Light comes in a standard shipping envelope, no additional box or packaging.

The M-C1 is the unofficial successor to the UltraFire C2 flashlight released some time ago. The M-C1 has head which is relatively huge in size when compared to the rest of its body. The crenellated bezel can be unscrewed and hold its glass lens in place, a GITD o-ring between the bezel and lens for water resistance. The hefty textured reflector is quite a huge piece of aluminum and contributes to much of the light’s weight at the front end, this large reflector also provides very good heat sinking for the emitter at high drive levels. The reflector screws onto the threads inside the bezel so it doesn't’t rattle around inside the head. The emitter module screws onto the bottom of the reflector and they are well aligned, it is nicely made and has a gold-plated contact spring soldered onto its PCB. Since there a spring on the “+” contact, flat topped 17670 cells will work just fine. All the threads in the head are well cut and smooth, I didn't’t experience any cross-threading while screwing the reflector, bezel or head. The type 2 anodizing is very well done, smooth and consistent throughout. The finish has a velvet-like texture and not the usual glossy type. The Conqueror M-C1 was designed to be easily upgradable, a triple emitter module is planned for released sometime soon, there’s also a xenon bulb option.

There seems to be 2 version of the M-C1. Physically, the difference is the internal diameter of the battery tube. A wider version which can accommodate 18650 cells, and a narrower version which accommodates sizes up to that of 17670 cells. There’s a band of knurling about 3cm wide around the battery tube which helps with grip and 2 flat surfaces machined on either side which have some branding printed on them.  While the light is front-heavy, you really get a good secure grip when you hand sits between the large head and raised tail cap lip. The tail cap houses a PCB which has the micro controller responsible for the multiple output modes. The push button switch on the PCB is similar to that in the Tiablo MA6 in that it’s neither a reverse nor forward click switch. The button has almost no travel and simply clicks on and off, feel is similar to that of the buttons on a cell phone’s keypad. It does have good tactile feedback and produces a clear audible click. There are 4 raised rectangular ridges machined on the tail cap which helps with grip, and there are also 4 wide slots which you can add lanyards attachments to. The rubber button cap has the usual checkered texture and is quite thick, it protrudes out slightly so the light isn't able to stand on its tail. Threads between the battery tube and tail cap is very well machined, clean and thick as can be seen from the image gallery below. There was no left over machining dust at all.

As mentioned before, there are 2 versions of the M-C1, depending on who you purchase from. The version which accommodates 18650 cells has electronics which only support 3.7V li-ion cells, running it which 2x CR123 or 2x 16340 cells have been reported to over-drive the LED and thus damaging it. The one reviewed here is the narrower battery tube version which supports 1x 17670, 2x 16340 and 2x CR123 cells.

The Conqueror M-C1 has 5 modes in the following sequence:
Off > 100% > 50% > 10% > Strobe > S.O.S.

Changing modes is done by holding down the switch for 1 second. A peculiar thing I noticed is that the switching of modes is not cyclical. That is to say that once you ’re at the S.O.S. mode, holding down the button for 1 second does not bring it back to 100%. Instead, you have to turn it off and on again. When turning the light off at any mode, the output will fade from 100% to 0%. This means that if you’re at the 10% level for example, turning off the light will cause it to jump to the brightest 100% brightness level and then fade out. Another thing to take note is that the S.O.S. blinking sequence is slightly erratic, the 3 short “…, S” blinks way to fast relative to the 3 “---, O“ blinks. As you can see, the regulation on high is good but not great, is has a weird concave curve when running on 2x 16340 cells. Runtime on low with a 17670 cell is quite impressive though.

Beam profile has a very tight hot spot as expected from the very deep and wide reflector, and thanks to the textured finish, both spot and spill beam is smooth with no noticeable artifacts. My beam on my sample has a slightly cool color temperature. It’s a rather cool blue and not the more noticeable violet hue which some other lights have. Some final notes about the M-C1, the advertised 50% level is actually about 15% of its maximum level, and the advertised 10% is actually about 2%. Also, I stopped the runtime plot on low at the 30 hour mark to prevent the cell from running down to below 2.8V which will damage the li-ion cell chemistry.

The Good - Great construction and overall quality for the price. Coating is smooth and well done. Nice thick and cleanly machined threads.

The Bad - Switching between modes is not cyclical and erratic S.O.S. blinking sequence.

The Relative - Beam has a slightly cool color temperature. Uses a click switch which is neither forward nor reverse which has almost no travel, function-wise it is like a reverse push button. Isn't able to tail stand.

Bezel (front view).

Bezel (side view).

Bezel (rear view).

Reflector (front view).

Reflector (side view).

Reflector (rear view).

Emitter module (front view).

Emitter module (side view).

Emitter module (rear view).

Battery tube (front view).

Battery tube (side view).

Battery tube (rear view).

Switch retaining ring.

"-" contact spring.

Switch PCB (front view).

Switch PCB (rear view).

Switch cap (front view).

Switch cap (side view).

Switch cap (rear view).

Tail cap (front view).

Tail cap (side view).

Tail cap (rear view).