Flashlight review: The Sofirn IF24 offers two white light sources and a colorful one, USB-C charging, and an 18650 battery.

https://zakreviews.com/sofirn-if24.html

#flashlight #flashlights #EDC #EveryDayCarry #review #ProductReview #FlashlightReview @flashlight

Rating: 4.5/5.

I needed another headlamp and was familiar with an earlier, micro-USB, white-led-only version of this light. Build quality of both is fine, I'd say not fantastic but perfectly usable for not too demanding purposes, and a terrific value for the price. Claimed water resistance level is IPX6. Headband is comfortable given that this is not a tiny light. I think it is still small enough to not need an over-the-head strap.

Wurkkos and Sofirn both sell these lights and I think I heard somewhere that the actual manufacturer is Boruit. There are various models with different configurations. The H25LR has one white led, one 660nm (deep red) led, and USB-C charging.

Order date: Nov 22 2024. Got shipping notice on Nov 24. Package delivered December 5, so about 10 days transit from China to California, not bad. Cost was $19.99 including an 18650 battery. Shipping was free due to order being above $19. This is hard to beat.

The included battery is labelled with Wurkkos branding and says 3000 mah. It is an 18650 button top. I didn't test the capacity or charge current, but I measured the length at around 66.5mm not including the button, with the button adding another 2mm or so. So maybe it's a protected cell, I don't know. The springs in the light are pretty stiff. If you loosen the "tail" cap by 1/4 turn or so, the light breaks contact with the battery, giving you a lockout from accidental turn-on and also from parastic drain. I tried swapping in an unprotected flat top battery and that worked fine including the lockout.

The UI is fairly sane given that it's a 1-button Chinese light with multiple colors and levels and doesn't run Anduril. Short click to activate white led at the same level as last time, long click for red, also at same level as before. Once either led is on, hold down button to cycle through 4 levels. I didn't attempt brightness or runtime measurements.

My general comment about the beam is that it's more directional that I'd prefer, particularly for close-up usage. This is for both the white and red leds. It's not terrible, it's just that I like floody beams for reading and fixing stuff.

The lowest levels of both leds are ok, not super low. Some people appreciate ultra low levels and I can understand that. These are just regular low. I find that level 2 of the white led is about right for reading, walking indoors in the dark, etc. The higher levels are there when you need them.

The red led goes from low to quite powerful, like several watts. I don't quite understand the purpose of a powerful red led. Does anyone really want long distance outdoor illumunation in deep red? I would have been fine with just the low level, or a redesigned light with two full sized white leds, plus an auxiliary small red led. The red led for me is for minimal disturbance to your own night vision and that of others around you. So it should be just bright enough to maneuver in the dark or see an object (telescope, say) well enough to reach and turn a knob. I don't remember ever wanting a bright red light.

There is a handy featue of an RGB led under the on-off switch. When you first turn on the light, that led acts as a battery level indicator (green=charged, etc.) and it stays on for a few seconds. Also, when you plug in a USB charger, it lights red during charging and green afterwards.

The instruction pamphlet says charging takes 4-5 hours, suggesting a 500 ma charge rate similar to the micro-USB version. I.e. it's likely to be the same charging circuit except with a USB-C connector. That is ok with me. The instruction pamphlet also amusingly says that questions and problems should be emailed to [email protected], heh.

A slightly more "premium" approach would be to include faster charging (3 amps) and maybe powerbank output. I do like lights with built-in chargers, as opposed to the kind where you have to remove the battery and charge it outside the light. Sorry about that, Hank ;).

Wurkkos now has the interesting HD10 Mini which is a 14500 powered anglehead light with Anduril, sort of like the Emisar D3AA. I don't really care for the 14500 battery type but it would be nice to have a lightweight 18650/18350 version of this light (Hank's D4W is too heavy). Or it would be of more interest if it could run on 1.5 volt AA cells in addition to 14500. As it was, I went for the 18650 version instead. For a lightweight headlamp I have a Nitecore HA11 and might get or concoct something ultralight at some point.

Anyway that's my new light day for now and it has been a good one.

The full review is available here

English review at BLF
German review at my website

Summary

The Sofirn IF23 Pro has a lot to offer: a bright spotlight, a floody side light with adjustable color temperature and various RGB effects. It is controlled quite intuitively via a button and a rotating ring. The battery can be swapped easily and the flashlight can also be used as a power bank in an emergency.

On the other hand, some details are not fully thought through to the end: finding the right position of the rotating ring in the dark is a matter of luck, the magnet is too weak to hold the flashlight reliably in horizontal orientation. The spotlight needs more throw to better stand out from the floodlight. Whether you like the flashlight depends very much on your individual requirements.

The full review is available here

English review at BLF
German review at my website

Summary

Earlier this year, Wurkkos released their first “flat” flashlight with a floody sidelight and a green laser. Now they added a variant with UV instead of the laser: the Wurkkos HD01 UV.

White spotlight and UV light, plus white and colored floodlight, combined with an elegant, flat design – the Wurkkos HD01 UV has a lot to offer. It is rare to find such a variety of light sources in a single flashlight.

Although the driver is simple, this should be acceptable considering the low price. With the HD01, you get a versatile companion for EDC use.

I took it out of my pocket and tried to turn it on, hmm, twist switch was rather tight. Tightened it down or maybe it was already down. It didn't turn on but I figured I maybe had left it on all night by accident and drained the battery. Started to remove the head and heard a popping sound. Battery (alkaleak but fairly new) had some kind of black stuff on the casing near the negative terminal, no other obvious damage to the light or battery. I put in a new battery => won't turn on. So I guess the circuit is blown.

I like the light and they are affordable so I guess I'll get another, but it seems like a shame that I don't see much of a way to repair it or scrounge usable parts from it. I will try to remove the circuit board when I get a chance. Not now though.

Oh well. Bring a spare.

Looking for a quality light in a compact form factor and most importantly no extra modes. I want a single button that turns the light on and off. No brightness settings and for the love of god no strobe mode and no colors.

There's a new highest-capacity 14500 battery, but it falls a bit short of advertised.

#flashlight #flashlights #battery #batteries #14500 #vapcell @flashlight

The full review is available here

English review at BLF
German review at my website

Summary

The Nitecore EDC23 EDC flashlight has been my everyday companion for a few weeks now. Thanks to its flat design and compact dimensions, it disappears nicely into the pockets of my pants. Nevertheless, it offers unexpectedly high performance for its size and a long runtime. I particularly like the operation with a separate button for turbo and a slide switch for the lockout.

The beam was optimized for high efficacy and throw. Therefore you have to accept some compromises, particularly with the light color: a slightly green tint and low CRI are the result. It would be nice to have a clip that allows the flashlight to be carried deeper in the pocket.

And yes, this is the halloween edition. They just had that on their site when I wanted to buy the flashlight, so I thought why not. I think it looks pretty funny. It was technically delivered on halloween as well, but I wasn't at home at the time. That's why I only have it since last saturday. Anyway, it's a pretty nice flashlight, really bright for the size:

It just feels so nice to use and gives you the impression that you have something high quality in your hand.

Also thanks to y'all for making posts in this sub. Looking aroung this community let me to get this flashlight. It's nice to have a community with people who find flashlights interesting and make good recommendations.

I'm looking for a new light for EUC riding. I currently have a SP36 which I find too big and heavy and also a thrunite TC15 that lacks throw and uses a micro USB that I dislike. A buddy of mine uses a Fenix TK16 v2 and it seems to be a good balance of flood and throw, but I dislike the buttons. I really like the features of my SP36 and the single button.

I need good flood and medium throw in order to see further ahead. I looked at hank lights and I'm quite interrested, but I'm new to all this. Through my research, I think a D1K might be a good format. I saw a few people riding EUC that said the D4Sv2 with XPL-HI is best, but this emitter isn't offered anymore.

What do you suggest?

The full review is available here

English review at BLF
German review at my website

Summary

The Skilhunt MiX-7 Gen 2 is a successful update of the little multi-color flashlight. Finally it delivers what its name suggests and you have the option of mixing the colored LEDs with each other. With the long Plus version you can now use 18650 batteries for a longer runtime.

The UI is still not perfect, but it is an improvement on its predecessor. For example, the UV light is a little hidden to activate. On the other hand, it is not an easy task to design a UI for so many functions with just one button. It would be nice to be able to adjust the brightness of the mixed colors.

Has wurkkos ever released a red aux only version of the ts10? If so please tell me where to send my money

Illuminated by the new Skilhunt MiX-7 Gen 2 with color mixing capability.

Hey! I'm looking for a headlamp to use on a kayak. Everything you use while paddling eventually gets drenched, so it needs to be waterproof. I paddle on the Baltic Sea so the water is slightly salty, too.

I've noticed a bunch of headlamps have magnetic charging now. For example, Skilhunt H150 looks good and fairly priced and it's IPX8 rated, but there's the magnetic charing connector. I've seen reports that it produces sparks when shorted. Isn't that going to be a problem when it gets wet? I also wonder what kind of effect repeatedly being exposed to the sea water has on it. Anyone got experience with it?

The full review is available here

English review at BLF
German review at my website

Summary

You don’t hear much about JETBeam. That’s a shame, because the long-established company has some interesting flashlights in its portfolio. The new JETBeam E26 (“Kunai”) has just been released.

The E26 was announced a few months ago via a Kickstarter campaign and was successfully funded after just one day. I had the opportunity to test the flashlight before it was officially shipped.

JETBeam made a successful start with the E26 “Kunai” into the world of flat flashlights: white light, UV light and a green laser, combined with intuitive UI using a rotating ring and two buttons, fast charging via USB-C and an ergonomic, practical design.

For the perfect experience I miss direct access to the lowest level, which could also be a little lower. That, and if the flashlight was a little shorter, it would be the perfect EDC flashlight for me. But even as it is, it makes a very good impression.

This review was sponsored by flashlightgo.com, a Chinese shop with a large selection of flashlights.

Just arrived, review will come in a few weeks.

Dear community of flashlight enthusiasts, just a quick message to let you know that I've added a "Tag" search box to Lumireviews.ca . It's not a real Wordpress tag: I have to do it manually. What I mean is, it's the first tag, but it could be the only one because it's too much work 😜

Please note that the Tag column is hidden.

More pictures in comments. This picture is Olight S1R Baton II (left) vs Rovyvon A23 (right). The Rovyvon uses a Nichia 219C emitter in cool white (about 5700K iirc).)

It's the same complaint you hear time and time again, emitters with awful tint and CRI. When I was still new all I cared about was Olight, so I've amassed a pretty significant collection. It was only when I first tried a Hank light with Nichia 519A emitters that I finally understood why tint and CRI matters.

Also, now that I've learned the Anduril 2 UI every other light just feels limiting.

This tiny little light is truly a joy! For under thirty bucks, you get a prettty solid light with fairly nice specs. Sporting an 800 mAh 16340 battery, it's nice and compact while also managing to include on-board charging through the included USB-C cable. The two-way pocket clip is only about half the length of the light. Initially I was a bit concerned by the relatively short length of the clip, but the retention is very strong, it actually requires some tugging to make it loose enough to be usable.

The light rocks the Anduril 2 UI, and that combined with the 16340 battery makes it a somewhat unusual piece- I'm not sure I've seen any other Anduril lights using the same battery type. You could say "Cornflake, this light is a few years old now, what makes this light relevant?" I simply think it's nice to have more options in the small light on Anduril category. It's not as pretty as my Emisar D3AA which has the newest and most impressive version of Anduril 2, but I was in the market for another little light and this fit the bill. I have not handled the Wurkkos TS10 V2 yet, but I've seen some disappointing posts about parasitic drain that is unusually fast. I have not encountered that issue on this light or the D3AA though, it seems capable of holding a charge on standby pretty well. ALSO, the Sofirn SC21 Pro uses a buck driver (according to the manual), which is a lovely thing to see in the little light market!

The Samsung LH351D emitter is rated for a CCT of 5000K, and I'm pretty sure the CRI is at 90. Unfortunately, it's got a nasty green tint to it, I believe Cheule has nicknamed this LED "dog farts," and it does live up to the moniker. For a small light it has a rather deep and heavily-pocked orange peel reflector, making for a nice spot + spill beam and I fail to notice any artifacts in.

The moonlight mode is perfectly adequate on this light, but I did have to fix the floor setting on stepped mode to include it in the stepped-ramp cycle. That's a simple UI change in the 10H from on menu. My biggest gripe with it however is the resolution of the smooth ramping. Perhaps I've been spoiled with the D3AA, but the first few lumens on the Sofirn SC21 Pro have some VERY noticeable granularity to it, even when used at .5x ramp speed. This means that finding the "perfect" brightness just above moonlight is really hard to do as it appears to skip some intermediary brightnesses in the ultra-lows. Everything above those first several lumens seems to ramp better.

Is this a good EDC light in 2024? I think so. For a cheap price you're getting a pretty capable light in an attractively small form factor. If you love Anduril 2 then it's hard to pass up on the novelty of having it in this cute little form factor :)

Review: Skilhunt MiX-7 - an impractical, but fun flashlight with seven LEDs and five colors

https://zakreviews.com/skilhunt-mix7.html

#flashlight #flashlights #EDC #EveryDayCarry @flashlight

Initial impressions of the Convoy S21E as a bike light

I've been running my Convoy S21E (B35A 4500K, 20x65 striped TIR) as a bike light for a week or so now. I find it's a big upgrade from the Wuben B2 I had been using because the beam is a more suitable shape, and it doesn't throttle if I keep my speed up.

Of course if it doesn't throttle, runtime is 73 minutes, but it's 73 minutes of 1500 lumens of glorious 97 CRI simulated daylight. I'll bring spare batteries.

#flashlight #bike #cycling #BikeLight @flashlight

Review: Acebeam T35 - an old-school dual-switch flashlight with a modern touches

https://zakreviews.com/acebeam-t35.html

#flashlight #flashlights #EDC #EveryDayCarry #review @flashlight

I wonder which optic makes the best bike light

#flashlight #flashlights #BikeLight #cycling @flashlight