Lumintop Mach Review
Lumintop Mach⌗
- Specifications
- Introduction
- Torch in use
- Build quality
- LED, bezel, lens, reflector and beam
- Size and comparison
- User interface
- Batteries and charging
- Performance
- Beamshots
- Conclusion
- Price
- Product page
Specifications⌗
| Brand/model | Lumintop Mach |
|---|---|
| LED | 8*CREE XHP50.2 |
| Maximum lumens | 26,000 lm |
| Maximum beam intensity | 67,500 cd |
| Maximum throw | 520 m |
| Battery | 3*21700 |
| Onboard charging | Yes (USB-C PD3.0) |
| Power bank | Yes (USB-C PD3.0, USB-A QC3.0) |
| Material | Aluminium |
| Modes | 3 |
| Blinkies | Strobe, SOS, Beacon |
| Reflector | OP |
| Waterproof | IP68 |
| Review date | July 2023 |
Introduction⌗
The Lumintop Mach is a soda can style torch with a twist. It has a fan in the middle of eight CREE XHP50.2 emitters!
I first saw the Lumintop Mach while visiting Lumintop in China with Neal. Leo brought a tub of water to Mr He’s office and then he proceeded to dunk the torch into water while it was on Turbo with the fan running!
You can see the torch being dunked into water and the factory here:
More information about the trip to Lumintop is available here:
Lumintop kindly provided this torch for review. I have not been paid for this review nor have I held back my opinions of this torch.
Packaging⌗
The Lumintop Mach comes in a stylish black box that lifts open to reveal the torch in a foam cutout. A silver Lumintop logo is on the top while “LUMINTOP FLASHLIGHT” is on the side. It looks like an elegant minimalist design.
The following was included in the box:
- Lumintop Mach.
- 3 * Lumintop 21700 5000mAh cells.
- USB-A to USB-C cable.
- Two spare o-rings.
- 1/4th inch ring to screw into the tripod hole.
- User manual.
Torch in use⌗
The Lumintop Mach feels comfortable in my hand. It is pretty hefty for a soda can style torch but the knurling provides plenty of grip and my thumb rests naturally against the electronic side switch.
It is so exciting to make this torch enter Turbo!
A massive wall of light is immediately produced and the fan audibly spins up. I can see the air being sucked in!
Build quality⌗
The Lumintop Mach is made of aluminium and has a matte black anodised finish. There are no sharp edges.
The switch back-light with the Lumintop bunny looks so cool! The green light turns off when the torch is on while the blue light indicates that the fan has been enabled.
A 1/4th inch hole to mount to a tripod can be found on the side of the head. I mounted the torch to a tripod using this hole, measured the beam distance and took beamshots. The ring accessory might also be useful for attaching a strap.
Threads on the tailcap have been anodised while threads near the head are unanodised and might become gritty over time. That said, you can avoid unscrewing the head and instead use the tailcap to access the USB-C charging port.
There was no lubricant on the threads for the head or the tail. I added silicone grease to the o-rings because it was difficult to unscrew. I noticed that lubricant was being applied to the tubes of Lumintop Thanos 23 when I visited the factory. Perhaps the one that I received was straight off the production line.
I thought that I would get dirty hands whenever I needed to use the onboard charging because of the lubricant on the threads but that has not been my experience. I applied a small amount of silicone grease to the o-ring on the tail threads and wiped off any excess. The tailcap turns smoothly.
There appears to be physical reverse polarity protection to prevent a cell from making contact when inserted incorrectly.
LED, bezel, lens, reflector and beam⌗
The Lumintop Mach has eight CREE XHP50.2 emitters surrounding a fan like petals of a flower. The user manual states that they are XHP50.3 but they are XHP50.2.
An orange peel reflector sits around each emitter.
There is a glass lens, with an anti-reflective coating, pressed against the reflector with a large glow-in-the dark o-ring.
Here is a video showing the emitters being cleaned and a reflector added:
CCT, CRI, and duv⌗
I have taken Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT) and Colour Rendering Index (CRI, RA of R1-R8) measurements with an Opple Light Master Pro III (G3) with the torch positioned at a distance of half a metre for Moonlight and High 1, one metre for High 2 and two metres for Turbo.
The CCT is around 5800K. The CRI is around 69.
The Delta u, v is positive (green) on low and less green on High and Turbo.
The beam has a white hot spot, green corona and a purple spill on High 1. The green corona disappears on High 2. And the beam is a massive white wall of light on Turbo.
| Mode | CCT (K) | CRI (Ra) | x | y | Duv |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moonlight | 5472 | 67.2 | 0.3332 | 0.3623 | 0.0102 |
| High 1 | 5711 | 68.6 | 0.3273 | 0.3543 | 0.0089 |
| High 2 | 5972 | 70.2 | 0.3218 | 0.3446 | 0.0067 |
| Turbo | 6030 | 70.3 | 0.3207 | 0.3424 | 0.0061 |
Calculate Duv from CIE 1931 xy coordinates
Dimensions and size comparison⌗
Dimensions⌗
I took the following measurements using a vernier caliper.
| Measurement | Unit (mm) |
|---|---|
| Length | 153.0 |
| Head diameter | 68.6 |
| Tube diameter | 51.8 |
| Tail diameter | 55.15 |
Weight⌗
I took the following measurements using a digital scale.
| Weight | Unit (g) |
|---|---|
| Torch | 514.33 |
| Batteries | 208.68 |
| Torch with batteries | 723.01 |
Size comparison with its competition⌗
From left to right: Lumintop Mach, Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2, Nightwatch NSX4, Sofirn SP36 BLF
From left to right: Lumintop Mach, Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2, Nightwatch NSX4, Sofirn SP36 BLF
User interface⌗
The Lumintop Mach has an electronic side switch to control the light.
The UI is a bit unique. It is worth reading the user manual.
It has smooth ramping between Moonlight and High 1.
There are three levels in the main cycle group: High 1, High 2 and Turbo.
Blinky modes such as Strobe, SOS and Beacon are available from Moonlight.
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Press and hold for one second | Moonlight |
| Off | Click | On (mode memory) |
| Off | Two clicks | On (mode memory) |
| Off | Three clicks | Battery status |
| Off | Four clicks | Lock-out |
| Off | Five clicks | Toggle the fan on or off |
| Off | Seven clicks | Toggle the switch back-light on or off |
| On | Hold | Ramp up to High 1 or down to Moonlight |
| On | Two clicks | Cycle (High 2, Turbo, High 1) |
| Moonlight | Two clicks | Cycle (Strobe, SOS, Beacon) |
| Lock-out | Hold | Momentary on |
| Lock-out | Four clicks | Unlock |
Mode memory includes any level between Moonlight and High 1.
Momentary during lock-out is slightly brighter that Moonlight.
Fan⌗
The fan can be disabled and enabled with five clicks from off.
When the fan is enabled, it will turn on during High 2 when it reaches a certain temperature and turn off as it cools down. The fan will remain on during Turbo.
A blue backlight behind the Lumintop logo indicates that the fan is enabled.
The fan will be enabled when the batteries are reconnected.
Strobe⌗
Strobe has an alternating frequency.
Battery status⌗
The light will flash to read out the battery voltage when three clicks are performed from off. For example: three flashes followed by seven flashes to indicate 3.7V.
Low voltage protection⌗
There is low voltage protection. The emitters turned off at 2.83V and the current dropped to 3.95 mA.
I tested low voltage protection by connecting the driver of the torch to a bench power supply and then by lowering the voltage from 4.2V to 0V.
PWM⌗
I did not notice any visible PWM (flickering).
What I like about the UI⌗
- There is direct access to Moonlight from off.
- Moonlight mode is nice and dim.
- Smooth ramping!
- Turning the fan on and off with five clicks is easy and the blue light helps confirm that the fan is enabled.
What could be improved⌗
- A shortcut to Turbo from off would be nice.
Batteries and charging⌗
Batteries⌗
Three button top Lumintop 21700 5000mAh cells were included and isolated with pieces of plastic. The cells appear to be Samsung 50G.
Button top cells are required due to the ring in the head of the torch that the three cells press against.
High drain Molicel P42A cells might be better to get the most out of the Lumintop Mach.
Lumintop has also released another version of the Lumintop Mach where it takes a 46950 cell and comes in black or green.
Charging⌗
Power supply: PinePower Desktop USB-C
USB Meter: AVHzY CT-3 (recommended by LiquidRetro)
Room temperature: 10 C
The Lumintop Mach took about 4 hours 30 minutes to charge three batteries from 2.88V to 4.19V.
The charger started at 5V and then negotiated 12V after about 10 seconds while using the USB-C PD3.0 port.
While charging the Lumintop Mach another time, I noticed that the display showed 100% but a current of 1.7A was being drawn. I reconnected the USB-C cable and the percantage dropped to 96%.
Power bank⌗
The tailcap can be removed to reveal a display to show the voltage, current and battery capacity as a percentage.
The Lumintop Mach has a USB-C PD3.0 port and a USB-A QC3.0 port so that it may be used as a power bank.
A button below the display can be pressed to turn the display on. The display automatically turns on when connecting a device.
I was able to use the torch to charge multiple devices.
Two devices can be charged at the same time. The power bank resets when a second device is added or removed so that the power required can be negotiated again.
| Device | Port | Voltage | Current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone | USB-C PD3.0 | 9V | 0.7A |
| Battery charger | USB-A QC3.0 | 12V | 0.5A |
| Phone + Battery charger | Both | 5V | 2.0A |
The user manual mentions that QC2.0 (output), QC3.0 (output), PD2.0 (input/output), PD3.0 (input/output) and PPS (output) protocols are supported.
I used a few USB meters to test the supported protocols for each port.
| USB Meter | Port | Protocol | Triggered |
|---|---|---|---|
| AVHzY CT-3 | USB-A | Apple2.4A | Yes |
| AVHzY CT-3 | USB-A | DCP 1.5A | Yes |
| AVHzY CT-3 | USB-A | Samsung 5V 2A | Yes |
| AVHzY CT-3 | USB-A | Samsung AFC 9V | Yes |
| AVHzY CT-3 | USB-A | QC2.0 9V | Yes |
| AVHzY CT-3 | USB-A | QC2.0 12V | Yes |
| AVHzY CT-3 | USB-A | QC3.0 3.6V to 12.0V | Yes |
| AVHzY CT-3 | USB-A | Huawei FCP 9V | Yes |
| AVHzY CT-3 | USB-A | Huawei FCP 12V | Yes |
| AVHzY CT-3 | USB-A | MTK-PE+2.0 | Yes |
| AVHzY CT-3 | USB-C | PD3.0 10W | Yes |
| RD TC66C | USB-A | QC2.0 5V | Yes |
| RD TC66C | USB-A | QC2.0 9V | Yes |
| RD TC66C | USB-A | QC2.0 12V | Yes |
| RD TC66C | USB-A | QC3.0 | Yes |
| RD TC66C | USB-A | Samsung AFC 9V | Yes |
| RD TC66C | USB-A | Huawei FCP 9V | Yes |
| RD TC66C | USB-C | Type-C PD | Yes |
Power supply compatibility⌗
I tried the following power supplies with the USB-C port:
| Power supply | USB Type | Protocol | Does it charge? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple 61W Power Adapter | USB-C | PD | Yes |
| Google Pixel Power Adapter | USB-C | PD | Yes |
| PinePower Desktop | USB-C | PD | Yes |
| PinePower Desktop | USB-A | QC | Yes |
| PinePower Desktop | USB-A | Yes |
I tried the following power supplies with the USB-A port:
| Power supply | USB Type | Protocol | Does it charge? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple 61W Power Adapter | USB-C | No | |
| PinePower Desktop | USB-C | No |
Performance⌗
Specifications from the manual:
| Fan | Moonlight | High 1 | High 2 | Turbo | Strobe, SOS, Beacon | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Output (lumens) | On | 1 | 2,500 | 8,000 | 26,000 + 8,000 | 8,000 |
| Output (lumens) | Off | 1 | 2,500 | 8,000 + 2,500 | 26,000 + 2,500 | 8,000 |
| Runtime | On | 60d | 4h | 1h 10min | 45s + 1h | |
| Runtime | Off | 60d | 4h | 2min + 3h 30min | 20s + 3h 30min | |
| Beam Distance (metres) | 520 | |||||
| Beam Intensity (cd) | 67,500 |
Lumen measurements⌗
| Fan | Mode | Specs | Lumens @turn on | Lumens @30 sec | Lumens @10 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| On | Moonlight | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Off | Moonlight | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| On | High 1 | 2,500 | 2,618 | 2,661 | 2,348 |
| Off | High 1 | 2,500 | 2,636 | 2,656 | 2,349 |
| On | High 2 | 8,000 | 8,640 | 8,006 | 7,320 |
| Off | High 2 | 8,000 + 2,500 | 8,845 | 8,197 | 2,304 |
| On | Turbo | 26,000 + 8,000 | 22,732 | 19,942 | 7,329 |
| Off | Turbo | 26,000 + 2,500 | 22,876 | 19,988 | 2,265 |
Standby drain⌗
| Button backlight | Standby drain |
|---|---|
| Blue and green | 3.95 mA |
| Green | 3.77 mA |
| Off | 3.51 mA |
Runtime graphs⌗
I used my own DIY lumen tube with a TSL2591 sensor and forked bmengineer’s project RuTiTe to record runtimes.
Note: Lumen measurements may be off by 10% with my DIY lumen tube.
The room temperature was approximately 10 C.
Turbo (fan on vs fan off)⌗
Runtime with the fan enabled⌗
The fan turns on in High 2 and Turbo when the fan is enabled.
Runtime with the fan disabled⌗
Runtime⌗
Here is a summary of the runtime results:
| Fan | Mode | User manual | Runtime | Turn off | Final voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| On | Turbo | 45s + 1h | 37min 49s | 3h+ | 3.10 |
| Off | Turbo | 20s + 3h 30min | 1h 51min 2s | 5h+ | 2.87 |
| On | High 2 | 1h 10min | 1h 5min 2s | 3h+ | 3.00 |
| Off | High 2 | 2min + 3h 30min | 3h 2min 20s | 5h+ | 3.05 |
| On | High 1 | 4h | 3h 14min 26s | 10h+ | 2.91 |
| Off | High 1 | 4h | 3h 14min 46s | 10h+ | 2.91 |
| On | Moonlight | 60d | 10min+ | 10min+ | |
| Off | Moonlight | 60d | 10min+ | 10min+ |
“Runtime” is the time until the output reduces to 10% of the output at 30 seconds (as per the ANSI/PLATO FL1 2019 Standard).
“Turn off” is the time until my DIY lumen tube no longer detects more than 1 lumen.
“+” indicates that the light remained on after recording had stopped.
I stopped recording after 10 minutes for the Moonlight mode.
The runtime for Turbo with the fan on fell slightly short.
The fan definitely helps improve the sustained output for Turbo and High 2 for the first 30 minutes.
High 1 sustains 2,000+ lumens for 2 hours.
Output looks unregulated. The output is dropping as the voltage drops.
Throw⌗
I took lux measurements with a UNI-T UT383BT at 30 seconds. Moonlight was measured at one metre. High 1, High 2 and Turbo were measured at five metres.
| Fan | Mode | Specs (cd) | Specs (m) | Candela measured (cd) | Distance (m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| On | Moonlight | 1 | 2 | ||
| On | High 1 | 8,250 | 181 | ||
| On | High 2 | 25,550 | 319 | ||
| On | Turbo | 67,500 | 520 | 61,525 | 496 |
Beamshots⌗
I went to a local park and aimed the Lumintop Mach at a tree 70 metres away while using Turbo.
Beamshots were taken using a Sony RX100M2 using 3.2", f3.2, ISO 100, 5000K WB.
Lumintop Mach (Turbo)⌗
Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 9xSFQ60.3⌗
Wuben X1 Falcon (Turbo)⌗
Cyansky P25 V2.0⌗
Beamshots on video⌗
Lumintop Mach beamshots video.
Conclusion⌗
The Lumintop Mach definitely sparks joy when I use it.
This is the second torch with a fan that I have used. The first one was a slightly smaller Wuben X1.
The Lumintop Mach is impressive when the fan is running and the light is on Turbo. Air gets sucked in to help it maintain 4,000 to 8,000 lm for the first 30 minutes.
The beam throws well and it is very floody.
I used the included Lumintop branded cells and the torch was not able to hit the 26,000 lm claim. It reached 19,942 lm at 30 seconds on Turbo. It might perform better with high drain Molicel P42A cells.
The runtimes are good but I expect better regulation at this price point.
Built-in charging and the power bank feature are well executed. The tailcap can be easily unscrewed to reveal a display, a USB-C port and a USB-A port. Multiple fast charging protocols are supported.
Would I recommend this? Yes. The build quality is excellent.
Pros:⌗
- Excellent build quality.
- Fan cooling on High 2 and Turbo.
- Water resistant.
- Power bank with USB-C PD3 and USB-A QC3.
- Low voltage protection.
- 1/4th inch hole to mount to a tripod.
Cons:⌗
- Unregulated output.
- It did not hit the 26,000 lm claim.
- Low CRI.
Price⌗
The Lumintop Mach is US$318.95 with batteries included at the time of writing.
At this price, it is getting close to flooders like the Imalent MS12 Mini. The MS12 Mini is capable of sustaining 10,000 lm for over 40 minutes and the output is well regulated. But the MS12 Mini has a proprietary battery pack and charger.
A Wuben X1 is capable of sustaining 2,300 lm for 2 hours. It has a fan and built-in charging. But there is no powerbank feature and the batteries cannot be easily replaced (they need to be matched).
A Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 can provide that “wow” factor. But it does not have built-in charging, a power bank feature or a fan.
What features mean more to you?
Product page⌗
Promo code: TimMcAU
Promo code: TIMMC
Nealsgadgets.com affiliate link
Promo code: SG9IP8YKT5PI
Lumintop Mach at liteshop.com.au (affiliate link)
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