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The TK 16 V2.0 is what a flashlight upgrade should look like. While maintaining the general size and style of the original, the version 2.0 has upgraded the light in all the best ways. With surprising brightness, excellent features and a larger capacity battery, there isn’t much more the light needs to do to become the perfect EDC tactical light.
Starting off with the brightness, at 3,100 Lumens this light will be bright enough for any activity you chose. The head on the light is a little larger and deeper than your more traditional EDC flashlights, and that gives you a longer throw. It’s not as tight as something like the TK26R, but it’s a great choice for medium-range situations. You trade some of the beam distance for the compact nature of the head, and I think it’s a very good balance of beam throw and overall size.
The body of the light is not too large, just about the same as a PD36R. This holds the 5000mAh battery that allows the bright settings and extended runtime. But the most intriguing aspect of the body size is something most people overlook.
The old TK16 (V1) had a dual-button tail cap, and the TK16 V2.0 keeps that feature. But where they differ is that the old flashlight had to have a dual-layer body to accommodate the two buttons on the back. Instead of using separated electrical pathways to carry the different signals of the buttons, the TK16 V2.0 uses Fenix’s new APF (Advanced Pulse Frequency) system to carry the different signals through the same body connection. It’s nothing short of magic, and I am still trying to figure out how it works. The natural benefit of the APF system is that the body can be much slimmer and hold a bigger battery while maintaining the dual-button tail cap. Not to mention that the 3,100-Lumen output is also a beneficiary of the APF system.
The lighting modes give good options, going from 30 Lumens up to a turbo of 3,100. The high setting of 1,000 Lumens is rated for almost 3 hours of usage, making it a great runtime choice as well. The light lacks an SOS mode, but the strobe is extremely bright and can be activated directly from off by using the mode-selector button. The light does have one oddity, a side-effect of the APF system I believe. When switching between lighting modes, the flashlight goes dark in between the settings. If you constantly switch from high to low this may become annoying, but once you’re in your selected mode it becomes a non-issue.
The buttons on the tail cap are well placed and very smartly designed. The recessed section of the cap for the mode button allows you to turn on the power without accidentally hitting the mode selector. From a tactical perspective, it enables full functionality while holding the light up in your hand, near to your head. This has been proven to be one of the best positions to hold a flashlight in for tactical situations.
On the front there are three tungsten breaking tips, and they are very aggressive. You have to be careful setting the light down headfirst on a table for risk of damaging the wood. I have not tested the head myself, but I have no doubts it could break a car window or mess up an attacker’s face.
The only downsides to this light is that it’s not rechargeable and does not have any battery level indicator. The rechargeable aspect is addressed by the included USB C battery with a port built into the cell, but the battery level indicator would be nice to have. I believe this is due to there being no side-mounted mode button, but it’s still a nice convince that could have improved the light.
Overall, the TK16 V2.0 is almost a perfect light in my opinion. It lives up to the version one, but improves on it in just about every way that it could. It may not be small enough to be your everyday carry, but it’s not far off. Certainly, this is the best definition of a tactical flashlight that Fenix offers right now. If you don’t mind trading a slightly larger head for the extended reach of this flashlight, then don’t hesitate to pick this one up
