Updated the review with the disassembly of the pill!
With a little modding I think the SF10 can be a nice indoor light. the SF12 can be passable, but the machining quality is just not there.
@MascaratumB
Neither lens are coated and both batteries are protected
@djburkes
I managed to remove the ring on the SF12 with reverse pliers, applying pressure from the inside out, and the SF10 driver was fasten enough in the pill to unscrew them from the little gaps in the edge of the driver
Thank for the review, and disassembly.
Thanks again Persechini!
Glad you disassembled them and showed what’s inside!
I’m thinking about swapping driver (at least) to make it start on lowest modes!
Concerning the batteries, I have the Sanyo UR14500P, unprotected, I’ll see if they fit nicely and let you know.
Thanks!! :+1:
I wonder what kind of drivers are those, I can’t exactly identify them, and I wonder if I can use nanjg, convoy or fet+1 on these flashlight and still get them to work with both 14500 and AA batteries
I hope you don’t mind if I post 2 photos here, Persechini! I didn’t want to start a thread just for this
I received my SF10 today… I just want to show how it arrived…
Is it normal to get a stock light like this? I don’t think so…
I guess I was a Sofirn enthusiast at first, but now I’m thinking that they tried to get a name here and are becoming careless and reckless!
Some logos are scratched, my SF10 has big scratch on the anodization, the box in which it arrived was completely screwed up (I just don’t know if the scratch due to that or not!)…
About the light, I confirm the “pinkish” tint, and that it has PWM stripes in all modes (caught in a cellphone camera), using any battery. Exception is Highest mode with alkaline and Ni-MH.
Also, the switch has a kind of “delay” when pressing. The next mode light has a small delay to “enter” (the same happens with the SP32).
The Sanyo UR14500P unprotected batteries fit well.
^ With the box crushed like that and no foam/bubble wrap around the light itself I’m guessing that a lot of the scratches may have happened in shipping.
The SP 32 was inside a box with foam and the logo was turned to the inside, so that was not a shipping issue! Also:
So…I guess that this is a problem in the origin!
I doesn’t affect the light’s performance, but it’s damages the look…
@MascaratumB
Both my sofirn flashlights came in a brown cardboard box with a foam cradle inside, nothing like the package you received O_o
I have some SF10’s in the mail right now, bought directly from the Sofirn Aliexpress store. We shall see…
From the aspect of the box this is eventually a SF12 box! The box is made for a light with pre installed clip (SF10 doesn’t have one)…
It is a generic “Sofirn” box, no flashlight model name associated on it.
The SP32 arrived in a card box, with flat piece of foam inside, and with a sticker outside identifying the model. So far, so good.
Even the single battery charger I ordered arrived in that kind of box, with flat foam too.
If it had a bubble-plastic wrap, it would have prevented the damage on the light!
Yeah, they’re cheap, but we pay for them!
I’ll send a message to the seller in AliExpress and PM to Tracy here. Buyers can’t be buying and getting this kind of things!
But…that’s just my point!
And yes, I know I will scratch and use it like if there was no tomorrow…Scratches are no problem, but this is a matter of principles that the company must have!
Apart from this, the light is usable, of course :exclamation:
The pictures in the review above suggests that the SF10 emits neutral white light? Can others confirm that’s what they received as well? Having previously bought SF31/SF32 from Sofirn’s Aliexpress store, I was considering getting the SF10 but was put off slightly by the emitter being described as “Light Source BIN: XP-G2 (R5) White LED 6500 K CW”, which suggested cool white light.
I’ve also noticed that the SF10 is available on amazon.co.uk at a price which is comparable to the Aliexpress price, and I guess delivery might be quicker, depending on exactly who dispatches the goods.
Hi Rexx, and welcome to BLF!
If this can help:
Left to right: XML2 U2-1A (CW) - XP-G2 R5 (Sofirn SF10) - XPL-HI U6 3A (NW)
The light seems more inclined to Neutral White than Cool White.
From AliExpress mine took 21 days to arrive (after shipping).
MascaratumB,
Many thanks for the prompt response and those beamshots. Cool White and 6500K seems inaccurate for the XP-G2 R5, but having checked some on line sellers of that LED, it seems to have a wide temperature range and the warmest ones are neutral white. Anyway having seen the beams on here I will go ahead and get a couple of the SF10’s to try out. My SF31/SF32 from Sofirn aliexpress store took 2.5 weeks to arrive to UK and using store coupons etc I was able to get them at a pretty good price.
Well, I’d call neutral only the vicinity of 5500k, which will make a white wall look the same tint as sun light. 5000k already starts to look warm to me ,and anything bellow 4000k is too yellow for my taste.
Taking that in consideration,the sf10 tint looks like 5000k (warm, but cooler than my 4000k flashlight), but more rose than yellow with a 14500 battery. The tint shift with aa batteries are much less intense though, I’ll try to update the pictures using a camera instead of my phone to more accurately represent what I see and add beamshots and other details with aa batteries, which make the flashlights a lot less unsatisfying
Yesterday I received a SF10 and a SP31 I ordered from Aliexpress :
They came in a black box put in a black plastic mailer no bobble wrap or padding at all. Despite the poor packaging the arrived flawless, I think they are very good flashlights for the price the only small grievance is the mode order in the SF10.
Utorch UT01 3D 5000K (left) Sofirn SF10 (right)
The picture is a pretty much what I see with my eyes. I think Persechini’s description of the color as 5500K is pretty much what I would call it.
About the situation I exposed above (Sofirn SF10 and SF12 review - #8 by MascaratumB), I contacted Sofirn seller through their AliExpress store and a solution has been given to the problem.
I presented photos of the damaged flashlight and damaged box, and I got a very quick and attentive reply from the seller (saturday and today). I also alerted for the shipping conditions, suggesting better wrapping, at least!
@ khas
My SF10 arrived in that kind of box too, that seems less protective, especially if it doesn’t have anything else wrapping it on the outside!
I’m glad that yours arrived well 
@ Rexx
I tried again the flashlight and it it doesn’t seem completely NW, it tends to decay a bit to a warmer tint. Persechini and khas explanations above are more accurate than my “visual” assessment, but I just guess that it is not “pure” Neutral White.
Hope it helps your choice!
It’d have to be one that’s “dual mode”, then.
With an alkie/NiMH, it needs a boost converter to turn 1.5V to 3.5V or so.
When using a 14500, it’s almost always a buck converter.
So by default it needs to be a more complicated boost/buck converter to handle both. Else, if using a 14500 in a strictly boost converter, rather than chopping the input voltage to charge an inductor, it’d just crowbar the pass element and feed the LED almost direct-drive. Sometimes that (the higher voltage) can fry something in the boost part of the circuitry, so that once you go 14500, you won’t be able to go back to using an alkie/NiMH again.
Which kind of converter you get is strictly pot-luck. You have to try it, then it’s go or blow.
Too bad these drivers that came with the flashlights have audible and low frequency pwm. I kinda want to use a nanjg driver and make it 14500 only unless I find a dual chemistry driver with better pwm and l>m>h mode
Might be able to pull one from a Jet-I. Or just buy and use a Jet-I as-is. 
So I received my Sofirn lights today (some SF10 and a SF30A zoomie), some boxes are a bit rough (no bubble wrap) but the lights look intact. Now gotta try them tonight 
