Skilhunt MiX-7 Gen 2 Plus Review – Even Better

1. Pricing & Availability
2. What comes in the box?
3. Design & Construction
4. Size & Measurements
5. User Interface
6. Emitter & Beam
7. Mode Chart
8. Runtime
9. Driver & Regulation
10. Switch
11. Carry & Ergonomics
12. Batteries & Charging
13. Competition
14. Conclusion

Pricing & Availability

Skilhunt sent me this light in exchange for an honest review. Here is the official product page where you can see current pricing. At the time of writing, this configuration (519A LEDs with BL-135 battery) costs $86 USD.

What comes in the box?

The box is made of cardstock and is designed for retail with a clear window to see the light inside. The light is held in a thin, vacuum-formed, plastic insert and all the accessories are in another box within. Inside is:

• The light itself
• Battery (inside the light)
• User manual
• Magnetic USB charging cable
• Wrist lanyard
• ZWB2-filter
• Black spacer (to replace the tailcap magnet if desired)
• Drawstring pouch

Design & Construction

MiX-7 Gen 2 Plus looks just like the original MiX-7 except for the longer 18650 body tube and all-black accents on this particular sample. I don’t care for blue accents, so I asked Skilhunt for all black and they obliged! Unfortunately, they said that’s not an option for regular customers. That’s such a shame because it looks so much better blacked out. If you want to do the same thing, the bezels & retaining rings unscrew so you can trade between two MiX-7s.

Build quality is good. It feels dense and well-made. The anodizing is thick and satin and there aren’t any sharp edges in the machining. The clip is now black oxide coated instead of just painted black.

Size & Measurements

Mini Maglite | Skilhunt MiX-7 | MiX-7 Gen 2 Plus | Skilhunt EC200 | Nitecore MT2C Pro

Measurement	Measured (mm)
Bezel Diameter	32.5
Maximum Head Diameter	32.5
Length	109.4
Switch Diameter	9.6
Lens Thickness	2.0
Lens Diameter	30.0
Optic Diameter	27.8
Optic Height (from MCPCB)	7.2
MCPCB Size	~24.5
LED Footprint	3535
Body Tube Diameter	22.2
Pocket Clip Slot Width	4.3
Pocket Clip Slot Diameter	20.6
Tailcap Diameter	23.5
Tailcap Length	12.8
Driver Diameter	Inaccessible
Included Battery Length	68.8
Weight with included battery (g)	125

User Interface

This is a lot of functionality packed into one button. It can feel a little cluttered sometimes, but it’s a noticeable improvement over the original MiX-7 UI.

What they got right:

• Clicking turns the light on/off and holding the button changes modes. That’s the way almost all e-switch flashlights should work. It’s intuitive and quick.
• The common shortcuts work. Moonlight, Turbo, and Strobe all have shortcuts that work the same way as most other lights. They work very well and there’s no learning curve when switching lights.
• Moonlight, RGB, and UV are in separate groups. The original MiX-7 had them all in one mode group and it was pretty cluttered. Now they’re all separated and it’s much easier to access the color you want.
• The red/green/blue group is accessible from off via 2H. It’s great that you don’t have to go through white Moonlight to get to the visible colors.
• The RGB group is memorized. It remembers the last color mode you used (except continuous fade & blinkies), so if you manually adjusted to a color you like, you can get back to it quickly.
• A long hold from off goes to the lowest brightness of the last RGB color used. It’s nice to have direct access to the lowest color modes as well as lowest white modes.

What they got wrong (minor nitpicks):

• Mode spacing/count. Skilhunt’s lights have 7 brightness levels. I find that’s a bit much and I would prefer 5 levels (Moon-Low-Med-High-Turbo). Often, I want something between L1 and M2, and between H and T2. Eliminating those modes and splitting the difference with 5 modes would be great.
• You can’t cycle up through all the modes. Normally, I expect 1H from moonlight mode to cycle up to low and continue to High. Here, 1H from Moonlight just toggles the Moonlight brightness. 2H toggles between the “Low” (Moonlight) group and the Main Group, but it remembers whichever mode you last used within that group. So, you might toggle from L2 all the way up to High mode.
• Smooth color adjustment doesn’t reverse. It only goes one direction, so if you overshoot the color you want, you have to cycle all the way back around. If you release and then hold to adjust the color again within 1-2 seconds, it should reverse the direction so you can fine-tune the color.

Emitter & Beam

The two white emitter options are Cree XPG4 5700K, or Nichia 519A 5000K. I chose the Nichias for their nicer color properties, but the Cree option will provide more brightness and efficiency. One change from the original MiX-7 is the use of a TIR optic on the outside LEDs instead of a reflector. The center UV LED still has a reflector, since a plastic optic would block UV light.

The beam is soft and floody. It’s a TIR, so it’s mostly a big soft hotspot with minimal spill. The UV has a reflector (because TIRs block UV) so it does have spill with a cutoff like you’d expect. There are no artifacts in the white beam. The visible color beams have some minor starbursting on the edges but it’s not bad. Really nice beams for flooding an area with whatever color you need.

In the beamshots below, camera settings are fixed and the wall is 2.8M away.

In the beamshots below, camera settings are fixed, the basketball goal to the right of the hotspot is 39M away, and the power pole in the center is 185M away.

UV beamshots are difficult because it’s largely invisible. I’m thrilled that Skilhunt includes a ZWB2 filter (small black disc) that can be installed because it blocks all the visible light and only lets UV through. That makes it much more effective when looking for fluorescent stuff. Obvious stuff like white socks will glow with either, but the ZWB2 filter allows you to see so much more because dimmer stuff is not being blown out by the visible light. Here’s a comparison between MiX-7 Gen 2 Plus in UV mode, and Olight Arkfeld Ultra (no ZBW2 filter) in UV mode. The camera settings are fixed.

Mode Chart

Disclaimer: All of my measurements are taken at turn-on. Lumen measurements were taken on a Texas Ace 3.5″ Lumen Tube. A candela measurement was taken at 10 meters with an Opple Light Master III on the highest brightness, and other candela figures were calculated relative to that. CRI, CCT, & DUV data were taken for each mode from a few feet away at the center of the hotspot with the Opple Light Master and Waveform DUV Calculator. Runtime tests were performed with the Ceilingbounce app on my smartphone. These tests were performed with a fully charged included battery unless otherwise specified. I cannot measure moonlight directly, so moonlight readings are calculated based on the brightness relative to the next-lowest mode. None of this is professional equipment, so take these measurements with a grain of salt.

The official specs are above, followed by my own measurements below.

Level	Lumens	Candela	Throw (Meters)	CRI (Ra)	Color Temp. (K)	DUV (Tint)
T1	1600	3000	110	98	4910	-0.0014
T2	740	1400	75	98	4840	-0.0007
H1	390	730	54	99	4800	-0.0008
M1	130	240	31	99	4740	-0.0010
M2	37	69	17	99	4700	-0.0008
L1	3	6	5	99	4670	-0.0015
L2	0.4	1	2	99	4710	-0.0009

Level	Red % Output	Green % Output	Blue % Output	UV % Output
1	100	100	100	100
2	18	30	22	21
3	6	13	8	3
4	Too low	1	Too low	N/A

Runtime

White light performance is satisfactory and in line with other similar models. Sustained brightness and runtimes are about what I expected.

Colored light performance is fine. There’s loads of runtime and all the visible colors get bright enough to be uncomfortable for indoor use. Each of the visible colors has a stepdown in the first 2-3 minutes to avoid overheating. This graph is a bit deceiving because it’s & output, not lumens. The UV appears dimmer than all the other colors, even when shining on a fluorescent object.

Thermal regulation is timed step-downs only, with no active thermal regulation. It will perform consistently but may also overheat in hot weather or leave some performance on the table in cold weather.

LVP (Low Voltage Protection) is present and works well. When the battery is effectively empty, the light will shut itself off. It doesn’t rely on the battery’s protection circuit and the light can be re-activated in an emergency.

Driver & Regulation

The driver is probably a buck driver, but I’m not certain. I’m making that guess based on the performance, and what sort of drivers Skilhunt has used in the past.

White regulation performance is average/good. Only T1 is affected by battery voltage, and you won’t notice until it gets pretty low.

Color regulation performance is average, and exactly what I expected. Even UV regulation is better than I expected. Typically, combo lights with UV have abysmal UV regulation because the LEDs require a higher voltage than visible LEDs.

PWM: PWM is audible when mixing colors, but not visible to my eyes or phone camera. I didn’t detect any PWM anywhere else.

Parasitic Drain: 60 microamps. That will take ~6 years to drain the included battery, so it’s a non-issue.

Switch

The switch is unchanged from the original MiX-7. It’s got a plastic boot with a backlight in the middle. It’s reasonably tactile and audible and it hasn’t turned on by accident in the ~7 days that I’ve carried it. Normally I’d expect a light with this much functionality to have multiple switches. Skilhunt did a good job with the UI to make it manageable with one switch, but it still feels a little cluttered sometimes.

The backlight glows for a moment after the light is turned on to indicate remaining battery capacity. Here’s what it means:

• Constant blue: >75%
• Blinking blue: 50-75%
• Constant red: 25-50%
• Blinking red: <25%

Carry & Ergonomics

Ergonomics are great. With the longer 18650 tube on the Plus version, it’s easy to get a good grip. My thumb rests right on the button and the pocket clip provides a great index point. The improved ergonomics are one of the reasons I recommend the Plus version.

Clip score 6.5/7 – Excellent

What do you think about the new clip scoring system? Let me know in the comments here, on Reddit, or BLF where I post this review!

It’s worth noting the original MiX-7 and shorter 18350 Gen 2 have a clip that lands directly on the charging port. That’s one of the reasons I prefer the 18650 version. They also changed the clip finish from powder coating or painting to black oxide, which is much more durable. Big improvements over the outgoing MiX-7!

A magnet is installed in the tailcap and it’s strong enough to hold the light up on a vertical surface. They include a small plastic disc in the box to replace the magnet if you choose. There will always be a magnet in the charging port, so keep this light away from ferrous metal shavings that could get stuck to the charging port.

Batteries & Charging

The battery included with the Plus version is a Skilhunt BL-135. It’s a 3500mAh protected button-top. It does a fine job powering the light. Unprotected flat tops work fine too.

The standard version uses an protected button top 18350 cell. The Plus version is only 28% (30mm) longer, but triples the battery capacity, improves ergonomics, doesn’t block the charging port with the pocket clip. I think it’s the clear choice between the two.

Charging is facilitated by a magnetic charging port on the side of the head, directly opposite the button. Unlike some other magnetic charging systems, Skilhunt’s does not require proprietary batteries! Charging takes 2.5hrs. The magnetic pick will glow red when charging and turn blue when charging is complete. It’s fully functional while charging.

Competition

Here are some lights in the same class and how they compare.

Sofirn IF24(Pro) / Wurkkos HD01: budget alternatives

• about half the price
• front white LED plus side RGBW LED bar
• no UV, but HD01 has a laser
• standard USB-C charging
• magnetic tailcap
• less-efficient drivers
• no high-CRI front LED options (side white LEDs are high CRI)
• RGB LEDs are pure flood, almost no reach

Skilhunt EC300: bigger battery alternative

• Same price
• White+RGB (no UV)
• Extremely similar UI
• Longer, larger diameter body, smaller diameter head
• Llarger 21700 battery
• USB-C charging instead of magnetic
• No magnetic tailcap
• Quad TIR optic instead of reflector

Olight Arkfeld Pro: flat alternative

• More expensive
• White+UV+Laser (no RGB)
• Thin, flat shape
• Better magnetic charging
• Build in battery
• Better UI with an excellent rotary toggle switch

This section is not comprehensive. If I didn’t include a particular light here, it doesn’t mean it’s bad or doesn’t deserve to be here. I simply cannot list every possible competitor.

Conclusion

The original MiX-7 has been a staple of my collection since its release. Nothing else came close to providing such great red, green, blue, white, and UV light all in one package. My only gripes were the short body tube, 18350 battery, and having all the colors lumped in with Moonlight. Now with the Gen 2 Plus version, those gripes are no more. I highly recommend it and I hope Skilhunt offers an all-black version in the future because it looks so good! This one will be sticking around in my personal collection.

Thanks to Skilhunt for sending me this light for review!