That got me curious so I poked around on youtube - yup, it looks like they're being seeded to "influencers"

Release will be at March 30th.

Price at under $150.

PR

The Amaran MX is the older brother of the Amaran M9, with the X in MX standing for 10. With each rendition, we’re always trying to break records and we’re proud to say that we’ve done it again with the MX. Numerous sources have already named the Amaran MX the brightest tiny LED ever. And this news emerged when the Amaran MX was still only a prototype, first hinted at IBC 2017 trade show in Amsterdam.

While the plastic build of the original M9 was designed to be as light and thin as possible, the aircraft aluminum build of the MX is alternatively designed to be as robust and powerful as it can be. This is a tool that we designed for higher end film sets and commercial shoots where the teams are used to throwing around their gear and having multiple hands on the same equipment. The idea was to finally design a high-end and concealable light that large sets and owner-operators alike could use on their shoots.

In addition to providing the most sturdy build we’ve ever made in this size, the metal housing of MX doubles as a highly effective heat-sink—resulting in a light that is not only LED powered, but also silent, without fans and insanely bright. I need to say that last one again. Both the MX and F7 are insanely bright. In fact in their respective sizes and to this date, there is not a commercially viable LED that compares in terms of output.

But just how bright is the MX? It has 128 LEDs packed onto the surface size of a credit card. The Amaran MX is 3x as bright as the already popular Amaran M9. This is also without factoring in the MX’s new BOOSTER function. The BOOSTER function, which can be turned on with the press of a button, gives the operator another 30% push of output on top of the light’s maximum illumination. That means that the MX with BOOSTER mode on is 4x as bright as M9. It should be noted though that this function only lasts for a 60 second duration though. This time limit protects the LED color fidelity, a quality that can fade when a light is stressed for too long. Speaking of color, the Amaran MX bring a key feature that the previous never had. The MX is fully bi-color, built with alternating LEDs that can be adjusted anywhere between 2800k and 6500k. And in terms of color fidelity, the MX falls into the same upper echelon of Aputure Lighting Products. The MX has a TLCI and CRI of 95+.

In terms of battery life and powering solutions, we made the MX as easy to use as possible. One of the most common complaints we hear about cinema equipment is not only about how many pieces there are, but also how easy it can be to lose essential and often extremely niche parts. We designed the MX to simplify all of that. With an internal lithium battery, the MX is a light that requires zero cables or external parts to power it. On a single charge, this battery powers the MX at maximum power for 40 minutes and at minimum power for over 5 hours. To charge the light, it only takes one cable—a standard 5v USB C cable, which is considered by many to be one of the most common cables today. But of course, we give you one too.

In addition to that cable, we include a simple micro-mesh carrying case that’s large enough to hold the light and any other small accessories you may need with it. We also include small pre-cut pieces of velcro so you can begin mounting the MX anywhere you might need it to go. And that’s a key point to mention because at the end of the day and like the Amaran M9, the Amaran MX isn’t designed to fulfill any singular purpose. The Amaran M9 was designed because we had a random customer ask us if Aputure could design a “Lighting Up Index Card”. When we asked him what he intended to use the light for, he didn’t really have a good answer. In fact, he didn’t have one at all. All he said was that he would “figure it out” and “do something cool to do with it.” To this day, we’ve seen Amaran M9's get used all kinds of commercials, films and music videos. I’ve seen it mounted on the bottom of skateboards, behind beer glasses and inside refrigerators. When purchased in bulk, we’ve seen them lined up the inside of ring lights, art exhibits and and British phone booths. Literally everyone we’ve given the light to has "figured it out." And everyday without fail, we see a new Aputure user "doing something cool with it". So as a homage and to pay our respects to that first user with the idea, we still print “Lighting Up” on all of our boxes.

The Amaran MX is available March 30th. Pricing is set to $149.

Our NAB interview, more detailed measurements will be posted below

Amaran MX (Daylight setting), Measurement using CV600, Russian Lab processing

We cover spectrum, color temperature, and all modern color quality standards, including latest 2016 and 2017 years ones.

Never select light based on just CRI number.

Focus on TM30 and CIE 224 and look for color distortion and Rf values.

MX is good light with light quality suitable for videos.

Color temperature

CRI color quality

CQS color quality

TLCI 2012

TM30 color quality

TM30 details

All TM30 color samples Rf values

CIE 224 2017

Our Award

Aputure is quite bad candidate due to how company works.

VK, how does the company work? What do you mean?