JETBeam’s new PC20 is a dual switch, 21700 tube light with USB-C charging. An interesting weapon light. Read on for testing!

Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the official product page.

Versions

Just one version.

Price

These go for $79.99 at Banggood.com. It helps me get more and better review lights if you even click that link, so I’d greatly appreciate a click!

Short Review

This is a solid, simple light, which offers a complete package with cell and charging cable. It has an unusual feature or two, so it’s worth considering.

Long Review

The Big Table

* Measurement disclaimer: I am an amateur flashlight reviewer. I don’t have $10,000 or even $1,000 worth of testing equipment. I test output and such in PVC tubes!! Please consider claims within 10% of what I measure to be perfectly reasonable (accurate, even).

What’s Included

JETBeam Jet-PC20 21700 flashlight

Charge cable (USB to USB-C, with USB-out)

Spare o-ring

Pocket clip

Lanyard

JETBeam “21700” cell

Manual and paperwork

Package and Manual

JETBeam packages always get so beat up. No matter from where I get the light.

The manual covers the light just fine.

Build Quality and Disassembly

The light ships in the configuration above. That is a rubber (rubberized?) tactical ring. It’s pretty nice.

This is decidedly a tube light – and in 21700 format I found it too long to carry in my normal “long light” spot. So you’ll likely need to find the right place to carry it; maybe on a weapon.

I am no gun expert, and no light-mounting-to-gun expert either, but I am pretty sure this is a Picatinny connection. I don’t see it mentioned in the product lit at all, though.

The tactical ring is just fine, if you don’t intend to pocket (or belt) carry the PC20.

The knurling is adequate, and high quality. The tailcap has enough to easily remove the tailcap, though the grease used on the threads is a very thick variety.

The bezel didn’t unscrew for me.

The threads are great – square cut but not gigantic – so they have some feel to them. Also being anodized means locking the light out is easy (if you don’t already trust the mechanical switch).

Both head and tail have springs. The tailspring is double sprung, and both are moderately stiff. It’s a tactical light, so it absolutely should have dual springs.

Size and Comps

Officially 145mm long, 27.1mm in diameter (head), and 27mm in diameter (tail). Without cell, the weight is 99.5g.

Retention and Carry

First off, as the light ships, the tactical ring can be considered as a retention mechanism. It’s fine for that, if you need the light in this way. If you don’t, you’ll likely remove it to install the pocket clip – or run the light bare.

There’s also a lanyard, which connects on a hole in the tailcap.

If you do decide to throw on the clip, you’ll have to remove the tac ring. Can’t have both. It’s a friction fit clip, and very snug. The lanyard would likely attach safely here.

There is no pouch for belt carry. The clip can be considered the belt carry option.

Power and Runtime

The PC20 is powered by a 21700 cell. The cell that ships with the PC20 is a HL51 21700.

I will say that my other 21700 cells didn’t fit – 21700 is a tight fit. Either way, it’s a button top cell. JETBeam officially says 18650s will work too, and owing to the light having dual springs, that’s true.

Here’s a runtime on Turbo. I’ve refined my runtimes a little so let me mention that. There are a number of changes.

The secondary gridlines on the time scale be 1 minute from now on, if my computer can run the spreadsheet. I find that more useful than some arbitrary “makes nice squares on the page” scale, since you’ll be able to easily visually compare graphs now. The right side now has more data. The top 3 were already there, but have moved to more official places, but I added a “Max Temp” area for the max temp I saw during the run. From now on if the 2 minute inset will fit there, it’ll go under all that other stuff. But not if it’s going to cover anything.

All these changes came about because I had a small Excel error in the charts, and I’ve spent the last month or so going back through all the affected runtimes, and reproducing them. Many of them will have this format.

Anyway, Turbo runtime is fairly uneventful. The stepdown to 1000 lumens is quick (2 minutesish), and then the light holds 1000 lumens for a respectable time (90 minutes).

High looks the same, but output seems just a little higher (around 1050 lumens) and that output is a bit shorter (surprisingly).

On cell tests, the switch was giving a warning by around 2.8V. On bench power, the PC20 was offish at 2.5V but unclear what real LV actions are. Electrically off by 2.4V though.

When the light is on, the indicating switch is indicating, as follows:

Green steady: Charged fully.

Green flashing: Charged enough.

Red flashing: Charge is low.

Red steady: Charge is extremely low – recharge immediately.

The PC20 has on-board charging, too. JETBeam includes the cable below, but don’t get too excited: The PC20 can’t be used as a powerbank. This cable setup is really just to keep you from losing a USB port while charging the PC20.

The charge port has a push-in silicone cover. The charge port is USB-C.

Charging is maybe surprisingly slow – USB-C can handle more than 0.9A (max 1A). A cell of 5100mAh capacity can handle more than 1A charge rate. And there are a bunch of drop outs during charging. But there’s nothing really wrong with charging slow, and I don’t know what to make of the dropouts, so I’ll give this one an “ok” for charging.

When charging the indicating switch flashes red. When complete, the switch is steady green.

Modes and Currents

Mode Mode Claimed Output (lm) Claimed Runtime Measured Lumens Tailcap Amps Turbo 1800 1.9h 1716 6.29 High 1060 2h 1087 2.64 Middle 360 6.5h 375 0.68 Low 80 27h 80 0.16 Eco 12 140h 8 0.06

PWM

No PWM detected.

For reference, here’s a baseline shot, with all the room lights off and almost nothing hitting the sensor. And here’s the worst PWM light I have ever owned. Also one of the very first lights I ordered directly from China!

User Interface and Operation

This is a dual switch light. First the on/off tail mechanical forward clicky. If this is in the off position, the light does nothing at all. This can be seen as a mechanical lockout, too.

The button is just proud, so prevents tailstanding. It’d be hard anyway, with the lanyard hole area done as it is.

Next is the side e-switch, which has a metal bezel and metal switch cover. Also in the gap there between those two is an indicator for a few aspects of operation.

Here’s a UI table!

State Action Result Off Click Tail Switch (TS) On (Mode Memory) Off Click Side Switch (SS) No action Off Tap TS Momentary Mode Memory On Click SS Mode advance (H>L direction) On Hold SS Strobe Strobe Click SS Last used mode

The UI is very simple. Being a dual switch light and working this way means you can always start this light in the mode you left it – running it as a one mode light if you wish.

LED and Beam

The emitter in the PC20 is a Cree XHP35 HD. The light has a reflector, and it’s moderately deep and very smooth.

This setup gives a beam with a very specific but flat hotpsot. There’s a good bit of spill, too.

The beamshots below reiterate that this light advances modes from high to low. So tactical.

These beamshots are always with the following settings: f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure.

Tint vs BLF-348 (Killzone 219b version)

I compare everything to the Killzone 219b BLF-348, because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!

Conclusion

What I like

Full package kit

27100/20700/18650 support

Dual switch light

USB-C charging

What I don’t like

Slow USB-C charging

Tight fit for many 21700 cells

Notes

This light was provided by BangGood for review. I was not paid to write this review.

This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!

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