I received this light at no charge from Banggood for review purposes.
Link to Lumintop SD26 at Banggood (non-affiliate).
Overview/Specs/Facts
Bulb |
Cree XP-L HD LED |
Output / runtime |
Moonlight: 1 Lumen (45 Days) Low: 45 Lumens (60 Hours) Middle: 170 Lumens (18 Hours) High: 530 Lumens (4.5 Hours) Turbo: 1000~600Lumens (1.66~3.33Hours) Strobe/SOS/Aviation Signal: 1000 Lumens |
Max Beam Intensity |
10600cd |
Max Beam Distance |
205 Meters |
Modes |
8 Modes(Moonlight-Low-Mid-High-Turbo-Strobe-SOS-Aviation Signal) |
Size |
Length: 4.84" (123mm) Head Diameter: 1.5" (38mm) Body Diameter: 1.26"(32mm) |
N.W |
4.48oz(127g) |
Working Voltage |
2.8V-8.4V |
Battery Type |
1 x 26650 |
Water Resistant |
IPX-8 (2 meters) |
Impact Resistant |
1.5 meters |
Accessories |
O-ring, Lanyard, Holster, Waterproof cap, USB Charging Cable |
The first thing I noticed when taking it out of the box was how small the SD26 was for a 26650 flashlight. Here it is next to a few other single-cell 26650 lights. I actually thought I might have originally misread about it using 26650.
The longest protected 26650 I had was 70mm in length. The driver spring is pretty small, so I knew there wouldn’t be much play. However, the cap screwed completely on with no issues. Since there is no tail switch, the spring in the cap is quite large with a lot of movement.
There is a built-in charger which can charge at up to 2A. Micro-USB cable is provided. (I must have bumped my tripod somewhere around this time as quite of few of my pics are leaning. Really bugs me when I do this.)
During charging, the 2 green LEDs will blink. LEDs switch to constant on once fully charged.
So, I ran several charge tests on both 18650 and 26650 using the built-in charger. I’ve read other reviews on this light, and I recall reading where a member measured the cut-off at 4.2V. I repeatedly got cut-off voltages of between 4.14V and 4.16V. This may not be the most accurate and scientific method, but I popped each cell into my VC4 just to see if there was anything left.
The VC4 indicated an extra 112mAh on the 18650 and 146mAh on the 26650. DMM measured them both at 4.20V when pulled from the VC4.
The SD26 has 5 modes (w/memory) with an additional SOS, strobe, and beacon/aviation. The LED is an XP-L in CW.
Mode |
Purple Efest 3500 26650 |
Samsung 30Q 18650 |
1 |
0A |
0A |
2 |
0.06A |
0.07A |
3 |
0.26A |
0.26A |
4 |
0.99A |
1.05A |
5 (Turbo) |
2.91A |
3.01A |
There is also a lockout mode. When moonlight is on, hold the button for at least 8 seconds. The light will flash 5 times and will then be locked out. Loosening the tailcap will take it out of lockout. This light obviously has low voltage protection. The green lights start to blink at right under 3.2V.
I wanted to take some lux readings, but I broke one of my review rules and disassembled the light before finishing my stock review. I ended up with a dedomed XP-L when taking off the reflector spacer. This might have been a good thing and future mod if the dedome hadn’t have taken a large section of the yellow layer with it. I now have a beam that creates an almost perfect blue and white yin and yang hotspot on my wall.
There was a significant amount of a blue glue holding the bezel on. It can be removed with some force. You can see the thermal sensor from the pic above. The aluminum MCPCB is 25mm.
The driver is held in place by glue, but can be pushed out going through the holes in the shelf.
I had no plans to mod this light, but I will see if stacking resistors will increase the output. I believe this would be the correct resistor.
Conclusion and Opinion
As far as construction and functionality, the SD26 is top notch. The knurling, anodizing, AR lens, threading, etc. is about as good as it gets in this price range. All you need is a battery and you are good to go. No charger required. Also, the 26650 provides very nice run times in such a small package.
Lumintop states the SD26 has an ‘intelligent advanced temperature regulation system’ which allows it to adjust performance based on body temperature to ensure a ‘stable and safe operation’. I really didn’t notice any sort of step downs/ups and the body temp remained warm while on turbo. So, I guess that would mean the regulation system was functioning properly.
I’m pretty easy to please when it comes to modes. Doesn’t take much…I would be happy with low/turbo on most everything. I do like this mode spacing, and 5 is plenty. This is the first light I have used in which a manufacturer has included a flashy mode that I think would actually be useful. After strobe and SOS, there is an ‘aviation’ mode. It’s basically a beacon or 1 flash every few seconds. What you might see on an airplane. I think this would be useful in cycling, running, hiking, boating, etc. to just let others know, “Hey, I’m here.”
I have not provided beamshots as I did not get that far before my dedome accident. This light is not a barn-burner, but offers decent output and a very usable beam. The hostspot on a wall did give off very slight artifacts on 4 corners, but I get this on other XP-L lights. Probably due to the flat sides of the dome, and is not noticeable when not pointing at a wall.
I do not believe this light wants to be modded. If you do feel the need to open ‘er up, then at least learn from my mistakes. Don’t dedome it, and try heating it up first. I read where another member heated the head up first to before poking out the driver. If any power enhancements are made, then the thermal sensor will probably have to go as well. Unless you can program it to step down at higher temps, I believe it would never hit the intended levels without stepping down quickly. Or, maybe place the sensor in a different spot other than the MCPCB.
If you would like a discount on this light from Banggood, PM me for a code and price. I am not an affiliate seller and get nothing from this. Swi actually just sent it to me to pass along to you guys ;)