I love toys and gadgets of all kinds, but any guy will admit they love lasers, they’re just so cool. Lasers conjure up images of Star Wars and other sci-fi things, and I’m not talking about your $5 red laser pointer that you got at the bargain store. I’m talking about real lasers that cost quite a bit more, those that can be seen for literally dozens of miles, those that actually burn things, the kind that can be used actually as a non-lethal weapon. Wicked Lasers is a company that makes such lasers, these are not toys, these are real lasers that can be used for many things, a while ago I took a look at one of their Elite Series of lasers, today I’ve got their flagship model, their most powerful laser to date.

The Spyder II GX Green Laser from Wicked Lasers is quite possibly the most powerful hand held laser in the world, and that’s saying quite a bit really. The Spyder resembles a small flashlight and it’s much larger than a common laser pointer, this is because it’s a constant on type of laser, meaning you can run this laser full time until the battery runs out, unlike other lasers where they need time to cool down, the reason the Spyder can do this is because of the integrated cooling system, inside of it. When you purchase the Spyder not only do you get the laser, but you get a charge, two batteries and even safety goggles.

So, read on to check out several pictures and a few videos of the Spyder II GX.

First up of we’ve got the unboxing video for you, check that out and move on to the still pictures:

 

I mention in the video that charge time was 10 hours, that’s what it says in the manual, yes it takes that long the first time, the other times I recharged the batteries it didn’t take more than an hour. Then again the batteries were not fully drained either, I swapped batteries when the laser was noticeably dimmer, which I’m thinking that most people would do anyway. So charge time really isn’t the 10 hours as I mentioned, I was just reading from the manual to get that information, as it was an unboxing, I didn’t do anything other than check the contents to be sure it was all there.

The Spyder II GX is nicely packaged, the box is a very well padded presentation style box or case really.

As you saw in the video several things comes with the Spyder II GX, two batteries, charger including wall plug, manual, safety goggles, case for them and a cleaning cloth as well.

The Spyder II GX is very well made, even without the batteries installed it’s fairly heavy, you can feel the quality craftsmanship that went into creating this, it definitely feels like a high end product.

 

The power button is located on the end cap, it is a push button, constant on style, so push to turn on and then push again to turn off, it give an audible click when pushed. The end cap is removable to put the batteries in.

Specifications:

Wicked Lasers Spyder II GX Green Laser

The best just got better. The new military-grade Spyder II GX is encased in a lightweight 6061-T6 aerospace aluminum shell. The laser body is Military Type III black anodized to protect against scratches. All Spyder II lasers are airtight and water resistant, making it the perfect tool for tactical applications. The Spyder II GX is a wicked masterpiece showcasing Wicked Lasers’ revolutionary Tesla cooling technology.
The Spyder II GX laser is designed to operate under the most demanding of conditions, and is the first portable laser equipped with thermoelectric cooling. With a 100% duty cycle, the Spyder II GX has the most burning and beam visibility capabilities Wicked Lasers has to offer. Powered by a single 18650 high capacity lithium battery, the Spyder II GX is visible for hundreds of miles, and is a glimpse into the future of green laser technology.

The Spyder II laser unit comes with a pair of Green 532nm LaserShades, two LI-ION 18650 batteries and a universal LI_ION charger.

Batteries and charger are sent separately via EMS. Spyder II laser unit and LaserShades are sent via UPS Worldwide Express.

Specs:
Name:  Spyder II GX
Size: 210mm x 26mm
Weight: 240g
Wavelength: 532nm
Laser Body: 6061-T6 Aircraft-Grade Aluminum
Laser Finish: Mil-Spec Type III hard anodized in black
Transverse Mode: TEM00
Output Power: 200-300mW
Beam Divergence: 0.5mRad-0.8mRad
Beam Diameter: 1.5mm-2.0mm
Power Consumption: 1150mA
Power supply: Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery Type 18650 (batteries and charger included)
Battery Lifetime: 60 min
Switch:     Push Button Constant On / Off, Lock-Out Tail Cap
Duty Cycle: Continuous
Expected lifetime:     >5,000 hours
Warranty: 6 months

Price: $1699.99

What would a review of this kind be without having some fun right? Of course if you’re got a laser like this then it’s a given that you’ve got to burn things, and remember kids, don’t try this at home!

I’ve got two videos for you, one is lighting a pack of matches from about one foot away, almost as soon as the laser hits the match heads they start to smoke, a few seconds later they ignite:

 

So as you can see this laser is hot, shine this on your arm and a few seconds later you’ll feel the pain, this is not a toy at all, though my kids and cats think so. My wife jokes that I’m disinfecting the floor while I’m playing with the cats…

This next video is just showing brightness of the Spyder II GX and I compared it to the Elite Series I’ve got as well:

 

The video does not really depict just how bright this things is all that well, I’m guessing it’s because the camera automatically adjusts to bright light, but the Spyder II GX will easily light up a dark room, especially if you hit a light colored or, better yet, white surface.

I was going to say that the battery lifetime of 60 minutes is a bit short, but my StreamLight rechargeable flashlight has about that much run time, so really 60 minutes isn’t too bad overall, especially if you consider that you’ve got two batteries included.

Now here’s some pictures of the laser as well for you, funny thing here, I had the Spyder II GX sitting on my desk for these pictures, maybe three minutes, I hadn’t realized that the laser was hitting my dining room table which is about 10 feet away, next thing I know I smell something burning and look to see my wooden dining room table was starting to smoke where the laser was hitting it, anyway, here’s some pictures, and you can see the red LED in there as well:

 

As I mentioned I’ve also got the Wicked Lasers Elite Series (review HERE) as well, and one of the downfalls to that laser is that it’s not a constant on device it’s 100 seconds on, 10 seconds off to allow it to cool down, now with the Spyder II GX and it’s built in heatsink it can be used continuously for the entire life of the battery. 10 seconds might not seem like much, but for those of us that like to play with our lasers,well, we don’t want to turn it off for those 10 seconds. The Spyder II GX does get warm after several minutes, but not uncomfortably so, it’s to be expected from something like this really.

The build quality of the Spyder II GX is second to none, this thing is extremely well made, when I first took it out of the box I was very impressed by it, as was my brother who was here when it arrived.

The nice thing about this laser is that it’s a sealed system basically, unless of course you take the cap off to put batteries in, but there’s a rubber O ring in the end cap that seals out water and dust, it’s just below the threads on the body of the Spyder.

Having two batteries is nice as well, and the included Laser Shades really work, they make the green dot much more defined and tone down the brightness to protect your eyes. The only downside to the goggles is that you can’t see the beam anymore, and that’s like the best part, you just can’t help picking this thing up and pretending it’s a lightsaber!

Yes, the Spyder II GX is an excellent product, and it’s much, much brighter than the Elite Series that I own, but I have to say honestly I was a tiny bit disappointed by it, I really was expected something much more powerful, but as is it’s a great product overall.

The cost, well coming in at $1,699.99 makes it a bit expensive and out of reach for a lot of people really, but if you’ve got a need for something like this and the money, then I think it’s well worth it, you’re probably not going to find a better made hand held laser on the market today.

Conclusion:
The Spyder II GX is the culmination of a desire by a company to make the perfect hand held laser, and they have succeeded in doing that. The Spyder II GX will meet and exceed all of your expectations for build quality and performance.

Wicked Lasers has created what is possibly the most powerful hand held laser in the world and I can say that I’m proud to own one.

 

Pros:
Very bright
Includes two batteries
Includes Laser Shades protective goggles
Waterproof, dust proof
Hot laser
Extremely well made
Constant on time
Very powerful

Cons:
Expensive
Long initial charge time

Grades:
Overall
Design
Performance