[BEAMSHOTS] [NLD] Acebeam W35 + Acebeam M1 + Weltool W4 Pro + Convoy L21A/SFT40
Here are a few hallway and neighborhood shots that shows the spot and flood mode of the new Acebeam W35, compared to the Acebeam Terminator M1, the Weltool W4 Pro and the Convoy L21A with the 8Amp SFT-40 6500K. I didn't get a chance to do some proper park/outdoor shots as the local park I frequent is under construction and closed off. I'll do that hopefully during the weekend. However I did want to showcase how well the LEPs perform when it comes to selective spotting, and it shows when you look at the Convoy L21A's performance on the building's address tag versus the LEPs. It becomes even more clearer when you look at the edges of the hotspot how superior the LEPs are to LEDs when it comes to minimizing or altogether eliminating unwanted spill. And if anyone is wondering if an Osram [CSLNM1.TG](https://CSLNM1.TG) in a 60mm+ K1 reflector would eliminate spill or compete with the hotspot size of the M1, it doesn't. The Uber Eats meme made that quite clear.
As for the W35, first impressions for me are mixed. The performance side of the light is unquestionable. In fact on first view, it seems Acebeam may have been conservative in their throw figures. The flood side of the light is decent. I would compare it to a low output cool white XHP70.3HI in a wide angle TIR. The beam when fully on flood is surprisingly smooth with a fading fuzzy fallout from center out towards the edge, save for a small but pronounced hotspot that is noticeable when whitewall hunting. When zoomed into maximum throw, the light competes with the top tier LEPs like the Astrolux WP3 and the Weltool W4/W5. The W4 Pro still has a more intense hotspot, but the W35 isn't far behind. This is, by far, the most impressive part of this light. It will simply destroy just about any LED light, including competing with the Acebeam K75.
Where I think the W35 needs improvement is on the UI and button/feature side... I HATE the USB-C flap. This is the rubber flappy doodle that you will have nightmares about. There's the Acebeam E75 thick chunky rubber flap that's built to plug Hoover Dam. And then there's this W35 flap that's built like the Convoy/Wurkkos/Sofirn flaps that rip off the moment you stare hard at it... The flap protrudes out of the side and is easily caught by your fingers or clothing if you swipe near the tailcap. It really makes me want to file down the damn rubber protrusion.
Then there's the ramping of the flood>spot. It's painstakingly slow. But more than that, if you turned the light on, you have no idea if you're going to ramp out to flood or in to spot when you press the zoom button. Often I found I simply have to double-click to completely zoom in or out and skip the middle ranges, which is a shame. Because just slightly zoomed out, this light eats the Acebeam L19 for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It literally does exactly what you would imagine a much more longer throwing L19 would do....
On top of that, the ends of the ranges are a steeper cliff than the middle ranges. By that, I mean once you get to the last step of either the flood end or the spot end, those 2 very last steps have a rather large jump/tick/travel to get into the very end of its zoom range for full spot or full flood. That further exacerbates how slow the middle part of the zoom range is to go through. There's 8 steps to go through from end to end of the zoom range, and I think it's best if Acebeam got rid of 3 of them, made it 5 so that the travel is further and more pronounced in the middle of the range.
If Acebeam can fix the rubber USB-C flap to make it more robust and fix the ramping steps and speed, it would make this a near perfect zoomable LEP light. Function wise, I love this light.
