[New + Review] YLP Unicorn 1.0 (1x18650, LH351D, backlit side switch, magnetic tail, TIR lens, ramping)

In fact it is quite easy.

You have a basic interface, it is also possible to change all additional commands and functions (like strob, beacon, button lock, button backlight - you can choose options that you need and set for the commands that you want).
And you can also change some basic options (memory ON/OFF, ramping/discrete).

There are also three preset settings (UI) that you can use if you don’t want to do the settings yourself in detail.

It’s really very simple :slight_smile:

PS

:innocent:

I’m very tempted. Main thing holding me back is the relatively high moonlight. Decisions decisions.

Anyone opened one up yet? Interested to see the driver.

Just ordered one - interested in the UI and like the size and design. Would prefer a deeper carry clip though, but not a deal breaker for me.

Someone was nice enough to share my review on the Russian forum, and following through the comments I found a few comments I wanted to answer to - since I don’t know any Russian, I’ll answer here in case any English readers had the same questions!

  1. I had originally listed the wrong weight in my review, that’s now been fixed
  2. I’ve added a link in the review to the Advanced Manual (in English) for those interested
  3. I didn’t go through the full UI, not even close. Much like Anduril, it’s complicated, and there’s a reason the manual is 7 pages long. So if anyone has any specific questions about the UI that I didn’t go over, let me know and I’ll do my best to clarify!

Teardown pics on fonarevka

Thanks for that link hodor, I’ve now got a unicorn AND a Russian bride ordered!

Oh I didn’t see those for sale. You must be seeing targeted ads based on your browser history :laughing:

Yes, there is in one preconfigureode, you can add it to the others:

Put the head into the freezer for around 10 minutes.
When you take it out tap around the edges (if necessary) on a plastic surface,
Use a rubber glove to get a good grip.
It should come right off.

I’ll hold off. I really value moonlight modes of 0.5 lumen or less.

I’m sure your voice isn’t bad, most everyone hates the sound of their own voice. But, thank you for doing text reviews. I like to read (pictures are good too), and I basically never watch video reviews. It just doesn’t work for presenting the information in a good way to me.

Yeah, it’s an interesting light. I was a bit confused about the interface at first, until I found out it’s using attiny25 instead of attiny85. So now it makes a lot more sense why things are the way they are.

About the UI, it’s a bit difficult to talk about in detail since it can be different for each person. However, the short version is: There are three save slots plus an active workspace to load them into. Each slot can have its own selection of ramping vs discrete levels, and its own mappings for what the button presses do. If I understand correctly, those mappings are global in the sense that they remain the same in every mode including “off”, so 4 clicks from off should do the same thing as 4 clicks while on, or 4 clicks from strobe mode.

I’m not sure on the details for how to configure each of those save slots, but it’s in the advanced manual somewhere. It seems to be the sort of thing one would only do once, while referring to the manual, and then write down one’s personal configuration somewhere to remember how to use it. Or just use the defaults.

The discrete step mode has 5 hardcoded steps, while ramping mode is smooth. The output range goes from about ~3 lm to ~900 lm.

Skimming the Russian forum with Google translate suggests that sub 3 lumen caused problems / instabilities so I wouldn’t hold your breath - fnskb may be able to clarify further though.

I agree that genuinely low firefly / moonlight modes are invaluable in EDCs and headlamps. I may still buy the Unicorn though as the host seems good and the firmware very intriguing.

Yes, this is a technical necessity. This driver circuit cannot work stably with lower currents, which are needed for a real moonlight.
Therefore, the minimum is 3 lm.
But instead we have controls without PWM at any brightness, 3-850 lms :slight_smile:

Are you sure about that? When I removed the clip some paint from it rubbed off onto the anodizing, but it cleared up just as easily.

Yeah, unfortunately, that’s an issue with any single-channel FET-based light, regardless of whether it uses PWM or constant current. And more generally with almost any type of power circuit, there is only limited resolution to work with.

In this case, let’s say the highest mode is 850 lm and there are 8 bits (255 steps) worth of resolution. That means each step is 3.33 lumens… which is probably why the bottom mode is rated at 3 lm.

To work around this, people sometimes use 10 bits of resolution instead, for 1023 steps. And in that case, the step size could be as small as 0.83 lumens. But with most circuits, the bottom end tends to be fairly unstable so we can’t count on the bottom few levels being as reliable as the rest.

Pushing the resolution up farther gets difficult too, because it slows down the cycles. When using PWM, the pulses end up too far apart so it looks like a strobe light. Or when using constant current, slower cycles require bigger inductors to smooth out the signal so the entire light gets bigger and more expensive.

A more effective method is to use multiple power channels instead. So, for example, take the BLF-A6. There is one channel which goes from ~6 lm to 1600 lm in 6 lm steps… and one which goes from ~0.2 lm to 130 lm in 0.5 lm steps. The end result is that it goes both lower and higher and provides significantly higher resolution where it matters.

I’d like to see the bottom channel go even lower though, like 0.1 to 30 lm in 0.12-lm steps. Then perhaps a middle channel which goes up to 300 lm in 1.2-lm steps. And on top, a third channel which goes up to 3000 lm in 12-lm steps. This just requires more pins on the controller, more components on the driver, and slightly larger firmware.

I suspect I’ll be fine with the 3 lumen low, as much as I love my sub-lumen moonlights. I just won’t use it for “don’t wake up the wife” duty.

Thanks for the insights on low-level moonlights, TK. I understood it before as basically “can only PWM 8x7135 so low, so split one off into its own channel and PWM it alone”, but it’s interesting to see the issues presented by other driver types.

One more measurement to add - with the locator LED on beneath the switch, the standby drain is 67 μA.