Weltool M7 HCRI Review – Classic Shape Inspection Light

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. Batteries & Charging
11. Switch
12. Carry & Ergonomics
13. Competition
14. Conclusion

Pricing & Availability

FlashlightGo.com sent me this light in exchange for an honest review. Here is the product page on their website where you can see current pricing. At the time of writing it’s $74 USD.

What comes in the box?

Inside the red cardstock box is another black box. Inside the black box is:

• The light itself
• Battery (inside the light)
• User manual & safety booklet
• USB A-to-C charging cable
• Spare o-ring
• USB-C single-bay charger

Design & Construction

This is a great host design. It’s similar in shape to a classic Surefire 6P, but it’s just a bit smaller. The only thing I’d change is to add a flat spot or two on the body tube for the clip to land.

Build quality is good. All the machining and finishing is high quality. My only gripe is the battery rattles around inside the body tube, which doesn’t convey quality.

Size & Measurements

Olight Warrior 3S | Surefire G2X Pro + Switchback | Weltool M7 HCRI | Nitecore MT2C Pro | Mini Maglite

Measurement	Measured (mm)
Bezel Diameter	27.5
Maximum Head Diameter	29.8
Length	123.8
Switch Diameter	14.2
LED Footprint	3535
Body Tube Diameter	23.8
Pocket Clip Slot Width	4.1
Pocket Clip Slot Diameter	21.9
Tailcap Diameter	24.5
Tailcap Length	26.0 (not including switch)
Included Battery Length	65.1
Weight with included battery (g)	133

User Interface

This UI is dead simple and I love it. Half press for momentary or full press for constant on. Press once for low, press twice for high. Click to turn it off. That’s it.

I appreciate that it always starts on low mode, and that the highest mode is accessible by a double tap. That gives me instant access to either mode from off. The only thing I would change is lowering the lower mode to ~25 lumens or so. At 110lm, it feels too bright for some tasks and too close to high mode.

Emitter & Beam

The LED isn’t specified and I don’t recognize it. It’s a 3535-size, high-CRI, domed model. It sits in a black anodized spacer where a reflector would normally go, and there’s a plain glass lens protecting it. All other models in the M7 series have an aspheric lens, so this plain lens is different. This setup will produce a clean circular beam, but it also loses a lot of light in that black spacer

The beam is a wide, fairly even circle. Not as wide as a “mule”, but much wider than the average light with a reflector, and I suspect it’s wider than the beams on other M7 models, which have aspheric lenses. There’s no distinct hotspot but the center is slightly brighter than the outside. There’s only a hint of gradual tint shift from the center (cooler) to the edge (warmer). It doesn’t have the harsh yellowing on the edge of the beam that you get from an aspheric lens, which is great!

In the beamshots below, exposure settings are fixed and the wall is ~1.5m away. I didn’t do long-distance outdoor beamshots because the low candela makes it useless past a few meters. White balance is not locked, so pay no mind to color temperature or tint differences below.

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)
High	280	200	28	94	4890	-0.0039
Low	110	79	18	96	4620	-0.0053

Runtime

Performance is fine. It’s not very bright but you get lots of runtime.

Thermal regulation: I observed no significant thermal stepdown in High mode, and the light got quite hot after awhile (too hot to hold, but not dangerous for the light). I don’t think there’s any active thermal regulation here.

LVP (Low Voltage Protection) is present and works well. When the battery is effectively empty, the light will shut itself off. Unprotected cells are safe to use and the light can be re-activated in an emergency.

Driver & Regulation

The driver isn’t specified. I suspect it’s a Buck circuit based on the regulation performance, lack of PWM, and Weltool’s reputation for high quality.

Regulation performance is good/average. It maintains most of the Turbo brightness down to ~25% charge, and all the other modes are flat down to 25% charge or less.

PWM: There’s no PWM in either mode, as measured with my Opple Light Master.

Parasitic Drain: There is no parasitic drain because this light uses a mechanical switch.

Batteries & Charging

The battery included is a 3300mAh unprotected flat top 18650 cell with a Weltool sticker on the side. It’s not even a full rewrap, just a sticker. It’s unusual to find an unprotected cell in a light not geared toward flashlight enthusiasts. I’m also surprised that it doesn’t have a USB charging port built in, which seems to be the norm now if the host doesn’t have integrated charging.

Charging is facilitated by the included USB-C bay charger. It charges at 1A, which is fine for the included 18650 cell, and it takes about three hours and twenty minutes to charge. It’s very simple with one LED that glows red while charging and glows green when charging is complete. Larger/smaller batteries

There is no battery indicator on the light itself.

Switch

The switch is a mechanical forward clicky located on the tailcap under a silicone boot. It’s quite stiff, so I don’t think it will turn on by accident. It sits proud of the tailcap so you can access it easily but the light won’t tailstand.

Carry & Ergonomics

Ergonomics are good. It’s comfortable in a reverse or cigar grip. The switch is stiff, so I have to squeeze the light tighter than normal in a reverse grip when pressing the switch.

Competition

I can’t find any direct competitors to this model (other lights with an inspection beam, 18650 battery, this shape/size), but here are some options to consider.

Tactical lights like a Surefire G2X Pro often have a similar size/shape, switch, and UI to Weltool M7 HCRI. However, these lights tend to have a traditional reflector and beam shape.

Zoomable lights like Convoy Z1 have an aspheric lens that can produce a flat “inspection” style beam. They sometimes can get dirt/water into the zoom mechanism though, and are usually low quality (Convoy Z1 is an exception).

Medical penlights like Nextorch Dr. K3S are sometimes High-CRI with an “inspection” style beam. They’re typically much thinner though and don’t run as long.

A “mule” from Emisar/Noctigon or Fireflies/FireFlyLite has an extremely wide and flat beam, nearly 180 degrees. They can also get extremely bright and heat up very quickly unless you use a low mode. Their Anduril user interface is extremely powerful but much more complex than the simple 2-mode UI on this Weltool.

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

If you like an “inspection” beam, this is a good option. The flat, high-CRI beam is nice for close up illumination and it’s great that the edges aren’t yellow like most inspection beams. The build quality, light quality, runtime, and regulation are excellent. It’s easy easy to use and comes with a battery and charger. I do wish it got brighter, and the clip has a couple of issues.

Thanks to FlashlightGo for sending me this light for review. They have a huge selection including most of my favorite lights!