subject: Review Of Itp C7 [print this page] The iTP C7 reviewed here is the Regular version, a Tactical version will also be available in the future. Right up the front sits a toughened ultra-clear glass lens. When viewed from the front end, the AR (anti-reflective) coating doesn't seem the same as that on the earlier C6 model. Reason being I noticed it to be more reflective than the former. This shouldn't be viewed as a bad thing though since AR coatings are usually applied to the inner face of the lenses anyway. I couldn't check this because the 2 parts making up the head are adhered together keeping all the components sealed in place. The reflector used has a half-textured and a half-smooth surface. The smooth surface towards the top of the reflector cup provides a sharply focused spot, while the textured surface towards the bottom smoothens out the spill beam. Alignment between reflector and the LED is good, perhaps just off-center by a hair. The external design of the head has some nice design elements machined on. Towards the front the bezel is smooth with no crenellations, below which is a diamond-textured ring about 0.5cm wide. This allows the light output to be easily adjusted with one hand. The most obvious physical feature on the head are the 6 cooling fins which take up about half of its total surface. Viewed from the rear you can see the electronics PCB and the slightly raised "+" battery contact. Threads are thick and machined well, screwing on and off the battery tube is very smooth with no cross-threading or grinding. The Type 3 hard anodizing over the head is also well done and consistent throughout with no blemishes or other inconsistencies to be found.
The battery tube has a simple cylindrical design with 2 shallow scallops on either of its side. These may provide added comfort when the light is held in a cigar-style grip depending on how far down the battery tube your fingers sit. Type 3 anodizing is smooth and consistent throughout the battery tube with no blemishes or other flaws. Threads on both ends are nicely machined, smooth and clean. The threads at the front end are bare and uncoated due to the nature of its user interface for brightness control. The threads at the rear end are anodized which allows the light to be locked-out by slightly loosening the tail cap. Another difference between the threads is that those at the rear end are finer than those on the front end. The tail cap is of a tubular cone shape with a band of striped knurling about 0.5cm wide providing grip during battery changes. Coating is just as nicely done as with all other parts. There are 2 small holes right at the end which allows for lanyard attachments. A reverse push button switch is housed inside the tail cap, so this means momentary activation isn't possible. The switch provides a good, firm tactile feedback and audible click. It has a medium amount of travel before engaging into place. Switch tension feels nice, not too soft nor too stiff. The rubber switch cap has a slight checkered texture and sits recessed within the tail cap. This allows the light to tail stand without problems.
TheiTP C7 uses a Cree XR-E LED and is advertised to output 190 lumens at maximum and 6 lumens at lowest level. It provides a sharply focused, narrow hotspot and a smooth spill spill beam profile thanks to its reflector design. Beam tint leans slightly towards the cool side with a hint of violet hue. There are some beam artifact within and around the hotspot, but these are very minor compared to some other Cree based lights. They are barely noticeable even when the beam is viewed on a smooth white surface.
The user interface is fairly straight forward and simple to use. To activate the light, simply click on the switch to turn the light on. The brightness can be ramped up or down by loosening the head, once the desired brightness level is reached, simply tighten back the head. The ramping sequence alternates in direction each time you loosen the head. The light will blink 3 times when the minimum and twice at maximum level as an indicator to the user. Switching between normal, strobe and S.O.S. modes is done by half-pressing the switch.
The electronics warns you of low battery power by blinking towards the end of the battery life, this happens when brightness drops to about 30% of maximum. This is also useful when using non-protected li-ion cells. If you've read the review of the iTP C6 Regular version, you may have noted that there were some issues with the interface. Rest assured, none of those previous issues plague theiTP C7 . The driver electronics used in the C7 is a buck/boost design which means it can drive the LED from low voltages from 1V up to a high of 4.2V. The driver is linear as can been seen from the graph below, which means the light manage its maximum output depending on the input voltage source. Regulation is held very well with both 14500 and regular AA cells. It's interesting to note that while both the C9 and C7 share the same head and electronics, the runtime graph on a 14500 cell is quite different from the C9 running on a 16340 although both these cells have the same specifications of 3.7V and 750mAh. This shows that there are indeed some performance related differences between these 2 cell sizes.
The Good - Fit and finish is well done with no apparent flaws. Provides high output intensity while maintaining good runtimes and regulation. Simple interface for setting brightness.
The Bad - Nothing significant.
The Relative - Slightly cool beam tint with some minor beam artifacts. Uses a reverse push button switch. Able to tail stand.
by: perfectful
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