aznriptide859 Posted October 11, 2011 Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 (edited) ACM Viridian X5L Laser + Light Module Review by aznriptide859 Table of Contents Introduction Real Steel Background Ordering Externals Function Usage Conclusion Introduction Lasers and lights have always been an awesome addon for airsoft guns and real guns alike; useful in low-light or marking situations, they give any long gun or pistol added functionality. The Viridian X5L LAM has taken a new step in the RS world by offering a LED light along with a green laser in a compact form. Recently China has released a clone; at 1/4 the price of the RS, is it worth the high price for its functionality? Real Steel Background This is all info off the top of my head. www.viridiangreenlaser.com Viridian has been advertising the X5L as a subcompact package of flashlight along with a visible green laser. They argue that green being more visible to the human eye on the light spectrum, that it is inherently easier to aim, spot, and identify targets with a green laser than a red laser (though, any simpleton who's taken high school physics should've figured this out by now). The ACM model is modeled after the V1 X5L (Viridian has since made a even more compact V2 X5L) that works with almost all railed frame pistols. The RS X5L costs $350 on average. Ordering At time of writing I believe only WGCShop, RSOV, and EBB only offer the X5L, ranging from $85-100 in price with shipping; this is an immediate argument against it, as it's one of the more expensive accessories on the market. I got mine from WGC for about $87 sans shipping. The box I received...well, has to be the worst boxing I've seen in a while. No markings, poor box quality, non-sealed. Opening the box, you get nothing but the X5L sitting on a styrofoam square. Stay classy China. Now let's examine this sucker. Externals The external quality on this is nice. The shell is made of some ABS/nylon fusion, as the surface feels a bit grainy. No creaking, build looks solid. Trademarks are 100% there - none of it was damaged in transit. I find it a bit weird the letters seemed to be raised more in the middle of "Viridian" since the big "V" behind it is indented. The right side. The whole unit is pretty light and very compact, so it's guaranteed to fit on a wide variety of pistols. On the back in the recessed area (meant to hold the trigger guard) there is a hidden "X5L" trademark. The LAM is held in via two flathead screws - the rear is in a fixed position, while the front is longitudinally adjustable, to allow for different types of rail systems. The LAM should fit on any railed-framed pistol or just simply 20mm weaver rails. The laser on this unit is up top, and is covered by some simply filter - it serves no performance function. The lower is a smaller CREE LED light - no lumen rating is given, but the RS rates theirs for about 150 lumens. Edited October 11, 2011 by aznriptide859 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aznriptide859 Posted October 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 Function Let's get into the function. First of all, the X5L runs on a CR2 battery - the smaller brother of the CR123A, and extremely pricey (about $5 per piece at your average store). The battery is NOT included - you'll have to get your own. Installation is the exact same as the RS. You will need to twist the bezel of the flashlight module to access the battery installation. Push the bezel down, and twist counterclockwise - the bezel will now look like the below. Now you're able to pull out the entire flashlight unit. The flashlight is entirely separate, and it's where the CR2 battery fits in. It's pretty friggin' small. Now with any laser module elevation and windage adjustments are mandatory - the features are here on the X5L, as would be expected on a $90 replica LAM. The screws are 1.5mm hex/allen, so you'll need the proper tools to adjust them. Windage (on the right of the laser bezel): Elevation (on the bottom of the laser bezel, right above the flashlight bezel): The rear of the X5L has 6 2.0mm hex/allen screws holding on a back cover. There is no need to remove this for normal function, just to observe the logic board if needed. You can see on the bottom how the battery/flashlight module connects to the logic board here. Now the X5L has four functions. If you notice the following pictures, there are four rubber-covered buttons near the rear of the unit to the right of the Viridian logo. These are press-in, constant-on mini switches. On the left side, the top button is for the laser, while the bottom button is for laser + light. On the right side, the top button is for the light, while the bottom button is for the strobe light. The buttons are very easy to press, and click on and off with a distinct feeling/sound. When mounted on a pistol the buttons are very easily in reach, however using the laser and the laser/light button requires left hand manipulation. The laser is VERY bright, and very much more visible than any other red laser I've ever used. I believe the laser is 532nm at 5mV (I could be mistaken), but it emits a very bright green dot indoors/outdoors, and, under the right conditions, a very cool green laser beam during the night. The light itself is very bright as well, however it does not have a very good central focus (something I personally prefer on flashlights). The throw is very good, and has a wide coverage but minimal range - maybe effective up to 50-75ft during the night. Kind of expected from such a small LED and such a small reflector; as expected this light is meant for pistols, so don't expect to use it at night past CQB or enclosed spaces. The strobe function, something I've never bothered to look for on a flashlight, is admittedly a very cool feature. The light will pulse on and off very quickly, which is meant to incapacitate the target - and I must say it is very effective. Definitely a nice touch (as it's on the RS as well), and I could see this being used in CQB very effectively. The laser and light function (the button which turns on the laser and light at the same time) is a bit of a downfall. I found under testing that after a minute of constant on, the light very obviously starts to dim and lose power, until it dims out completely; the laser stays constantly on though. If your battery is at a low voltage, when pressing the button the light doesn't even bother turning on. I'm not sure if this is a bad management of electrical resources, but it seems like the unit cannot keep both on for a sustained amount of time. This is a feature I found on my Wolf Industries M97 LAM as well, so maybe it's an issue with all LAM's, who knows. Usage Now, how's the usage? First, I can proudly say that the X5L mounts to almost every pistol I've thrown at it. KSC P226 Railed Frame w/ X5L: TM Five-Seven w/ X5L (personally I think the X5L looks the best on 5-7's): TM G17 w/ X5L (what I currently use it for): Pressing the buttons is very easy - I use my right index finger for the light and strobelight functions, and my left index finger for the laser and laser/light buttons. The X5L is sturdy and doesn't wobble on all the pistols I've mounted it to, and using it is a blast, especially for quick target acquisition. So far the laser has not lost its setting after constant use on a GBB - it keeps it's aim, which is always a plus for something that so relies on user settings so much. The downside is there are a lack of holsters that fit pistols that fit the X5L (at least hard holsters) past generic general nylon holsters. Viridian makes some, but they are limited to the Glock and some other models that aren't offered in the airsoft world. Conclusion So far I am impressed with this piece - although a bit pricey, it is an excellent quality, great performing, compact light/laser module that will fit on numerous pistols and rail interfaces. At 1/4 the price of the real thing, it reflects the performance of the real Viridian X5L well in a cheaper package, and although only offered in a few places for now, if you want a good LAM unit for a variety of pistols, the ACM X5L is definitely an option you should heavily consider. Pros +Solid build quality +Very effective laser unit +Bright flashlight, great strobe function +Mounts on almost any pistol/20mm rail interface Cons -Battery is not included (also expensive/not easy to find) -Price is a bit high Ending Notes I thank WGC for providing the unit, and thank you for reading this review! Comments/questions are welcome below. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ballistic Tsunami Airsoft Posted October 12, 2011 Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 (edited) Great review. I agree with you that it's a bit pricey. The only things that would stop me from getting this are the green laser, which is banned at my favorite CQB field. Also are there any dedicated holsters made to accept this module. I'm a die hard fan of serpas, safarilands, etc... Again, great review. And dang it looks sexy on all those pistols, especially the FN FiveseveN. Edited October 12, 2011 by Ballistic Tsunami Airsoft Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aznriptide859 Posted October 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2011 Here's a video showing X5L operation: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hwagan Posted October 13, 2011 Report Share Posted October 13, 2011 Nice review man, good to see the price is mostly justified. Looks the nuts on all 3 pistols 'n all. Any chance of a picture on a rifle of some description, assuming it fits? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DesertFox Posted October 14, 2011 Report Share Posted October 14, 2011 "The buttons are very easy to press, and click on and off with a distinct feeling/sound. When mounted on a pistol the buttons are very easily in reach, however using the laser and the laser/light button requires left hand manipulation." On my RS X5L (that I no longer have), you can swap the functionality of the buttons with a combination of long presses (I forgot how to do it). Are you able to do this on the ACM one? I'm guessing it didn't come with any instructions. Can you strobe the laser as well like on the RS? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aznriptide859 Posted October 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2011 Nope, laser cannot be strobed. Could you explain how you changed the functions? I can try but I highly doubt that's possible. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DesertFox Posted October 14, 2011 Report Share Posted October 14, 2011 http://www.viridiangreenlaser.com/manuals/ViridianX5SeriesQuickStartAndManual.pdf Found the manual. See Page 2. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aznriptide859 Posted October 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2011 Nope, can't switch - not surprised anyways. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pkm200901 Posted October 16, 2011 Report Share Posted October 16, 2011 is it possible to swap the bulb without much effort? or install a lens filter? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shardik Posted October 16, 2011 Report Share Posted October 16, 2011 Have you ever owned a simmilar style light made by G&P to compare it too? Brightness wise. I want one of these but I need to know how powerful the light can be, it will be used for CQB see. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aznriptide859 Posted October 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2011 is it possible to swap the bulb without much effort? or install a lens filter? No, unfortunately. The bulb is a CREE LED, which is soldered to a board. Interestingly enough Viridian sells a replacement flashlight module (the entire battery case) for $80 (!!), that seems to be the only "replacement" option out there. Have you ever owned a simmilar style light made by G&P to compare it too? Brightness wise. I want one of these but I need to know how powerful the light can be, it will be used for CQB see. Unfortunately I don't have a 6P-type light with me anymore, but it is definitely very blinding. However the light is not centralized - the throw is not very car, and thus mainly can just illuminate a room rather than focus all the light on one target (like my Insight XML light does). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kojak Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 Mine showed up this weekend, from PX airsoft. A few observations: PX packed my order well in a cardboard box with bubble wrap, but the X5L was in a small Ziploc bag with the LED unit/battery holder removed, no instructions or anything else. On the bright side, a battery was installed either at the factory or by PX. The LED casts tons of light for such a wide spread and tiny size. The strobe feature is fun. The laser is significantly brighter than my other green ones. Very easy to pick up in bright sunshine, and absolutely dazzling at night. Unlike other airsoft combo units I've had, the light and laser are just as bright in tandem as they are alone. We were fooling around with it in the staging area of a local field at dusk, and everyone who saw it wanted one. Most of my notoriously cheap teammates felt it was well worth a Benjamin. The switches are really tiny. It's a shame that righties like me cannot draw and activate the laser with one hand, but I knew that going in. My unit did not have issues with dimming when using the laser+light feature. This could possibly be battery related; IIRC flashlights don't like lithium batteries? It was pretty difficult to mount on my KSC G18, the slot for the mounting screw had to be pried into position. It fit very well in a Crye Gun Clip (KSC and Marui Glock GBBs do NOT properly lock into the Gun Clip despite what you may have heard. I personally would never carry one without a LAM or light installed to keep it from falling out). I did have one major issue: the switch for "laser only" was not properly soldered to the board; I removed the back cover and it fell right out. I'm not great with soldering irons so I just set it aside for now, the other three functions work fine. Also, if you remove the back cover be careful when replacing the hex screws. There's lots of resistance, so you can't tell by feel when they're seated--I wound up embedding the first one deep into the plastic cover before I noticed. To summarize, I'm not thrilled that mine showed up broken but it's still pretty cool. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aznriptide859 Posted November 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 Seems QC on these things suck a LOT, but glad you like yours. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shardik Posted January 22, 2012 Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 Where can toy buy these now? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aznriptide859 Posted January 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 Last I checked WGC and PX-Airsoft sold them, RSOV maybe as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kojak Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 I strongly suggest looking for a used real one first; quality issues aside I would really like the ability to reassign the button functions. To add to my previous assessment, there's something off about the battery consumption. The flashlight begins to dim after about one minute of use with a fresh battery, and the light+laser function becomes laser only almost immediately. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aznriptide859 Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 ^What he said, the battery consumption is pretty annoying. And yes a few days ago I found a RS Gen1 X5L for around $50...if you can get a real one for that price, go ahead with that instead of the ACM one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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