Category: Review

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Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro Review (Wireless, Balanced Armature. USB-C, Qi Recharging)

Soundcore (an Anker company) has a new set of higher end truly wireless earbuds with the Soundcore LIberty Pro 2. These are an upmarket product for Soundcore, and feature a balanced armature and a dynamic driver. They feature a neat case and pretty impressive battery life in my testing. Thanks to Soundcore for sending these too me to review and tell you guys about.

 

YouTube Version of this Review:

Pickup the Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro on Amazon at https://amzn.to/2Wk2sE8

 

Packaging & Accessories

Soundcore products have always had nice packaging but the Liberty Pro 2’s is above and beyond. It’s clear to me this package was designed with retail stores in mind. It’s textured in places and has a sharp eye catching design and lots of useful information to the consumer on the outside with all the stats and big features of the headphones. It’s a magnetic latch box so the consumer can look inside as well. Accessories include 3 sizes of ear wings, to help the fit in your ear, and then 3 sizes of each ear tip with duplicates of each. You also get a USB-A to USB-C cable for recharging the storage case. 

 

 

Construction

The Soundcore case is vital to the operation of these headphones as it’s how you recharge the headphones. It’s made of a soft touch plastic and the door on the top has an addictive slide mechanism. If you like to fidget with things you will find yourself sliding this back and forth. The case itself allows the headphones to turn on and off via magnetic retention. As far as recharging the case has USB-C on the back, and is able to charge on a horizontal QI charging pad. You have 3 LED’s on the front that give you  the battery status of the case. 

Battery life of the LIberty Pro 2’s is good, Anker rates it at 8 hours and at least in my testing that’s pretty accurate. I recently took these on a business trip this week and wore them for hours at a time through airports and never had them get close to 50% and even if they do get low a 10 minute recharge in the case gives you an impressive 2 hours of additional playback time. Overall the 500mAh battery in the case is good for 32 hours of playback time. Size wise the case is a little on the large size for me. In my front jeans pocket it worked but if I was in shorts or had smaller pockets I could see it being a little too big. Other brands have more compact solutions if that’s an important factor for you.

Sound Quality Comfort & Software

Soundcore has developed their own set of drivers for the Liberty Pro 2’s called the Astria Coaxial Acoustic Architecture.. For the mid’s and high they a customly developed Knowles (Well known in the audio industry) balanced armature combined with an 11mm dynamic driver for the lows. These are placed inside each other allowing for the sound to not have to be routed within the body of the headphones so that you have the best possible sound quality. This is a somewhat unique design that your not seeing on a ton of true wireless ear buds right not. 

Soundcore has then teamed up with 10 “Grammy Award Winning” audio producers to further tune and refine the sound profile of these headphones. Combine this with the soundcore app on your Android or Apple device and you have a choice of several audio profiles for your specific type of music. The app also has a customized hearing test where it analyzes each of your ears ability to hear a range of frequencies and builds a profile for you. See the video for how this works. 

 

So what’s my experience with these? Well as with any in ear headphone fit is key to sound quality, and I took my time here to find what works best for me, a balance of comfort, sound quality, and retention. I settled with medium sized ear wings, and small ear tips. Comfort was pretty good with this combo and fatigue after 5 hours straight was minimal. Retention was great, and I had no problem at the gym working on AMT’s and other machines, and I would feel comfortable running with these as well. 

 

Sound quality was impressive for a wireless headphone. Your music source is very important here, heavily compressed music, such as most streaming services you might not notice a difference, but I had some lossless files on my phone and on these I could tell the larger sound stage, clarity and accuracy. Bass was pretty good as well, with it being almost too powerful on some of the presets. So if you like Rap or EDM these should work pretty well for you at this price point. These do feature Bluetooth 5 asd aptX which both improve sound quality.

 

One disappointing thing is at this price point there is no audio passthrough which means for conversations you have to pause your audio and take out an ear bud to talk to someone. This proved a little frustrating in an airport until I reprogrammed the button on the top of the headphone to allow me to pause my audio.

 

These do feature Qualcomm’s cVc 8.0 noise reduction technology when making calls, combine that with a total of 4 microphones and at least in my experience call quality was surprisingly good. I have read some other reviews that not everyone had the same experience I had. This is a feature I rarely use because who makes calls anyways.

 

Pro’s

  • Great Sound Quality
  • Long Battery Life
  • USB-C and Wireless recharging
  • Built in Sound profiles are good and make a difference in audio quality.

 

Con’s

  • The earbuds themselves are a little big but retention is good for me
  • Case is on the larger side
  • IPX4 Water rated, while enough for sweat
  • No passthrough audio for conversations and you must use both earbuds at the same time.

 

Conclusion

For me these are by far my best pair of wireless headphones, especially earbud style ones. Sound quality wise they live up to their price point for me. Bass was impressive, while still maintaining crisp mids and highs. Music quality matters here more than most normal headphones. You might not notice the difference on your average streaming service. I was impressed with the battery life here as well, of the headphones themselves and the case. Not many people are going to be listening for 8 continuous hours, and even if you are 10 minutes in the case gives the headphones 2 hours of use. In my travels this week I never came close to needing to recharge. 

 

These only have minor disappointments, for me the lack of passthrough audio was unfortunate at this price point as well as these are just a little big. They are not something I want to lay down with if you are laying on your side. 

 

All this said these get a solid recommend from me if you’re looking for a more high end sound, and a premium wireless ear bud for most situations to work with all your devices. 

 

Full image gallery at: https://imgur.com/a/7pH27eM

Pickup the Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro on Amazon at https://amzn.to/2Wk2sE8

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Olight Seeker 2 Review and Comparison (3000 Lumens, 21700, 3x Osram LED)

Today I am taking a look at the Olight Seeker 2. Now a few months ago I looked at the Pro version of this light, the one I am looking at today is similar but has a few differences to it. If you have not seen that review I will link to it and recommend you check it out as this is going to do a lot of comparisons and contrasts rather then a full review. Thanks to Skyben trading for sending this to me to take a look at. 

 

YouTube version of this Review:

Pickup the Olight Seeker 2 from Skyben on Amazon https://amzn.to/2nZR2sC 

 

Packaging & Accessories

I will quickly touch on packaging. It’s on par with the Seeker 2 Pro, same white box with a nice photo of the light with lumen and throw specs up front. On the back you have a runtime chart and some details about the light. 

Accessories with the Seeker 2 were less then the Seeker 2 Pro. You get the light itself, the same proprietary 5000mAh Olight 21700 battery (ORB-217C50), a standard Olight Lanyard with the helpful threading needle, and then a MCCA1 charger with the standard length cable. The Pro version of the light came with everything before and the L Dock, much longer charging cable, and a holster. 

 

Construction

The construction of these two aluminum lights are very similar. Here are the major differences that I see.

  • The anodizing is different on the Seeker 2 Standard. Rather then being the hard slick finish that most aluminum lights are the Seeker 2 Standard uses a mat almost chalky anodizing. It’s very similar to what you find on Armytek lights. It marks up fairly easily but usually rubs or washes off pretty easily.
  • The Seeker 2 doesn’t have the molded silicone grips that the Seeker 2 Pro has. This isn’t a huge deal to me, at least with dry hands the different anodizing kind of makes up for it. 
  • The front side switch is different between the two. On the Seeker 2 Standard the switch is more like recent Olights, it’s a more plasticy slicker feeling. It has a hole in the center for an LED for battery status indicator. The Seeker 2 Pro has nicer feeling rubber/silicon button as well as 4 LED’s on each side for battery power indicator and brightness status indicator. While these are really nice features I have no trouble with the standard button. 

Size & Weight Comparison

Length of the Seeker 2 came in at 126mm vs the Pro’s 128mm. Diameters of the head were identical at 35.4mm, the body tube at 27mm. Both lights roll around very easily when on their sides

I was a little surprised at the weight difference between the two lights. The Seeker 2 Pro weight in with battery at 197g while the Seeker 2 standard came in at 186.5g. 

 

LED | Beamshots | Heat

The Seeker 2 Standard is using a triple configuration of Osram LED instead of the Cree XP-L HD’s used Seeker 2 Pro. Olight doesn’t give us the model of Osram used in the light unfortunately according to official literature. Tint wise the Seeker 2 Standard has a tint that’s a bit whiter especially at lower power where as the Seeker 2 Pro is a little warmer/rosy tint. Beam pattern on the Seeker standard has a more defined hotspot and appears to be more focused. 

Seeker 2 on the left

Seeker 2 tint

Seeker 2 on left, Seeker 2 on Right

 

Runtimes on the Seeker 2 are also longer due to the different LED. Total runtime was more then 250 minutes for the Seeker 2 Standard. Turbo seemed to last slightly longer as well. The Seeker standard ran in high for just past 100 minutes, very similar to the Pro, but then it saw 2 pretty major decreases in the next 50 minutes but then ran on low power that was usable for over that 250 minutes mark. The slight differences in output are not that noticeable and I will trade it for more runtime. LVP kicked in at 2.958V

 

Outputs are listed as the same for all modes except turbo with the differences being only 200 lumens.

Moonlight  – 5 Lumens

Low – 50 Lumens

Medium 300 Lumens

High 1200 Lumens then 600

Turbo 3000 Lumens then 600

 

UI

UI on the Seeker 2 Standard is is very similar to other Olights and the same as the Seeker 2 Pro, and that’s great because it’s a simple UI that I like. From off if you long press on the button the light comes on in moonlight, which on this light is a little bright for my liking. When the light is on it starts in low, and then you can hold the button and it will cycle from lowest to brightest, just stop on where you want to be. The light does have memory mode for low through high. For tubo just double click and for strobe just tipple click. The light also features a lockout mode and timer that’s available.

 

Recharging

Recharging is pretty much the exact same as the Seeker 2 Pro. The Seeker 2 Standard is using Olights MCC1AL magnetic charging system..  observed maximum charging speed of .9A which resulted in a total overall charge time of 6.5 hours for the 5000mAh 21700 battery. This is a pretty slow, very conservative charging speed for such a large cell. Good for the overall lifespan of the cell if you can wait but Olight’s competitors lights that are using the same battery are generally charging at 2A which is plenty safe for this battery. The battery stopped charging at 4.135v.

 

Pro’s

  • More affordable without much sacrifice of features.
  • Increase in runtime and throw with the Osram LED
  • Relatively small sized light for a 21700 battery
  • Triple LED lights continue to go mainstream in 2019

 

Con’s 

  • 1A charging is pretty slow on a 5000mAh battery. 2A is still under 1C charging speed for this battery and what this lights competition is all doing.
  • No Change in the magnet, it’s still relatively weak only really sufficient for charging or holding the light perfectly horizontal.
  • No official word on exactly which LED is being used here, just the manufacturer is given.

 

Conclusion

The Seeker 2 is extremely similar to it’s Twin brother the Seeker 2 Pro. The 200 lumens difference in peak performance on turbo isn’t significantly different to the eye. The other physical differences are fairly minor or not deal breakers for me. 

 

Olights proprietary batteries like other manufactures branded cells tend to be pretty expensive and while I love the 21700 format, it’s proprietary nature and cost ends up being a negative for me. Luckily you should be able to use a standard button top 21700 and a small magnet if you want a less expensive second battery option and are ok with charging on an external charger. 

 

Personally my recommendation would be to go with the standard Seeker 2 here, and save the roughly $30 difference. While I like the rubber grip and battery and power level indicators I don’t think those two things are significant enough to warrant the price, thus making the Seeker 2 the better overall buy. With that $30 you could easily buy another battery for the light. Overall the Seeker 2 is a pretty good light and a better value then the Seeker 2 Pro in my opinion. 

 

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/g1BXxQn

Pickup the Olight Seeker 2 from Skyben on Amazon https://amzn.to/2nZR2sC 

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Jetbeam Jet T2 Review (Jetbeam’s First Pistol Light)

Today I have Jetbeams’ first attempt at a pistol light, the Jet-T2. Thanks to Jetbeam for sending this one to me early to check out. An excuse to go to the range to test a light is always a good one. 

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/8UxVcyD

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YouTube Version of this Review:

Packaging

Packaging on this light is a clear hanging retail box with the light prominently displayed in the middle. Some limited information is on the back. Accessories are pretty limited as well, you get the included Jetbeam branded 700mAh USB rechargeable 16340 battery, and a MicroUSB cable to charge the battery directly, and some paperwork such as the manual, warranty card, etc. 

Construction

The light is made from anodized aluminum and is generally rectangular in shape but it has been lightened where possible. The sides have a deep milled area in the sides, and the bottom the corners are well rounded. Starting at the head it features a double anti reflective coated lens, with a smooth fairly deep reflector. The head has small scallops for style and grip. The head is removable for battery recharging and replacement. There  are springs at each end of the light. Inside there is a dual wall construction so unfortunately a battery larger then a 16340 like an 18350 won’t fit in this light. 

On the bottom of the light there is the electronic switched used to lock out the light. It’s large but out of the way and pretty flat. On the back of the light there is a plastic and rubber molded piece that has the switches. It’s almost a different shade of black then the aluminum and not a great match at least on my example. There are switches on either the left or the right side. They only work under the molded rubber bar which took some getting used to and isn’t my favorite design. 

The mount features a insert with 4 slots to allow the universal rail section fit your firearm. The key I had no trouble fitting in a Glock rail or standard 1913 rail. For my Glocks (19 being the smallest) it fit best for me in the furthers forward position. This unfortunately isn’t enough travel for my S&W Shield but I didn’t really expect it to fit here either. The screw used to tighten it down on your firearm is silver in color unfortunately, I really wish it was black instead to blend in better. It has a large straight slot to allow you to tighten it down with a coin. I miss the Olight Quick detach system that I have gotten used to on their weapon lights here. 

Size/Weight & Competition

Length is about 65 mm, Width is 29mm, Height is 36mm. Weight with battery came in at 92.8g, and it’s IPX7 rated.

While similar to the original Olight PL Valkyrie I in layout, I compared the light to the Olight PL Pro because size wise it’s somewhat close. The Jetbeam T2 probably compares best to some of the smaller Streamlight’s like the TLR-7 but I don’t have one here to compare it to. Anyways it’s a medium sized weapon light, larger then the Olight PL-Mini but operates more like a full size light in a medium packaged size. 

 

It fit’s fine on my Glock 19 and 22, but even with the adjustable mount it doesn’t fit on my S&W Shield with the rail attachment. 

LED | Beamshots |  Runtime

The LED being used here is the Cree XPL-HI in cool white. The reflector is decently deep and smooth so for what it is it has a good amount of throw. It’s rated for 120 meters and I found this to be pretty accurate. Beam profile is a fairly hot center and a good amount of lighter spill, a good profile for a pistol light in my opinion.

Runtimes on this light were a little disappointing, at least for high. In high mode it’s good for 520 lumens, and runtime is about 3-4 minutes before it steps down over the next 7 minutes to about 70% relative output. This decline is slow so you don’t notice the sudden dip. The next 10 minutes is pretty stable. The light then flashes a bit to let you know power is lower, and then steps up a decent amount before running till LVP kicks in on the battery. The battery didn’t want to give me a voltage at the LVP cut off point till I charged it a bit. 

Low mode is good for 160 lumens, and runtime is about 105 minutes. This is an odd graph as well, because the light actually increases slightly in output over the first 50 minutes, before stepping back down and then slowly increasing till LVP kicks in. Output till the end gets a bit unstable. 

 

UI

The light has buttons on the left and right, These are button pads that look longer then they really are, you have to get right up under the bar to make them function. A quick press of either button gives you a constant on mode, a longer press give you a momentary mode, Jetbeam calls this tactical mode. To access strobe, double click other buttons.

 

The light has 2 modes, a high and low, 520 or 120 lumens respectively. To switch between them, just long press both side buttons together and the light will come on and adjust it’s output. This setting is memorized. In my experience I had better luck if I pressed and held one button and then the other quickly vs at the same time. Having the light on makes it easier. 

 

The light also has an on/off switch on the bottom that is it’s lock mechanism. To set the lock, long press on the bottom button, and the light will slow flash 3 times. To unlock long press on the bottom button and the light will slow flash 2 times.

 

Recharging

Recharging is accomplished on the included Jetbeam 700mAh 16340 battery via the USB port on the side of the battery. This is the same battery we saw on the Jetbeam RRT-01 Review I did earlier in the year (Great light if you have not seen it). It has 2 LED indicators on top, red when charging, green when charged. Charging speed was very conservative at 0.4A meaning charging a low battery to full (4.17V) took 2 hours, 5 minutes. 

0.4A.

Conclusion

The Jetbeam T2 is Jetbeams first Pistol light that I can find and it’s pretty good for a first go at it. For me the output should be a bit more smooth and regulated, with more emphasis on the high output without step down. The buttons on the sides should have a larger area to enable them to be used more easily. I don’t find the switch on the bottom that useful for lockout because of the UI that takes too long. I would much rather have a simple mechanical lockout via a ¼ turn of the bezel because it’s simpler and faster. 

 

That said I like the shapes here, and so far this has proven to work pretty well. Even though the mount isn’t a tool less design it works well and should adapt to most full size and sub compact model pistols. The XP-L high is a good emitter choice here and the results are alight that throws pretty well which is important for a pistol light. Overall it’s a good first design with room for improvement in the future. 

 

Purchase the T2 on Jetbeam’s Website https://www.jetbeamworld.com/en/product/Jetbeam-JET-T2-Compact-LED-Tactical-Pistol-Light-CREE-XP-L-HI-520-Lumens-Includes-1-x-3.7V-700mAh-RCR123A-80.html or from Battery Junction https://www.batteryjunction.com/jetbeam-jet-t2.html 

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Thrunite TT10 Review (21700, USB charging, XHP70.2)

Today I have a review of the Thrunite TT10, a tactical light using the Cree XHP 70.2, a 21700 battery, and with onboard MicroUSB charging. Thanks to Thrunite for sending this to me to take a look at. Let’s dive in.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/BVl8EKA 

Youtube Version of this Review: 

Packaging & Accessories

Packaging is typical of Thrunite, it’s a brown cardboard box, elegant printing of the model name of the light, a wire outline, and then on the sides the emitter tint. Inside the box the light is protected in die cut white foam, and housed in a plastic bag. Accessories include the Thrunite branded protected flattop 21700 5000mAh battery, a microUSB charging cable, manual, holster, extra button covers, and lanyard. The holster is like other Thrunites, decent quality Nylon with a plastic Dring.

Construction

The light is made from aluminum and anodized in a smooth semi gloss black. Starting at the rear, you have the tail which has ample room for the lanyard on each side. In the center you have 2 buttons, a larger mechanical switch that gives you direct access to turbo, and then a smaller square e-switch to give you direct access to strobe. Rear threads are raw, anodized and ACME cut. The light features a dual wall design to make the combination of switch, and tail switches work with the onboard microUSB charging and the inner double springs stout.

The body has a rectangular frag pattern milled into it. All of the edges are nicely rounded and as a result, there isn’t a ton of grip on this light. For a tactical light that’s a little disappointing.

The head has an anti roll ring where the front E switch lives and the MicroUSB charging port, both opposites of each other. The switch is very much like we have seen from other Thrunite models, with a silver metal button surrounded by a silver bezel. It’s low mounted and the button has a LED in the center used for charging indication. Further up the light has minimal heatsinking. The bezel on the TT10 is aluminum and has aggressive and sharp crenulations. While I understand this for a tactical light it would be nice to include a bezel that the user could swap in that’s less aggressive. The bezel is easily removed. Underneath is a anti reflective coated glass lense and a fairly deep orange peel reflector.

Size and Weight | Competition

 I measured the overall length of the Thrunite TT10 at 138mm, diameter at it’s maximum at the head is 33mm and minimum on the body at 27mm. Weight with the battery installed 190g. 

 The Olight Warrior X is similar dimensions to the TT10 but the Olight is running the smaller 18650 battery, different emitter, and a optic designed more for throw. The closest direct competitor I have is probably the Klarus XT21X as its running the same LED, Battery size, and has a similar tactical role. The Klarus has more throw due to the longer smooth reflector vs the smooth more shallow reflector in the Thrunite TT10. 

LED | Beamshots | Runtime | Heat | Output

This light is using a cool white Cree XHP 70.2 (70B) LED. A neutral white version is offered as well unfortunately I have the cool white version here. That said this cool white has some green too it when I compare it to my Klarus XT21X and looks more natural then cool. The beam pattern has a large hot center that gradually fades into spill. The light doesn’t have a hard cutoff on the edges and the edges get a bit blue/purple tint.

Thrunite lists the official specs as:

  • Turbo 3700 lumens stepping down to 1100 lumens
  • High at 1750 lumens stepping down to 1100 lumens
  • Medium at 300 lumens
  • Low at 28 lumens
  • Firefly at ½ lumen.

I will note that other reviewers have not been able to replicate these output numbers, with actual results being 20-30% less then stated on the higher modes. This isn’t common for Thrunite as they typically tend to have results pretty close to what reviewers see. I am in the process of building my own testing rig for output and hopefully I will have something done later this year. Mode spacing could be a little better, it’s a huge jump from 300 lumens in medium to 1715/1100 in high. Once high steps down it’s a little better but I feel like there should be an additional mode in between medium and high.

 

Overall runtime of the light was just shy of 120 minutes. Turbo is a timed step down after 2 minutes and takes about 30 second to complete going from 3700 lumens to 1100, it’s a gradual and smooth step down at least to my eye. After the light reaches the 1100 lumen mark (about 50% of relative output) it operates here pretty consistently for 115 minutes before low voltage protection kicks in and shuts off the light. I measured LVP at 3.095v. 

Heat during my runtimes were about as expected, the light gets warm but not too hot to touch. 

  • 1 Minute 94F
  • 5 Minutes 107F
  • 10 Minutes 111F

 UI

For a light with 3 switches it really mainly operates with the front e-switch and the 2 rear switches are direct access to tubro and strobe. The front switch is fairly straightforward and the manual does a good job of explaining it. From off, long pressing on the front switch gives you moonlight mode, single press again to turn off. A single press from off starts the light out in the previous used mode (low by default), to increase in brightness long press. You only have access to low, medium, and high. To get to turbo double click, or triple click to strobe. The light also has electronic lockout.

The UI on the tail switch has direct access to turbo mode with the large round mechanical button. It also has direct access to strobe with the smaller rectangle button.

There is no complete mechanical lockout on the light, if you unscrew the tail slightly this just disables the tail switches but not the e-switch upfront. Since the light starts on low hopefully that won’t result any melted holsters or bags.

 What would have been nice is to see Thrunite offer a non tactical mode for this light as well, similar to what Klarus did with the XT21X. I think this makes a light designed for a tactical role have a wider appeal to more people. 

Recharging

This light does have onboard microUSB charging. The small LED in the front E-Switch serves as a charging indicator, going red when charging and blue when charged. The silicone flap is pretty well secured when closed and sits flush and stays out of the way. Charging speed started and stayed right at 1.96A for the duration of the charge pretty much. That’s nice to see on such a large battery. Overall charging time from LVP to full is right at 2 hours.  A full cell measured 4.18v.

Pro’s

  • Side switch has a “locator” function that blinks every 4 seconds or so to help you locate it in the dark. This is pretty dim which I prefer.
  • Both Cool White and Neutral White LED’s are offered. Cudos to THrunite for continuing to offer both.
  • The UI is easy despite there being 3 switches on the light. Not much different than if you already own other Thrunite lights.

 

Con’s

  • Still rocking MicroUSB instead of USB-C for recharging. While the full 2A speed is nice to see it’s time for USB-C to be the standard on new lights in this price category in 2019.
  • Not much grip on the body of the light.
  • No non tactical UI modes.

 

Conclusion

The Thrunite TT10 is designed as a tactical light and that shows throughout with emphasis on short duration of high output. I like it’s small size and fit in the hand but wish that it’s grip was a bit more aggressive, especially if you were going to use it with gloves. It’s nice to see a brand offer a tactical light in Neutral white as well. The UI here is not well optimized for the additional buttons and it makes lockout kind of awkward. I really wish Thrunite would have offered a way to switch the light to a non tactical mode so it’s more dual purpose. I find Thrunites name of this light to be a bit confusing as it’s too close to other TT models but is a different function. While Thrunite typically offers a high value I feel like the price of this light is a bit high when compared to it’s peers at current pricing. With a coupon this becomes a better value though. 

 

Pickup the ThruNite TT10 on Amazon at https://amzn.to/2NKwcI9 Make sure to click the box to save $20

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Sofirn SP40 Review (Best Budget 18650 Headlamp of 2019)

Today I have a review of the Sofirn SP40 budget headlamp. Sofirn continues to bring out affordable products and take feedback seriously. I have had this one for a while and have been using it for various things around the house. Thanks to them for sending this to me to take a look at review on the channel. Let’s take a closer look at it. 

 

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

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YouTube Version of this Review: 

 

Packaging & Accessories

Sofirn’s packaging is very basic and I am ok with this as more money is going to the product and accessories then the packaging. Inside the basic brown cardboard box the light is protected with some foam and bubble wrap. Included accessories are the headlamp itself with the Sofirn branded 3000mAh 18650 battery preinstalled, pocket clip, 18350 tube, headband, and spare orings.

Construction

The light is made from anodized aluminium. Machine and finish are good for the price range here. The tail is flat, and non magnetic. The light comes into 3 pieces with the other spare body tube being the 4th. There is standard diamond knurling on the tail cap as well as the body. It’s a little more on the aggressive side and I expect it will pick up dirt over time. 

The headband is a 3 piece design, and while functional, the straps do feel a bit more lightweight and thinner then other headbands I have from Olight, Armytek, and Klarus. That said this light is a lot less expensive. The headband has 2 silicone loops in front to slip the light into. On the 18650 tube there are 2 areas milled in without knurling where these rest. For the 18350 tube you kind of just have to make it work, and for me the loops ended up sitting on the knurls. There is also a press on friction fit pocket clip thats included on the light. With the 18650 tube it can be oriented either direction. With a head up carry a lot of the light sticks up from you pocket so a head down would be the only way for me. On the 18350 tube the clip really only fits on in one direction to remain on the light. This isn’t my favorite EDC because of how it carries but I am glad they at least include it. One last thing to note is that you should remove the clip prior to putting on the head strap. 

The head is fairly flat but with rounded corners on the emitter side. The rear is rounded and there is minimal milling for heat and weight dissipation on the sides. The USB charging port is opposite and below the emitter but still on the head. ON top is the button for controlling the light, as well as being a charger status indicator. Red is charging, green is charged. It’s a clicky e switch covered with a translucent silicone cover. 

 

Size/Weight and Comparisons

I measured Length at 107mm, Body Width at 22mm and maximum head width at 27mm. 

Weight with the included battery is 105.4g, with the headband and battery it’s 141g. 

The Sofirn SP40 looks like other headlamps we have seen for the most part. Today I am going to do some quick comparisons with the Armytek Elf C2 I have here because it’s one of my favorites, is similar sized, and has USB recharging onboard. Length wise the Elf C2 is a bit longer but it’s tail is magnetic. It’s head is also a little wider, probably due to the button being on the side instead of  the top. The clip is a lot better for EDC in my opinion and is heads up, vs the SP40 would be best as a tail down carry. Both fit in their respective headbands in a similar way. 

LED/Beamshots/Heat/Runtime

The SP40 is using a XP-L LED in cool white but not super cool tint. I would guess something like 6000k. While I wish it was a neutral white this is ok for the price. The beam is pretty standard, with no major artifacts. ItThe reflector has orange peel and the lens is clear anti reflective coated. Since it doesn’t have a diffuser or TIR optic it does have a hot spot in the center and isn’t super even. The light does have PWM and I don’t notice it on any of the modes. 

Heat here isn’t too bad. During my runtime tests I measured the light at several intervals and found the following temps. 1 minute was 93F, 5 minutes was 115F, and 10 minutes was 111F. 

Official output is listed at the following

Low – 5 lumens

Medium – 90 lumens

High – 450 lumens

Turbo – 1200 lumens

 

UI

The UI is pretty simple, and straight down to business. From off and you turn it on and the light starts on low, if you long press while the light is on it will move up to the next brightest mode. If you hold it down the light will cycle between low, medium, and high. The light won’t go into turbo without a double click while on. The light does have memory for all modes except turbo. Lastly there are no blinking modes. 

 

Recharging

The light does have onboard micro USB charging on the head. From an empty cell at 2.76V where LVP kicks in, I charged the light to full in 4.8 hours at an average of 0.9A. This is an acceptable charge rate, and should be safe for any 18650 that’s installed inside, but you won’t be winning any charging races here. For an 18650 it’s safe but probably a little higher then I want to charge mine at typically. I have no complaints with the included 3000mAh Sofirn branded 18650 battery.

Pro

  • Great included accessories including the 18350 tube and 18650 battery
  • Fantastic value for what your getting with the kit, including the battery, USB recharging, etc

 

Con’s

  • Head Strap is a bit thinner than other brands.
  • Current regulation isn’t the best.
  • No tint choice available.

 

Conclusion

For the price, flexibility, and fast shipping if purchased from Amazon, I am not sure if there is a better value 18650 headlamp available for less money that includes USB charging. There are other headlamps I rate as overall better, but their prices are significantly more. The Sofirn SP40 provides a good amount of working light for most jobs in most situations, has onboard charging for convenience, and includes optional extras like the 18350 tube instead of making them an optional extra. This would be a good option for someone looking to grab a bunch of headlamps for work, or to loan out, or give as gifts as it’s a complete kit and easy to use.

Headlamps are something I think everyone should have as they are extremely useful around the house, and anywhere you are working on something where 2 hands are preferred. If none of that applies to you, this still makes a decent right angle EDC in the pocket too.

Get the Sofirn SP40 for $23.19 by using code D3BUSFJM at https://amzn.to/2ZrEY44