Category: Flashlight Reviews

Posted on

Xtar X4 4 Bay Battery Charger Review

Xtar has a new charger on the market the X4. I previously looked at the X2 but today I have a review of the X4, the 4 bay version. It’s capable of 4A and capable of charging Li-ion and Ni-MH batteries, with AC or 5V MicroUSB Power. Thanks to Xtar for sending this to me to test and review.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/E6G69Ki

YouTube version of this Review:

Packaging

The packaging is a white retail box with a gloss photo of the X4 on the front. The sides list a few key features such as the charging speed, Inputs, LCD display, the chemistries and sizes of batteries that are supported. The back gives more specifications and features of the charger. It contains a scratch off anti counterfeit sticker and is insured worldwide. The package contains the charger, AC power cable, and the manual.

Construction

The Xtar X4 charger is a 4 bay charger that can accommodate most common battery sizes. I had no trouble with all 18650’s, it will fit 4x 26650, and I didn’t have any issues with an unprotected 21700. Smaller batteries were ok too, 18350, AAA, etc. It will not charge a protected 21700 battery. The metal sliders are fairly smooth and have enough tension on them to hold a battery securely.

The body of the charger is a black ABS plastic that is heat and flame retardant, and is kind of in an X configuration, in outside appearance. There isn’t a fan in this charger meaning it’s silent, and I didn’t notice it get very warm during use. There is one button on the top, middle near the screen that when held turns the screen off, for night time charging if you wish.

I took some photos of the inside of the charger here. I am not a circuit engineer but to me it looks decent. Quality of the solder joints look good, A few components are not 100% squarely placed but not bad either. I don’t see any cold joints or things that I am alarmed about. If you see something you are concerned about, make sure to leave a comment. I suspect the second contact further down the slot is used in the detection of the battery as well.

Screen

The screen is a LCD with a dark black background and white text that’s tinted blue with a blue backlight. On each bay you get a 0-100% indicator showing what percentage the battery is at, on the top right corner you get the current voltage, below that you get the charge rate, below that in the center you get the mAh that’s been put into the cell since the start of charging, and lastly on the bottom left hand corner you get the cell chemistry that’s been detected. The screen is easy to read and I had no complaints about it. It does time out after a few minutes, you can press the button to wake it up.

Performance

Performance of the X4 is similar to the X2 but faster. The X4 will charge at up to 1A for all 4 slots or 2A on the outer slots if they are used solo. The charger has reverse polarity detection and didn’t charge batteries when they were placed in backwards. Battery chemistry was correctly identified, when you place a new cell in it takes a few seconds for it to go through detection and begin charging. Depending on the battery voltage the charger will apply the proper charge for most cells.

I tried a variety of cells, all the way from 21700’s, 26650, 18350, and of course 18650’s. I had no complaints about Lithium ion charging. It will not charge protected 21700s. I do have a little complain on NiMH charging of AAA cells though. It detected my Duracell AAA batteries here as the proper chemistry but charged them at 1A each. While not terrible, it’s faster than I like to charge them, and I can’t decrease the charge rate with this charger.

Terminating Voltage for a 18650 cell was 4.16V

Terminating Voltage for a AA NiHM was  1.42V

Terminating voltages as you can see from above were lower then what I would expect to see. I probably need a larger sample size of cells and chargers to see if this is a problem with just my example of the charger or an issue with my batteries.

The charger has 0V activation (Although this is generally not recommended for batteries with a Lithium chemistry). For  charging it has a 3 step process TC-CC-CV with soft start technology. This helps with overall battery longevity and long term health. I had no problems with excess heat during use of the charger.

 

USB PowerBank Function

The charger also has a powerbank function on slot 4. If no incoming power is put into the charger and you put a lithium battery into slot 4, the charger will go into powerbank mode. Plug a USB-A cable into the charger and then plug in your device to charge and it’s that simple. It’s not a feature I use often but it’s nice to have if needed.

 

Pro’s

  • All automatic, this make the charger very easy to use but doesn’t give enthusiasts any options on what speed to charge the batteries at. Default settings are generally conservative, which is safe.
  • AC Power via a fairly standard cable. The charger is compatible with 120/240v so it’s safe for international use. It can also be powered via MicroUSB.
  • Affordable, at US retailers it’s coming around $25-30 generally

 

Con’s

  • I would like to see the USB input be in USB-C over MicroUSB because it’s 2019.
  • Terminating voltages seemed to be a little low
  • A little high charge rate of 1A for AAA NiHM batteries.
  • A total of only 4A total charge rate is a little slow for a 4 bay charger.

 

Conclusion

The Xtar X4 is a nice updated charger from Xtar at a pretty affordable price. I have been a fan of Xtar chargers because they are a good value and provide a quality, safe charging experience. I was a fan of the X2 and am also a fan of the X4.

 

A total of 4A charge rate between all 4 bays is a little slow when charging 4x 18650 or larger batteries. Most larger modern batteries can easily take 2A charging speed. That said it’s an upgrade over Xtar’s previous 4 bay model the VC4 that I still end up using a fair amount. It would just be nice to see the X4 do a total of 8A but this might make it a little less easy to use with then having options to select. Maybe that’s for a future product, to offer enthusiasts more options and higher charge rates. Time will tell if this holds true or not. Until then the X4 does a nice job at a pretty affordable price.

More Information on the Xtar X4 Charger  can be found at: http://www.xtar.cc/cdq/AC_Power_Series/2018/1116/292.html

Pick up an Xtar X4 at Illumn or Amazon.

Posted on

Brinyte WT-01 Prototype Review (SST-40, Qi Wireless Charging)

Wireless charging is popular on many mobile devices these days, but most of the rechargeable flashlights have either a cable you need to plug in or a magnetic charger. Brinyte has come up with a flashlight that uses inductive charging to charge up the light. Today I have a prototype version of the Brinyte WT01. Thanks to them for sending it to me to take a look at.

 

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/Yhdc5Co

YouTube Version of this Review:

Packaging

With my light being a prototype the packaging was not anything near final form. It was a sturdy brown cardboard box. Accessories included the light itself, unbranded generic 3000mAh protected button top 18650 battery, Generic international 2A AC USB adapter with US adapter plug, Charging cradle and microUSB cable.

Construction & Design

The light is made from aluminum, and will be offered in a sand and black anodizing. My prototype was in the Sand color and unfortunately it’s paint and not anodizing. The result is it’s not a very durable finish. I have been assured that in the production version this will be a hard anodizing.

As far as design it’s a larger light. It’s capable of using a 18650 battery with the included spacer or a 26650. Starting at the tail cap, it’s a bit large, and simple. It tail stands nicely. The tail cap is glued in place. On the body tube there is a slight ring to do a cigar grip on. Moving on to the body tube, there are rings milled in and then 4 flats milled in. On my example these flats don’t always line up with the switch which is a little disappointing.

Inside this is a double wall design, threads on the body tube are fine and square cut cut, I would prefer something a bit more course to make it a little easier to thread on and minimize the risk of cross threading. One thing that does happen is when you take off the head and put it back on the light does come on in low mode. There are springs on both the head and tail of the light.

The head of the light itself is pretty smooth, with minimal heat syncing. The switch is electronic and covered by a green silicone cover. It has green and red LED’s under used when charging. The front bezel is smooth, and able to be unscrewed. The glass lens is anti reflective coated. Underneath is a deep smooth reflector and the LED is nicely centered.

Size and Weight

I measured overall length at 156mm, width at its widest point was 45mm, and at it’s thinnest point 33mm. Weight with the included battery is 313g

While this light is capable of running at 26650 battery and double wall construction it just feels a bit long and a bit thick. The tailcap adds to the length.

LED/Runtime

SST-40 LED with deep smooth reflector that’s a fairly neutral white. The SST-40 is a pretty good LED in my opinion. It doesn’t seem to suffer noticeable rainbow but it does seem to turn a bit more green a lower power inputs. The beam is more of a thrower. It has a small hot center, with a small area around that center of corona before it fades into the spill.

Runtimes

I did my runtime testing with the included 3000mAh generic button top protected battery the light came with. Total runtime was just at 100 minutes of usable light. It did do a pretty good job of being able to sustain it’s brightest mode for almost 20 minutes.

UI

UI on this light is non traditional but not complicated. It has 4 output modes of constant light and starts at high, then decreases to medium, then low, each time the button is pressed then off. Press the power button again and you get turbo, then it steps down through all the lower modes. The mode spacing is pretty even to the eye.

Brinyte lists outputs as:

Turbo 1100 Lumens

High 430 Lumens

Medium 70 Lumens

Low 10 Lumens

Strobe and SOS 1100 Lumens

Long press for 2 seconds to reach the 2 blinking modes of Strobe and SOS. To go back to constant on mode you have to go through both blinking modes and the light will resume to where you left off. There were no No shortcuts to go to turbo or to shut off

Light does come on in low if you disconnect the head and reconnect it with a battery inside.

Recharging

This light uses wireless inductive charging in it’s cradle. The cradle is pretty basic, no instruction or lights on it, just a microUSB port. It appears to be using Qi charging, because my Anker Qi chargers recognize the light and it goes through a sequence where it starts to charge but then stops. My guess this is because the inductive coils are not oriented correctly. My guess would be these run around the tail cap and are not on the flat where they would be for a phone typically. The cradle draws 0.2A (about 1W) on standby regardless of if it’s charging or not which is kind of high.

When charging the flashlight has a Red LED inside the button that comes on and it goes green when fully charged. I observed a 1.2A charging rate during charging, so a flat battery took 3 hours and 30 minutes to fully charge. The charging curve was pretty flat, not the usual taper. At the end I measured cell voltage at 4.17V. I will insert a photo of what I found overall capacity of the cell was at when I put it through a capacity test.

One other feature I noticed when recharging this light was that when you pull it off the charger it automatically comes on in low mode, or if the power is stopped to the charger. I could see this being useful for use if your house were to lose mains power and it would help you locate the light.

Pro

  • SST-40 LED, Fairly neutral white, solid beam performance
  • I like that colors are being offered from the beginning. Hopefully the anodizing will be more durable.
  • Nice to see someone try inductive charging on a flashlight.

 

Con

  • It’s a chunky light, and personally I don’t find it very attractive.
  • Recharging cradle draws 0.20a (About 1W) on standby regardless of if it’s charging or not. Kind of high.
  • UI is just different I would like to long press to turn off, and double click to go to turbo, maybe triple click to go to strobe.

 

Conclusion

I like the idea of wireless charging that doesn’t have exposed contacts but not if the cost is a larger light. Design wise I feel like the light is just a bit too generic and large for me. I don’t love that the tail cap is glued in place, but understand why they are doing it. I would like to see them go back to the drawing board and try to reduce the overall size of the light and add some more interesting design features.

 

With the emergency power type of feature I think I will set this light on my kitchen counter in it’s charging cradle so that if the power goes off it will automatically come on and can easily be found. I would like to see at the minimum a UI tweak to allow you to shut off the light without cycling all the way through the other modes.

 

It’s fun taking a look at a prototype light, let’s see if Brinyte makes any changes to the production version before I can say definitely if I give it a recommendation or not.

Posted on

Quadhands Deluxe Helping Hands System Review

I have been doing some flashlight repair recently and was tired of getting burned hand holding or propping up very small wires, on very small drivers and springs. I was looking at “Helping Hands” solutions on Amazon and just didn’t want to pay some of the higher prices for the quality flexible systems from the industry vendors like Panavise and I didn’t want something light and flimsy. I reached out to Quadhands to see if they would be interested in sending me one to take a look at and they agreed. Thanks to Mark at Quadhands for the support, I think he might be interested in the flashlight hobby now after talking too.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/az3yl4W

YouTube Version of this Review:

Packaging

Packaging is plain but functional on my Quadhands Deluxe. It’s a sturdy cardboard box and all of the individual pieces were wrapped up in bubble wrap to prevent any scratching or rubbing during transport. No assembly or manual was required.

Construction

The heart of this work holding is the 5lbs, 5mm thick steel plate that’s powder coated bright yellow. On the Deluxe kid like I have it’s 8.5” x 11” base, this is really a great size for smaller flashlight project and most larger electronics type projects as well. It gives you plenty of space to work around, and allows you to space out the 5 arms to get things positioned just right. On the bottom you have 4 fairly large rubber feet that keep it in place, on a variety of surfaces. The powder coating is a great choice here over paint because it’s more durable and can better tolerate heat if your soldering iron makes contact or a blob of solder falls onto it.

The deluxe kit came with 5 of the all metal magnetic arms. You get two 8” arms measured tip to tip, one 12” arm, and two 16” arms. The arms are black in color and are made of flexible metal painted a matt black. They are capable of bending in all directions, up, down and all 360 degrees. Each have an alligator style stainless steel clip to hold your wires, components and circuit boards. In addition to that each has a small knurled wheel made from a black nylon behind the clip that allows you to loosen the clip, to rotate it to the exact angle you need and then tighten it down. For me this was a 2 handed operation to get it just right. There is a little bit of spring back on more extreme bends, this can be a little annoying if you are holding a wire to a small pad to solder but I found moving the arm further away to make less of an extreme bend fixes this most of the time.

The arms have made an improvement over previous generations with exposed magnets. Now they are using a thin slick piece of slick plastic on the bottom to allow  the arms to slide around with no visible scratching while still holding strong. These are very strong rare earth N57 magnets. One of the arms can easily pick up the entire 5lb steel plate, and more.

How it works in practice

I used this most recently to replace some wires on a flashlight driver that had come off due to an impact it suffered. I found the shorter arms for me worked better to hold the circuit board. I held the small board with 2 short arms and then used a third to hold the wire and then held the iron and solder in my two hands. I have done this job before without the Quadhands helping hands system and the result often times was slightly burnt fingers.

I can think of a few improvements that they could implement as addons or different kits. Different size alligator clips could come in handy, even better if they were swapped on and off, I could also see maybe a multi head design to allow you to hold a clip and an electronics or multimeter probe. Maybe offer a heavier duty arm that was threaded with a ¼ 20 thread the popular size for camera tripods and flashlights would open up some cool ideas too for testing or filming with a gopro during testing etc.

Conclusion

The Quadhands workholding helping hands system is a really great option to hold your small PCB’s while soldering or doing other fine work. For a flashlight enthusiast and electronics builders this is a really nice option. I love that it’s made in the USA, and has makers that are easy to get a hold of. It really does work well for small soldering work, and foresee this meeting my needs for a long time. I think this is something that would fall into that buy it for life category and it’s all at an affordable price.

 

Quadhands Website https://www.quadhands.com/

Quadhands Deluxe on Amazon https://amzn.to/2JAaZQJ

Posted on

Haikelite Q30 Review (12,000 lumens?)

Today I have the Haikelite Q30 triple LED Quad battery soda can style flood light to take a look at. This light has some interesting things about it that I will talk about here today. Thanks for Banggood for sending this to me to take a look at.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/WuBQgVV

YouTube Version of this Review:

Packaging

The light comes in a pretty generic cardboard box that folds out from the top. It has a simple Haikelite sticker on the top and nothing else. Inside the light came in bubble wrap. You get a sheet of paper product descriptions and then on the other side you get the UI instructions. Accessories include 2 spare large red o’rings, a large green lanyard with a quick disconnect and a threaded loop insert as a place to attach the lanyard. One note about the lanyard is the part that actually attaches to the light is pretty thin material, I would recommend just using paracord instead the loop is large enough.

 

Construction

Th Q30 is made from aluminum and then hard anodized black. The tail cap is one piece with a flat bottom for excellent tail standing capabilities, it is removable which exposes the rear circuit board which has 2 springs and 2 brass disks that are surrounded by a rubber cap. The rubber donut is done for safety to prevent the use of flat top batteries, you can remove them if you with and the light will work with flat tops it’s just not recommended. The mid section has fairly shallow knurling that doesn’t provide a ton of grip. Threads on both ends are finely cut square threads. The body tube with end cap are their own unit. It mates to the head of the light by screwing on. Inside the head there is a single large diameter spring that makes contact with the body assembly creating one light.

 

The head steps up in diameter and features lots of mill work in the sides for appearance and cooling reasons. In the center there is a large brightly anodized blue button and ring. The button sits on a translucent silicone dome with small indicator LED’s under. The button is a little mushy and can be moved left or right. It reminds me of a joystick. At the front you have a polished stainless steel reflector in front of a piece of anti reflective coated glass. The reflector has a satin orange peel and is split into 3 section for each of the LED.

 

Size/Weight

I measured overall length at 134mm, maximum diameter at 66mm, and minimum diameter at 50mm.

Weight with 3 Samsung 30Q batteries is 670g.

 

Below are some images comparing it to the Sofirn Q8

 

LED/Runtime/Beamshots

The LED’s on this light are a bit of an unknown officially. On the product description they are only listed as a “7070” LED. On the inside of the tail cap of the light the circuit board says XHP 70, and they do look pretty similar to images of those that I see online. The LED has a large dome and you can see the 4 individual emitters under each. The beam is mostly a flood, with a slight hot center. You can also see 3 lines coming off of the beam as reflections of the beam dividers.  The light has the following mode spacings. 10 lumens, 500 lumens, 2500 lumens, 5000 lumens, and 12,000 lumens.

 

Runtime

For runtime this light ran on turbo for just about 2 minutes before stepping down significantly due to heat. The bulk of the total 150 minutes of runtime on the Samsung 30Q batteries I used was at about 25% relative output. While that seems like not very much, keep in mind this light is claimed to produce 12,000 lumens. This runtime ran for 135 minutes in a linear decline. At the end the light will kick up for the final 10 minutes and quickly ramp down before low voltage protection kicks in and the light shuts off. It would be nice to see a bit of flashing out of the main emitter to know you were at the end.

UI

The light has a hidden moon light mode that can be accessed by long pressing the button when in off. Normal modes once the light are on, can be accessed with a long press and the light will begin to cycle and you can stop in the one you want, and you have 4 normal brightness levels. Tubo is not a part of these normal modes, to access turbo double click from anywhere when on. Double click again when in turbo to access strobe. Both Turbo and strobe are able to be memorized but the instructions are not clear how this this is done.

 

The light has electronic lockout but with most of these lights I prefer mechanically locking out the light by just giving the body tube a slight turn to break connection. I find it to be easier and more reliable.

 

The switch does act as a battery indicator, however the manual states it’s a green LED but on mine it’s a blue LED under the switch. Above 50% power the LED is on constant under the switch. Between 50% and 9% it starts to blink every 2 seconds, and below 9% the light will step down to moonlight to conserve energy.

 

Pro

  • Seems to be made well without any machining problems.
  • It’s big and heavy but that’s what you expect in this type of light
  • Minimal branding
  • Tripod mount!

 

Con

  • Unknown LED’s but they seem to be cooler neutral white.
  • While the eye is not a good measurement of lumens, to me it doesn’t look like 12,000 lumens
  • Beam has some artifacts.
  • Quite heavy with batteries

 

Conclusion

This light is a little bit of a mystery. Haikelite doesn’t list it officially on their website, and there isn’t a ton of existing information out on it. I have seen some suggest that it’s not a true Haikelite, however all the circuit boards do have the Haikelite name on them and the box is consistent with other Haikelite flashlights I have had. Maybe it’s a Banggood exclusive? I don’t have the equipment to verify the total number of lumens yet but since we don’t know for sure what LED it’s using I am somewhat suspect if it can hit the claimed 12,000 lumens.

There are a handful of good high quality soda can floodlights on the market, and with this one being somewhat and using undocumented LED’s possibly, it’s hard for me to say this is the one to buy. I have not had any problems with mine, the UI is decent and it’s got a pretty neutral tint and its been working without issue. The timed stepdowns are a bit disappointing, I would prefer thermal regulated ones instead so you can get maximum lumens for the most amount of time.

 

If you are interested I will have links and any discount codes I might have in the description below. If you have a Haikelite Q30, let me know what you think of it in the comments below. As always thanks for subscribing and I will catch you on the next video!

 

If you are interested in picking up the Haikelite Q30 you can get it for $58.99 at https://goo.gl/8zwbjG (Affiliate Link) using coupon code: BGMMY

Posted on

Astrolux FT01 Review (Cree XHP 50.2, 2215 Lumens, 21700mAh battery)

Astrolux has a new larger light the FT01 with a Cree XHP 50.2 that takes up to a 21700 lithium ion battery and has onboard microUSB charging. Thanks to Banggood for sending this to me to take a look at.

 

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/yoGueKe

YouTube Version of this Review:

Packaging

Packaging on this light is a white cardboard lift off box. It has silver embossed image of the light but no real technical detail except for the sticker on the end denoting the model and color. Inside the light is well protected foam cut to fit the light. It comes with a lanyard, orings, a spare button and the manual. It also comes with a conversion tube that shipped in the light to hold an 18650 battery in the light.  

 

Construction

Starting at the tail cap it has a 3 lobe design that means it tail stands pretty well. You can attach a lanyard to any of the wings. The rubber button is easy to access the mechanical button underneath, and requires a decent amount of force to lock, but momentary comes on sooner. There is no knurling on the tail cap but instead smoothed over flutes, it’s not a lot of grip. Inside there are double springs in the tail cap. There are quite a few fine threads at both ends of the light, the tail section being anodized. The walls of the body tube of the light are quite thick.

 

The body tube has 3 panels of a flat diamond pattern milled into it. These would be fine on an EDC light but are not as grippe as I would like on a tactical light. The head of the light contains just a little area milled for heat dissipation  and aesthetics. The front button feels pretty tactile and has an audible click. The LED under it is used as an indicator when charging. The microUSB port opposite the button for recharging. The cover is very well done, it’s out of the way, and the tab doesn’t catch your finger. The bezel on this light is a a screw on aluminum piece. On mine it’s not round, with one side hanging over the body of the light a little, while the opposite side is a flush fit like I would expect, it has crenelations. The lens is glass and isn’t antireflective from what I can see. The reflector is deep and has an orange peel.  

 

This is a big light in all dimensions for what it is.I measured it at a length of 143mm, 37mm head diameter, and 29mm minimum body diameter. The weight came in with a Sanyo 20700 in it, at 250 grams.

 

I compared the light with a Lumintop ODF30 which uses a 26650 battery and the Lumintop is considerably shorter due to not having a tail switch and recharging but it just shows how big the Astrolux is for what it is.

 

LED/Beamshot

This light has a Cree XHP50.2 in a fairly cool white. My example suffered from pretty bad cree rainbow, the center was the cooler white, but then you got a pronounced green ring, before fading into the cooler white again, not my cup of tea. The reflector is deep, and has an orange peel.

 

Runtime

For my runtime tests I did so with 2 different battery sizes for this light. I used a LG HG2 (3000mAh) for the 18650, and then a Sanyo NCR20700 (4250mAh). Surprisingly both lights had relatively similar total runtimes, about 150 min and 170 min respectively. However the main difference you saw was that runtime after initial step down from turbo. Tubo lasted 2-3 minutes. Then with the 18650 you saw about 45 minutes of high before stepping down due to voltage. With the larger capacity 20700 I saw that high mode last for 65 minutes which is a nice real improvement.

 

UI

This light uses an easy interface. The tail switch is the on/off button and that’s all it does. The front button controls the modes. You have 5 modes in normal operation. Double click to access the shortcut to turbo. From any mode if you press and hold for about 1 second you get strobe. There isn’t memory on this light and it starts on low always.

 

For being marketed as a tactical light I don’t feel like the UI is very tactical. I would prefer a little quicker access to strobe for a tactical light. Having to press on at the tail and then long press on the front switch either takes 2 hands or changing your grip, neigher are ideal.

 

Recharging

Fastest I saw for the built in MicroUSB recharging was 0.72A, which means it took right at 4 and a half hours to charge the a 3000mAh 18650 battery. This is fairly slow by modern standards, I would like to see at least an amp. The side button acts as a power indicator, going red when charging. I will say the charging port cover is well designed, it sits flush and the tab doesn’t catch your hand at all.

 

Pro’s

  • I like that this works with a 21700, 20700, and an 18650 batteries with the included spacer.
  • Minimal branding and the light is available in a sand/gold color as gray and black

 

Con’s

  • It’s big, and heavy for what it is.
  • It’s expensive without a coupon, for not coming with a battery
  • Pretty bad Cree color shift rainbow.

 

Conclusion

It won’t be a big surprise but this isn’t a light I personally enjoy. It’s too big, heavy and the UI is more general purpose then tactical. I like that it comes in colors and you can use the newer larger generation of 21700 batteries. However for tactical useage you won’t find it on my belt or bag.

 

I do think this would be an ok light for someone wanting to get something basic for an older person in their life. It’s larger, and USB rechargeable. You could give it to them, and tell them to just use the tail on/off switch. Low is fairly high powered, and is probably brighter than many alkaline incandescent lights they had previously. The modes are easy to cycle through if they wanted and turning it off and on again resets it. Other then that I generally think there are better options on the market for most applications with this one.

 

Get the Astrolux FT01 for $55 with coupon code: BGDLH at https://goo.gl/ZhjsaA (Affiliate Link)

Posted on

Sofirn SP36 (6000 Lumens, USB-C Charging)

Sofirn has a new light on the market called the SP36. It’s basically a smaller, lighter version of the BLF/Sofrin Q8 that has charging over USB-C. Instead of 4 18650 batteries, it’s using 3, but retains 4 LED’s. Thanks to Sofrin for sending this to me to take a look at. Remember to checkout the coupons at the end of this post if you are interested in this light.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/Tfteaor
YouTube Version of this Review:

Packaging
Packaging is pretty minimalistic. The light arrived in an unlabeled brown cardboard box with a bit of foam in the bottom. The light was in a thin sheet of bubble wrap. It arrived with a Happy/Not Happy card, a manual that while small print does a solid job of explaining things and does warn about using button top protected cells. It also includes a USB-A to USB-C cable which is nice given how USB-C is still an up and coming spec.

Construction
Construction of the SP36 is comparable to other Sofirn lights, and is good for the price range. The light is made from aluminum and anodized a semi gloss black. All edges are nicely machined. Threads are square cut but mostly dry. The tail cap is removable, and flat, it tailstands very well. Inside you can see 3 phillips screw holding the rear circuit board in place, these were very tight, but removable with the right driver and pressure. The board itself has 3 fairly heavy duty dual springs inside. The body tube has 3 bands of continuous heavy knurling on the outside, it’s a basic design but it’s effective. The inside has a seperator for the 3 batteries and when everything is screwed in I didn’t get any rattle.





The head is very reminiscent of the Q8, which this light is roughly based off of. Unfortunately the circuit board is glued in place, I tried removing it with a pair of snap ring pliers and ended up damaging the circuit board slightly. Reading on BLF the board is removable but it takes heat and a lot of work. The exterior of the head features milling on the sides for heat dissipation. On the front you have the only label on the light, it’s name. Below that is the button. It’s recessed into a milled area. Under the electronic button you have 2 green LED’s. Opposite the button on the other side of the light you have the USB-C charging port. It’s at normal depth and I didn’t have trouble with different cables I tried. The cover is tight fitting and stands proud a little bit. It’s rounded and comfortable in the hand. The bezel is smooth and flat, it’s all one piece so it’s not removable. The lens is glass and has some anti reflective coating. The optic is a deep quad with thin walls.




Unfortunately the head lacks a threaded insert for connecting the light to a tripod or for a solid attachment point for a lanyard. This is disappointing to me as I really like that on these larger lights, I think it helps for use with area lighting and lanyard attachment. I will have to look up some paracord work to use an attachment instead.

Size
The SP36 feels good in my hand. If the Q8 is just a little too fat, the SP36 should be about right. I measured total length at 125.25mm, maximum diameter at 49mm, minimum diameter at 45mm and weight with 3x Samsung 30Q at 436g.

Compared to the Q8 you really notice the difference in diameter in the head. There is a difference in size in the body tubes but it’s less than you would think. Only about 5mm of difference in diameter. The difference in weight with 30Q’s is 157g. While that’s significant both lights are heavy enough it’s hard to tell much of a difference when in use.


LED/Runtime/Heat
This light uses the Cree XP-L2 LED’s in the 5300-5700k range. Mine seems to be on the cooler side of this, I guess I will call it neutral white, better than cool white. Beamshot is more of a flood then the Q8, but with the 6000 lumens its enough power to throw ok too. Good general purpose beam. There are not any real artifacts i notice at 10+ feet. At shorter distance there are definitely petals in the beam due to the deeper quad reflectors.The head can be powered directly off USB-C but it won’t get anywhere near full brightness.

The light does have LVP (Kicks in at 2.8V) but Sofrin recommends using button top protected batteries. I didn’t have any of those I wanted to use with this light so I used button top Samsung 30Q’s for my runtime tests which worked well. Turbo (6000 lumens) ran on this light for 2 minutes before stepping down to a relative output putting it around 1200 lumens where the light ran and declined out to the 145 minute mark where it stepped down significantly over several steps over the next 30 minutes. At about 180 minutes the light effectively was at 0% relative output but still powered on out to 400 minutes.

The SP36 6000 lumens and smaller diameter means it gets warm, pretty quickly. At the brightest I measured the light at 1 minute at 104F, at 5 minutes at 107F, and at 10 minutes at 116F. This is quite warm, and the light gets even warmer, after about 20-25 minutes (I did a brief turn off, then turn on and run again) it was at 139F which is too hot to hold and is in burn you territory.

UI
NarsilM 1.2 Firmware with good ramping support. It has lots of options but it’s also easy to use. I love the ramping, it’s easy and intuitive and you can pick the exact amount of output you want. On this light there is no complaining when it comes to mode spacing. I plan on leaving my light at the default settings but if you do want to change things please consult the UI section of the manual. You need to read it more than once before attempting to make any setting changes. Things that are configurable are vast. You can disable ramping and go with 12 different mode spacing options, you can configure moonlight levels, thermal controls (Several), blink modes, mode ordering, LED locator feature, battery level indicators etc.

In stock mode the light also has memory mode, direct access to turbo with a double click. Triple click shows the battery level. 4 clicks to lock or unlock. When in max output mode double click to get to the different strobe modes.

Recharging
The SP36 features USB-C for recharging which is great. Unfortunately it only accepted a charge while using a USB-A to USB-C cable, not a C-C cable. It doesn’t support USB-C PD for faster charging meaning it took me 4 hours and 25 minutes to charge 3x Samsung 30Q batteries that were depleted. The peak charge rate I saw was 1.86A. With the ability for USB-C to draw more wattage from a compatible charger, and that this light has 3x batteries it would be nice to see this utilized but for the price here, I am just happy it has USB-C.

Pro’s

  • Proven Design & well built (Except for the glued in board)
  • USB-C recharging
  • Good NarsilM 1.2 firmware
  • Good pretty comprehensive manual, with some funny translation easter eggs. Very small print though.

Con’s

  • No Tripod mounting hold or place for a Lanyard. Kind of disappointing as this is a larger heavier light and I tend to use a lanyard with them.
  • XP-L2 LED’s in a cooler neutral white.I would love to see some different LED’s (warmer, High CRI, etc). offered here as would many on BLF. I would love to see something like a LH351D used on this light.
  • Heat – It gets really hot, fairly quickly and can get dangerously hot.

Conclusion
The Sofirn SP36 what you get when you take a BLF Q8 and reduce it by ¼ in most ways. It has one less battery, the body is narrower, and it’s lighter, but the spirit of the Q8 and SP36 are same. It gains USB-C charging which is great to see over MicroUSB, but it’s not gaining a big speed increase USB-C is capable of, so with 3 18650 batteries it still takes a while to charge. The built in charger does seem to add some cost over a Q8 which is to be expected. The SP36 is a good light, I think the decision between it and a Q8 variant comes down to how much you want built in USB-C charging and how much of a tint/LED snob you are. Both are great lights and I don’t see getting rid of either anytime soon.

 

Deals

Sofirn SP36 Light Only https://amzn.to/2WpSIrA
Sofirn SP36 Kit Version https://amzn.to/2WmgaGl

Save 20% on either light with the coupon code “B5LGDT2Y”

 

Posted on

Olight PL-2RL Review (1200 lumen Weapon Light + Laser)

Today I have a review of the new Olight PL-2RL Baldr weapon light from Olight. This light takes the PL-2 which I reviewed last year and adds a red laser to the bottom of the light. A few things on the flashlight itself were improved upon and then the addition to the laser. Thanks to Olight for sending this to me to take a look at.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/l4MvtiC

YouTube Version of this Review:

Packaging
Packaging is similar to Olight’s others from 2018. It’s a white cardboard box with texture, and a picture of the light printed on the outside. On the back it has stats about it and runtime specs. I prefer if Olight would relocate the SN/Barcode because when you pull the tab to open the package that piece comes loose.



Accessories include the light itself, 2x CR123A batteries, small Hex wrench, and a 1913 rail piece (The Glock is preinstalled). If you don’t know the Glock rail is slightly smaller, it will work on a 1913 rail but move around more than is desired.

Construction
This light is very similar in construction to the original PL-2 but with a laser module screwed on to the bottom. It’s built of aircraft grade aluminum and is pretty sturdy. The anodizing finish on the light looks the same but in my experience it and the lens clean up easier. I sprayed mine down with Ballistol, let it sit for about 15 minutes while cleaning other things and the powder residue on the front of the light and on the lens easily wiped off with a microfiber towel. My PL-2 was more difficult to clean.


The buttons appear to be the same, they click from the side, not from the back, have a rubberized texture and are ambidextrous. The battery door has a tab to pull up and then it hinges up. This means you most likely will need to remove it from your weapon to swap batteries. Not a huge deal with the toolless mounting system on the PL-2RL. It has visible springs in the front nearest the lens, but the rear terminals are also spring loaded, just not visible. Not much movement in them.

The mounting system has been improved on the PL-2RL. It still features a toolesss quick release lever which I really like. What’s new is this is now more spring loaded. In the unlocked position the light is very hard to shake off accidentally, if you push on it some you can get it to come off. To get it off you have to press in on the lever to expand the jaws a bit. This is definitely an improvement, the PL-2 would just drop free when the lever was in the unlock position, I could see if you were in a tactical situation how the lever may be caught on something and if that happened your light would fall free. With the new PL-2RL that is much less likely to occur.

The light does have a bright yellow warning sticker about the laser that also features as the indicator for the modes. I wish this was done differently. I understand there is probably import/legal regulations regarding the laser, but I wish the mode indicators were laser engraved into the light as a more permanent fix. I find the yellow a bit distracting and it’s not very tactical. I think i’ll either cut the sticker and remove the bulk of the yellow part or use a sharpie or paint marker to make it black.



Size and Weight
This isn’t a small weapon light. The addition to the laser adds quite a bit of bulk to the light. On a full size pistol it’s ok, but on anything much smaller it’s borderline too big in my opinion. Length of the PL-2RL is 83mm, width is 36.5mm, depth is 48mm. Depth of the PL-2 was 30.5mm.

Weight with batteries of the PL-2 is 116g.
Weight with batteries of the PL-2RL is 140g an increase of 24 grams.
It is IPX6 water rated so it should do fine in heavy rain or dropped in a puddle if removed quickly. It’s not a diving light.

Hold a zero?
In my testing the light held a zero pretty well. I tested the light on a couple of Glock’s chambered in .45 ACP, 10mm, and 9mm. I also tested it on an AR9 pistol. We didn’t zero it on every firearm but we did on 10mm and AR9 and after the first few shots it held its position well. I know Olight had some initial issues with the PL-2 and 10mm, we didn’t have any issue after running it through a variety of rounds.

To adjust zero there are two set screws near the laser part of the housing to set windage and elevation. An included Torx wrench does come with the light. One thing I would improve is when adjusting elevation and windage some clicks that you could either feel or hear would be useful, to improve the speed of adjustment. So you know each click is for example 1 MOA etc. You can zero it without shooting a round at home if you have your iron signs setup. Point your unloaded firearm in a safe direction, and zero the laser to your iron sights.

LED/Runtime
The PL-2RL is advertised as producing 1200 lumens through a CREE XHP 35 HI LED in Cool White, however those are peak lumens. Like many high output flashlights the PL-2RL will step down in brightness to 400 Lumens after 1.5 minutes. The runtime is then an additional 100-105 minutes depending if the laser is on or off. In mode 2 when the light is on at a constant 400 lumens, runtime is increased to 105 or 120 minutes depending on if the laser is on or off. The lens is glass, with a plastic TIR style reflector. It creates a very hot center, minimizing spill. The Olight PL-2RL can use 2X CR123A or rechargeable RCR123A cells. If using the rechargeables runtime won’t be as long. This is one case where I would recommend using Primary batteries for longer shelf life, and because the runtimes will be longer due to the reduced capacity of the rechargeable batteries.

The laser is a 5mW red laser that’s similar at 15 yards to a 3moa red dot. It’s running at a 645-655nm wavelength. Max runtime of laser only is 75 hours. Having the laser on doesn’t change runtime much of the XHP 35 HI LED. Olight lists the difference in mode 1 (1200 lumens, then 400 lumens after 1.5 minutes) of only 5 minutes if the laser is on. In mode 2 (Constant 400 lumens) the runtime difference with the laser on is 15 minutes less.

Beamshots
The beamshots are identical to the PL-2. It’s a large hot center and throws decently well. The laser seems to be pretty centered in the middle of this beam. See my video for the examples.

UI
This light uses the same side to side toggle buttons as the PL-2 has. They work best to push from the side in. These work pretty much the same as the PL-2 for light uses. If you long press on either switch you get momentary on, if you quick press you get constant on, and if you click both together you gets strobe (Doesn’t work on laser only mode). On the back of the laser you have a 3 position selector switch, Left, Center and Right to select what combination of laser/light are on when the buttons are pressed..

When the selector switch is all the way to the left you get laser only. It will come on with either left or right button, and pinching each button at the same time doesn’t do anything in this mode.

When the selector switch is in the center you get a Light + Laser option. In this mode when you pinch both switches together the light will strobe and the laser stays on all the time.

When the selector switch is to the right you get only a light. In this mode the light works exactly like the PL-2, giving you momentary with a longer press or constant on with quick press.

Rather then a big yellow warning sticker about the laser, I would prefer they laser engrave the 3 positions into the light itself as I think most people will remove the sticker. Engraving is also much more durable.

Pros

  • Buttons with tactile and audible click
  • Quick open battery door
  • Improved Tool free quick disconnect mounting system
  • High performance but it can’t be sustained due to heat

Cons

  • The addition of the laser makes this quite large and heavier.
  • Holster options will be limited, meaning you may have to have one custom made.
  • Somewhat pricey batteries (CR123A)
  • Strobe interface isn’t ideal requiring pressing both buttons at the same time.

Conclusion
I have enjoyed testing the Olight weapon lights, for me they have worked well on a variety of guns and platforms. The PL-2RL is a nice addition to the line. It’s downfall is it’s size, even on a full size pistol it’s pretty big.. For me it’s probably going to live on one of my AR platforms due to the size and having to get a custom holster. I like the addition of the laser, it makes aiming in the right conditions a little quicker and easier once you have it zeroed in.

I like the Norse mythology name of the PL-2RL Baldr, the god of light. Each weapon light from Olight shows their growth in knowledge and experience in this segment of the industry and this is what you want to see to keep making better products. Olight needs to work with holster manufacturers in advance of a light release to have better support for their weapon lights if they want a wider adoption rate. I am interested to see what they come up with next.

Posted on

ReyLight Copper LAN & Pineapple Review(14500, Nichia or XPL Emitter, Raw Copper)

On my review table today I have the ReyLight LAN V3, and ReyLight Pineapple V3 both in solid copper. This light can use AA, or 14500 sized batteries and is designed with upscale EDC in mind. Thanks to ReyLight for sending them to me to do a review.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/VDDIBbW
YouTube Version of this Review:

Packaging
Packaging is the same as the V3 Pineapples and Ti LAN’s. It’s a nicely fit box with a slip over sleeve printed to look like Bamboo. The Pineapple box has the light printed on the front in a wire form. The LAN box has the Chinese character I believe on the front. On the back is the FL1 Standard chart showing runtime and lumens with a 14500 and AA battery. The tells the simple instructions. Inside the light is held in place with black foam, and the only extra you get is the clip and 2 orings. These copper lights do come sealed in a bag to prevent oxidation.






Construction
The big difference in these lights that instead of using titanium on the LAN, or Brass on the Pineapple, ReyLight has went with copper for both lights. The copper used on both lights has a very thin UV cured coating on it to protect it from immediate oxidation during production. This thin, I can smell the copper on my hands after handling it. With enough use it should come off, or I found that 100% acetone (Use it in a well ventilated area please, available in the nail polish area of your favorite big box store) will remove it with minimal effort.

At the tail on the Pineapple, this is the same as the brass version, only a different material. Tolerances on the button are improved. I get less side to side rattle and none up and down.

On my Copper LAN I have the optional rear bezel that can accomodate 12 pieces of tritium. Unfortunately it seems the tolerances on this part are not as good. I get more side to side rattle and some up and down rattle. This trit holder is also slightly larger than the body size of the light.

Body tubes on both models are the same as their brass or titanium counter parts. The LAN has 3 rectangles milled for aesthetic design. The Pineapple rings provide some functional grip as well. The heads are the same on their respective models as well, no big change. Rey does have some GITD O rings that can be put on the exterior of the head on the LAN for added effect. Both lights feature a bezel that let’s light escape when face down. One thing to note is that to change the battery, on the V3 lights, it’s the head that’s designed to be removed, and the tail stay in place.





Weights
Ti LAN weight without battery was 64.8g, Copper LAN without battery was 109.5g.
Brass Pineapple without battery was 93.7g, Copper Pineapple without battery was 98.6g.

LED/Runtime/Heat
ReyLight offers a choice of LED on these two copper lights. The standard LED option is the Nichia 219C in about 4000k with 90 CRI. Optionally there is the Cree XPL LED at 6500k. In my lights the Nichia is in the Pineapple, and the Cree is in the LAN. The reflector is the same in each light, with a medium orange peel, and double anti reflective coated glass. Beam pattern is very similar, and in my opinion good for EDC. The hot center is a medium size and fades out to a moderate amount of spill. Personally I prefer the Nichia emitter myself because of the warmer tint and higher CRI but it’s nice to see Rey is offering options.



Heat
When using a 14500 and running on high the light can get fairly warm. The V3 driver does contain basic thermal control which is an improvement over V1 and V2.

Runtime
For my runtime tests I used a protected button top Keeppower 14500 800mAh battery. Both lights use the same driver, and are very similar physical designs, so rather then compare to each other by model I am going to compare the two different emitters since that is the main difference between the two I own. Either model is available with either driver.

The Nichia emitter total runtime was about 95 minutes. Turbo lasted for just a couple of minutes, before the light took a step down due to thermals and ran at a declining 50% relative output with a steady decline that was fairly linear. At the end the light did a brief step up before low voltage protection kicked in.

The Cree XPL emitter had a very similar pattern. Total runtime was shorter, at a total 75 minutes, after a few minutes the lights stepped down to slightly above 55% relative output and its curve was a little more steppy, not quite as smooth. At the end the light did step up briefly before low voltage protection kicked in.

UI
This is the 3rd generation of the Reylight Driver. With the Nichia emitter it has, moon (0.2 Lumens), Low (8.5 Lumens), Medium (90 Lumens), and High (470 Lumens) with a 14500 battery, along with memory mode. On a AA Moon is 0.2 Lumens, Low is 3.2 Lumens, Medium is 30 Lumens, and High is 130 Lumens. A 14500 really wakes this light up in terms of output..

Carry
I am a big fan of the ReyLight Pineapple and LAN series of lights for EDC. I like the 14500/AA form factor for EDC. It’s enough light to be useful for EDC tasks without being too large in a variety of front pants/shorts pockets. While not the thinnest light in this class I don’t find it to be too large either. The Clip was reviews for V3 of these lights making it a bit more substantial. I have not had a bending or catching problem with this design. It carries reasonably deep in the pocket too. The gap that the clip provides on the light is required, if you want to run without a clip Rey sells a small titanium washer to take the clips place.



Pro’s

  • Almost Raw copper, the coating is super thin (Can still smell the copper though the coating) and easily removed with acetone, but will stay in place if you want to preserve the untarnished look.
  • The LAN has a new optional tail design that’s slightly larger but with 12 places for Tritium, the total light holds 16 trits.
  • LED options, including a warm, high CRI Nichia emitter.
  • Pretty affordable for solid copper.

Con’s

  • Tolerances with my fatter 14500 batteries (KeepPower) are tight in the battery tube. You need the help of a strong magnet to remove them on the LAN, the Pineapple body tube isn’t quite so tight. Olight’s 14500’s work well as do Enloops and Duracell rechargeable NiHM batteries. This got better as I took the batteries in and out a few more times.
  • Some button rattle on my LAN with the optional tail to hold a larger amount of trits.

Conclusion
The ReyLight copper LAN and Pineapples are very similar to their previous Titanium and Brass models but now with Copper as the material. While copper is heavy, it’s not so much extra weight that I notice a difference when either light is in my pocket. I like how they carry in my pocket, and I love the 14500 tail click form factor. I love that I can easily strip the coating off the light and have it patina. I plan to do that with my LAN for sure. The only thing I can fault a little bit are the tolerances. The battery tube seems slightly undersized for my Keeppower 14500 batteries and sometimes create a bit of a vacuum when trying to remove cells making it a little more difficult. This has gotten better the more I remove the battery from the light. Button tolerances are something that has been the achilles’ heel of the Pineapple and LAN designs. While things are mostly better the button may bother some people. Personally it doesn’t bother me, especially for a custom style light at this price point.

Despite this the ReyLight LAN and Pineapple are for me one of my most carried models of lights on a daily basis month over month because of the size and function. For me it just works really well and they are one of my favorites. I also think they are a great value for a entry level custom light. I am glad to offer copper to my brass and titanium families.I am looking forward to building that copper patina over the next few months.

Ordering
RayLight has a Facebook group where Rey keeps everyone up to date on new models, and other info. Right now it’s the best place to find and order a light direct from him. https://www.facebook.com/groups/221544235032559/

You can also email him direct and pay with Paypal Rey@reylight.net

He also now has a web page and is working to get international orders working. https://www.reylight.net/