Review: Sunwayman V10A

Sunwayman V10A

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★★


Summary:

Battery: AA or 14500 li-ion
Switch: Forward clicky
Modes: 1 infinitely variable
LED Type: Cree XP-G R5
Lens: coated glass
Tailstands: yes
Price Paid: $53.68
From: DinoDirect
Date Ordered: 19 Sept 2011

Pros:

  • Forward clicky
  • Infinitely variable output
  • Very low Low
  • Nice quality build
  • Cool looking
  • Good throw

Cons:

  • No preset modes
  • Gets hot on li-ion batteries

Features / Value: ★★★☆☆

I saw a couple of Sunwayman lights when I went to GoingGear's store in town last year. They didn't have the V10A, but the M10A is very similar. The M10A has a magnetic ring and a few stops for different modes. But the Low wasn't all that low and the light wouldn't accept lithium-ion batteries, plus it is an expensive light and I didn't want to spend that much and not get everything just right. The V10A then came out with a very good Low, infinitely variable output, and would accept a 14500 lithium ion battery. I would have bought one except by that time I was hoping for a neutral tint version that was hinted at (it is not easy, but the light can be modified as described here). As I waited, I realized the downside of the V10A was there was no way to get to a decent outdoor Low without guessing at where to set the magnetic ring. So I decided I wouldn't get one. But then DinoDirect did a group buy and made this $80 light available for about $55 and I figured I couldn't pass up a chance to get such a cool light. Even without the group buy, some people have been able to get the light for around $50 with a 20% off coupon. I'm not sure what coupons they have that are still valid though. So while I got a good deal on the light, at this price I still wouldn't say it is a great value, so one star off on value. Disclosure: The link above is an affiliate link giving me some kind of commission (maybe, we'll see; edit: doesn't appear to actually work, somehow not surprising) but that doesn't affect my review and the light is widely available from a number of dealers more reputable than DinoDirect though Dino has the best price I've seen after discounts.

For a more technical review of this light, Selfbuilt has a ton of pictures and graphs here at CPF.

As for features, this light doesn't have that many really and I'll take off one star for that. It does have infinitely variable output using a selector ring, putting it on par with the Nitecore Infinilux and the JETBeam RRT-0, both of which are $100+ lights (some say Sunwayman makes the RRT-0 for JETBeam and NiteCore is owned by JETBeam, so maybe they make the Infinilux too). It also has a forward clicky which I like for momentary On, but Sunwayman wisely made the brightness control separate from the tail clicky. I would still like to see some detents in the motion of the ring in order to know about what level of light I can expect when I turn on the light, though if you leave the ring where it is it will just come on at the level where you were last, so in that sense it function similarly to a light with memory. The Low on this is very faint, okay for up-close reading. It seems to be the same or even fainter than Moonlight mode of the Quark series. Plus you can have anything in between by turning the ring about a third of the way around the tube until it stops.

Design / Build Quality: ★★★★★

Obviously the build quality is better than budget lights. The light seems to be only two pieces: head and body tube. The tail does not seem to come off separately. There is a big o-ring at the head that makes for a very tight seal. There are also big square threads, but they are quite short (maybe 2 turns?) and I kind of wish there were at least a little more.

I love the look of this light though. It seems like some kind of piece of high tech military equipment with all the surface details and fins. The clip seems kind of weak to me, since it just clips onto the light (and I think I chipped the anodizing taking it off once). There are grooves for the clip on both ends of the body so that you can install the clip head up or head down. Still, clipping it to a jeans pocket the light does not clip in place firmly and I wouldn't want to lose an expensive light. It's fine for walking but if you were running or in the woods where something could knock it off, it would be better to put the light down in a pocket. Though I'm not a fan of lanyards, it comes with a clip-on lanyard which messes up tailstanding.

The tail clicky is very good, not too firm or too mushy. In lower modes the light has a instantaneous ramp-up to brightness. And I guess I am so used to reverse clicky lights that I kind of miss instant Off. With a forward clicky you have to push in and let go before the light goes off. There are some good pack-ins, including spare o-rings, tail cap boot, and lanyard. There is no holster.

Battery Life: ★★★☆☆

Battery life is respectable on AA, but fairly short on li-ion batteries. I'll propose this scale for scoring battery life. This works for any light: 1 for 0-15 minutes (don't laugh, this is how long some of my 10440 lights run); 2 for 15-30 minutes; 3 for 30-60 minutes; 4 for 60-120 minutes; and 5 for more than 120 minutes. So on AA, the light gets 3 stars for 50 minutes while for li-ion it gets only 2 stars for 25 minutes.

For the first runtime test, on AA NiMH I am using a 2000mAh white top Duracell precharged battery ("Duraloop"). I run the light on High and stop every 10 minutes to test the battery voltage (at rest) and get current readings. Because the light can be set to any level, I measured High as maximum and Low as minimum but you could get anything in between.

Time (min) Battery Voltage Current High (mA) Current Min (mA)
0 1.415 2240 40
10 1.288 2170 40
20 1.268 2170 40
30 1.257 2180 40
40 1.234 2150 40
50 1.127 740 (dropping)

The light seems pretty well-regulated on a NiMH battery with a pretty constant current draw for most of the life of the battery. Selfbuilt's review indicates the same thing.

On lithium ion batteries (900mAh Trustfire flame 14500), it is a different story. The light is much brighter, but has no real regulation, and runtime is pretty short. Still, it is at least twice as bright on li-ion so it is well worth it. Knowing life would be short, I measured every 5 minutes for this test. I ran the battery down to 3.6V and stopped, but missed my cutoff just a little. During this test the light got very warm very quickly, so I left it head down in a shallow pan of water for cooling.

Time (min) Battery voltage Current High (mA) Current Min (mA)
0 4.18 1950 10
5 3.97 1800 10
10 3.84 1540 10
15 3.77 1490 10
20 3.71 1390 10
25 3.54 1100 10

A group photo of the Mr.Lite BLF AA-Y4E, Tank007 E07 BLF edition, Fenix L1D, and Sunwayman V10A, all AA powered lights. The Mr.Lite is a pretty big AA light and the V10A is almost as large:

Light Output: ★★★★★

Sunwayman claims to use ANSI FL-1 standards and rates this light at 140 lumens of output on a AA battery. That seems about right to me. But on a li-ion battery, it might be 280 lumens, at least at first. The Sunwayman V10R, which uses a CR123A battery and the V20A which uses 2 AA cells, use the same circuitry for 210 ANSI lumens from 3 volts. The tint is cool white, but on maximum the light seems quite white and barely cool. At lower levels it seems a little cooler in tint. There seems to be a very shallow donut hole in the hotspot of the light, but it isn't too bad. I will say this light throws better than I thought possible on a AA light with such a small reflector, but it helps that it is cranking out so much light.

So here are some indoor shots with the lights 50cm from the wall and the V10A on the left. First here is a comparison using NiMH batteries (fresh Duraloops) in the Sunwayman and my Fenix L1D with a Cree XR-E Q5 LED. The XP-G puts out more light and has a bigger hotspot.

At 1/100th second:

And at 1/400th second:

And at 1/1600th second, hotspot intensity seems just as good on the V10A, just bigger:

On li-ion, here is more fair comparison, with my Ultrafire X1, a compact 18650 light that has been modified with a neutral XP-G R4 and a NANJG 1.4A driver.

And at 1/400th second:

And at 1/1600th second. Being essentially direct driven, I think the V10A is brighter. Comparing these two outdoors there is really no competition with the V10A being brighter and throwier:

Okay, now some outdoor shots. These are 4-second exposures to get something that looks kind of like real life. The plant is about 25 feet away. The overhanging branches are about 35 feet away and the lights are aimed at the fence posts 120 feet in the distance. Here is the V10A on a fresh AA NiMH:

Now on a fresh Trustfire flame 14500 li-ion battery (you can mouse over the picture above to compare the two directly):

For the comparison shots with other lights, you can mouse over to see the Sunwayman. So first here is the modified Ultrafire X1 with a XP-G R4 on High. On a fresh battery, the X1 driver will limit the current to 1.4A while the V10A doesn't, so the V10A is brighter. Plus the V10A has a R5 and the X1's LED is R4:

Now here is the Fenix L1D on NiMH in Turbo mode (advertised as 140 lumens) with a mouseover of the V10A on NiMH:

And the Fenix with a 14500 lithium-ion (which is probably 180 lumens):

Now here is the BLF Tank007 E07 on High. This isn't a fair comparison because the Osram LED isn't anywhere close to as bright as a XP-G, but I know a lot of people own the E07. So first with a NiMH:

And now on li-ion. I have done some testing on the Tank007 and it has nowhere close to the same draw as the V10A, so again, there is a big disparity.

And one more, since all of the lights so far have inferior LED's. Here is the Uniquefire UF-2100 with a XM-L T6 and powered by a 18650 (full review here). The size is at least somewhat similar since the UF-2100 is pretty compact. There is no question that the highly driven XM-L in the UF-2100 cranks out a ton of light, but look at the fence posts and the tree trunk to the right of them: there is almost no difference between the two lights at that distance. This is why I like an XP-G most of the time and one reason I'm really happy with the throw of the V10A.

Summary: ★★★★★

I am pleased with the light. It's still not perfect: I'd prefer a neutral white LED and some stops on the control ring to make it easier to switch from High to a Low or Medium without guessing where to turn the ring. The clip isn't perfect either. But I like the forward clicky, the variable output, the look, and the super bright using a 14500. The build quality is excellent as well. It is a simple concept for a light that is well executed.

Mouseovers rock .

Nice review so far. Thanks!

Many thanks for the review, Ted.

I was on the fence about this one (really don't have much use for another light with a magnetic selector ring, at the same time, it should be easy to sell it at cost) and I'm glad I held off on buying one.

If i was to choose 1 light for EDC, this one for sure is the 1st one i pick. Love the finish, love the design, love the variable output. It is brightest compare to all my 14500 lights.

So did summer give you the promised TK45 for this review yet? :) jk brted

TK45 would be sweet, but I'm not holding my breath . . .

I added in some more outdoor comparison shots and finished the review. The pictures of the light (not beamshots) can be clicked on for a bigger image. I think it's a nice light for what I paid, but I would not have paid full price for it.

Great review

Indents in the ring are something that Could be added to the light if your really really really really keen. I believe my V10R has the dimples in the head already, and after drilling a hole and adding a spring and SS ball, the indents can be enabled.

Also, once the heads open, you can also change the emitter to a neutral!

(only for the serious serious modder, very high risk of destroying the light due to thread lock + inability to grip the parts) If I work out a safe way of opening it, I could post some methodology

One downside of higher end lights is they are usually very difficult to mod. So I wouldn't even attempt that even though I know some have. Two indents would be plenty and would give you four modes when combined with Min and Max.

Nice review. I got mine from Going Gear a while back and my only wishes are neutral tint and better efficiency in the uber low. Might be nice if it were a little thinner, but it is build pretty tough.

The ramping curve (ability to tune the lows) is what really make this light shine.

Great review. I´d like to know how it compares to NiteCore EZ.

Very nice review as usual brted, you really put a lot of work into this. Excellent mouseover comparison shots.

I agree that this light has stellar aesthetics, probably one of my favorite designs so far. I also really like the idea of an infinitely variable ring. I probably won't be buying one due to the price, and even less so from DinoDirect, but it's nice to know this option is out there.

Awesome review as always and i am glad to see that you finally got it, so do i pm you my addy so you can mail that nice light to me....lol....just joking of course buddy. I always thought that the clip was screwed on.....would of been a nice touch.

Mine works fine on NiMh, Alkalines, and Li ion. I have heard the light circuit is really designed for NiMh and primaries, but can handle Li ion. I generally have Li ion in mine but NiMh is more than sufficient.

Yeah, it's just broken. Mine works fine with AA batteries without any magnets and has a steady variable output on NiMH and li-ion.

This is my first non budget light. After seeing this light on DD groupbuy I decided to buy one, but due to the AVOID rating I bought it from Manafont at full price.

The light is not a tactical light. It is rather bulky. An it is AMAZING!

For me, this light is everything I expected the UF-H2 to be. A real variable light, easy to control even at ridiculously low levels and powerful enough to light a room.

Since my first led light I had a problem - they would not go low enough. Since I mostly use them instead of searching for the light switch, even though variable, they would be too high in the middle of the night.

If I had to choose one word to describe this light it would be polite. It is very well thought of, to the point that it will ramp up when turned on - on every level except maximum (if you're at maximum, it starts up immediately). The switch is easy to use and because it is rather large for an AA my thumb can operate the switch without trouble.

I have seen some people complaining that you cannot adjust brightness very close to maximum output. This is probably true, but it rather pleases me - usually if I want it past 50% I want it at full power.

Technical reviews already posted describe the light way better than I could ever do. So far, I'm very happy.

53$? how you got this price

DinoDirect has had some pretty good deals on this light in particular, but their prices and discounts fluctuate. Right now it is listed at $75.99. They have a coupon for $10 off any order over $50, which gets it to $65.99. Or you could spend an extra $4 on batteries (or anything), putting your order over $80 and use the $18 off coupon. That's like paying $58. There have been deals posted where people could get the V10A for somewhere in the mid to high 40's, so I sort of overpaid, though I still think I got a good deal.

Coupon thread: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/4056

Thread with low prices last November: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/4382

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