REVIEW: Rofis R1 Flashlight/Headlamp

The Rofis R1 continues what Rofis is known for: multi-angle, high-power multipurpose flashlights. How is it multipurpose? The head rotates, allowing the R1 to be used as a traditional flashlight, a right-angle clip light, or even a headlamp (headband is included). It uses an XM-L2 emitter and single 16340/RCR123 battery to achieve over 900 lumens while offering the convenience of internal recharging.

Here are the key review details:

Skip to the commentary section at bottom to read my subjective notes on the R1.


Disclaimer: This light was provided free of charge by Rofis, shipping direct from Hong Kong. As December 24, 2017, the light can be purchased through Amazon (U.S.), Gearbest, or Banggood for $69.95. This review was completed over about 6 weeks of testing and real-world use.

Disclaimer 2: Though not my first review, this is my first review posting on BLF. I'd appreciate any constructive feedback you'd have, whether in the thread or via PM.

Unboxing

The R1 arrived well-packaged; the retail box was nestled in a padded cardboard box inside the shipping envelope.


The front of the retail box advertises the LED, output, battery, and magnetic recharging.


With the false front open, many more features of the R1 are presented – as well as a window to see the R1 itself.


ANSI specs are presented on one of the box sides.


The other side has images of the light and headband. The rear has a runtime and output table as well as other information about the R1’s features and Rofis as a company.


Rofis includes everything that’s possibly needed with the R1: two spare o-rings, headband, lanyard (tucked inside headlamp mount), pocket click (pre-installed), battery (pre-installed), charging cable, warranty card, and instruction manual.


The manual itself is written in 7 languages: English, Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese. Content is quite complete though text is small.

The manual is also available online:

http://www.rofislight.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/ROFIS-R1-USER-MANUAL.pdf


Rofis backs the R1 with a 5-year warranty. Repair after 5 years is available for the cost of shipping and parts.

Design

The Rofis R1 is a small, easily pocketable RCR123 (16340) -based flashlight. It is about the same size as Rofis R10, its non-rechargeable stablemate. The R1 is slightly longer than a single 18650.

Rofis lists the length at 79.8 mm (69.6 mm when in right-angle mode), width at 22 mm, and weight at 67 g. My measurements confirmed these specs to the nearest mm/g noting that the battery tube is 20.2 mm.

For comparison, here is the R1 with various other lights (and the batteries they use).
L to R: Olight R50 Pro (26650), Manker E11 (AA), Astrolux S41S (18350), 18650 battery, Rofis R1 (16340), Olight S1R (16340), Manker E02 (AAA), Lumintop Tool (AAA), Nitecore EC23 (18650).


Of those lights, the Olight S1R is the closest direct competitor to the R1. The Olight is a bit more compact, but what’s unique about the R1 is the rotating head that allows it to transform into a right-angle light or headlamp. The other lights lack this versatility.


The R1 can be used with the head at any angle. There is a slight notch felt and click heard as the R1 hits straight or right-angle – but the R1 functions no matter how the head is adjusted. Movement is smooth and firm.


Here’s the R1 along with other small EDC-size lights (and the batteries they use).
L to R: Rofis 16340 battery, Fenix E15 (16340), Olight S1R (16340), Rofis R1 (16340), Thorfire TG06 (AA), BLF348 (AAA), Utorch UT01 (AA), Lumintop Tool (AAA), Orcatorch EA01 (AAA).


The head of R1 has a flat stainless bezel. Being flat, light won’t escape if the light is placed head-down on a flat surface while on, but it is comfortable in a pocket. I was not able to remove the bezel by hand.


The lens is AR-coated. The coating is minimally purple, a good thing. The reflector is smooth and void of any imperfections. The XM-L2 emitter is centered well, though the reflector is shallow and there is space horizontally between the reflector and LED.


The head of the R1 has the charging port and a triangularly-shaped indention on each side that give the head a unique look.


The charging port is a dual-ring disc that the charging cable attaches to magnetically. When the head is oriented in a right angle, the charging port is on the end of the light.


The side switch is a translucent black rubber circle inside a stainless ring. The switch doubles as a battery indicator; when the tail cap is tightened it will glow green for 2 seconds if the charge is >50%, glow red if the charge is 10-50%, or flash red if the charge is <10%. When in use, the switch will also flash if the battery charge is nearly depleted. The switch is moderately easy to locate in hand and has good feedback and responsiveness.


To one side of the switch is the Rofis logo; to the other side is the R1 logo and serial number. Both the Rofis and R1 embossing are set into slightly recessed areas – which should deter wear and tear on the embossing.


The R1’s battery tube is slightly narrower than the rest of the light. It has ridges most of the way around the tube – other than two flat sides. There is no writing on these flat areas. I found they added useful grip to keep the light from spinning in hand when removing the tail cap.


The tail cap has a lanyard hole to one side. It isn’t overly large so some patience (or a small tool) is required to thread the lanyard. Being on the side of the tail cap, it doesn’t hinder tail standing at all.


The tail itself is basically flat. It has a magnet inside and is strong enough to hold the R1 vertically or horizontally. (Dust is visible on the tail cap in this picture but know the anodization is clean.)


The battery tube has anodized square-cut threads – so a partial turn of the tail cap will mechanically lock the light out. Lubrication is lacking – as visible in the picture below. An o-ring helps prevent water ingress; Rofis rates the R1 as IPX-8 to 2 meters underwater.


The tail cap has a single gold-colored spring.


The head has a single gold-colored post surrounded by a shallower ring. This adds protection against cells inserted backwards – but does mean that button-top cells are required.


I tested with other 16340 batteries and found that Fenix 700mAh and Nitecore NL166 650mAh button-top cells were functional, though Turbo did trip the protection on the Nitecore cell. Thus, I’d recommend using the provided Rofis battery or another highly capable cell like the Fenix.

Accessories

Pocket Clip
The pocket clip is designed for head-up carry only. The strength is just about right – it is strong enough to not come off easily but not so strong that it’s difficult to install or remove. The square edge where the clip transitions to wrap the body of the light (just below the Rofis embossing here) can catch when slipping onto a pocket.

Headband
Right-angle flashlights make great headlamps – and Rofis included a headband and mount for this purpose. The R1 slips into the rubber mount from either direction. The band holds the R1 securely at whatever angle is desired. The pocket clip can be left in place, though in that case the clip goes outside of the rings while the light slips inside them. This can make installing and rotating the R1 challenging, so I found it best to remove the clip before using as a headlamp.

One drawback to the switch’s location is that when on the headband, the switch is on the back side of the light. It is accessible but large fingers or gloved hands will find it tricky. If the charging port and switch were swapped, it would have put the switch on the end – making it easier to use.

Performance

Beam
The XM-L2 is a single die emitter so there’s no crosshair to deal with like with quad-die emitters. The R1’s smooth but shallow reflector produces a defined but wide hotspot. Spill is plenty bright to be useful.


Tint & Temperature
The color and CCT are not specified by Rofis but I found the XM-L2 to have a slightly yellow hotspot and very cool, blue spill. CCT also varied highly, registering between around 4800 in hotspot and 7900K out in the spill. Most of the hotspot was around 5000K with most of the spill around 6500K (tested on Medium).

To demonstrate the overall color balance, here is the R1 surrounded by lights with emitters of various tints and temperatures on lower output modes. Camera W/B set to daylight.
L to R: Fenix E15 (XP-G2 R5), Olight S1R (XM-L2), Nitecore EC23 (XHP35 HD E2), Rofis R1, Convoy S2+ (XM-L2 T6 4C), Convoy S2+ (XM-L2 T6 4C), BLF348 (219B SW50).


Alongside other cool temperature lights, the R1 blends in a bit more. Camera W/B still set to daylight; brighter modes due to lack of lower modes on some lights in shot.
L to R: Nitecore EC23 (XHP35 HD E2), Emisar D1vn (modded w/SST-40), Rofis R1, Convoy S2+ (XM-L2 U2 1B), Orcatorch EA01 (XP-G2 R5), Fenix E15 (XP-G2 R5)

Output
Rofis rates the R1 at 900 lumens on Turbo with the included 16340/RCR123 700mAh cell. The box and manual make it clear that the light then steps down to 300 lumens at 30 seconds, and that it does.

I tested 993 lumens at turn-on and 919 lumens at 30 seconds with ambient temperature of 72F (22C).

Output dropped sharply right at 30 seconds and stabilized at 314 lumens.


This output was maintained with flat regulation until just past 62 minutes – when output was reduced to 62 lumens. This is within 3 minutes of Rofis’s provided runtime of 65 minutes – validating the specification. Eventually the R1 stepped down to 13 lumens at 1:46 and powered off at 2:57. Temperature never exceeded 102F (39C).


High is rated by Rofis at 300 lumens for 70 minutes. I measured a very close 316 lumens at 30 seconds. Output was flat, fluctuating only a couple lumens until after 65 minutes – when it stepped down to 59 lumens. It stepped down again at 1:47 to 13 lumens before turning off at 2:48. Rofis appears to have rated the runtime based on the first stepdown – but <10% wasn’t reached until the second stepdown at 1:47.


Medium is rated at 60 lumens and 7.5 hours. Testing validated this almost exactly at 59 lumens and 7.3 hours. The curve was also flat, maintaining 59 lumens until 7 hours and 17 minutes when it stepped down to 12 lumens. I concluded the test shortly thereafter (not testing all the way to power off).


Low is rated at 10 lumens and 40 hours. I tested it at 13 lumens. Runtime not was tested.

Ultralow (moon light) mode is rated at 0.5 lumens for 20 days (480 hours). I found a slightly dimmer 0.3 lumens when tested. Runtime was not tested.


All outputs:


All runtimes tested:

Amperage Draw
As measured with fully charged cell:

  • Turbo: 3.3A
  • High: 0.55A
  • Med: 101mA
  • Low: 25mA
  • Ultralow: 2.0mA

Throw
I tested throw distance at 1.46 meters and the resulting candela was 5563 at 30 seconds - equivalent to 149 meters of throw.

Rofis rates the R1 at 5625 Cd and 150 meters of throw – almost exactly what I tested.

PWM
No PWM was detected visually or using a camera’s CMOS sensor.

Parasitic Drain
The R1 uses an electronic switch so some parasitic drain is to be expected. That said, I tested it at an extremely low 34 μA – meaning the R1 would take over 2 years to drain the fully-charged 700mAh battery.

Low Voltage Battery Protection
The cell’s low-voltage protection was tripped on all tests. After allowing the cell to rest and resetting the protection circuit, I found the voltage varied between 3.02 and 3.20 volts. The R1’s internal charger was able to reset the tripped cell. If the R1 itself has any low-voltage protection (that doesn’t rely on a protected cell to trip), it was not detected and is lower than 3.0V.


Internal Charging
The R1’s magnetic charger is rated by Rofis at 0.5A. Using an inline USB meter, I registered 0.46A. The internal charger is capable of resetting cells with tripped protection circuits – which is good as the R1 allows the cell to run down until the circuit is tripped.

While charging, the switch is backlit in red.


Once charging is complete, the switch is backlit in green. Both red and green were bright and easy to identify. (Disregard the mAh displayed on the meter; the cell was not fully drained when charging started.)

Impact Resistance
Rofis rates the R1’s impact resistance at 1 meter. I do not intentionally test impact resistance, but sometimes it happens anyway. I was holding the R1 at chest height (about 1.25 meters) and it slipped from my hand. I attempted to catch it with a downward swoop, but instead just batted it straight down into a ceramic tile floor even harder. The R1 landed on its side and suffered no damage, despite the impact exceeding the 1 meter the R1 is rated for.

Outdoor Beamshots

Will be taken and posted at a later time. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any good beamshots due to snow on the ground reflecting ambient light.

Interface

The interface is easy to use but fully-featured, with mode memory, lockout, and direct access to both Moonlight and Turbo.

From off:

  • Short press the switch to access the last mode used (mode memory).
  • Double press to enter Turbo mode.
  • Press and hold for 2 seconds to access Ultralow (Moonlight) mode.
  • Press and hold for 3 seconds to enter lockout mode.
    • Press and hold again for 3 seconds to unlock.

From on:

  • Long press to cycle to a higher mode (L->M->H->L…).
  • Double press to activate Turbo.
  • Triple press to enter Strobe mode.
    • Long press to enter SOS mode.
  • Short press the side switch to power off.

All normal modes (L/M/H) are memorized. Moonlight, Turbo, Strobe and SOS are not memorized.

Problems

No problems were experienced with the Rofis R1 while testing.

Commentary

I really appreciate it when my test results match the manufacturer’s specifications closely. Not only does it add authenticity to the manufacturer’s claims, but it usually means consistent sourcing and quality controls from light to light. This R1 as tested matched specifications as closely as just about any light I’ve tested. Even the runtime graph I produced was in line with that found on Rofis’s website.

As for the R1’s actual features, there’s a lot I’m pleased with. The internal charger is convenient and the indicator LED under the switch makes it easy to check on remaining battery life. An extremely low parasitic drain also means the battery will retain charge in storage – and mechanical lockout is possible to reduce to totally stop the drain if needed for longer-term storage. The R1 has a nice variety of outputs from <0.5 lumens to >900 lumens, all without the use of PWM. It’s also versatile not only in brightness but actual use scenarios as a pocket clip, magnetic tail, and even headband for headlamp use are all included – as is a battery. Initially I thought the adjustable head would only be a novelty, but I found it really handy in random situations. For example, I was using the barbeque grill and needed some light – I grabbed the R1, clipped it to my quarter-zip pullover, and adjusted the head to be angled down towards the grill. I couldn't get that "perfect angle" with regular right-angle lights.

Nothing is perfect, and the R1 is no exception. The tint in the spill is cool; this will not be to the liking to everybody. I personally expect cool tints in small lights pushing the limits for max output – but a neutral tint version that gives up a few lumens would be welcome. My biggest wish for the R1 would be to see the location of the charging port and switch swapped. Accessing the switch when the light is in the headband is a little tight with where it is today; swapping the switch to the head of the light would put it on the end when the light is adjusted right-angle (like when worn on a headband). The R1's charging port itself is also a feature and a drawback. On one hand, it’s super easy to use and works well – and avoids relying on fragile rubber covers to maintain water resistance like models from other brands. On the other hand, it is proprietary and requires its own cable instead of using a common micro USB connector.


The Rofis R1 is a versatile high-output flashlight and headlamp that delivers all promised specifications – including output of 900+ lumens. The tint is cool but the variety of features packed into the R1 make it worth considering as an EDC light.

Lux Meter: Dr. Meter LX1330B
Integrating "sphere": Homebuilt tube-style device calibrated on other known lights and test results. Numbers should be considered relative to each other and my other review figures but accuracy is in no way certified or guaranteed.
Camera: Canon SD4000IS
Micrometer: Mitutoyo CD-6ASX
Multimeter: Craftsman 82170

Excellent review!! Thanks for posting. I came upon this flashlight today after looking at the Rofis TR10. I’ve been considering one of these Rofis adjustable head lights for a very long time and this one seems to have a lot going for it - almost enough to try it and see if I can live with the blue spill. (I also really wish they would offer a NW version) On their website I see they also have R2 and R3 models listed as “coming soon”

What caught my eye was it appears the head may adjust to more varied positions than the TR10 but I’m not sure. Rofis lists the adjustment as “non-acute angle design” but that description is not used in the TR10/TR15/TR18 listings, so I’m wondering if this R series adjustment is different than TR series? I don’t know if these are the correct words to describe it but it appears the TR series adjustment is “linear” whereas this R series movement is also “circular”? Can anyone confirm this and if there is a difference?

The TR10 doesn’t have built-in charging but has the same Max. output, and with XPL-HI emitter instead of XM-L2, plus it’s priced considerably lower. I’m trying to decide between these, I don’t really need the charging feature but more adjust-ability of the head angles would be welcome.

Also if anyone can point me to any current deals or coupon codes for either of these it would be much appreciated.

(reply updated)

Still not sure if they adjust any differently but I do see now it appears when not fully adjusted to 90 degrees on the TR series there will be a sharp end of the angle head sticking out:

Whereas the R series design eliminates this characteristic making it more usable at angles between straight and 90 degrees:

So maybe the TR series is not meant to be used at the “in between” angles?

I don’t think there’s much difference in how the two heads rotate. I’ll PM you a link to a post with the TR10 and R1 together (it’s on an external website).

“Non-acute angle design” is really just an overly-scientific way of saying “the R1 adjusts to angles down to 90 degrees,” since an acute angle is an angle +under +90 degrees.

Continuing down the rabbit hole, an “obtuse” angle is >90 and <180 degrees. Since the R1 adjusts to exactly 90 and exactly 180, that means it adjusts to a +straight +angle, +right +angle, and +obtuse +angle — but not an acute angle.

I don’t have any discount codes; maybe someone else can provide. As you do the price comparison do keep in mind that the R1 comes with a 16340 battery while the TR10 does not. (I assume you own a charger already, but if not, that’d be another cost to add to the TR10.)

The only other thing I’d say is that the two lights have different moonlight levels and mode rotations. The R1 has moonlight at 0.5 lumen (0.3 per my test) while the TR10 has 3.0 lumen moonlight. The R1 rotates between Low, Med, and High in normal rotation - with Turbo accessible with a double-click and Moonlight only accessible with a long press from off. The TR10 has all 5 modes in a normal rotation.
My preference is for the R1 on these items (I like direct access from off to Moonlight, and that to be <1 lumen, so it’s inoffensive when turned on in the middle of the night. In my use I’d never think “I just used Turbo, let me bump down to Moonlight now” so it not being in the normal rotation is fine.) You’d have to consider your own needs/preferences…

EDIT: I realized I failed to address your LED topic… The TR10 has an orange peel reflector so it scatters the light and reduces a lot of the intensity from the HI. The R1 has a domed emitter but a smooth reflector. I think the beam distance ratings are 139 for the TR10 and 150 for the R1 so there’s not a lot of difference. Now, if the HI was paired with the smooth reflector (which it isn’t), then you’d probably gain a good amount of throw.

Very nice review bdm82! Looks like a great flashlight/headlamp, although the lack of a neutral tint would deter me from buying. But other than that, it appears to have great features, such as moonlight, internal charging, pocket clip, and low voltage protection.

Nice review thanks. I have just bought the TR10 which I intend to give away as a gift. I will probably buy the R1 soon for myself to use as an EDC.
As you say they could do with swopping around the charging connection and switch it would be much more convenient. On the TR10 the clip gets in the way of the switch but its still accessible with the R1 it completely covers it, very annoying. I think its a good EDC and work light though with its magnetic base and multi angle head.

bdm82 thanks for posting your helpful reply.

I’m very intrigued by this light. I’ve been using a (fixed) angle head light for years as a regular flashlight, first with Skilhunt H02 and now with Nitecore HC30. More recently however I’ve often been carrying two flashlights, a straight and an angle head. So now I am seriously considering one of these. I’ve often had an eye on the Rofis swivel head lights but have stayed away because of no NW option. At least it has a magnetic tail, which is a “must-have” feature for me, I had to improvise one for my HC30.

I’ve come to the conclusion this R1 has way more advantages over the TR10:

1. New swivel head design allows using any position without a “point” sticking out.
2. Although CW the hotspot is more towards neutral than the TR10’s. (Pending further feedback, as seen in the comparison review on another forum)
3. Far better UI - especially the quick access to Turbo & Moonlight from off, plus neither of those being within the normal cycle.
4. Clip much deeper than TR10
5. Larger rubber switch boot.
6. Stainless steel bezel ring.
7. Built-in charging.
8. Battery included.
9. Headband included.

Also for the TR10 the OP reflector seems counter productive to the XPL-HI emitter. I think for this type of light I would prefer a regular XPL in an OP reflector.

To bad about the clip blocking the switch when positioned rearwards, since I often use my angle head light belt mounted for hands free. The top mounted switch of the HC30 is perfect for this type of use. I would prefer XPL in this light instead of XM-L2, and for the built-in charging I would have preferred a magnetic docking base system like Olight’s R-series or Nebo’s Mag-Dock.

Rofis: Make an XPL NW option, move the switch to the top, add mag dock charging = the perfect flashlight!

I have seen a lot of reviews of the TR10 saying it does not have anodised tail cap threads but mine does. It just takes a quarter turn of the tail cap to lock it out which is much more convenient than the electronic lock out. And it really does need this I find the switch very light and it turns on by mistake easily.

Thanks, since you just bought yours I assume Rofis upgraded the threads so I removed that from my list. I also noticed TR10 doesn’t include a headband accessory and the R1 pocket clip is much deeper carry so I added those points.

I asked Rofis if they were planning to offer this in NW and they replied that it already is, with a color temperature of 5000K.

EDIT: Found out today I miss interpreted their response, (lost in the translation) it seemed worded strangely so I asked for clarification. Here’s their updated response:

“Now the color temperature of R1 is 6500K, and we will launch 5000K color temperature R series products around March 2018, including R2-14500 and R3-18650. At that time, customers can choose R1 R2 R3 flashlight with two color temperature values(6500 and 5000”

So the current tint is actually CW 6500K

I revisited the review here and I’m baffled by the extreme tint shift (4800/5000K in hotspot and 6500/7900K out in the spill) What could be causing this?
I’m aware there usually is some tint shift between spill and spot for Cree emitters in a reflector setup, but I have several NW XML2 and I’ve not seen anything this extreme before.

It does look pretty disgusting in this photo:

This actually was preventing me from purchasing this otherwise awesome little light, but now looking over some other reviews with outdoor beam shots of some green vegetation it doesn’t look so bad.

.

So I have to wonder if it’s the AR coating that’s causing this?

Supposedly an AR lens over NW will make the hot spot more greenish by reflecting some of the blue spill into the yellowish hot spot.

I’m going to try and look through some more reviews and see if anyone’s been successful in removing the bezel, if I buy one of these and hate the cold spill I’m going to want to try a clear lens if it’s a size that’s available somewhere.

I’d love to see someone else chime in here; I’m but one guy with one sample to review. There is always variation in samples and testing so more data is better!

That said, AR coating can cause tint shift. To this level I don’t know but AR coating does have an impact.

On white wall or ceiling it is obvious like in the picture. But to be honest I only noticed the neutral center at first. It wasn’t until I hit the ceiling with it that I notice the cool spill. Based on that cool spill I thought of it as a cool tint overall, but the hotspot - as pictured and as described by Rofis - is neutral.

If you see the one outdoor shot I took, you can see the railing in the nearby spill is cool, but the snow on the boat dock in the hot spot is creamy neutral. Our snow is melting so I should be able to get some outdoor shots in the next couple of days to update the OP.

In the meantime, hopefully another owner can comment or you can find the shots you need elsewhere!

I Found out today I miss interpreted their response, (lost in the translation) it seemed worded strangely so I asked for clarification. Here’s their updated response:

“Now the color temperature of R1 is 6500K, and we will launch 5000K color temperature R series products around March 2018, including R2-14500 and R3-18650. At that time, customers can choose R1 R2 R3 flashlight with two color temperature values(6500 and 5000”

.

So the current tint is actually CW 6500K

(Edited my previous post above)

So NW versions are coming! :+1: :+1: :+1:

Hopefully the new NW won’t have a tint shift issue like the current CW ones.
And hopefully they change to XPL instead of XM-L2.

Thank you for the Great review.
This is a cool and unique little light there are a lot of thing to really love about the design.

That beam pattern and tint though……maybe this would be best without a battery inside. that way you could show the cool design to your buddies and tell them you forgot the battery so they don’t see the awful beam. :sunglasses:

I predict the tint issue will be corrected with the upcoming NW version, (see my previous post) at least for those who prefer NW.
I also suggested to them to change the emitter to XPL.

Well I just got the R1 a couple of days ago so I can now compare it to the TR10 before I gift it to a friend.

The first thing I have to say is wow. The quality of the TR10 is good but the R1 takes it to a whole new level, even the packaging impressed me.
Apart from its rotating head the TR10 is a pretty generic looking light although obviously well made. With the R1 ROFIS have machined off a lot of excess metal from the torch no doubt to reduce its weight but the way they have done it (check the pictures in the first post) adds a huge amount of style to the torch and the stainless steel bezel with its smoked effect really finishes it off. This is supposed to be an EDC for me but it almost seems to good to carry about and risk marking it. A few times I have found myself taking it out just to admire it.

The U.I. is a good improvement as well as the xml emitter which I think is better suited for the kind of work it will do.

As for the tint well the TR10 does have a slight green tint to it and the R1 is actually worse although to be honest its not that bad. I used the R1 around the house and went out walking with it one night through some woodland and I never noticed the tint, it was not until I shone it at a white ceiling to see how the beam compared to the TR10 that I realised. I think unless you’re a real tint freak then most people wont even realise.

There’s probably only two things that I think could be done to improve the R1. One move the switch so it not covered by the clip or head band and two increase the medium brightness from 60lm to 100lm. With high providing about 70 mins runtime if you need light for a longer period of time you have to use medium and when I went out walking with it I kept thinking I could do with just a little more light. Sure it would reduce the run time but it would still last for hours.

Anyone thinking of buying either of these torches but cant decided, really it comes down to price. There are a lot of discount codes around for the TR10 at the moment making it a fraction of the cost of the R1. But hurry because I think they are just clearing old stock and you might not be able to get it much longer. I wanted a TR18 also but everywhere has been out of stock for over a well over a month now and even the TR20 seems to be drying up, in readiness for the new models I guess.

There’s also a coupon code for the R1. :wink:

But right now the R1 is on sale at Banggood for $46.69, which is about the same price as using the coupon code.

The Banggood sale runs for about 4 more days:

Thanks for posting the feedback, now I can’t wait until the NW versions become available! Hopefully there will be a code or deal on it then too.

.

I agree, it’s very elegant looking and unique, makes the TR10 look Plain Jane.

.

I’m curious about the bezel color, you say yours has a “smoked effect”
I notice the photo on the package the bezel appears black, and the photos on their website show it with both a black and a bright bezel.

The photos in this review show a bright one. So I guess they have changed from bright SS to Smoked black since this review?


.

I see the TR10 has an XPL-HI, I agree no need for the HI, but I’m thinking it would better if they equipped it with a regular XPL (not HI) instead of XM-L2.

This is a really great review. Pretty much all my questions were answered. :+1:

At first I was skeptical of the rated 900 lumen turbo, especially when you said you measured higher than the rated output. I was thinking you were yet another guy with a homemade integrating sphere who’s calibration was reading way too high. Then I saw the 3.3A draw on turbo and thought, those lumen numbers sound right! Lol

I’ve got a few 16340 lights and never saw such high amp draws. Assuming good efficiency with the driver, reflector and lens then it certainly could do 1000 lumens at turn on.

This R1 really does look like the Cadillac of this light style, even if it didn’t have a rotating head! Lol

Now to go find a good deal on it.

Thanks Jason! I respect what you’ve done on BLF so it means a lot coming from you!

I’m pretty new on BLF and not that active, but I’ve been reviewing on another forum for a while. When I was getting started I didn’t want to misrepresent numbers so I got pretty deep into the data before posting. I compared all of my measurements on dozens of lights with the measurements other reviewers posted. I then bought a couple other lights (used) directly from other people who had tested them, one of which was professionally tested, and compared those as well.
When it was all said and done, and after doing hundreds of tests, I felt pretty confident within about a 4% margin. About 2% variation tends to be condition related; a few degrees of ambient temperature, a battery rested a few hours more or less, or the hours on the light can change results. Unfortunately I can’t always test in absolutely perfect conditions, though I try to minimize these variances. The other up to 2% I consider accuracy margin of error. Even when I have perfectly identical conditions, or at least I think I do, I see a variation of up to a couple percent. Even which direction the light is oriented (especially true for multi-emitter lights) has an effect.

Since I calibrated initially I have occasionally checked against other tested lights, and re-tested lights I tested before, and all has stayed in line. I’m not saying mine is perfect; I know it isn’t. But looking at the data, I do see some reviewers tend to run high(er).The other thing that I don’t feel like gets covered enough is the 7% variance that Cree allows (per their datasheets) per bin. Normally I don’t think there’s that much variance, but I have studied my own data against other reviewers and occasionally I have seen some atypical results where things stand out like “his results are 2% higher than mine on average but this time he’s 7% lower; he got a bad sample”. Sometimes it’s the opposite.

Now, do I get into all of that in a review footnote? Nah, few people care. But bottom line, I try not to be sloppy. :slight_smile:

I think Cree’s tolerances are wider than you think.

Most of Cree’s bins scale in 7% steps (I say most as I have not studied the data sheets for all their emitters), but for any one particular bin they say the variance is plus or minus 7% which means a 14% range. I guess they document it this way to cover themselves in case a particular emitter happens to be way out of spec or to account for all the variables during testing.