When AceTech released their first muzzle flash imitation tracer unit, the Chinese were surprisingly quick to respond with their own copy. I got the tracer unit itself from AliExpress, supposedly directly from the manufacturer's shop. According to the experiences shared, there were mostly positive reviews of the tracer unit, which was also very reasonably priced. I ordered a copy, which I received relatively quickly (within 2 weeks). At the time of purchase, muzzle flash imitation tracers seemed quite new, so it was with great anticipation, but a little trepidation, that I began this test.

The tracer unit arrived in a cardboard box, which turned out quite spectacular. In the box is the tracer, a description, a charging cable and a 14 CCW plus a 10 CCW thread adapter for the tracer unit. The box has lots of labels and essential information about the contents, which stayed nicely protected during the journey.

 The tracer unit is a compact unit, which looks better on a pistol or inside other, larger tracer units. Its black paint was thick, matte and sufficiently durable. It bears inscriptions, with the Noveske Pig on one side and the product name on the other side, accompanied by a large manufacturing location inscription. Here is a serial number, although I have suspicions about it being a unique number. The Noveske Pig imitation has turned out quite a nice paint job, while the one on the other side is a bit obnoxious and flashy - I wouldn't have minded if the 'Made In China' and 'Tracer' inscriptions hadn't been added. There are two grooves at the end of the tracer body, which add a minimal design bonus to the tracer's appearance. On the front are three notches with a plexiglass cover. The LED behind the plexiglass is slightly visible here, although somewhat in a somewhat distorted manner. The LEDs are thus given a minimum of protection from the front.

When the unit is disassembled, we can see that the interior is fixed in a similar way to the xCortech XT501. The printed circuit board part of the tracer was screwed via small spacer pillars, onto which the rest of the tracer's interior was soldered and clipped onto, also from PCB. This created a space- saving and minimalist solution. And in the middle of the tracer, a plexiglass cylinder guides the BB towards the mouth. A LiPo battery is built into the tracer unit, to which a connector has been added, and the battery is secured with kapton tape (heat-resistant adhesive tape in the electronics industry).

Basically, the electronics use an infrared solution. In the pictures, you can see the infrared transmitter (purple LED) towards the centre of the tracer and the infrared receiver beyond it. As the BB covers the infrared, it turns on the UV LEDs. Here, a 3030 encapsulated UV LED with lens is used again. The brightness is surprisingly good. From the front, 3030 encapsulation lensed white LEDs are used for the muzzle flash effect, there are three of them. The brightness of these is also amply sufficient. I was concerned to note that there was an extra wire between the PCB pieces of the tracer unit, which suggested that some sort of retrofit had been made to the tracer - either to bypass a design flaw or as a solution to a manufacturing error. This wire soldering did not turn out very pretty, nor was it encouraging. Moreover, during the first tests, the tracer did not even turn on.

The first thing I did was to charge it. For which I got a faint green LED on the power button. Its brightness and light intensity made me worry, but I left the unit charging. After a few hours there was no change, so I took the unit off charge and tried to turn it on. Unfortunately it was not successful. I put the unit on the charger again, during which I was able to turn it on, but I was unable to turn it on in any other way, from the battery power. I then dismantled the tracer and took the internal photos; the internal battery was damaged. So the first thing I did was to order a replacement battery, a task I easily overcame because of my job in the electronics industry. I ordered a new battery, crimp-on battery connectors and crimps, and replaced the battery with the parts I had received. Finally after charging I could use the tracer module on a gun, not just using a USB cable.

The tracer was able to charge up the BBs with a nice brightness, creating visible and pronounced green stripes even in dim light. The muzzle flash gave a very atmospheric effect, plus you can switch between tracer+ muzzle flash, tracer only and muzzle flash only modes by pressing the power button for a longer period of time. One full game of Airsoft Arena (local CQB field) was no match for the tracer, which was able to go through with one charge. However, later on when I went out for a full day of outdoor play, I couldn't use the tracer anymore. As it turns out, for some reason, there is such a power draw on the unit that it drains the battery even when off - in fact, it over-discharges it. So unfortunately, the battery has to be disconnected after use because the cell would be permanently discharged beyond repair, causing me to run into an unpleasant single-use battery problem every time.

Seeing user reviews later, it seems that others didn't have the same experience as me. As expected, I received a poorly made piece - which is annoying. I bought it very near the release of the tracer unit, by the way. Since then, there have been a number of similarly compact units on the market that are significantly better quality - the 5KU Spitfire unit, for example, is light years better. In my case, I ended up with an LCT PBS-1 tracer unit, which was larger and had room for more batteries - so it was a good fix for that flaw.

If I had to recommend it, I would definitely recommend buying a slightly better quality tracer unit from a reliable source. When I was shopping, the tracer unit cost ~20-25 EUR - now it can be obtained from AliExpress for around ~30-35 EUR.

Text: Batmause
Photos: Batmause
Translation: Yssomru