When I first looked down the head of the Rex2.0, I immediately noticed the unusual focal depth of it's reflector. As you can see from the image to the right, the metal ring around the emitter is focused mid-way down onto the reflector. It's a little unusual and the first time I've seen such focusing depth in an XR-E based light. The beam profile produced isn't much different from most other textured reflectors though. The reflector itself is made of aluminum with a medium texture and is slightly deeper than most other AA lights. Also, the reflector is slightly misaligned with the emitter. The lens is made of uncoated glass and it's edge is tapered with narrower end facing out. So, when tightening the reflector in, the tapered lens pushes downwards as well as sideways on the rubber o-ring. This is a nice touch because it helps prevent the rubber o-ring from popping out the front end when you tighten the reflector down tightly. The exterior of the head is nice and smooth without any additional cosmetic machining touches, however I did notice some faint lighter colored streaks along the the head. The Type 3 coating is applied on both the outside and the inside of the head. This means the threads will not electrically conduct so you'll have to ensure the head is properly tightened down to make contact, otherwise the light won't turn on. Last thing about the head is that there were some leftover machining dust between the threads which caused some grinding. A quick clean with a stiff brush will fix this.

The battery tube is finished in Type 3 both on the outside and inside as well. No blemishes or scratches to be found. It's got 2 flat surfaces with "Rexlight" printed on one of them. The rest of the surface has a 1.5cm thick band of checkered texture. I personally prefer this style compared to the most other single AA lights which have flat faces machined all the way around the battery tube making the flat faces areas of the battery tube wall thinner than it needs to be. On the other hand, flat surfaces do make it easier to grip when unscrewing tail caps for battery changes. There are 2 o-rings on each end of the battery tube giving this light twice the waterproofing barrier. Also, the o-rings fit really tightly and I have no doubt that this light it totally waterproof up to at least 10 meters. One bad side effect of this is that sometimes when screwing on the tail cap, one of the o-rings may slip out of it's slot. As with the other parts, the threads on both ends of the battery tube have been anodized as well. I find it curious as to why the the threads were coated this way. This means only the ends of the tube are contact points. Notice that there are gaps between the tail cap, head and the battery tube, this is not a fitting flaw as might be the initial impression. There has to be a gap to ensure that when fully tightened, the tube ends make contact first and not obstructed by the outer threads of the head or tail cap.

The tail cap is nicely coated too. It has a band of checkered knurling around it. There are 2 wide and 1 smaller circular holes for lanyard attachments. The rubber cap is slightly soft and has a dimpled texture, personally I would have preferred a slightly stiffer rubber material. The switch itself has a nice tactile feel with slightly less travel compared to the LumaPower LM301, about the same as the Fenix lights. The entire switch inside the tail cap has a few more parts compared to other lights. The metal retaining ring below the rubber cap helps keep a tight waterproof seal. Overall, this is one of the nicest built lights I've handled.

The interface of the Rex2.0 is similar to the Fenix Digital series without the Turbo mode. Unlike the Fenix however, the Rex2.0 controls it's levels by using PWM instead or true current regulation. Basically the Rex2.0 recognizes 2 types of button presses. Either half-presses within 5 seconds or half-presses more than 5 seconds apart. To switch between modes, half-press within 5 seconds. Presses more than 5 seconds apart simply keeps it within the same mode. This also serves as a memory feature. Since 1 half press is equivalent 2 full on/off presses, after running the light for more than 5 seconds on a certain mode, turning it off and on again keeps it in the same mode. Some users have reported to be unable to get the memory function to work unless using 14500 cells, but I encountered no such problems. It worked fine for me on either 1.2V NiMH, 1.5V alkaline or 3.6V 14500 cells.

The operating modes are:
Off > Low > Medium > High > Strobe > S.O.S.

The tint on my sample is slightly violet with a yellowish ring around the hotspot. The medium spot is nice and smooth, no noticeable artifacts or dark spots at all. The different output levels were pretty well chosen with each level being about 4 times brighter than the previous one. The low is really low and is perfect for work like close up map reading. The medium level is nicely suited for walking around the house at night or even unlit walkways. The high level is bright enough for medium ranged use such as checking for stuff across your lawn or backyard, however take note that it does drop rapidly by about 20% within the first few minutes. There is one thing which keeps this light from being almost perfect, and that's it's runtime. The circuit in the Rex2.0 doesn't seem to be very efficient. You can observe this by comparing with the JETBeam C-LE, and even worse when compared to the Fenix L1D CE. If you happen to carry a few extra cells around, you might be able to look past this. Finally, the S.O.S. mode is somewhat flawed as the "S" and "O" pulses are of almost identical length. This may not be a big deal unless you plan to bring this light out on a camping trip or something like that.

Take note that I have only posted a control shot for the high mode because the PWM used for low and medium, much like with the C-LE, isn't represented accurately with my camera.

This review will be updated at a later date with 14500 cells.

The Good - Superb build quality and excellent waterproofing. Straight forward user interface with memory function. Good choice of low, medium and high levels.

The Bad - Poor battery life and inefficient circuit compared to certain lights in the same price range. Fussy contacts between the head and battery tube due to anodized threads. Flawed S.O.S. implementation results in sets of 3 pulses of similar length each instead of 3 short, 3 long and 3 short blinks.

The Relative - The reverse clicky instead or a regular clicky. No holster, lanyards or straps provided.

Head (front view).

Head (side view).

Head (rear view).

Lens.

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).

Brass ring (front view).

Brass ring (rear view).

Rubber liner.

Metal washer.

Switch module (front view).

Switch module (side view).

Switch module (rear view).

Rubber cap metal retaining ring.

Rubber cap (front view).

Rubber cap (rear view).

Tail cap (front view).

Tail cap (side view).

Tail cap (rear view).