12 Mini charge port cover can be screwed onto new MS12 Mini C
5. New MS12 Mini C has a higher output
6. New MS12 Mini C charges much faster: 1h 11min vs 2h 10min from the earlier edition

There are a few physical differences between the old MS12 and MS12 Mini and Mini C, but the number of LEDs stayed the same. The old XHP70’s on the MS12 have been replaced with the newer XHP70.2.

The Mini and Mini C look alike and are practically the same, except for the charging functionality and carry handle.

The 12 LEDs sit in reflectors with a light orange peel (LOP) finish, which makes the beam slightly smoother than that of smooth reflectors.

The bezel is not removable by hand and looks like normal aluminum. It does have a few grooves, so you can still see light when it’s placed with the head down on a flat surface. The lens has an anti-reflective coating.

Spectral measurements:  

I used a Sekonic C800 spectrometer to measure the flashlight at 5 meters distance. 

Mode:	CCT:	CRI Ra:	duv	TM30 Rf	TM30 Rg
Turbo	4844K	69.8	0.0021	70	97
Mid1	4706K	70.3	0.0056	72	96
Moon	4637K	70.9	0.0071	73	95

This basically means that it’s a pretty neutral white beam, with normal, low CRI, and a little greenish tint at the lowest modes.

Dimensions: with handle

Imalent MS12 Mini C	Millimeters	Inches
Length	151 mm	5.9 in
Head diameter	85mm	3.3 in
Body diameter	56mm	2.2 in

Dimensions are rounded to the nearest millimeter and the nearest tenth of an Inch.

Weight: with handle

Imalent MS12 Mini C	Weight in grams	Weight in oz.
Weight:	850 g	30 oz

Weight is rounded to the nearest gram and tenth of an Oz.

Imalent MS12 Mini C Flashlight comparison

Size compared to other high-power flashlights

Group 1, from left to right: Acebeam X80GT2, Lumintop GT3, Acebeam X50, Manker MK38, Imalent MR90, Imalent MS12 Mini, Imalent MS12 Mini C, Acebeam X75

Group 2: Imalent MS32, Imalent SR32, Imalent MS12 Mini C, Acebeam X75, Imalent MS18

Group 3: Imalent MS12 Mini vs Imalent MS12 Mini C

Available modes:

• Moon, Low, Middle Low, Middle 1, Middle 2, High, Turbo
• Strobe

From OFF:

• Single-click: to last used mode (mode memory)
• Double click: Turbo (and another double click for strobe)
• Triple-click: Moon mode
• 4+ clicks: Lockout (lights next to switch blink to indicate lockout mode) repeat to unlock
• Press and hold: turn on cooling fans (repeat to turn them off)

From ON:

• Single-click: off
• Double click: Turbo
• Triple-click: Moon mode
• Press and hold: Cycle through the menu from Low to High

Shortcuts:

• To Turbo: double click from Off or On
• To Moon: 3 clicks from Off or On
• To Strobe: 2 times a double click (it will first enter Turbo, before entering Strobe with the second double click)

Mode memory:

• Yes (single click from off returns ot last used mode) but excluding Turbo or Strobe

Blinky modes menu:

• Strobe: double-click from Turbo (so if you are in any mode, double-click for Turbo, and do another double-click for Strobe

Low battery warning:

• The red indicator lights on the side of the switch will flash, and the output will drop before it turns off. This is hard to see, so kind of pointless.

Lock-out mode:

• 4+ clicks from off. The green indicator lights next to the switch blink a few times to indicate the lockout mode is activated. Repeat 4 clicks to deactivate again.

PWM:

• Not visible

Summary:

• I personally don’t think that a triple click for Moon, and a Long press for Fan activation is very smart. I would prefer the opposite: Long-press for Moon, and triple click for activating the Fans.

Imalent chose to use a built-in battery pack rather than separate cells. This was the same on the MS12, MS12 Mini, and MS18. A battery pack has benefits and several drawbacks at the same time. Here’s a short list:

• Need to stop using the light when batteries are empty (can’t replace batteries and continue)
• Can’t replace batteries easily when they become really bad
• Can’t use a normal battery charger to charge batteries
• Have a set of batteries with the same use (so can’t accidentally mix discharged and charged batteries)

I’m not 100% sure if it’s a feature, but I could continue using the light when the power was plugged in.

The battery measured 16.35 V upon arrival. If you divide that by 4, it’s almost 4.10 Volts per battery. However, the battery Voltage after charging was roughly 16.9V each time. This is almost 4.25V per battery.. which is a little too high perhaps?

The included charging adapter was rated at 65W. It basically has several settings, 5V 3A, 9V 3A, 12V 3A, 15V 3A, and 20V 3.25A. I measured about 60 watts during my tests, with 20V and 2.9A. The total charging times were:

• Charge time after Medium Low runtime: 1h 17min
• Charge time after Mid1 runtime: 1h 12min
• Charge time after Mid2 mode: 1h 11 min
• Charge time after High mode: 1h 11min
• Charge time after Turbo mode: 1h 11 min

All those are very close at about 1 hour and 10 minutes

It was interesting to see that charging went directly up to 60 watts, without any slow charging first.

Charge type	Fits	No fit	Avg. Charge time
Flashlight with onboard USB-C	–	–	1h 11 min

This is the gear I use for testing:

Gear	Purpose	Link to buy
Hagner E4-X	Measuring beam intensity (throw)	Inquire at Hagner.se
2* Extech SDL400	Lumens and logging runtimes	Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk,
Leica Disto D2	Distance for throw measurements	Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk,
Sekonic C-800	Spectrometer for LED measurements	Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk
Uni-T UTi260B	Thermal Image camera	Amazon.com,

Lumen measurements:

How Lumens are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards How Lumens are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards: The ANSI FL1 standards specify that output in lumens should be measured 30 seconds after turning on, as this is the standardized time for measuring brightness according to the industry standard. This is why we focus on this part in our measurements. The ANSI FL1 standards require an ambient temperature of 22 ± 3°C. We record the ambient the ambient temperature to identify potential reasons for any observed discrepancies.

The output measurements in this review are based on my homemade integrating spheres, each equipped with an Extech SDL400 Lux Meter. For consistency and accuracy, a calibration light (Convoy S2+ with 249lm and a Convoy S2+ with 261lm) is measured before each set of lumen measurements.
One of the lux meters uses an ND camera filter for high-output lights to prevent the lux meter from maxing out. This is either the Kenko PRO1D ND16 for up to about 80,000 lumens or the Gobe ND32 for anything above.

All of my readings were taken with a fully charged battery.

Mode	Specified	Turn on	30 sec	10 min
Moon	50 lm	112 lm	112 lm	–
Low	1,500 lm	1,754 lm	1,746 lm	1,178 lm
Mid Low	3,000 lm	3,424 lm	3,393 lm	3,256 lm
Mid1	5,000 lm	4,980 lm	4,927 lm	4,693 lm
Mid2	13,000 lm	10,598 lm	10,340 lm	10,020 lm
High	25,000 lm	32,567 lm	24,672 lm	9,890 lm
Turbo	65,000 lm	71,967 lm	55,873 lm	9,786 lm

Ambient temperature during testing:

• 19.7 degrees Celsius

Thermal image test

Turbo mode reached over 105 degrees celcius within 1-2 minutes.. but then cooled down slowly.

Parasitic drain:

• Unable to measure.

Imalent MS12 Mini C battery life and runtime

How Runtimes are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards About ANSI FL1 runtime standards: The runtime is measured until the light drops to 10% of its initial output (30 seconds after turning on). This does not mean that the flashlight is not usable anymore. The last column shows how long the light actually works till it shuts off. If there is a + symbol, it means that the test was stopped at that particular point, but the light was actually still running. This happens on certain occasions, with certain drivers, firmware, or batteries.

Runtime tests were conducted in my 50cm homemade integrating sphere, paired with the Extech SDL400 data logging Lux Meter. Temperatures from the moment the runtime test started.

Mode	Specified	Runtime (ANSI FL1)	Time till shut off
Moon –	98h	–	–
Low (20.4°C)	4h	6h 46min	6h 46min
Mid Low (18.0°C)	2h 50min	3h 17min	3h 17min
Mid1 (20.4°C)	1h 23min	2h 01min	2h 01min
Mid2 (18.6°C)	48min	53min	53min
High (19.9°C)	3min +43min	47min	47min
Turbo* (22.5°C)	45sec +40min	41min 55sec	41min 55sec

I have not measured moon mode. Strangely, my runtimes were quite a bit longer than specified!

Imalent MS12 Mini C peak beam intensity and beam distance measurements

About Peak beam intensity: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards About peak beam intensity The calculated value of distance in meters at which the flashlight produces a light intensity of 0.25 lux. (0.25 lux is about the brightness of a full moon shining on an object). This means that the intensity has decreased so much, it becomes difficult to see darker objects, or objects that don’t reflect light. The columns ‘Meters’ and ‘Yards’ use rounded numbers.

Measurements were taken indoors with a Hagner E4-X Lux Meter. The measurements were taken 30 seconds after turn on.

Mode	Specified	Candela measured	Meters	Yards
Moon	–	275 cd	33 m	36 yd
Low	–	4,200 cd	130 m	142 yd
Mid Low	–	8,200 cd	181 m	198 yd
Mid1	–	11,975 cd	219 m	239 yd
Mid2	–	25,425 cd	319 m	349 yd
High	–	60,750 cd	493 m	539 yd
Turbo	268,600 cd	138,750 cd	745 m	815 yd

No surprise that these don’t line up with Imalent’s numbers.. unfortunately again!

Ambient temperature during testing:

• 18.9°C

Performance comparison other brands and models

High power flashlight comparison

Here is the list with most of the high-power flashlights we reviewed in this category (Category: high-power soupcan sized flashlights).

Flashlight	Max. Output	after 30sec
Acebeam X50	35,507	30,383
Acebeam X75	64,295	73,716
Acebeam X80-GT2	31,890	27,143
Astrolux EC06	18,111	8,352
Fenix LR50R	11,698	10,849
Imalent MR90	52,326	32,128
Imalent MS08	25,745	19,615
Imalent MS12 Mini	68,773	46,750
Imalent MS12 Mini C	71,967	55,873
Imalent RS50	20,302	16,939
Imalent SR16	53,657	43,115
Lumintop GT3	16,267	15,168
Manker MK38 (SFT)	16,013	13,129
Olight Marauder 2	14,251	13,964
Thrunite TN50	18,200	17,360

(Interactive line graphs below)

Hover your mouse over the lines in the graph to see more details, or select a flashlight in the graph.

Using a mobile phone? Hold your phone horizontally!

Another comparison, focusing on the first 10 minutes after activation

And here’s another comparison, but zoomed in. The first 60 minutes after activation.

The Imalent MS12 Mini C performs pretty well.. even compared to the brightest flashlights in the world..

For the following beamshots, I used a Canon EOS 5D Mk2 with a 50mm lens. Manual settings: ISO1600, 1/4sec , f4, 5000K

The shed is about 65 meters / 71 yards away. The second set of pictures: 200 meters to the reflective fence.

Comparison with other high power flashlights.

• Imalent MS12 Mini C
• Imalent MS12 Mini
• Imalent MS18
• Acebeam X75
• Acebeam X50
• Acebeam X80-GT2
• FireFoxes FF5GT

Please note that the following beamshots are mainly intended to showcase the beam pattern and beam quality, rather than overall performance. These images are typically taken directly after activation, and in different seasons or weather conditions, and therefore do not fully represent its overall performance. For accurate performance metrics, such as output, beam distance, and runtimes, you need to look at the performance section of this review.

Disclaimer: This flashlight was sent to me for review at no cost by Imalent. I have not been paid to review, nor have I been holding back on problems or defects.