Andúril 2 coming to Sofirn - The general Sofirn development thread

Well, I cannot argue with that. They Some of those are crappy batteries & it might possibly take less than optimal design changes in some lights to accommodate them. That would be a lose for sure. :person_facepalming: . :frowning:

EDIT: But in my experiejce, all batteries with a USB port are not junk. I have a few that came with lights I bought & to date none of them have given any problems. No, I do not use them in high powered bigh drain lights; but that is not what they were designed for. Used within their limitations they work just fine & can be handy at times. And in most lights I have no trouble using batteries with a USB Charging port or regular unprotected batteries.

But, I shall just revert back to my original stance of No USB Charging…. First stated in THIS EPIC POST . :wink:

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Thank you Pete!! I had to modify it but hope you still approve. :wink:

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If a particular light ’must’ have USB Charging…… simply “must” …… then as I stated in THIS EPIC POST , partially quoted below…… It should absolutely be done as option #2 states. BSM also is a proponent of this it appears. :+1:

However, I still strongly feel that options 1 & 3 are the best solutions.

Those solutions being No USB Charging…… ymmv

I like USB rechargeable batteries. Sometimes I need rechargability and the light of my choice lacks it - they are the best solution. I especially like the Folomov one that doubles as a powerbank, though I don’t have one yet.

I also like rechargable 18650 from Klarus - because they included a good cell with a low-resistance circuit and rate their cell for 10A continuous discharge. I haven’t seen it tested, but that’s not some unbelievable claim….

BlueSwordM - I have no idea why would you be unable to swap cells. I do it all the time.

ADDED:
But I’d like to make it clear that I prefer to have a charger built-in. That’s because:

  • it just more comfortable to plug a cable into light than to screw-remove cell-plug-put cell back-screw back
  • I have a better choice of the cells
  • USB cell just feels like a hack. A useful one but still a hack.
  • there are no USB cells with Type C connectors

Your right Agro . I rethought my post above yours & edited it. . :+1:

ADDED: …. But I do not like a USB Port in the flashlight itself, except as I have stated previously. Do it for a very limited number of lights & do it with a concealed port in the threads of the light that is hidden & sealed by O-ring.

My suggestion to Sofirn: Diversification!

Have two product lines:

a) one for - sorry for my language - "muggles", i.e. your grandmum, your uncle, your naughty little niece...whoever is not familiar with proper handling of lithium-ion batteries.

These flashlights, like Sofirn's SC31, will be equipped with a USB-charging port, covered by an unmissable rubber plug that even grandma can pry open without her glasses. ;-) For more safety, these flashlights will come with a protected battery, so everyone can sleep well when handing these lights to his/her loved ones. Usually, this target group is not up to big lumen output, maximum endurance and HighCRI frenzy, that's why you could focus on a specific assortment of lights, like SC31 and maybe even SP31 V2.0. These kind of lights could also be glued if necessary as most people would not try to mod/enhance them.

b) one for the flash'o'holics, the experts, the enthusiasts, the evangelists, in a nutshell: all those who want to get the best out of the flashlight and who are well-informed about proper charging and handling of unprotected high-drain batteries.

I'm suggesting this group of people would prefer to not have an outside USB charging port and not use protected USB-rechargeable batteries in their lights. Instead, please refrain from using USB-charging in return of less material cost, maximum endurance, maximum performance and 100% IPX8 waterproofness. These customers may even pickily select their batteries for best results and most important - they prefer to have not-glued drivers, bezels etc.. Personally, I'm very glad that Sofirn's Q8 or C8F come without USB charging, so I could throw them into a river (if I wanted to) without worrying about water ingress or a failing circuit due to a defective/worn-out USB port. The only compromise I think I agree upon was the internal USB-charging port, hidden in the flashlight's threads like Zanflare F1.

/\ . Very well said Lux-Perpetua.:+1:

Lux-Perpetua - I strongly disagree. Even non-muyggle people (at least some) like to take high-end flashlight on a vacation without any charger. If you don’t want to use usb charging then just don’t. Also I’d not expect any significant cost side effect, as you can have whole usb charging module for just $0.20 (see aliexpress tp4056 usb charging module). Making more models with small differences is not really any benefit from mnf and logistic point of view. Also there is no problem to make usb charging waterproof without rubber flap. Because one way, how to make it, is bad, does not mean it’s always bad.

I also strongly disagree that built-in charging is only for muggles, though I agree that separating muggle and enthusiast lines make sense.

I just extended my previous post to clarify that I prefer to have a charger built-in.

I believe the next step of on-board charging is making USB charging ports waterproof even with the cover open (I can’t remember which flashlight has one of these, I think it’s an Olight?). In that case, yes, please add on-board USB charging. I won’t usually use it but if I need to, it will be there.

Also, I’d want to see more flashlights having better than IPX8 rating (e.g. 10 meters submersible for 6 hours).

Here is a qoute from Freeme who had two of this style battery fail.

From this thread.

Of course some people have not had any problems with built in usb charging batteries like here.

Whether they are reliable or tend to fail might be due to the company that makes them. It’s possible several flashlight brands may be ordering batteries from a single company that makes this style of combo battery. I don’t think anyone knows. We would need to do a lot more research on the failed batteries.

I don’t have time to do all that so I’d rather just buy an OEM battery (Samsung, Panasonic, etc…) or a known good brand and be done with it. It’s cheaper and you know it’s reliable.

I’m not interested in batteries with built in chargers for several reasons (which may have been mentioned above).

-I prefer name-brand batteries with particular performance characteristics. I prefer GA, VTC6 and 30Q cells because they have performed very well for many, many users and are good matches for the lights I buy. I don’t want to use a lesser cell just so I can have the charging capability.
-I would prefer smaller lights and ones that work consistently with unprotected cells. Longer springs that might not perform as well as pills, higher quality springs or pogo pins might have to be used to accommodate a wide variety of cell lengths.
-I think I’d trust a charging system built into a light because they give me the impression that the company might be more willing to put a higher performance system in a light rather than a smaller, possibly more fragile and less sophisticated circuit and hardware into a $5 piece. It’s the reason I perfer LVP in a light rather than in a battery. Maybe I’m misguided, but it makes more sense to me.

I too would like charging systems left out of lights but it appears that they are here to stay. I agree with many of the posts above that one set into the threads and protected from the elements is the way to go. I’ve got six lights with charging systems and only one has a decent rubber cover. One has a metal snap-on charger. The rest are either ok or completely worthless.

I still would like to see some more emphasis on smaller 18650 lights. If Sofirn could design lights in the D4 or FW3A size range, I’d be very willing to buy them over Convoy S2±sized lights. Smaller tailcaps and TIR optics would be nice. They wouldn’t need to be hot rods either (although that might be cool!).

I’d also like to see the SP33 made into a triple or quad optic light. 2000 lumens is very nice for a light this size but I’d like to see something twice as powerful.

it will be a heat sink issue for a small but very powerful light, if light be made with step down or temperature control system, people will complain the short time turbo.

If you add an fan in the light like the PC or laptop, it will be a huge light. I was wondering if there are any other way to help cooling but won’t make the light too big. Liquid cooling?

Bigger shelf
Better fins
More LEDs instead of more power
Better drivers

I’m glad now that I’m reading this thread, otherwise I would have missed Lux-Perpetua putting teacher in a nutshell… :stuck_out_tongue:

He did it very well too didn’t he?? . :+1:

In fact let’s run it up the flagpole one more time in case anyone missed it. :wink:
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I like the looks of many sofirn lights, but I have bought none of them, because of the double-click to get strobe interface.

Double click should get you turbo. Press and hold from off should get you the lowest level. Press and hold from on to change modes.

Double click from turbo to get strobe is OK.

Just my 2c.

Sofirn uses many different interfaces.

You are right… The UI on the c8f 21700 is one I like.

Funny, you are describing the Sofirn SP33 UI exactly, I mean 100% exact. Just got mine today, and maybe even I might not mod this one.

I agree 100% as well - there's a few lights doing this UI now, wish they all did. Too many have clicks to next mode, and hold to turn OFF.

/\ . :+1: . I am really liking the SP33 UI too.