3600 Lumen EDC. The FW4A Beam shots and mini review!

OMG. WHat’s the difference exept additional led, 4 against 3.
Something changed?

Same design, same driver, same leds. Lets put inside fifth one. And sell this stuff again as new awesome flashlight, best of best

The FW5A - yeah, I gotta have it!

Not everyone like built-in charging. Size of the flashlight need to be increased or thermal mass decreased (space for new compomponents on driver and charging port). Also space on driver is limited so some extra board would sometimes be needed. This can also affect thermal regulation as flashlights usually use internal attiny functionality for that.

Facepalm……

Even EDC18 with 3 LED with medium current cells like 35e takes from them around 8A on turbo and makes itself hot in count seconds.
More led’s shift Vf and on high current cell flashlight would be overdriven like crazy horse and stepped down in seconds. So what for such actions? If you need real power - just take a little larger flashlight.

The advantage of a pocket EDC is that you have it on you. Unlike a larger light, which you may not have brought along.

A small pocket EDC can always be run at low power for sustained output. But it’s really nice also having the option of being able to go into “ludicrous mode” turbo if you need it. Sometimes you just need a lot of light and being able to only sustain it for 10 seconds may be enough. Or maybe you just want to wow your friends.

Put another way:

  • You could get a conservative EDC flashlight that only runs at 500 lumens which it can sustain; or
  • You could carry a pocket rocket like an FW3A or Emisar D4V2. These lights can be used just like the conservative light. But in addition you have the added flexibility of a burst turbo mode.

8 minute abs? How about 7 minute abs?

Is this different from how most products are released with only incremental changes?

Nobody has to buy it.

I feel happy when there is another person on planet earth who has a similar thought as I do.

"Is this different from how most products are released with only incremental changes? Nobody has to buy it."

I bought this light for all of the several usual happy reasons that I like, even though I already have bought the three emitter version of this light. Yet another reason: To continue to help support the spiritually advanced community of people who helped design it, and the manufacturer who makes this light.

I have never bought a fancy car. I should go on to a car forum, when there is a review of a new car, and point out reasons why nobody has to buy it.

I have never bought a fancy special breed of dog. I should go on to a dog forum, when there is a review of a new breed of dog, and point out reasons why nobody has to buy it.

I have never bought a fancy boat. I should go on to a boat forum, when there is a review of a new fancy boat, and point out reasons why nobody has to buy it.

I have never bought a fancy watch. I should go on to a watch forum, when there is a review of a new fancy watch , and point out reasons why nobody has to buy it.

I have never bought a fancy knife. I should go on to a knife forum, when there is a review of a new fancy knife, and point out reasons why nobody has to buy it.

I have never bought a boring 9mm gun. I should go on to a gun forum, when there is a review of a new boring 9mm gun, and point out reasons why nobody has to buy it, because it is just another 9mm. Yawn.

I have never bought a flashlight that I do not like. I should go on to flashlight forums, when there is a review of a new flashlight that I will never buy because I do not like it, and point out reasons why nobody has to buy it.

I have never bought a fancy computer. I should go on to a computer forum, when there is a review of a new fancy computer and point out reasons why nobody has to buy it.

I quit eating animal products four years ago. I should go onto a steak forum, and point out reasons why anyone who does not want to get colorectal cancer and a heart attack should not eat steak.

Maybe our interpretations are different. The way I see it, people are saying why THEY won’t buy it. I don’t read it as them telling someone else not to buy it.

I agree with this. An FW4A is trying to step over the line of one given class into another: mid-size pocket EDC to single cell thrower search light. How much more efficient is the 4A over the 3A? I can’t imagine enough to make an appreciable difference. I find the form factor of the FW3A about the limit on pocket-comfort. Now, I could see having the 4A as an inside breast pocket light.

Rechargeable lights are of course very convenient, but… how many do you need? When I travel, I take one USB rechargeable light with me as my 18650 charger. It covers all my charging needs for the other two 18650 flashlights in a compact sturdy package. Problem solved. I also don’t care for Micro USB or USB-C, because of the wear & tear to the socket on the flashlight body. Magnetic connector as on Olight & Skilhunt is terrific (of course, only caveat is the proprietary cable).

I might get a 4A just for kicks if I had some spare cash to throw around, but having a great 3A that I’ve customized & does all I need… not going to get a 4A anytime soon.

There’s a difference between making genuine criticisms of the light vs making general criticisms that could apply to any light in a similar class and aren’t constructive.

If there’s anything being active in the flashlight community has taught me, it’s that people WILL spend lots of money on something with 10% higher “numbers”, whatever they are, and however noticeable the difference actually is. From a business perspective I completely understand the FW4A, even if I’m bummed that more people don’t know how imperceptible a ~20% output increase is.

Add me to the 21700 train. I’m new to lights but after doing some research seems years ago it was known 21700 was the next ‘best’ cell, but they made a d4 26650 version.
IMO using the K1 body w charger and making a new D4 head sounds like a elegant solution to 2 demands and a better product option than the fw4a.

No problem, examples of such situation please.

D’t make things silly! Anything - and turbo mode = have reasonable boundaries.
If we can get from EDC stable 1000 lumens - that’s nice. If we can get 1600 lumens for 1 minute - excellent. But if we can get on turbo 6000lumens for 2 seconds - this is trash can.

With a lot of leds with low Vf we have such trap - with turbo on low current cells we kill cell by large currents. And with hi-current cell we fry for eggs leds. Because BLF-ill require FET with no current limits.

So this is internet, and this is open forum, not yours cosy blog. So be the man, d’t cry.

exactly. anyone could spend it’s money, even burn it with lighter. But anyone could write it’s opinion, is it funny or not.

IN common criteria 4led flashlight would be no efficient than 3 led, the difference with efficiency on curve current/flux could be easily overdriven by better flux bin.

But who from manufacturers declare flux bin of it’s flashlights? It is more profitable simply add another led and sell flashlight for 10 bucks more expensive, than use the best flux bin on market.

So simple calculcation for overall current 3A for different bins

3 Xp-L with flux bin V5.

3A/3=1A = 448lm. *3=1344lm

4 XP-L with flux bin U2
3A/4=0.75A = 229lm. *4 = 916lm

Could we get real efficiancy profit when we d’t know flux bin? No.
But this is a chance to sell same flashlight again.

The situation is extremely common, someone wants to see something at longer range so they flip up to turbo for a quick burst of light that reaches much farther.

Why is having the option for very limited turbo modes bad? You can use the light at a sustainable brightness and literally never jump up to turbo (especially with the FW-family that has 7x7135 for regulated output).

High flux bins usually have worse tint, and just because something is listed on the spec sheet for an emitter that particular bin isn’t necessarily available to actually buy from the manufacturer. What would you say to the people that are excited for an FW-series light that has just a bit more output than the triples? Should Lumintop not make this for them because you think it’s redundant?

BTW in the future you can simply edit your first post and that makes the formatting much better for everyone vs 4 back-to-back posts.

Examples?

  • I just walked out of the very brightly lit kitchen to take out the trash. To get to the trash can, I have to walk over some bricks that are routinely covered in slugs. I don’t want to step on the slugs so use a flashlight to light my way. Because my eyes are not dark adapted at all and won’t have time to dark-adapt I need a very bright light in order to spot the relatively hard-to-see slugs so I don’t step on them. I also need a fairly broad beam to illuminate the area in front of me. For this use I’ve found that a 1,000 or 1,300 lumen light just gets swallowed up and does not sufficiently illuminate my path. I need close to 3,000 lumens minimum to have a good view.
  • I want to wow my friends with my “pocket rocket” flashlight. 200 or 500 lumens won’t impress them. But being able to whip out a tiny flashlight with 4,000 lumens makes them “oooh” and “aaah” in amazement.
  • I want to illuminate my entire backyard to see the animal on the far side. 500 lumens isn’t bright enough especially if my eyes aren’t dark adapted. But 4,300 lumens gets the job done.
  • I’m walking in a park at night and want to briefly illuminate the far side of the green several hundred feet away so I can see an animal. All I have is my pocket EDC… I didn’t bring a dedicated thrower. A floody 500 lumen EDC is too dim to reach out that far, but a superbright EDC with thousands of lumens output provides enough “brute force” output to reach out tht far.

Overall, probably 2/3 of my flashlight use is brief spurts on turbo. The time when I need lower power settings or sustained output is the exception rather than the rule.

And why not have turbo? … a light with a high turbo gives up nothing in functionality. It can still do everything a light without high turbo can do. It just has added usefulness.

4 emitters instead of 3?
That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
C’mon Lumintop, you can do better than that.
Mike