A few months back, I wrote an article reviewing the cheapest red dot I could find on Amazon. To the surprise of no one, it sucked. Other than the dot being surprisingly crisp, it was best used for airsoft. I decided to return to the well of cheap crap and Amazon, this time looking to find the cheapest handgun light on Amazon. For the price of 11.99, I got the IXF2021 weapon light.
My rules were the same as they were before. It had to be advertised to be used on real weapons. If it was advertised for airsoft for BB guns, it didn’t make the list. The first I came across that advertised itself for a real firearm cost only 11.99. The IXF2021 brags about its all-aluminum design and its 600 lumens of power. It comes in a simple cardboard box decorated as if it was a map. Inside, it comes with two generic rechargeable batteries and a charger.
Admittedly, my first impression isn’t great. The charger feels cheap and crappy, and the batteries don’t inspire confidence. They might double as fire starters, and I’m curious what would happen if I tossed a real battery in this thing. Let’s get the batteries charged and see if the IXF2021 was worth the 11.99.
The IXF2021 – To the Moon
The charger doesn’t inspire confidence, but I dropped the battery in the charger and plugged it in. I got three red LEDs, and with a lack of directions included, I assumed this meant the batteries were charging. Ten hours later, they were still red, so I adjusted the battery, and they flipped to green. Again, confidence wasn’t high. With a charged battery, I attempted to install the light on a gun.
It turned out to be way too tight for every gun I had except for the Glock rail. Even then, it was tight enough it shaved off a little polymer as I shoved it on. The release is a spring-loaded design that is pressed down to install and remove. A small hump on the release locks onto your rail.
The controls consist of a switch on each side of the light. Press it one way, and it turns on; press it the other, and it shuts off. The light cycles between two modes. Standard on and strobe. Momentary is a pipe dream with the IXF2021. It also has this neat mode where you don’t even need the buttons.
Shake the gun and light, and sometimes, it will magically come on! Who doesn’t love a truly wireless and press-button design? I’m sure it’s totally not an issue with the light being a piece of crap.
The Power
Six hundred lumens isn’t a ton of power, but it’s respectable for 11.99. I don’t have any professional equipment to test the lumens, but I can tell you right now that it’s not a 600-lumen light. It’s pitiful, maybe 200 lumens on a good day. I have a penlight from 5.11 Tactical that’s brighter and shines further than the IXF2021. It’s a joke of power.
Not only is the power weak and limited, but it also dims rapidly and might flare up here and there. The light dies, ignites, and dies again. It’s a total piece of crap, to the surprise of no one. Battery life seems to be 10 minutes or so at full power, which makes me feel the batteries aren’t really 3600 MAH.
Just for fun, I decided to drop-test it. I don’t know how to break this to everyone, but the IXF2021 did not survive the fall. The first fall. It just doesn’t come on reliably anymore. However, sometimes, if you really believe and you get a sprinkle of magic, then it fires up! The IXF2021 is all of 11.99, and it shows.
