When the titanium S1 versions were announced I was immediately sold and I promised myself one for Christmas. However just a couple days later a rumor appeared that a copper version was in development, guess what? Titanium is nothing next to copper. However the Raw Cu + SS version was not easy to find, I ended up ordering GoingGear which is the only place available at the time, according to them this is their exclusive version. I used coupon code “CPF” to lower the price a bit (I cringed a bit typing that coupon but no hard feelings).
First impression… I never owned a baton light before and handling the S10 for the first time I couldn’t believe how tiny it was. The light was inside a vacuum bag, and honestly nothing beats handling the beautiful finish of fresh copper! It came with an CR123, I did not hesitate to put the cell in but it didn’t turn on? Took me a while to figure out the battery polarity is reversed.
Here’s a mini review with some cellphone pictures.
Pros:
- Tiny in size, excellent machine work, beautiful finish, SS parts fits well.
- Pocket clip is tight and actually works.
- E-switch has good tactile feedback, just a bit mushier than a zebralight button.
- Tailcap magnet is strong and holds it well.
- CR123 and cone diffuser included
- Can run for ~3 minutes at high before getting hot.
- Very efficient with Li-ion (see measurements below)
Cons:
- I wish output was higher when used with 16340s.
- Beam pattern does not suit anyone, could take a while to get used to.
- Bezel is not removable, making this impossible to mod.
- Inefficient with primaries (see measurements below)
Pictures:
Fresh off the sealed bag, copper hasn’t got it’s color yet
Look how tiny. White balance was a bit off in this picture, should look like above
About 6 hours later it got a bit darker
You can see the copper through the optic
“Cu 0772” marked on the tailcap
Magnet in tailcap
Like a laser, battery goes inverted.
Deep pocket clip in action
Even though this one is much heavier than Al version, magnet still holds it well.
Different copper ages at different rate, my sinner host oxidizes almost immediately after being polished. While the S1 looks clean after 6 hours.
Size comparison with my other CR123 lights.
Beam profile is a large spot with a square flood around, hardly noticeable in real life, it just seems like a single huge spot.
FET+1 Moonlight vs S1 moonlight:
Zebralight SC52 vs S1, both max. This is the closest light I got in output, also rated 500lm. Olight is brighter to my eyes.
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Measurements:
This is the interesting part, the S1 seems to use a 2-in-1 driver. With a CR123 it uses boost and draws nearly twice as much current vs using a li-ion and the efficiency loss is huge. Using 16340 it produces higher lumen/watt than my FET lights and the Zebralight SC52 using 14500.
Above you can see the FET+1 XP-L HI being rather inefficient, first I thought the reading was taken wrong but no… The host is an Eagletac T25C Ti, XP-L HI V2 1A. I don’t understand why I got such a low reading?
All modes are max except FET lights, batteries are all fully charged, CR123 was 3.10V.
As you can see the difference between using li-ion and primaries are day and night, making the extra capacity advantage of the primary negligible.
UI is very straightforward, press once to power on/off, hold to change modes. Hold from off to go to moon, double click from off to go to high.
Final words: I really like it, it feels very neat in hand. The weight gives a premium feeling to it. Perhaps not my first choice of pocket light because of the low output compared to my modded lights, but the heat dissipation allows it to run much longer without getting too hot. Compared to other copper lights it is not expensive at all, so if you’re into copper, you need this. Soon it will be joined by its copper sibling, the BLF X5 Cu.
Flashlight provided by my own hard work for review. 
