What are the preferred or best cheap chinese (i.e. DX) lights at the moment?

A few years back (2009-2011) I used two Deal Xtreme 900 lumens LED lights for night riding, one on the helmet one on the bars (THESE ones). They were great, but the helmet one protrudes quite a lot (and is heavy).

I am looking for something to replace them. I will be using them for commuting on unlit roads as well as night rides off road. I am more than happy to buy lights of the same strength as I found this adequate before.

So has anything changed in DX land, or are people still using the same 900 lumens jobbies? Any recommendations?

All responses gratefully received, even the offensive ones…

Solarstorm x2 or x3. Got one for 15 the other day on ebay, can’t get better than that really. Obviously the battery might not be super but you can just buy another and another for that price. Plenty of threads on the light on here.

I like the Solastorm X2 head unit, but some of the supplied batteries and chargers are variable. Mine (from fasttech.com) are usable, but not great.

I’m currently running it with a separate battery box (this) and 4×18650 batteries from someone off here who set up an ebay account.
Then I use a separate Nitecore i4 charger.

This is usually around the time of year that a new ‘favourite’ pops up though.

I was a wee bit unimpressed by my Solarstorm- quite nicely made but the beam pattern’s not ideal. Went back to my older MJ972, which to be fair was about 3 times more expensive, but a lot better. I don’t know what’s cool today but to me the Solarstorm’s very much a good-for-the-money, whereas spending a bit more gets you into good-and-cheap.

The Solarstorm sounds like the sort of thing I am looking for. What didn’t you like about the beam pattern Northwind, was it too narrow/wide?

I could always just get the latest version of the 900 lumen as well I suppose, they seem to be very cheap now.

The Solarstorm X2 quality output wise/battery/charger is hugely variable but then if you can get them for £15 what do you expect? I like mine a lot, though I had to replace the battery as soon a it arrived, good points though are that it’s a nice low profile and much better beam than the old single LED (P7/XML) units.
MTBR light forums seem to be a reasonable place to keep an eye on what coming next, and I can’t see anything on there other than stupid amounts of LED put into a huge head unit.
I think there a great light for the money, [EDIT] especially when the MJ-872 is now difficult to find under £100 (Which has a much floodier beam, but no where near the reach of the SSx2 & overheats like a small nuclear reactor IME) [/EDIT] and are only surpassed by the better build quality and quality optic’s from the likes of the (tiny.. and the SSx2 is small!) Gloworm systems.
The only alternative I’d be looking at from the chinese market is the “yinding” system, as they seem to be better put together.

poppa – Member

The Solarstorm sounds like the sort of thing I am looking for. What didn’t you like about the beam pattern Northwind, was it too narrow/wide?

To be fair this stuff is a matter of taste, but- it’s very bright in the centre which means your eyes adapt to the brightest spot, but it fades off quite hard and the light levels are pretty erratic. It used to be you’d want a spotlight on the head but these days a light can be powerful enough to have throw and spread, which is much more like riding in daylight.

But I appreciate not everyone likes the MJ872/R4 approach of big bright flood so maybe take that with a pinch of salt. And I really can’t fault the performance for the price! But personally I’d rather pay the extra for a quality charger and battery and (to me) nicer beam.

I bought NW’s old Solarstorm X2 head unit off him and Im quite happy with it.
I did buy a better battery off e-bay to go with it and it lasts pretty well.
The beam is a little spotty, but I’ve got a nice helmet mounted light which fills in the gaps nicely.

Slightly OT but has anyone got a link for the upgraded chargers and batteries they are using for the Solarstorms?

I got some 18650 batteries and one of Marmaduke’s battery boxes (he sold them complete too) or buy one from Torchy, as for chargers, I’m using an old one I already had but these were previously recommended by Torchy

this chinese light. has a charger and battery pack I see. Is it a case of buy two of these ? One for the bike and one for the helmet?

That’s all I need?

Well you might also need to buy two decent batteries, and a maybe a single charger if the supplied ones turn out to be rubbish, but off-hand yep’s that all you need.
Oh you may still need to buy a helmet mount and battery extension lead, depending on what come with the kit..

Ok sounds like a lottery! In theory all of that should be included though?