Tag: olight vs thrunite

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Thrunite T1S Review ($35, 1212 Lumens, 18350)

Thrunite has updated their small EDC offering with the T1S, it features an 18350 battery, SST40 LED, and is said to produce up to 1200 lumens. They have updated the design a bit, added USB-C charging, and a new TIR Optic. Thanks to Thrunite for sending it to me to review. 

 

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Pickup the Thrunite T1S on Amazon on the links below. For the discount click the coupon on the page and use coupon code MZMO4272 for an extra 15% off.

Black: https://amzn.to/3rh5OI6

Grey: https://amzn.to/3qz2SY0

 

Packaging & Accessories

Packaging is standard Thrunite here, Not much to explain that the pictures won’t answer. You do get the note to remove the battery isolator before using the light, a key point for new users. Accessories you get with the T1S are a 1100mAh 18350 battery, lanyard, extra oring, snap on pocket clip, and a USB-A to USB-C charging cable. 

 

Construction & Design

The T1S is made from aluminum, and anodized in a semi shiny black. Fit and finish is good, above average for this price point I would say. Everything feels good, threads are anodized. The tail is flat, with a magnet inside. The clip attaches at the rear only, more on that later. The body is has 3 smooth sides, and 3 sides with small shallow slots milled into them for grip and style. The head is slightly larger, with minimal fins to dissipate heat. The electronic switch sits on a shallow platform which helps make it indexable, it has LED’s under to server as power indicators too. Opposite the button is the USB-C charging port, with standard silicone rubber cover. 

Internally there is a spring and magnet at the tail, and a brass post up front. Tolerances here are good, the battery is slip fit and the light can run standard flat top or button top cells from whomever you choose. Nothing is proprietary.

 

Retention

The T1S comes with the same pocket clip that the T1 had, this is a press fit on the rear only. It has a bit of a step in it and the top of the loop is small both of which are not my favorite, but works well here and carries super deep. It’s a dual direction clip so it can clip onto a hat well too. Don’t forget the tail is magnetic too.

 

Size, Weight, and Comparison

I measured the length of the T1S at 69.3mm, minimum diameter at 22.2mm, maximum diameter at 26mm at the button in the head. Weight with the battery and clip installed was 2.47oz, or 70.1g. Size wise it’s extremely similar to the original Thrunite T1. When I compare it to the Olight Baton 3, it’s longer and larger in diameter, and that’s expected given the different batteries the two run. The T1S is IPX8 water rated.

 

LED & Beam

The T1S is running a SST-40 in Cool White. When tested with my Opple meter, I received an unscientific 5375k tint in turbo, and 5230k in high. Ra value is somewhere in the 60s. What my eye saw was in the lower modes there is a significant amount of green tint shift that disappears in the higher modes. 

The optic here makes all the difference in my opinion, the T1 was a traditional reflector but super short, the result was all flood. The T1S has a TIR optic so you get a very useful balanced beam for EDC tasks, a reasonably large hotspot with most of the beam intensity and some spill. One thing to note is the TIR is concave, plastic, and doesn’t have a glass lens on top. Not a big deal at this price point, but expect it to get scratched some with use.

 

Official Outputs

 

Runtime & Heat

Turbo output on the light is rated at 1212 lumens for 5 minutes, but in my test I really only saw that for about 2:30 before that stepdown started. It was a slow stepdown that took about 10 minutes to reach around 30% relative output where it ran for an additional hour before running at its low/firefly modes for the remaining 3 hours or so for a total of 3:20:00. Max heat during that time was 50C. I then ran a runtime in medium mode where it was extremely stable and outdid the rated runtime out to 6:30:00.

 

UI

The Thrunite T1S has the pretty standard flashlight UI from Thrunite. From off, long hold to get to firefly mode, when off a single click turns on in the last standard mode used. Long press when on to cycle through the 3 main modes. Double click to go to turbo, triple click to go to strobe. This is simple and definitly an improvement over the slow ramping UI of the original T1. 

 

Recharging

The light recharges via the onboard USB-C that’s opposite the main switch. It is USB-C PD Compatible which is great to see. When recharging the button on the light turns red and turns blue when charged. Maximum charging speed I saw with the included 1100mAh battery was about 0.6A which is conservative. Total charging time from LVP at 3.033V to full at 4.144v was 2:20:00. One other note is that the light uses a standard 18350 battery, I was able to swap in a flat top Vapcell or Keeppower brand battery without problem here. 

 

Final Thoughts

If you were looking for a small EDC light, with USB-C charging, and a non proprietary battery, the Thrunite T1S is a great place to look. At an MSRP of $40, but with a $10 off currently the Thrunite T1S is a bargain at just under $30 and remember that includes the 1100mAh battery and USB-C charging cable. That’s a great bargain for what you’re getting, and fast shipping from the USA. If you’re looking for a new EDC light in this form factor that’s small and don’t mind the greener tint’s at lower outputs, I can recommend the T1S. Hopefully when the chip shortage eases we will see some neutral white emitters and other body colors soon. Thanks for watching or reading.

 

Pickup the Thrunite T1S on Amazon on the links below. For the discount click the coupon on the page and use coupon code MZMO4272 for an extra 15% off.

Black: https://amzn.to/3rh5OI6

Grey: https://amzn.to/3qz2SY0

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Thrunite TT20 Review (2526 Lumens, SST70 LED, USB-C, 21700, Tactical?)

Today I have Thrunite’s newest model, the TT20. It produces 2526 lumens from a Luminus SST70 LED, a 21700 battery. It has onboard USB-C charging and has a rear tactical switch. It’s available in 2 color bodies too. Thanks to Thrunite for sending this to me to look at and review. 

 

Get the Thrunite TT20 for $55.96 (20% off) until October 31st by clicking coupon checkbox on the product page at Amazon.

Red TT20 https://amzn.to/2T2DHvx

Black TT20 https://amzn.to/356sIa6

 

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Packaging & Accessories

The TT20 is using Thrunites standard heavy but minimal cardboard box. It’s lacking information like normal but that’s fine since it’s designed for online direct to consumer sales. Inside you get the flashlight itself, along with the proprietary 5000mAh 21700 battery, a basic holster, and a USB-A to C cable. The extras bag includes 2 Orings, a spare rubber tail boot, extra orings, 2 spare USB Charging port covers, and a branded lanyard. 

Construction

The Thrunite TT20 is available in 2 colors currently, a standard black and a Red “Outsider” edition that I have here. It’s a really nice rich vibrant red, I always like seeing lights in different colors. This version replaces the TT20 model number engraving with the Outsider’s logo. (Youtuber).

Thrunite added a large mechanical tail switch on this light making it “tactical” It’s cover is grippy and you can connect the lanyard at either side of the tail switch. It has some straight knurling for trip to help remove the tail cap. Inside the center contact is slightly spring loaded.

Threads are anodized and square cut. The battery compartment has very tight tolerances with the battery, when inserting the battery it’s cushioned by a layer of air escaping, normally you don’t see these types of tolerances in production lights. It doesn’t suffer the problem of the USB port cover popping off either which you sometimes see when inserting batteries in lights. The surface of the light has a fairly tame grip level for a tactical light, it’s a similar milled pattern to what the TC15 and T2 have. The 2 way clip is reversible on either end of the light, I have switched mine from where it came preinstalled. 

The head of the light is pretty plain, and glued to the body of the light at the front. You have an anti roll ring at the front. The e-switchis similar in shape and design to other Thrunites but this time black anodized and seems to stick out slightly more.It’s still got the LED indicator underneath for battery power levels. The battery charging port is opposite, and it has a fairly large silicon cover. The little pull tab can get in the way causing the flap to open unintentionally. The front of the light has a scalloped bezel that’s non tactical but allows light to escape when standing on the head. The lens is anti reflective coated, and underneath is a deep smooth reflector and the LED is nicely centered. The light is IPX8 water rated and had no issues with time in a bucket of water.

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length at 136mm, max diameter at 29mm, minimum diameter at 26.5mm. Weight with the battery and clip installed is 181.1g. For me I find it fits in the hand pretty well and it’s a decent size for a 21700. Not the smallest light in it’s class but not the largest either. 

 

Comparison

The Olight M2R Pro is the most obvious light I have as a competitor. It also is a 21700 battery, tactical tail switch with front button, and a similar overall size. Weight wise it’s within 1 gram. I think the Olight is a bit more tactical, with the more aggressive bezel, more aggressive body section grip, it’s more focused beam, and the 2 stage tail switch. Clip wise I have to give the advantage to Olight but the TT20 is good too. See the pictures below for how it compares to the Thrunite T2 and TC15.

 

Retention

The TT20 comes with a lanyard that you can attach onto the tail cap if you wish. This is approaching the size of light where I start to use lanyards, but for now I will leave it off. It also comes with a holster, it does the job but is fairly basic, with just a D-ring and belt loop. This is one area where the Olight M2R Pro’s holster is clearly better.

 

The pocket clip on the TT20 is dual direction and pretty good. It allows for a fairly deep carry in the pocket with only about 10mm of the light sticking out of the pocket. The clip is mountable on the front of the body tube or the rear. I suspect most people will rear mount it like I have it here. It’s a non captured clip so it does rotate around the body of the light. The TT20 will fit on a hat if you want it to but with the 21700 battery it’s heavier then I normally want to do with a strap on clip.

LED & Beamshots

The TT20 is using the Luminus SST70 LED in cool white. This is my first light with this LED as it’s fairly new and new to the flashlight market as well. It’s an XM Size LED, Quad die LED so it would be a replacement for a Cree XHP50, but it’s physically smaller, more like and XHP35. With it installed here in the TT20 there is a small donut in the beam at distances less then 3”. At low powers, I get a bit of green/yellow in the beam, but these go away at moderate power levels and the beam is a cool but not cold tint. There is a moderate hot center and the spill is moderate. There is a small ring at the outer edges of the spill.

This gets a bit into the UI of the light but during ramping it’s not a smooth ramp. It seems as if there are a ton of small fixed steps as it’s increasing or decreasing in brightness instead of a nice and smooth ramp like you have on most lights with ramping. Once you stop it’s even and I don’t notice any PWM to my eyes or camera. My scope says there is a tiny bit, so no concerns. 

Working voltage is 2.7V-4.2V which means you are only using the “proprietary” 21700 that the light comes with. FIrefly is measured at 0.5 lumens, infinity low starts at 31 lumens up to 1468. Strobe is 1294 lumens and Turbo is 2526.

 

Heat & Runtime

I did my runtime tests with the included battery at room temps of around 73F, non cooled. Turbo on the light lasts for 1:15 before it starts stepping down and it’s stable again at the 3 minute mark at around 23% relative output. I saw peak temps at 1:30 of 52C. The light was able to hold this 23% relative output for a long time, 3:30:00, total runtime was 3:36:00. LVP was measured at 2.849V. The standout for me is if you just skip turbo and run the light in infinite high, it’s around 1300 lumens and the light is able to hold this for a little over an hour (75 min).

When I compare the runtimes to the Olight M2R Pro, the Olight is able to withstand it’s turbo output slightly longer at about 5 minutes (while stepping down), and it’s bulk of the runtime was closer to 38% but for a shorter 2:33:00 and a total runtime of 3:15:00. 

 

UI

The UI on the TT20 is different for a tactical light. It’s ramping with the use of the front button. It starts on low and if you long press from off the light comes on in firefly mode. Once on in normal mode you can press and hold and the light will begin it’s ramp up, as mentioned the ramp isn’t very smooth or fast. A full ramp from low to high takes 5.44 seconds which is a long time in my opinion. The light flashes at both ends 3 times and you can ramp in a loop low to high then ramping back down to low. It’s harder to start the light out in low especially if coming from moonlight mode. Double click on the front switch to jump to Turbo or use the tail switch to go to turbo at any time. Triple click the front button to get into strobe. There is memory as well for modes other than Turbo. When using turbo from the tail switch you can’t adjust the mode.

 

The light does have electronic lockout mode, if you are a subscriber here you know I rarely if ever use lockout through the UI. Thankfully mechanical lockout is an option by just breaking contact with the tail. This will prevent the tail from working but the E-Switch will still work thanks to that proprietary battery. The light basically has 2 physical paths for current to flow. I find myself sometimes turning on electronic lockout accidentally here if I press to long to get to firefly mode.

 

Charging

The TT20 has a onboard USB-C port for charging. It’s only compatible with USB-A to C, and not full C-C or USB-C PD unfortunately. Total charge time was 3:03 which is pretty good. Max charge speed I saw was 2.1A. The curve here is different from I typically see but it did decline as the battery charged. The battery measured as full at 4.199V.

The battery will charge in some external chargers too if you have a large or pointy contact to make it over the plastic spacer on the battery. Alternatively if you have a charger that accepts long cells like the VapCell S4 Plus I recently reviewed, then a 1mm rare earth magnet will work as a spacer if needed. With the S4 I don’t need a spacer it turns out.

As mentioned before the 5000mAh 21700 battery here is proprietary since it has both the positive and negative contact on the traditional positive end of the light, and it has small plastic spacer here. The battery is interchangeable with the Thrunite T2 and Olight 21700’s like what’s on the M2R Pro. The Olight battery will run in the Thrunite TT20, but not the other way around. This is done to reduce the lights diameter, so it can run without an inner tube, so the E switch and tail switch can both operate. 

 

Pro’s

  • Body Color options, but I wish these were not cobranded. 
  • Better value and longer overall runtime then the main competition.
  • It can sustain a high percentage of infinite high for quite a while.
  • New SST70 LED that I think we will be seeing a lot more from manufactures, hopefully in Neutral white soon. 

 

Con’s

  • The red anodizing is a great color but doesn’t seem to be as durable as black.
  • Ramping isn’t steady and suffers noticeable PWM during the ramp. It’s also slow.
  • The UI here isn’t my favorite, it’s a clumsy mix of what I will call Everyday tactical.

 

Conclusion

My conclusion I come away with this light is, is it really tactical? The inclusion of the ramping suggests to me it’s more for general everyday use, with the tail cap being the more tactical feature since it allows you to go to full turbo instantly, but when using the tail option you can’t adjust the mode and it’s only turbo. I like how with the Olight M2R Pro, the tail switch is 2 mode, so it’s easy to get to but you have the option of if you want full power or not. 

To me the TT20  more everyday tactical than full on tactical. The beam to me is more everyday than tactical too with it being less focused and more flood then the M2R Pro. That said the TT20 is a nice value compared to many othe the other 21700 lights in the price category. It’s nicely made and carries better than I expected in the pocket. The runtime on infinite high is great too, It’s easily able to sustain over 1000 lumens for over an hour. In my opinion I can recommend the TT20 for general use if you’re OK with the UI and slow ramps but I probably wouldn’t recommend it for a true tactical operator type situation.

Get the Thrunite TT20 for $55.96 (20% off) until October 31st by clicking coupon checkbox on the product page at Amazon.

Red TT20 https://amzn.to/2T2DHvx

Black TT20 https://amzn.to/356sIa6

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Thrunite T2 vs Seeker 2 Pro Comparison

See my full reviews of these two lights below.

Thrunite T2 https://youtu.be/5Apvie0OZRg

Olight Seeker 2 Pro https://youtu.be/O3x90cZEMhw

 

Pick up these two lights

Thrunite T2 Neutral White https://amzn.to/3jVEcUm

Cool White https://amzn.to/30gZeVE

Olight Seeker 2 Pro https://amzn.to/2JqRgRR

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Thrunite T1 (1500 Lumen, 18350 EDC Flashlight)

In my last review I reviewed the Wowtac W1, but today I am taking a look at the Thrunite T1, the W1, bigger and slightly older brother. The T1 has been out now for a few months but this is my first time getting my hands on one. The light uses as larger 18350 battery with more runtime, a larger Cree XHP 50 LED with more output upto 1500 lumens, with tint options, and features ramping UI. Thanks to Thrunite for sending this over to review and look at. 

 

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Packaging & Accessories

Normal brown cardboard Thrunite box here, On one end is the line drawing of the light and it’s name, on the other is the emitter option that is in the light which here is the Neutral White option. The light comes protected in foam, and it’s accessories include the Thrunite branded button top protected 1100mAh 18350 battery, deep carry pocket clip, Thrunite branded lanyard, extra o’rings and USB port cover, MicroUSB cable for recharging and the user manual. 

 

Construction and Description

The T1 is an EDC style flashlight that’s made from black anodized aluminum. It features a flat magnetic base with a pretty strong magnet. The clip attaches at the rear only of the light and is not fixed in place. It’s a dual direction clip, more on that later on in the review. The body has a milled texture that we have seen on other Thrunite lights like the TH10 V2, and TC15 I have reviewed previously. 

Inside there is a large stiff spring, and a solid post in the head. It works with the rather long 18350 that comes with the light, and more standard unprotected sized batteries too without rattle. Threads are fine and square cut.On the head itself it has the eswitch that’s fairly quickly with LED’s underneath to indicate charging status. Opposite the switch is the MicroUSB recharging port and silicon cover. Water resistance here is good and it’s rated at IPX-8 and survives my bucket test easily.

The bezel has a large silver accent. The lens is anti reflective coated. Underneath is a large shallow reflector that swallows up the large Cree XHP-50 LED nicely. Centering is good on the LED within the reflector.

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length of the T1 at 70mm long, 22mm at the narrowest point, and 26mm at the widest point between the button and charging port. Weight with the included battery and clip came in at 71.4g. The light is IPX8 water rated.

The Wowtac W1 visually looks very similar to the Thrunite T1 but the Thrunite is large in pretty much all dimensions just slightly. For those that don’t know Wowtac is Thrunites sister brand. The two light share the same switch, clip, and charging port design. The bezels are the same style but dimensions are slightly different. 

 

The Olight S1R Baton II is frequently compared to the T1 because it’s a popular light of this form factor. It’s smaller in all dimensions since it runs a 16340 battery. It only carries head up, which you certainly have to get used to. It’s much more visible in the pocket because of it’s blue bezel and reflector, vs the T1’s black tail cap in deep carry. Runtimes are better on the larger battery of the T1, as well as turbo is brighter with 2.5 times more runtime before step down and the T1 comes with a tint choice. 

 

Retention

The T1 features a dual direction deep carry pocket clip which means it will clip onto the brim of a hat or batman mask if you want. The light carries with the tail up, deeply in the pocket which I like. I like to put the clip opposite the button on most lights like this because i can find the button easier by feel, but on this it interferes with the USB cover slightly when trying to put it in your pocket. Overall a good but not perfect carry. 

LED & Beamshot

This light is using a Cree XHP 50 LED. Mine is in the neutral white tint, but cool white is also available if you prefer. The beam here is mostly floody from the short orange peal reflector, but has a large bright center to give it some spot. I do notice quite a bit of tint shift. The center is warmer and the spill is cooler with a bit of a blue tinge.

 

Runtime & Heat

For such a small light that produces 1500 lumens on turbo, the runtimes here were pretty impressive. Turbo lasted a solid 2 minutes before it was done stepping down gradually. It ran from 2 to 15 minutes at about 35% relative output, then stepped down slightly to 30% relative output for the bulk of the runtime out to 55 minutes. From here the light started to sag out to about 68 minutes and eventually stop with low voltage protection kicking in at 3.065V.

 

Heat here is manageable given the 1500 lumens turbo mode lasts for 2 minutes. At 1 minute I measured 109F, at 5 minutes 105F and at 10 minutes 103F. 

 

Official lumen ratings were 

  • Turbo 1500 Lumens then 408
  • Infinity High 685 Lumens
  • Infinity Low 15 Lumens
  • Firefly 0.5 Lumens
  • Strobe 550 Lumens

No PWM was observed via eye or oscilloscope. 

 

UI

This light features a ramping UI Thrunite is calling infinite UI. I like it quite a bit. If you long press from off you get firefly which is 0.5 lumen. If you single click to turn on the light will come on in the last ramping mode used. To adjust the ramp you long press and hold once one. Let off the button when you get to your desired brightness level. If you overshoot or undershoot each time you let of the button the direction reverses. Double click to go to turbo and triple click to go to strobe. 

 

Recharging

USB-C recharging would have been nice, to see here but instead we have good old MicroUSB. Since this isn’t a brand new model I won’t fault it too much. The included 18350 battery is a button top protected 18350 that’s on the long side at 39mm but it’s capacity of 1100mAh is the current maximum available which is nice to see no corners were cut. 

 

I clocked the recharging of the battery at taking 2 hours 27 minutes to go from LVP of 3.065v to full at 4.125v. Maximum amperage I saw was 0.52A which is perfectly safe for a battery of this size. 

 

Pro

  • Longer runtime, and turbo output then it’s competitors due to the 18350 battery.
  • Available in NW and CW
  • Less expensive then it’s Olight and Fenix competitors
  • Head down deep carry design.
  • Ramping UI

 

Con

  • Not a particularly attractive light or unique design.
  • Included protected cell is on the long side.
  • Ramping is a little slow for my taste but perfectly useable.

 

Conclusion

The Thrunite T1 is a light I would recommend to anyone wanting more runtime or more light out of this small form factor EDC style light, without breaking the bank. It’s slightly larger then the competition but you get a solid bump in runtime and output for that, while still being affordable and giving you a choice in tints.

 

I enjoy the ramping UI here but I wish it was slightly faster. I really don’t have much bad to say about the light. It’s one I can pretty easily recommend and it’s affordable. 

 

Pickup the Thrunite T1 at Amazon https://amzn.to/2RMAAYx

Save 15% by using code 15T10430 until 4/30/2020

View the Full Image Gallery At https://imgur.com/a/IZzm8dx