Reviews – Page 21 – LiquidRetro.Net's Reviews

July 1, 2019July 1, 2019

Sofirn SP70 Review (5500 Lumen Thrower, XHP 70.2)

Do you miss the days of having an old big multi cell Maglight? If so Sofrins SP70 is for you. It’s their new, flagship thrower flashlight and it’s the largest modern flashlight I own. It’s so big in fact that it ships with a shoulder sling. Thanks to Bangood for sending this to me to review. If you are interested make sure to check the links in the description below for the discount that’s currently being offered on this light.

Pickup the Sofirn SP70 at http://bit.ly/2J2vZxr and use Coupon Code: FINSP70 to get the light for $50 (Maker sure to choose the Chinese warehouse for the coupon to apply correctly)

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/Nx69xfB

YouTube Version of this Review:

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Packaging

Sofirn doesn’t spend any time or money on their packaging like some flashlight companies do, instead its a basic brown cardboard box with nothing on the outside, and foam inside protecting the contents. Accessories include a set of spare orings, an extra button and some steel rings to make attaching the shoulder strap. It also comes with a shoulder strap since this is such a large light.

There are a couple of versions available of the Sofirn SP70. I received just the light itself, but Sofrin also has a kit version that includes 26650 batteries and a basic charger. I know both versions are available on Amazon, but it looks like Banggod is only selling the light only version.

Construction

The light is made from aluminium and has a smooth black anodizing on it. Quality overall is good, no sharp edges or visible machining marks. It is a heavy weight coming in at 864.7 grams. The light is large enough I am going to take it apart here to talk about the various components and fit them on frame.

The tail has a mechanical button covered with a silicone button with grip. It’s surrounded by two wings that allow the light to tail stand. One has a rather large slot milled in it to allow for the shoulder strap to attach. On the sides the tail cap has a 12 sides milled in to give some style and a bit of grip. Inside is a stiff dual spring.

On the body tube tail end threads are square cut and anodized. The light does have a tactical ring, but on a light this big it’s more of an anti roll ring. It has two holes where you could attach a lanyard if you wanted. The center part of the body tube has nice diamond knurling on it, providing a good level of grip. Threads on the top part of the body tube are anodized, square cut making it reversible.

The inside of the head has two springs as well which is nice to see in a light this size. The button is on the lowest level nearest the body tube and fits my hand pretty well. It has green LED’s underneath that power on when the light is on. There is a good amount of milled in heat syncing on the light all over the head to help dissipate heat and reduce weight. I do like that they left some metal in directly under the button to give you a place to rest your pointer finger when you press the button. Also in the head just in front of the button is the other shoulder strap attachment point. The very front of the light has a lightly crenelated bezel that allows for the glass lens to sit recessed. The reflector underneath is has a heavy orange peal all around it.

Size and Weight Comparisons

This is the first light that was too long to measure with my calipers in one go, Length was measured at 250mm, Diameter at its largest (Head) was 90mm, and minimum diameter on the body section was 34mm. I measured the weight with two KeepPower 26650 cells installed at 864.7g, which makes it the heaviest light I have tested. That almost 2lbs of flashlight, no wonder this comes with a shoulder sling. The light is IP67 water rated.

I don’t have any modern lights this long or with this big of head to compare it to. Here is a Klarus XT32 Thrower that uses 18650’s. The Klarus isn’t a small light either but the SP70 just puts it to shame in it’s size. I will insert a picture of the Astrolux FT03 I reviewed last week on this channel for comparisons in size too.

LED/Beamshots/Runtime/Lumens

The Sofirn SP70 uses a Cree XHP 70.2 LED at 6000k. It’s got the usual XHP 70.2 falts but here at least in my example the Cree rainbow isn’t as noticeable. It’s a good emitter for tons of output and throw.

hat brings me to the beam pattern here, while a good thrower it’s not as tight as beam as I was expecting. The hotspot is pretty good size and doesn’t have the usual hard edges you see no a lot of throwers. In my night shots you saw that bigger beam and even larger spill.

Sofrin lists the following outputs for group 1 modes.

Moon – 2 Lumens

Eco – 60 Lumens

Low – 400 Lumens

Medium – 1,200 Lumens

High – 3,000 Lumens

Turbo – 5,500 Lumens

Beacon – 1,000 Lumens

Although this light can run on 18650, for the runtime and the performance benefits I would recommend running with 26650 batteries instead. In my runtime graphs here you can see the difference between using 18650 and 26550 batteries. Turbo would be the letdown here, because it only lasts about 2 minutes while decreasing in output. The light declines over about 30 minutes to around 70% relative output. At this point we see a large decrease in output to about 30% for the next hour. From here we see small declines then the light runs at a very low output for another 130 minutes for a total runtime of 240 minutes on 2 26650 batteries. On 18650’s total runtime was similar but you only got about 50 minutes of effective light.

LVP kicked in at 2.85V. I did notice the cells didn’t discharge evenly (2.85V and 2.89V) so if I was using this light alot I would rotate positions every once and a while after a full recharge.

This light has 2 UI modes. By default it came in a more conventional stepped interface by default, but it’s also capable of a ramping UI. I did my testing with the default UI. It has 6 mode groups from 2 lumens to 5000 lumens. The UI starts on low and goes up progressively. The light has a mechanical switch at the rear and then an e-switch up at the top. The mechanical switch does work as a momentary. You can have the mechanical switch on the the e-+switch off but this does increase the power drain on the light. When the light is on if you want to turn it off (standby) with the eswitch a quick press will do that. Longer presses make it cycle up in modes. Double click takes you to turbo. The light has memory, and lockout modes as well. Overall it’s a pretty simple interface and pretty intuitive. I like that beacon is hard to access.

Pro’s

Thermals are pretty well controlled, for as many lumens as we see here it doesn’t get too hot to touch.
That said I would prefer active thermal controls over timed step down but that is more difficult to do at this price point.
Huge output and good throw
Beacon isn’t part of the main mode groups

Con’s

It’s really big and appropriately heavy, your not going to EDC this light in your pants pocket. The big head size does make me a bit worried about damaging the glass lens with an impact.
XHP 70.2 has some cree rainbow.

Conclusion

If you miss the days of having a big 3 or 4 cell D Maglight that had some real heft to it and in the market for a high lumen, long distance thrower light, the Sofirn SP70 is a good option and fairly affordable as well. Everything about this light is big, from it’s throw, lumen output, spill, or gross weight. Sofirn has done a good job in the past year of listening to enthusiasts and turning out better and better lights. It’s quickly becoming one of my favorite budget brands to recommend and the SP70 is their best large format thrower to date that I have tested.

Pickup the Sofirn SP70 at http://bit.ly/2J2vZxr and use Coupon Code: FINSP70 to get the light for $50 (Maker sure to choose the Chinese warehouse for the coupon to apply correctly)

——————————————————————————————

Bangood is also having their summer prime sales, June 25th to July 12th with lots of prizes available.

Enter to win prizes http://bit.ly/2RKRdm9

They are divided into 3 mains section: The Lead Up period, followed by the Warmup period and finally the Detonation period.

Lead Up? June 25th-July 2nd
Warm-up? July 2nd-July 9th
Blowout Sale?July 9th-July 12th

Shopping Guide: http://bit.ly/324vMBl
Must Buy List: http://bit.ly/326AtL1
Giveaways List: http://bit.ly/2JbArIY

June 23, 2019June 23, 2019

Astrolux FT03 (Best value large thrower of 2019, Coupon Available)

Astrolux has a new lare thrower the FT03. It features a large deep reflector and a SST-40 LED to to give it throw. It’s mated to a 26650 battery tube (but it can accept 21700’s and 18650’s (With an adapter too) and features USB-C fast recharging. Thanks to Banggood for sending this too me. They do have a pretty aggressive coupon available for this if your interested.

Pickup the Astrolux FT03 SST40-W at http://bit.ly/31CYUzb and use Coupon Code: BGAFT03 to get the light for $29.99 USA ONLY

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

YouTube Version of this Review:

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Packaging

The light came in a white sturdy cardboard box with minimal info on the outside. The light was packaged in foam on the inside. The included accessories were minimal, with a lanyard, spare orings, manual, and an adapter to fit 18650 batteries. No charging cable comes with this light.

Construction

The light is made from aluminium and has smooth anodizing, in a fairly mat finish. Starting at the tail cap the light does tail stand very well, thanks to the notch cut in it’s side to allow the lanyard to go through. It has an octadecagon milled in for grip. On the inside it has dual springs inside the simple tail PCB.

The body tube is directional (Threads and anodizing are different on each) with 12 panels of knurling. It has to flats milled on each side and a grid pattern milled in too. It’s a nice feel in the hand without tearing up your skin or clothing.

Moving up to the head section we have the e-switch with LED’s under that act as a way to find the light in the dark and as a charge status indicator when charging. It has minimal heat syncing milled in to the sides. Opposite the button is the USB-C charging port with a silicone cover that fits well and flush. It doesn’t get in my way. The bell of the light is smooth as is the top part of the head. The deep bezel piece has large shallow crenelations on it that allows a bit of light to spread when face down.

Size & Weight

I measured the length at 170mm, Maximum diameter in the head at 70mm, minimum diameter in the body at 32mm on the flats. Weight with a 26650 battery was 396.7g.

The FT03 fit’s pretty well in my hand. To me the 26650 tubes feel pretty natural and I like the length and where my fingers and thumb fit. Ergonomics are good.

A bit of comparisons with the Thrunite Catapult V6

LED/Runtime/Beam Profile

The FT03 comes with a clear domed SST-40 LED in Cool or Neutral white. Mine is a NW example. It’s surrounded by a fairly smooth reflector that is deep and helps this light throw. The reflector leaves a decent amount of space around the LED, about ¼”. The lens is glass and double anti reflective coated. It’s using the Texas Star FET driver.

The beam profile is that of a pretty typical thrower. Small hot center where 90+% of the light is focused and then a spill. I don’t see any real undesirable traits. You do notice if there is anything on the lens that’s dirty or causes distortion.

Runtime

Since this is a FET driven light, a high drain cell is recommended for most performance. That means a high drain 18650 like a Sony VTC6 or Samsung 30Q would be good choices, or for a little more runtime a 21700 sized cell. I ended up going with a Sony VTC6 (3000mAh) for my runtime tests. Turbo steps starts stepping down after about a minute, until the 5 minute mark where you see the aggressive output step down to about 30% relative output. It held this for about 140 minutes. At this point it did more pronounced steps down to almost nothing at the 175 min mark. The light at this point is still on but only in moonlight mode, I left it for another 100 minutes and stopped the test, since it was clearly in need of a recharge. With larger capacity cells I would expect the time after the initial step down to be longer.

I didn’t do a lot of formal heat testing with this light but I can tell you that even with the fairly aggressive turbo stepdowns the head section of the light gets warm to touch as does the body. Nothing dangerous but it’s definitely normal.

The Astrolux FT03 is using the enthusiast developed NarsilM Firmware V1.3 along with an e-switch which is great. By default it ships in the ramping mode which is what I like, it also has a stepped mode you can switch it in to if you want. It’s highly configurable and can be a little complicated depending on what you wish to do. The good news is there are lots of guides on Youtube and various cheat sheets on BLF forums that I will try to link to as well. A couple shortcuts I find myself using is double clicking to strobe.

NarsilM 1.3 Firmware Guide http://liquidretro.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/NarsilM1.3.pdf

Recharging

This light does have USB-C for recharging, but it won’t charge batteries that are at 4v or above which is a little strange. So if you need to top up a cell after a brief use you would need to take it out and use a charger. Frustratingly the light also won’t charge from a USB-C to C cable, it requires a USB-A to USB-C cable or a microUSB to USB-C adapter. When recharging the LED’s under the E switch turn red, and then go green when charged. Maximum charge rate I saw was 1.9A so pretty close to the 2A that’s advertised. This means charging speed is pretty quick even on larger 26650 and 21700 batteries. Terminal voltage was 4.149v.

Pro

Fantastic value thrower especially with USB-C recharging
Fit’s a wide variety of Batteries, 26650, 21700, 18650 (With included adapter).
Good LED and I appreciate the tint choices at this price range
NarsilM Firmware

Con

Only will charge via USB-A to USB-C cables, no C-C cables allow for charging.
Won’t recharge cells if they are above 4.0V
Not a small light, but that’s to be expected with most throwers
Aggressive turbo step downs but this can be modified with the firmware.

Conclusion

At this price point, especially with the coupon I have here, the Astrolux FT03 is the best value thrower of 2019 that I have tested thus far. It’s using the great NarsilM firmware that’s highly user configurable, it has onboard recharging via USB-C (Even though it’s not capable of C-C charging), and is available in Neutral White or Cool white for whichever you prefer. The short of it I recommend this one if your looking for a larger thrower light. Don’t forget to click that link in the description and check it out over on Banggod.

Pickup the Astrolux FT03 SST40-W at http://bit.ly/31CYUzb and use Coupon Code: BGAFT03 to get the light for $29.99 USA ONLY

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June 23, 2019

Bang Ti Titanium Keyrings & Keychain

Pickup the Bang Ti Titanium Keyrings & Keychain at amazon https://amzn.to/2WWhfZh

Use the code “KEYK28H50” and save 20% off your order

June 16, 2019

Olight PL-Pro Review (1500 Lumen Weapon Light & Comparisons with the PL-2)

Today I have a review of the Olight PL-Pro Weapon light. This is a version of the PL-2 that came out last year but the Pro offers Olights built in magnetic recharging system, an optional remote pressure switch and a neutral white LED. Thanks to SkyBen for sending this to me to take a look at.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/JN1FJoD

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YouTube Version of this Review:

Packaging

Packaging follows Olights recent trends for 2019. A white high quality box with a photo of the light on the front and information on all sides. Inside the light pulls out from a tray. Below is all the accessories including the picatinny insert (Glock insert comes preinstalled), extra screws, Torx driver, MCC1A USB charger, and the manual. Skyben also included a battery holder (Even though this light doesn’t have replaceable batteries).

I also got with my light the RPL-7 magnetic pressure switch which came in a small zip top bag. It includes the remote pressure switch itself, and then an adapter so that the switch can be mounted or zip tied to a picatinny rail section.

Construction

The body itself is made from hard type anodized aluminum. The battery compartment is contoured to match the PL-2 that had removable batteries where as the PL-Pro has an internal non removable cell. The PL-Pro carries over the mounting system from the PL-2RL by having a metal rail piece. Out of the box this came with the Glock sized rail preinstalled, but you get a 1913 rail piece in the box as well as an allen wrench to change it. The quick detach mount is very sturdy, and requires no tools to attach to the light. It has tension on the mounting system even in unlocked so it won’t drop free without pushing in from the side, I like this two step open option, as it makes sure the light won’t fall off if accidentally bumped or the unlock lever gets reversed.

The rear switches and battery cover look the same from the PL-2, the only exception is that on the PL-Pro they don’t open. On the bottom there is the magnetic charging pad. There is a slightly raised up section

The RPL-7 remote pressure switch fits onto the bottom of the PL-Pro perfectly. It’s a stronger magnet then the charger which is good because it’s not something you would want to fall off. The cable is a similar flat siliconized cover. The button itself is plenty long. My only semi complaint would be the way it attaches to your rifle, I would prefer a mount that screws into Picatinny rail or that Olight would offer a MLok adapter.

Size & Weight

Size wise the PL-Pro is basically identical to the PL-2. The only difference at the bottom there are little extra nibs on the Pro for the recharging base making it a little thicker. I don’t have a way to test this myself but I suspect some holsters that fit the PL-2 will also fit the PL-Pro or could with a very slight modification. Weight of the PL-Pro is actually about 13 grams lighter. The PL-Pro is IPX6 rated.

	PL-Pro	PL-2
Length	81mm	80mm
Height	32.4mm	30.5mm
Width	36.6mm	36.6mm
Weight	103.4g	116.1g

Mounted Photos

LED/Runtime/Beamshot

The Olight PL-Pro is using a Cree XHP 35 HI NW. This is the same LED as the the PL-2 but in a different tint. My PL-2 is in a cool white, and the PL-Pro right now is only coming in neutral white. While I applaud Olight for offering a neutral white (Usually my preference) the bin they chose here has a good amount of green in it, and it’s most noticeable in lower output modes. In my comparison shots here it’s noticeable which is cool white and which is neutral white.

The beam is identical to the PL-2 due to the same reflector and LED being used with the difference being the tint of the LED. The light has a medium sized hotspot that throws pretty well out to 100 yards or so.

PL-2 On Left — PL-Pro on the Right

In my runtimes were pretty accurate with what Olight saw. The internal battery is rated for 900mAh. On the full 1500 lumens the light lasted for 1.5 minutes, past that it saw a 60% relative output decrease where it ran for 35 minutes. Now this sounds like a big drop and it is but this was still quite a bit of output at 300 lumens. Next the light saw a step down to right at 20% relative output where it ran for another 10 minutes before shutting off. Step downs at the beginning are timed and then voltage controlled from there on out. Step downs are sudden and sharp. It would be nice to add a couple of flashes at the end of the runtime giving one last warning before the light shuts off.

Recharging of the built in 900mAh battery is accomplished with Olights MCCA1 charging system. It’s compatible with other older charges from Olight, except for the one for the PL-Mini. I saw a complete recharge in 1 hour and 18 minutes at a max charge rate of 0.9A.

UI is a little different but similar on the PL-Pro. The light has 2 modes, a low power 300 lumen mode and a high power 1500 lumen mode. It’s pretty easy to switch between them, Just double click on one of the paddles to jump up into high or medium mode, similar to how you get to turbo on other Olights. Low Power mode is more of a lockout mode so it won’t burn a hole through you bag accidentally. To activate it with the light on press one of the paddles for 3 second then press and hold the other till the light shuts off. At this point it’s in a low power 100 lumen mode Olight is calling Lockout. To reverse this just do this process again.

In either mode the light a quick press of a paddle locks the light on, a longer press gives you momentary, and pressing both together gives you strobe.

Pro’s

Rechargeable is really convenient and cheaper to run if you are going to use a lot of hours on it.
Nice integration with a remote pressure pad as an option, gives this light the ability to mount on a rifle as well.
Neutral white, but that green tint kind of kills the deal here for me
Some holsters that fit the PL-2 may fit the PL pro as they are similar in dimensions. Your luck may vary

Con’s

LED choice resulted in a beam that has a green tinge.
Battery isn’t user replaceable thus it’s a consumable light.
Timed step downs for turbo.

Conclusion

The Olight PL-Pro Valkyrie continues to show what Olight has learned when making weapon lights. The little refinements like making a low power (still 300 lumens) lockout mode to prevent the light from literally burning a hold in your bag is a simple, smart idea. I like the integration of the remote pressure switch as well being magnetic, meaning it can break free with sufficient force if needed without damaging things. It’s easy to reattach too. Olights tint choices for LED’s continue to confuse me. My only thought about the choice of going with neutral white here was to aid hunters who are more likely to use the rechargeable version of this light to save runtime costs over the CR123 version, over the PL-2 being more designed for a tactical role, better shelf stable batteries etc. The downside of neutral white at least here is more green tint then I would like to see.

Overall if you liked the PL-2 you will like the PL-Pro, and if your interested check out Skyben’s listings on amazon, to get it super fast if you have prime shipping that is.

June 9, 2019June 9, 2019

Folomov C2 Review (400 lumens, 98CRI, Super small, 14300 battery, Summer EDC)

The Folomov C2, is a very small EDC light with a very high CRI (98CRI) warm beam, magnetic tail cap, and USB rechargeable battery. It might be a just about perfect little summer EDC. Thanks to Folomov (Affiliate Link) for sending it to me to take a closer look at and show to you guys.

Just a reminder to everyone to make sure you join my Facebook page for the YouTube channel and my reviews, where I try to post a few days a week, new arrivals etc, and take a look at the Patreon page I have setup for the channel as well.

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

Youtube Version of this Review:

Packaging

Instead of a box, the C2 comes in a small tin with foam inserts. The top cover is laser engraved with the name and brand. It would make a nice gift box. Included with the light is a pocket clip, battery, extra orings, manual and micro USB charging cable.

Construction

The light is made from aluminum and hard anodized a satin black. Starting at the tail it’s magnetic, and flat, so it tails stands well. The tail cap sides have just a little milling in them to add style and a slight amount of grip. Inside threads are anodized and square cut. The body is tiny at only 19mm in diameter, It has 2 flats where the minimal labeling for the light is (Just the brand and model name).

The button and clip segment grow in diameter slightly, similar to the Olight Mini series of lights. Folomov choose a gray button that has 2 LED’s underneath to give a bit of a charge indication. They are green when the battery is charged and turn red when the battery is low. The head section has small teardrop areas milled in. The bezel is a polished aluminum. The glass lens sits recessed a little and underneath is a orange peel reflector.

The clip is fixed in a tip up position and fixed rotation, this allows you to mount the light on the bill of a hat if you wish to do so. The bad part about this clip is the bend at the top is just too tight, there is only about 1.5mm of space at the top of it, so it’s difficult to fit over the brim of most hats, and even pants or shorts pockets are usually thicker than that at the seam. The result is it just doesn’t carry as deep as it could, but it still carries better then many lights.

Size and Weight/Comparisons

This is a seriously small light, I measured length at 55mm, max diameter near the switch at 19mm, minimum at 16mm. Weight only comes in at 31.7 grams with the battery and clip. The light is IPX8 Water rated as well.

The C2 does share a lot of design features with the Olight SMini series of lights, but is about 20-30% smaller. It’s not a revolutionary design but one that works well. For me the C2 has proven to be a great summer carry, as I am wearing shorts more, I want smaller and lighter weight things in my pockets and the C2 fills that gap while still having quite a bit of power. The magnetic tail cap just add to it’s utility. It does only have tip up carry which some people will love, others will hate.

LED/Beamshots/Runtime

The little Folomov C2 is using a Nichia 21A LED. The tint is 3000k and an exciting 98 CRI. The beam has a hot center that covers about 30% of the beam and then a minimal amount of light in the spill. I like warm high CRI beams, I will admit the warmer tints can take some time getting used to especially if you have a lot of cool white low CRI lights now. For me I always will take high CRI if I can get it as I just prefer colors to look natural and it’s good for any photography too.

Folomov rates the light at a maximum of 400 lumens in turbo, 160 lumen in high, 50 lumen on medium, 10 lumen on low, and ½ lumen on moonlight. It also has strobe, SOS and bacon all at 160 lumens.

Runtime is nothing outstanding, due to the 14300 sized battery at 250mAh. It’s just a really small battery in terms of capacity, part of this is to fit the microUSB charging circuit on which barely fits. So in my runtime tests the light was on for 65 minutes. Turbo is really only good for about a minute, before stepping down pretty significantly. The next 30 minutes you get a usable amount of light. The last 30 minutes is just above moon light mode modestly.

Low voltage protection kicked in at 3.08V. The light does have reverse polarity protection and some thermal protection. Parasitic Drain was measured at 2.0uA.

The UI is straightforward and logical in illumination mode. Low, Medium, High, and then it repeats. Direct access to low is available by long pressing from off, and a double click takes you to turbo. Low, Medium and high are available for memory as well. There is lockout mode which you can activate by pressing the button 3 times quickly, and you do the same to unlock. This mode is very similar to Olight’s UI, so if you know it you will catch on quick.

There is a tactical mode which I think is a little silly on a light this small but it does have it. To go between the two you click the light 7 times from off. It makes the side switch a momentary turbo if pressed and held. If the button is pressed quickly it locks turbo on,and if you double click the side switch you get strobe.

The light ships in the default mode which is where I think most people will want to leave it.

Recharging and the Battery

Recharging the 14300 battery is easily accomplished with the MicroUSB port on it’s side. The USB charging circuit sits on top of the battery and has red/green LED to indicate charge status. Full Battery Voltage was measured at 4.207V. Total recharging time took just 1 hour and the maximum charging speed I saw was 0.3A which is appropriate for a cell of this size.

I suspect the battery being used here is really more like a 14200 sized sell with the last 10mm, being the USB recharging circuit. You can see the line in the battery. 14200s are also much more available then 14300s, that said I am not finding any 14200’s that match the capacity here. While I understand why they went with USB recharging especially for such a small cell, it does hurt capacity as it takes up valuable space.

Pro

Warm White high CRI. 98CRI is just fantastic on an EDC this size.
Small size, this was smaller than expected and carries really nice
Easy to use UI that’s what you would expect

Cons

The pocket clip is narrow, meaning anything but very thing pockets won’t ride all the way down in the clip.
Not a common battery size, Folomov says they will at some point have additional batteries for purchase.
Low capacity battery at only 250mAh.

Conclusion

For me the Folomov C2 is a hit. It’s enough light to get me through an office or light duty EDC use, but has enough power to do a few other small tasks. For any larger tasks I would want a larger light nearby in my home, car, or office. It’s not a light I would go camping with or use for extended times due to the small battery but it’s more useful than most keychain lights without being too big in a pocket. I love the high CRI warm LED, this is what sets it apart from the competition that typically prefers cool white LEDs. My only main concern is the availability and cost of replacement batteries. Folomov has said they will be available but hasn’t said when or at what cost. Overall it’s a nice light, with a straight forward UI for a pretty affordable price. I recommend it for a very small light weight EDC.

Save 20% on the Folomov EDC C2 now through June 13th at https://amzn.to/2MCjAE5 (Affiliate Link)

June 2, 2019June 2, 2019

WelTool M7 Review (Inspection Light)

WelTool has a new specialized flood inspection style light with the new M7. The light takes an 18650 battery and has a Aspherical lens creating a super even beam with hard cut off edges. This is a specialized light so let’s take a quick look at it and it’s use cases. Thanks to WelTool for sending it to me.

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

Youtube Version of this Review:

Packaging

The light comes in a red cardboard box, with Weltool branding on it. It’s a box that is designed to fit multiple models. Inside the light was packed in foam cut to fit the M7. Accessories were limited to the light itself, the included Weltool branded button top protected 2600mAh USB rechargeable 18650 battery, a pocket clip and a spare oring.

Weltool may have overdone it with their thesaurus when writing the description of this light on both their website and Amazon listing. In my opinion detracts from the light and just makes it look silly, less like a tool, and more like a marketing stunt. Weltool should hire a native English speaker to make sure everything translates well in meaning and isn’t over the top with buzz words. One of my favorite example is ““Eye of Heaven General”, the Eye of Wisdom, will watch over the hard work you pour your heart into.”

Construction

The light is made from aluminum, and anodized black. Overall machining is average, but I did have a small area in the head that seemed the anodizing was worn off, possibly due to shipping? Starting at the tail, you have a large proud rubber boot with a mechanical switch underneath. Inside the tail is a single spring, on the outside fairly standard diamond knurling can be found.

The clip attaches to the body in a head down only position. The clip makes and effort to allow for a slightly deeper carry but 29mm of the lights tail will still stick out. The clip is fairly robust for a push on design and is removable. The body and head sections are all milled as once piece. The body continues the same basic diamond knurling the tail has. The head grows slightly in diameter, and has a prominent anti roll ring that works well. The front bezel itself is plastic, and the lens itself is an Aspherical Acrylic lens. I do notice it collecting dirt down in the corner of the lense pretty easily.

Lastly the light has labeling around the rear switch saying “Only 18650 Available”, (Translation error?), and then up front it has the Weltool logo, model and “The Eyes of Heaven General” tagline they have chosen for this light, which happens to be slightly crooked.

Size/Weight

I measured length at 119mm, maximum diameter at 29mm, minimum diameter at 22mm. Weight with the included battery and clip is 122.8g. The light is only IP67 rated, meaning it can survive a drop into water up to a meter.

LED/Beam Pattern, Runtime

The make and model of the LED used in this light isn’t given, instead they call it a “X-LED”, more marketing and less facts for those who actually want to know. My guess is it’s something like a Cree XM-L series LED in a pretty cool white.

The beam as mentioned before is very round, consistent and even due to the acrylic aspherical lens. It has no hot spots, and really floods with little to no throw. Cut off is fairly hard on the edges as well.

The light uses constant current, and has no PWM which is nice. Output curve is pretty steady with no thermal or timed stepdowns, its brightness varies with the discharge profile of the battery largely. Total runtime I saw was 120 minutes, My runtime graph may not be entirely accurate due to the abnormal battery mine shipped with. More on that in the recharging section. I measured parasitic drain at 3.6uA.

Ui on this M7 is very simple. You have two modes, low and high. Low is rated for 114 lumens while high is 353 lumens according to Weltool. You can full press or have press to switch between modes, the light does start on low. It’s nice they didn’t include strobe as that would not fit the intended useage of the light.

Recharging

I seem to have received a battery with a bit of a defective protection/charging circuit. On mine LVP kicked in at 3.44V, and reported as fully charged via the USB cable at 4.06V. I confirmed with Weltool that these are not normal behaviors. The battery that ships with the light is USB rechargeable, and only 2600mAh. I would like to see Weltool include a 3000 or 3500mAh battery in 2019 as the price difference is small and that would add a good amount more of runtime.

Pro

Beam makes it good for upclose work, reading or short range inspection tasks, It’s very even
I like that the light starts on Low
Decent clip

Con

Low 2600mAh battery included with the light with a pretty narrow range of operation 3.44V – 4.06V in my tests.
I would have liked to see an additional low mode, for up close reading type tasks.
I would have liked to see a magnet in the light, this could have made a nice under the hood type light if it had one.
Seems a bit expensive at the time of this review.

Conclusion

This is a specialized niche light for specialized purposes. I can see it being useful for close inspection work within a few feet of you or to provide some light while working on something with your hands (Although a headlamp would be my choice to do this). This isn’t the best choice for a general purpose light, to use while camping, walking the dog, or just general use. My example had a few minor aesthetic issues with the anodizing and labels on the light, but other then that it’s ok. The labeling and writing for the marketing/technical details really are not for me, everything has been written in a grandiose fashion and that hasn’t always translated to english very well. This is a relatively easy fix for WelTool and I would encourage them to tame it down for future lights and stick to the facts that flashaholics and general consumers need when making a purchasing decision.

If you need a light with a super floody beam, for short distance work, this is an ok choice, but for most people a more conventional beam pattern with a bit of hot spot, more throw, will be more useful in general in my opinion. I feel like in terms of value at the time of writing this is a bit expensive for what your getting for most people.

May 27, 2019May 27, 2019

Klarus XT21X Review (4000 Lumens, 21700, XHP 70.2 P2)

Klarus has introduced a new Tactical flashlight with the XT21X, producing 4000 peak lumens, active thermal controls, and 21700 battery. It’s nice to see 21700 batteries taking off in 2019. Thanks to FlashlightZ for sending the light to me to review. Make sure to check them out.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/Ho37Wj7

YouTube Version of this Review:

Packaging/Accessories

The light comes in a white high quality retail box with a tactical soldier on the front as well as the light. Per the usual you have lumens and other facts around the box and the one that got me the most excited was the Intelligent Thermal protection.

Included with the light are the light itself, a pocket clip, lanyard, Oring, MicroUSB charging cable, a button top protected Klarus 21700 5000mAh battery (Rated for 15A max) and a branded black nylon holster with plastic D Ring on the back. The holster is a nice design as it has a plastic cup on the bottom that the light clicks into for a more secure hold.

Construction

The light is made from Aircraft grade aluminum and is hard anodized a fairly glossy black. Starting at the back of the light taking a look at the tail switch, this is the dual function switch that Klarus has used on a few other recent lights. You have a rubber booted mechanical button that serves as on/off, and then a paddle that can activate strobe or low mode depending on the mode your light is in. Not much grip on the sides but enough to get the job done with dry hands. Inside are stiff dual springs.

On the body tube threads are ACME cut and unanodized. The inside of the body is a dual tube design. The clip fits on in one position only but does rotate. It’s allows a decent amount of the light to stick out of a pocket or pouch. The knurling on the body tube itself is a horizontal pattern of knurling, but then has some large diamonds milled into it. I like this, but it does seem to attract dirt easily. The body tube is fixed to the head of the light.

The head itself is similar in layout to the other newer Klarus lights this year. The same electronic mode button with the ST15R I reviewed last month. Opposite the button you have a very similar silicone door covering the MicroUSB charging port. Up front there’s a little more aggressive bezel that does unscrew. The lens is anti reflective coated, and the reflector below has a nice orange peel.

Size/Weight/Comparisons

I measured overall length at 162mm, maximum diameter at the head at 41mm and minimum diameter at the body at 27.5mm. I measured weight with the clip and battery at 228.6g. I did some comparison with my Olight Seeker 2 Pro which is the only other 21700 light I have at the moment, and while the lights have somewhat of a different design ethos in mind, the Olight is smaller in pretty much all dimensions. Diameter of the tails and boy are very similar between the two, but the Klarus has a larger head and longer body.

LED/Beamshots/Runtime

This light is using a Cree XHP 70.2 P2 LED in cool white. No tint temperature is given but it’s a fairly warm cool white, more to neutral then cool. The beam pattern is good, nice hot spot in the center to give the light throw and a smooth transition to the spill with no negative artifacts or rings.

Runtime on this light is good but also a bit disappointing. The 4000 lumens of turbo is only good for 1 minute, uncooled, because of thermals. That said the light does have active thermal controls that we see working for the first 130 minutes of running. It’s a smooth fade from 50% relative output to about 18%. After the 130 minute market the light went into energy conservation mode and ran at almost moonlight mode for another 175 minutes. Total runtime from full to empty was 300 minutes. Low voltage protection kicked in at 2.88V, and working voltage of the light is 2.5V to 6.4V.

Parasitic Drain was measured at 3.3uA. I measured thermals during my runtime test at a maximum of 111F at the 5 minute mark.

The flashlight has 2 UI modes, Tactical and Outdoors and the light ships in Tactical by default. In Tactical mode a half press on the primary switch at the tail gives you momentary on. If you give it a full click you get turbo. Using the paddle in momentary you get strobe only. Tactical isn’t my favorite mode because the light starts on high and strobe is too easy to get to. I will put up a photo of the manual that has a nice diagram showing each mode.

In outdoors mode the paddle, starts the light off in moonlight mode, in momentary. You can long press on the paddle to lock the light on then, continue to use the paddle to move up in modes. While on the side switch goes in reverse, So if you are in low that you turned on with the paddle, and the light is still on, if you press the side switch once, you go to turbo. The primary switch acts like a shortcut to turbo. You can also double click the mode button to get to Strobe.

Klarus lists the output and modes at, Turbo at 4000 lumens, High at 1200, Medium at 400, low at 100, and moonlight at 5 lumens. Strobe is rated at 4000, and SOS at only 100.

Recharging

This light has onboard charging via MicroUSB. It’s quite unfortunate that they didn’t go with USB-C, on this new design, in 2019. In my opinion it really should be the standard for lights of this price range. The good news is charging via MicroUSB was relatively quick, I saw it taking 3.3hrs for a full charge and most of this time was at 2A speed. A full cell when recharged inside the light stopped charging at 4.12V.

Pro

Relatively easy to switch between Tactical and Outdoors modes
Positive retention in the Holster, with the Click in.
True active thermal controls, but Turbo mode is still pretty short at just a minute.
Less Cree Rainbow on the P2 version of the XHP70.2 then others I have tested.

Con

Micro USB for recharging, It’s 2019 and on a light of this price, they should have USB-C.
Moonlight mode is brighter then I prefer at 5 lumens.
A bit large.

Conclusion

I like that for a tactical light, Klarus gave the light an outdoors mode, that if not being used in a tactical setting is better for general use. Most of my lights don’t get used in a tactical scenario, so being able to not have the paddle on the tail switch makes it a much more useable light. It’s nice to see a 21700 in this light, as well as activer thermal controls. The bad is that we are still stuck on MicroUSB instead of USB-C for the recharging in 2019 for a premium light. Overall it’s a solid tactical light, I just wish Turbo mode lasted longer.

As always make sure you check the description to where you can find more about this light and purchase it from FlashlightZ. If your not joined already, make sure you go join my Facebook page, follow me on Instagram and Twitter as well as check out the Patreon page. Thanks for reading and I will catch you on the next review soon.

May 17, 2019May 17, 2019

JetBeam RRT01 Review 2019 (Rotary EDC Almost Perfection?)

Jetbeam has reintroduced an updated RRT01 for 2019. This an exciting EDC light because it has a infinitely variable control ring meaning it’s a new affordable rotary light. It comes with a USB rechargeable 16340 battery but also takes 18350’s. Thanks to Banggood for sending this to me to take a look at.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/M1OMO3u

Youtube Version of this Review:

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Packaging

Pretty standard packaging from Jetbeam on this light. It’s a retail blue and black hanging box, with a picture of the light on the front. Banggod has kindly placed a large sticker and a piece of yellow tape on mine. On the back you get the features and specs. Included accessories are the light, a Jetbeam branded 16340 700mAh battery that is USB rechargeable, a decent lanyard, extra oring and small hex wrench for removing the clip, and small MicroUSB recharging cable.

Construction

The light is made from aluminum and anodized a dark gray with the control bezel being a silver. It’s nice to see something that’s not black. Machining is very good. Starting at the tail, it’s flat, with 3 places for 12mm long tritium vials, it’s flat so the light will tail stand provided it doesn’t have a lanyard attached. There is a place for the lanyard in the side but doing so makes it not sit very flat anymore. The body section of the light has knurling around it with 2 flats with the minimal labeling on each side. The light then grows to match the size of the head and control ring.

The rotary control ring has some areas milled into it to give grip. It has a detent on both ends of the control area. From 0 to 100% is about 150 degrees of rotation. The detent in the control ring isn’t super crisp, but a little mushy, it also takes a decent amount of effort to get over the detentes but once over them it turns easily but has enough resistance to stay where you leave it. The rotary really allows you to dial in the exact amount of light you want very quickly.

The head has a aluminum bezel with shallow crenulations. It is not glued in place and is easily removed. I think this will be an easy and popular light to modify because of that. The glass lens is double anti reflective coated and it has a deep smooth reflector.

Size/Weight/Carry Comparison

While not the smallest 16340 light on the market for me this makes a really nice EDC. A big part of that is a good pocket clip, and while the stock one is decent, Jetbeam wisely decided to make this compatible with a wide variety of aftermarket clips such as, Steelflame, Okluma, Oveready, and others. The stock clip for me had just a little to much upward flare on the tipI measured the length at 81mm, maximum diameter at 26mm, and minimum diameter at 20mm. Weight with the included cell and clip was 93g.

LED/beamshot/Runtime

The RRT01 is using a Cree XP-L HI LED in cool white. No tint data is given but it is cool white, with no undesirable tints (green). The beam is has a slight donut that you notice with lower power levels. Around the hot spot there is a thin reflection an additional small artifact in the beam that’s brighter. It’s noticeable but not a deal killer given all the lights other strengths.

I did 2 uncooled runtime testes, one with the included 700mAh 16340 and the other with a 1200mAh 18350. With the 16340 the total output on the highest output lasted a total of 24 minutes. During this output decreased slowly and pretty linearly, before the LVP on the battery itself kicked in. The runtime using the 1200mAh unprotected 18350 was a similar but different story. Output was a little more stable at the top, and total output increased to over just under 40 minutes (Technically longer). Outputs were pretty smooth and similar but at the 30 minute mark we saw lots of very little steps and then at the very end the light flashed to let you know the cell was very low. However then instead of cutting off output the light continued to run since the light itself has no LVP. My recommendation would be to run this with a protected battery or just charge frequently to avoid damaging the cell from ultra low voltage running.

UI on this light is super simple, Instead of buttons and modes it uses a rotary switch in the bezel with a detent on both ends. The detents are a little mushy, and do require some force. As mentioned earlier it’s about 160 degrees full rotation with detents. Low on this light is super low, sub lumen which is nice to see. I find the rotary switch to be faster than ramping UI with a ebutton too.

The light also has strobe if you rotate the rotary to maximum brightness past the detent, then reverse slightly over the denent and reverse again (Twice). Doing this twice gives you strove and then you can decrease brightness to the level you wish. Doing this 3 times gives you SOS. Rotate past the off detent to end the blinking modes.

Recharging

Included is a Jetbeam branded 700mAh 16340 battery that has recharging built in via MicroUSB on the battery. Charging speed was 0.4A which is what you want for these smaller capacity batteries. It took right at 2 hours to charge completely. The LED indicator on the battery goes Red when charging and Green when charged.

The light will take 18350 batteries too, these fill up the cavity better (Although no rattle with the 16340 that’s included) but if your using a protected 18350 it might not screw down completely flush. This doesn’t harm the IPX8 water resistance.

Pro

Love that it takes 18350’s including protected cells (with a bit of brass sticking out)
Great size and clip for EDC
Rotary switch in a small affordable package
Easily modifiable emitter
Takes standard clips if you want to upgrade.

Cons

There are some beam artifacts
No LVP (Running a protected battery is a good idea)
Not a completely smooth beam profile, there are some extra rings around the hot spot.

Conclusion

The Jetbeam RR01 2019 edition is a really nice little EDC light. It’s been my EDC since I got it, and that’s saying something. Rotary control rings this small are not common, and I think they should be used more. It allows you to get exactly the amount of illumination you need for your specific application. The RRT01 does a lot of things well for an EDC in my book.

The stock clip is pretty good for a fairly deep carry, and can easily be swapped out to a steelflame style clip from a variety of manufacturers if you would like. The modding potential for this light is big too, there is some talk of someone trying to make a triple in this light too which would be pretty awesome, and something I will definitely be paying attention too. I will probably look into an LED swap here in the coming weeks too, to get something high CRI and a touch warmer. Overall it’s a great little EDC light and I am glad Jetbeam revived the design and updated if for 2019. I definitely recommend it.

Banggod has provided me with a pretty good coupon on this one that I will have in the description and on my blog post so if your looking at getting one make sure you check that out as it does help out my channel/blog if you buy using the link I provide.

Get the JetBeam RRT01 2019 from Banggod at https://bit.ly/2VdivBz for $53.99 with code: BGRRT

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