[Review] Astrolux C8 Flashlight - Compact Thrower

I would like to see this as well.

Just got this light a couple of days ago. Absolutely love the throw. I have trouble getting to the hidden strobe, but its a thrower so not a huge deal. I also ordered the Sofirn c8 yesterday so will find out which I like best soon but its going to be hard to beat the Astrolux.

i ordered mine 2 or 3 days ago and have resisted checking tracking number :smiley:

cant come soon enough!

Just placed the order for mine.

The hidden strobes can be accessed by a “medium press” from the lowest mode. A medium press is defined as a half-press (or off/on) between 0.5s and 1.5s. First medium press gives you turbo, next medium press gives you the 1st strobe, etc. You can also get to turbo via the regular “short presses” (0.5s or less), but that’s on the normal mode grouping and you can’t get to the hidden strobes from there.

It can take some practice to get it right, but IMO it’s a great way to keep those strobes hidden except when you really want them.

The Convoy allows you to pick from a lot more mode groups, so you can hide the strobes that way. However, then you can never get to strobes (or battery check which is what I use).

My ideal thrower would be a single mode turbo, plus a hidden battery-check mode. AFAIK, nobody has such an interface. I suppose if you have a firmware burner, you could program your own interface. But, I’m content to just use mode memory so it remembers that I’m in turbo.

What kind of LED MCPCB is in this flashlight? Is it copper and DTP? If not both, I would be concerned about burning up the LED with additional current.

Yes I can get to it but it takes practice. Just not something you would probably be able to get to in an emergency, As in blinding an attacker. I wish I knew how to write and install my own code :slight_smile: . I am learning but a long ways from there.

After reading the review I ordered one also, waiting see how it compares to my Fandyfire HD 2010, Jacob A60 and Kinfire K1200s. Thanks for the review.

Nice review comparison :+1: , wuz going to buy convoy but now I think I’ll go with Astrolux.

Do you have any runtime numbers? also I would like to know current draw on max mode please.

You cannot be serious (in my best McEnroe voice)! You have been here at BLF long enough to know that where there is any doubt, buy both, so you can compare yourself.

Well, I love 7135s and prefer them on my EDC lights because of the consistent output they give although at lower runtimes , but they do have their limitation when at higher currents which is why I’ll go with the FET version this time for a thrower.

If you’re familiar with the BLF A6, the Astrolux C8 has the same performance and drain characteristics. Max drain depends on what your cell can deliver, but a rough ballpark is about 5 amps when fully charged. This drops as the battery depletes, due to the FET driver. On medium and lower modes, the 7135 chip uses a constant draw (for example, 350mA on the middle mode).

Due to the 45-second step-down to the second highest mode (which will either be level 6 in the 7-group mode, or level 3 in the 4-group mode), you’ll get decent run times of about an hour or more. But if you run it on max the whole time (definitely not recommended for more than about 3-minutes at a time), it will be about 30 minutes until you’ll want to change the battery. It takes a long time to drain completely, as it will drop output as the cell drops below about 3.0v. IIRC, it doesn’t shut off completely until 2.7v or 2.8v. But, yeah, for a thrower, moonlight mode on a depleted cell isn’t much use.

If you want longer run-times, the Convoy C8 makes more sense. It’s slightly better regulated, and is more efficient than a FET driver. And, of course, it has lower output which certainly plays a big part in run time.

On medium and lower modes, the Astrolux uses its 7135 driver, so performance is identical to the Convoy. Though, the Convoy’s medium brightness is about half the output (and current) of the Astrolux, so you can’t really compare them at the same output level.

Yeah, I know, it’s not much help. But FET-driven lights are really hard to quantify exactly.

Is it the exact same driver used in BLF A6? it still uses ATtiny MCUs? if so I would reprogram the low mode in the 4 mode group to a shine a bit higher. Also would make the step down timer to 2 minutes.

Just wanted to make sure whether my ICR LG cell could handle this thing. It tops out at 4.7A max discharge or something.

I should have been more clear when I meant runtime I meant their runtimes at similar brightness levels. :frowning:
I thought a FET based driver should give more runtimes at similar output since a linear regulator maintains brightness at the expense of runtime?

I believe it is the exact same driver. I’m looking at them both right now, and the markings and layout are exactly the same. The Astrolux C8 even has “BLF” inscribed on the board, just like the BLF A6.

Yes, if you can reprogram it, I’d definitely increase the step-down to 2 or 3 minutes.

Oh, I see. Well, the only modes you can really compare them are the medium and lower modes, since they both use 7135 chips at that level. However, they don’t have any brightness modes the same.

On higher modes, they’re also very difficult to compare, because both lose output as the battery drains, but at different rates.

If I understand the 7135 chip, it will draw 350mA (so 2800mA for 8 of them) at a constant rate until the voltage drops low enough that they can no longer supply a constant current to the LED. Unfortunately for the Convoy with 8 of these chips, this seems to happen fairly quickly. I don’t have a Convoy with less than 8 chips (I never really understood the benefit of it), but it may give a much longer regulation time with 4 or 6 chips instead. In a perfect world, the Convoy would draw 2800mA until it dies, but the world is not perfect.

A FET driver will just suck as much power from the battery that the LED can take. As the battery voltage drops, it supplies less current to the LED.

You’re right that a FET driver doesn’t “waste” any power (like the 7135 does with excess voltage). However, the LED is much less efficient at the high current that is supplied to it. So, you’ll get less run-time with a FET at the same brightness (if you could maintain that brightness), because the LED is being over-driven (and brightness controlled by high frequency PWM).

I’m not sure if I’m making sense, but hopefully it makes some sense. And I’m probably missing some points that others can expand on.

Nice review, my friend.

Good to hear that. I guess I might buy Astrolux version after all. Only thing is I also have a Sofirn C8F in mind too. Side clicky looks damn attractive to me.

If the current draw is the same from the battery perspective then the FET should be more efficient at higher voltages the linear regulator tends to waste more power. That is if example the battery voltage is let’s say 3.7V and current draw is 2.8A for both FET and 7135 then I think FET should theoretically provide more current to the LED. I might be wrong maybe??

For a dedicated thrower, I prefer a tail switch, because it is easy to find quickly. I normally carry my C8 on a lanyard around my neck, and only use it for quick looks at stuff in the distance. If I could get one with a forward clicky, that would suit me even better. But the reverse clicky is far better than a side switch for my usage.

I recently ordered a Zebralight SC600w MkIV HI for my side-switch “all purpose” light. It won’t be suitable as a “thrower”, but should throw far enough for most purposes. Since I’ll be using it as a hand-held light, the side switch makes a lot more sense. I’ll still couple it with the Astrolux C8, for when I need to see farther.

There probably is a voltage range where the FET is more efficient, but I’m not sure what that range is. It would depend on the LED’s performance characteristics.

In the end it’s always personal preference. I don’t mind tail switch but the older folks in my home can never find the tail switch no matter how hard they try to find it, they’re used to old classical style side slider switches so the only thing that comes close is a side clicky. So I guess a side switch is something evryone in my home can use.

As for the efficiency the FET just acts like a gate so the efficiency is decided by the battery and the LED. A linear regulator maintains the output and as a result wastes some power if the battery voltage is higher than LED forward voltage.

Great review. I got one yesterday.

I finally got mine today, cant wait for it to get dark.

Its smaller than i thought.