U2 CLONE

U2 Clone, retail ~$20.00 (www.dealextreme.com)
Manufactured by (Unknown)
Last updated 01-22-08




***EXTREMELY, CRITICALLY, SUPER-DOOPER IMPORTANT!!!***
THIS IS NOT A TRUE SUREFIRE U2 DIGITAL ULTRA!!! IT IS A CLONE, AND WILL BE TREATED AS SUCH.
Unit was purchased knowing full well it was a *CLONE* of the real thing, not the genuine article.

This clone of the SureFire U2 Digital Ultra looks pretty convincing on the outside, but you'll soon find that the selector ring at the base of the bezel does not do anything - in fact, it does not even move. The unit has a tailcap switch that allows two intensity levels. And it is not hard anodized; it appears to have a Type II anodize finish, as it failed "The Knife Test" (see below). Also, the rather beefy pocket clip found on the real thing is absent from this clone.

But the unit does have a real glass window (or "lens"), and is water-resistant - though there is some leakage around the tailcap switch.

As far as I'm able to determine, the light comes from a Luxeon III LED near the bottom of an almost mirror-smooth reflector, and the unit is powered by 2xCR123A lithium cells.


SIZE



To operate this flashlight, press the tailcap button firmly until it clicks, and then release it. This turns it on in high mode. Do the same thing again to turn the light to low mode. Finally, do the same thing yet again to turn it off.



To change the batteries in your U2 clone, unscrew the tailcap, throw it in the {vulgar term for toilet}, and flush it away...O WAIT, YOU'LL NEED THAT!!! So just set it aside instead.

Tip the two dead 123A cells out of the barrel, and dispose of or recycle them as you see fit.
Do not throw them in a trout-filled stream, and for Pete sakes, please do not dispose of them by flushing.

Insert two new 123A cells in the barrel, button-end (+) positive going in first.

Screw the tailcap back on, finger-firm tightness only.
Aren't you glad you didn't flush away that tailcap now?

Current usage measures 729mA (high mode) on my DMM's 4A scale.
I cannot measure low mode, because that is controlled by the tailcap - which I had to remove to take this measurement.




Picture of the business-end of the clone U2, showing the LED emitter, the smooth reflector, and the lightly scalloped bezel.

One of the things I noticed quickly is that the clone U2 has a lightly "scalloped" bezel, so if the light is set face-down while it's burning (well, LEDs don't "burn", they just emit light, but you get the idea), some light still escapes and you can easily tell it's still turned on, even if you set it down on a completely flat surface like a tabletop or countertop. No more ruined and wasted batteries from your setting the light down and not realising it's still on.
(Yes, I really did that - to a SureFire KL2 if I remember right!)

When the tailcap was removed, the flashlight was relieved of its batteries, and that dreadful suction test was performed, the flashlight held a vaccume (vacum, vaccuume, vaccumn, vaccuummnne, vacuum, etc.), so I believe it is both weather- and water-resistant. The tailcap did fail this test though; although this is not a major leak, if it falls into deeper water, you might find a bit of water inside the flashlight.

I smacked the clone U2 against the concrete floor of a patio fifteen times (ten against the side of the bezel, and five on the side of the tailcap) and caused some minor gouging to the bare Metalkabuterimon - er - the bare Metalkyubimon....nope that's not it either - the bare Metalangewomon - um - that's not it either...the bare Metalguilmon...er...uh...wait a sec here...THE BARE METAL (guess I've been watching too much Digimon again! Now I'm just making {vulgar term for feces} up!!! ) on the sides of the tailcap and bezel where it was struck. No optical or electrical malfunctions were detected. It still works as well now as it did when I received it a little while ago today.

It has a Type II anodized finish; I was able to rather easily scratch it to bare metal with the blade of a folding knife.
Would I really try to cut up a brand spanken new flashlight?
You bet your sugar-coated toilet muscle (sweet patootie) I would, if it's in the name of science.

I tried to scratch the lens of this flashlight with the point of the blade of the same knife, and was not successful.
This tells me it is made of glass, not plastic.
Would I really try to cut up the lens a brand spanken new flashlight?
You bet your sweet patootie (sugar-coated toilet muscle) I would, if it's in the name of science.

The tailcap switch appears to be quite finicky; sometimes it functions properly, sometimes it does not. I'm not ready to dismiss it as a "tabby-thrashed stool specimen maternal parent humper" (toylet words replaced with innocous ones - the correct acronym is PWPOSMF) just yet, but I am not going to have much faith in it.


One of these is a real SureFire U2, the other is not.
PK my friend,
So funny and so smart.
But can you tell
These flashlights apart?

HINT: The phoney one has a gold "Q.C. PASSED" label on its bezel.
As if it really means anything (which it doesn't), the bogus U2 is serialised: the SN of mine is A02621.



Beam photograph on the test target at 12".
Measures 2,170,000mcd (high) and 1,080,000mcd (low) on a Meterman LM631 light meter.



Beam photograph on a wall at ~10'.

Those rectangular graphic things near the top are marquees from:
Midway ''Omega Race''
Sega ''Star Trek''
Williams ''Joust''
Venture Line ''Looping''
Universal ''Mr. Do!'s Castle''
Jaleco ''Exerion''
Gremlin/Sega ''Astro Blaster''
Atari ''Tempest''
Gottlieb ''Q*bert''

upright coin-op arcade video games from the 1980s.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the LED in this flashlight.


ProMetric analysis
Beam cross-sectional analysis.
Image made using the ProMetric System by Radiant Imaging.






TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased at www.dealextreme.com on 01-30-07, and was received on the afternoon of 02-10-07.

***EXTREMELY, CRITICALLY, SUPER-DOOPER IMPORTANT!!!***
THIS IS NOT A TRUE SUREFIRE U2 DIGITAL ULTRA!!! IT IS A CLONE, AND WILL BE TREATED AS SUCH.
Unit was purchased knowing full well it was a *CLONE* of the real thing, not the genuine article.

I believe the product was made in Hong Kong. A product's country of origin really does matter to some people, which is why I published it on this web page.

Because it is such a blatant ripoff of the real thing, it earned (cough, sputter, sound of a toliet flushing) the dreadful "Zero Stars. Whip Out Your {vulgar term for male urinator/inseminator; starts with a "p" and rhymes with 'wrecker'} or Run to the Lavatory, Sit Down, and Urinate On It!" rating, and I'll be placing it in "The Toylet Bowl" section of this website.



UPDATE: 00-00-00



 PROS:



 CONS:
BLATANT RIP-OFF OF A REAL U2!!!
Not submersible (leaks around tailcap switch)


    MANUFACTURER: Unknown
    PRODUCT TYPE: Handheld flashlight
    LAMP TYPE: (Suspected) white Luxeon III LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 1
    BEAM TYPE: Medium spot w/dimmer corona
    SWITCH TYPE: Pushbutton high/low/off on tailcap
    CASE MATERIAL: Aluminum
    BEZEL: Metal; LED & reflector protected by glass window
    BATTERY: 2xCR123A cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: 729mA (high mode)
    WATER RESISTANT: Yes
    SUBMERSIBLE: No
    ACCESSORIES: None
    WARRANTY: Unknown/not stated

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star Rating





U2 Clone * www.dealextreme.com






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