After posting about Maglite’s new tactical LED flashlights the other day, my curiosity got the best of me and I ordered one for review. It will be here in a few days, but the XL200 LED flashlight that I also ordered arrived yesterday from Amazon. The XL200 is priced at around $35, and since the two flashlights have a similar form factor I thought it would interesting to do a comparison.
The XL200 has been well reviewed on Amazon, with 78% of its 300+ reviewers giving it 5/5 stars and another 15% of reviewers giving it 4/5 stars. That’s a pretty darn good rating.
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I was mostly interested in the XL200’s unique and interesting features, such as its auto-dimming nightlight mode, lockout function, and accelerometer-based brightness adjustment. The same motion-controlled brightness adjustment feature is also found on Maglite’s XL100, but the XL200 is brighter and has a more appealing feature set for the same money.
I used the flashlight a couple of times yesterday, and while I need to use and test it more before I can write up a full review, I wanted to share my first impressions.
My absolute first thought, even before loading in the included AAA batteries, was that the XL200 flashlight feels too light for its size, and the outside feels slick and plasticky. The flashlight seems relatively solid and well-built, but I do wish the aluminum housing was just a little bit thicker.
This was not my first experience with a multi-mode Maglite. They updated their AA LED flashlights a few years ago and I bought one to try out. Switching modes on those AA lights involves twisting the reflector module back and forth, which is somewhat non-intuitive. There was no labelling and no clear differentiation between the newer adjustable AA lights and older non-adjustable ones.
I am happy to report that I am quite pleased with the push-button tailcap of the XL200. It is clearly labeled and tells you how many clicks are needed for a particular setting. There are a couple of functions not described on the tailcap, such as how to adjust flashlight brightness and how to toggle the “lockout mode”.
When I first learned about the XL200, I thought that the tailcap was a twist switch that physically clicked into place for different settings. It’s not, it’s a push button. A microprocessor built into the LED module senses a rapid succession of presses to activate the desired lighting mode.
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Functionality-wise, this light is outstanding. It has given me a few ideas about how to program the Hexbright flashlight I just purchased.
The XL200 and Mag-Tac flashlights appear to have the same reflector module and tail cap, but I hope the Mag-Tacs are built a little beefier.
Overall, I’m liking the XL200 quite a bit, but first impressions aren’t everything. The lightweight build quality worries me a little, as I feel Maglite skimped out on materials in favor of lower pricing. There probably won’t be any performance or durability issues because of this, but it’s a concern I feel strongly enough to mention twice.
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One last thing – the “focusable beam” goes from great spotlight to terrible flood real quick. If you want a wide and uniform flood beam, you might have to unscrew and remove the reflector entirely, at least when conditions allow for it.
This post will be updated after I have a chance to use and test the flashlight further. Let me know if you have any questions or testing requests.
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