Disclaimer: The Acebeam X45 was provided for testing by the manufacturer at no charge.

With the X65 Acebeam showed that a world class thrower doesn’t have to have a pencil beam. The X45 is almost half the weight of the X65 and redefines the compact floody monster series with its 16500 lumens of claimed output. Decent throw comes as a side effect of the massive output.

Features and manufacturer’s specifications

Battery: 4×18650, the light comes bundled with four 3100 mAh high drain batteries

LED: 4x Cree XHP70 P2, choice of 5000 K and 6500 K

Waterproof: IPX8, 2 meters

Mode memory: yes (low, mid, high)

Manufacturer’s output specs

Maximum output: 16500 lumens

Other output levels: 9000/4000/1500/500/3 lumens

Light intensity: 85200 candela

Beam distance: 583 m

Measured dimensions and weight

Length: 155 mm

Head width: 88.5 mm

Handle width: 50.5 mm

Weight: 523 g for the light and 192 g for the batteries

User interface

From off:

Click side switch to turn on the light on the last mode used (low, mid, high)

Double click for turbo, two additional fast clicks for turbo max (light turns off between clicks)

Triple click for strobe

Long press for firefly mode

Even longer press for lockout mode or unlock, light flashes twice to verify lockout mode

From on:

Click to turn off

Hold switch to advance to the next mode (low-mid-high-low…)

Double click for turbo, two additional fast clicks for turbo max (light turns off between clicks)

Triple click for strobe

The turbo max is not very easy to activate since the timing has to be precise on the second double click. Click once and wait for the light to turn off and then immediately click again. Normal fast double clicking works only for turbo.

Box and contents



There’s no check boxes on my review sample, but according to the measurements I have to assume it is the 5000 K neutral white one.

Bundled in the box:

4× 18650 3100 mAh batteries, protected high drain IMR

Lanyard

Holster

2 Spare o-rings

User manual

Warranty card



There’s a thread inside the bezel for accessories such as a diffuser and colored filters.

Acebeam stayed with the original XHP70 on the X45 even though the new and improved XHP70.2 is already available. No donut holes visible though, but they might have been able to squeeze out a bit more juice at lower temperatures from the new one.



The light consists of three removable parts: the head with the LEDs and electronics and the handle in which the battery carrier slides into.



The battery fit is very tight.



The handle doesn’t contain any electronics, it’s just a dumb (and light) aluminum shell.

Batteries

The bundled 3100 mAh 18650 batteries are very good in their current capability (low internal resistance similar to Sony VTC6). They are quite long and only barely fit to the X45 battery carrier, but the contact is excellent.

The carrier sets the batteries in series so protected batteries are recommended. Flat top batteries can also be used though, thanks to the springs+buttons in the carrier. The battery carriers in the X45 and K60/K70 are interchangeable.



The carrier connects to the driver board from either end, it doesn’t matter which way it is inserted to the handle. The center pin is positive, the outer ring negative.

Acebeam 3100 mAh 18650 IMR measurements

Length: 69.9 mm

Width: 18.7 mm

Weight: 48 g

Protected: yes

Capacity: 2935-2966 mAh

Energy: 10.559-10.751 Wh

Average voltage: 3.593-3.600 V

Internal resistance: 0.036 ohm

Over current protection: >20 A (my load only goes up to 20 amps)

Low voltage protection: 2.49 V

Capacity was measured at 1 amp down to 2.5 volts after being charged to 4.20 volts at 1 amps.

Judging from the measurements, I’m assuming the batteries are Sony VTC6 with an added protection circuit and Acebeam wrappers.

Size comparison

The Acebeam X45 isn’t a soda can light even though the configuration is similar to other multiemitter lights. It is both longer and wider in the head than the Olight X7 and MecArmy PT60. While the latter ones do fit in your jacket pocket, it’s quite a reach with the X45. Even so it is still quite a bit more compact than the single XHP70 Acebeam K60.

Beamshot comparisons

Wide head and shallow reflectors make the X45 very floody. The hotspot is tighter than on the Olight X7 for example, but the spill is also wider. Overall beam tint is similar to the Olight with the green hotspot and cool blue spill. There’s just a lot more overall output and double the throw.



Links to individual images with some extra flashlights:

Acebeam X45

Olight X7

MecArmy PT60

Noctigon Meteor M43

Acebeam EC50 II NW

Nitecore EC4SW (used as the white balance reference for all beamshots)

Acebeam K60 modded with a sliced dome 4500 K CRI90 XHP70



Acebeam X45

Olight X7

MecArmy PT60

Noctigon Meteor M43

Acebeam EC50 II NW

Nitecore EC4SW

Acebeam K60 modded with a sliced dome 4500 K CRI90 XHP70



Acebeam X45

Olight X7

MecArmy PT60

Noctigon Meteor M43

Acebeam EC50 II NW

Acebeam K60 modded with a sliced dome 4500 K CRI90 XHP70



Acebeam X45

Olight X7

MecArmy PT60

Noctigon Meteor M43

Acebeam EC50 II NW

Acebeam K60 modded with a sliced dome 4500 K CRI90 XHP70

Beam, tint and color rendering

Just like in most XHP70 lights going for max output, the beam has a greenish tint in the hotspot and bluish in the spill combined with a low color rendering index. On lower modes the tint moves even more towards green. The emitters used in my sample of the X45 are the greenest I’ve seen yet. I would have gladly sacrificed some output to get a more neutral tint like in the Acebeam EC50 II NW. This is of course assuming that the emitters in my sample are indeed the 5000 K versions. At least the hotspot measured at 5000 K, but with Cree you never really know what you’ll be getting, so your mileage will vary.



Tint in different parts of the beam.



Tint in different brightness modes. The shift pretty much already reveals that no PWM is used on the higher modes, but since firely suddenly moves backwards, it is a clear indicator of what’s happening…

Spectral data and color rendering

For spectral information and CRI calculations I use an X-rite i1Pro spectrophotometer with HCFR, Babelcolor CT&A and ArgyllCMS spotread for the graphs and data. For runtime tests I use spotread with a custom script and an i1Display Pro because it doesn’t require calibration every 30 minutes like the i1Pro.

Explanation of abbreviations

CCT = correlated color temperature, higher temperature means cooler (bluish)

CRI (Ra) = color rendering index consisting of 8 different colors (R1-R8), max value 100

CRI (R9) = color rendering index with deep red, usually difficult for led based light sources, max value 100

TLCI = television lighting consistency index, max value 100

CQS (Qa) = Proposed replacement for CRI, RMS average of 15 color samples

CRI2012 (Ra,2012) = Another proposed replacement for CRI, consists of 17 color samples

MCRI = Color rendering index based on the memory of colors or 9 familiar objects

NEW Read more about the IES TM-30-15 method

TM-30 = The newest color rendering method using 99 samples. Preferred for comparing LEDs.

TM-30 (Rf) = Accuracy of colors, fidelity index. Replaces CRI .

TM-30 (Rg) = Gamut of colors, saturation index. Higher number means more saturated colors.

Tint dev. (“Duv” in the CTA screenshots) is the tint’s distance to the black body radiator line in the CIE graphs. The higher the number, the greener the tint. 0,0000 means absolutely neutral white and negative numbers mean rosy/magenta tint. Anything over 0,0100 can be described as visibly green.

If you have an hour to spare, I recommend watching this presentation on IES TM-30-15 which also shines light into color rendering in general.



Color rendering on turbo max.



Color rendering comparison.

Runtimes and output



The X45 absolutely trounces the smaller soda can monsters. When uncooled, it offers on average over 50 % more output than the MecArmy PT60 and Olight X7 during the first 5 minutes. This comes at a price though, since the flashlight gets very hot. I measured the head at 96 celsius and the handle at 73 celsius after 5 minutes. This isn’t good for the batteries so I recommend only using the turbo max momentarily and never without supervision.

The second highest turbo mode is closer to other lights in output, except that when sufficiently cooled, the output doesn’t step down at all before the batteries are getting low after 30 minutes. Half an hour at 8000 lumens is quite impressive.

On turbo, the temperature climbs up to 65 C in the head and 50 C in the handle after 5 minutes. After the stepdown at 8 minutes the readings are 73 C and 59 C respectively. This is too hot to hold, so the user will probably lower the output on their own before the light decides it’s too hot.

Cooling the light after it has already stepped down will not resume original turbo (max) output and requires the user to activate it themselves. On the other hand the turbo max mode works exceptionally well even when the cells are below 50 % charge. I measured only a slight difference in output compared fully charged cells at 50 % charge (14060 vs. 12950 lumens average during 3 minutes).



Turbo max works with lesser batteries too. Even the lowly Panasonic NCR18650B gets it up to 12400 lumens. And since the light doesn’t heat up quite so much due to the lower current, the stepdown happens a bit later than on higher current batteries.

PWM

No PWM on any mode, but there’s very low amplitude 600 Hz pulsing on firefly, that is impossible to see with the naked eye.

Verdict

The Acebeam X45 will be a polarizing light for sure. On the other hand it is the most powerful flashlight I’ve ever tested, putting into shame other pocket sized monsters (I haven’t tested the Imalent DT70), but the light quality leaves a lot to be desired. I wished Acebeam offered the X45 as a more neutral version with passable color rendering and less green tint and shift. I know this is difficult to achieve with the emitter used, but they seemed to do quite well with the EC50 II. I for one would gladly have less output for better tint. As it is, the beam for me is too green in the hotspot and too blue in the spill.

On to the good then. The workmanship is excellent and the output is absolutely ridiculous. Yeah, it is a bit bigger than the soda can lights I’ve tested previously, but the overall amount of light and throw is in another class. The output stays constantly high on the high mode at over 4000 lumens. The insane mode (turbo max) the X45 doesn’t limit the output for you until it’s too late. If you feel like your hands are burning, just switch to a lower mode. It is probably intentionally made difficult to access to avoid accidents…

With some emitter mods, the Acebeam X45 will be one helluva thing. For the prize I would have wanted it to cater to the needs of enthusiasts who appreciate tint in addition to power though. I appreciate that Acebeam provided the light with some seriously high quality 18650 batteries that you can utilize in other high output lights as well.

+ Exceptional output for the size

+ Good mix of throw and flood

+ Good regulation on high and turbo

+ Comes with excellent high drain batteries

+ Turbo max mode works well even with almost drained batteries

+ Solid construction

- Strong green tint in the hotspot and blue tint in the spill

- Low color rendering index

- Turbo max mode still difficult to activate

- Thermal regulation doesn’t increase output after cooling

- Gets burning hot on turbo max unless cooled

- Negative end marked with an orange stripe on the batteries