Review - Folomov Tour B5M Flashlight 2,500 Lumen!

Flashlight Review

Folomov Tour B5M Cree XHP50.2 Flashlight Review

This review describes the feature packed Cree XHP50.2 equipped Folomov Tour B5M Flashlight.

The Folomov Tour B5M is the most powerful model from the Tour series. It's medium sized flashlight that can produce upwards of 2,500 Lumen with the use of a Cree XHP50.2 powered by a 26550 battery. It comes with many features including multiple lighting modes (Low, Med, High, Turbo, Strobe & Beacon) along with the inbuilt USB battery charger/powerbank.

When approached to review one of their products Folomov was a brand unfamiliar to me, however they do produce a good range of flashlights of various types. For more details visit their site at http://www.folomov.com/

In this review I'll provide my thoughts on the flashlight. It's not perfect in every way however I found it overall to be a very good flashlight that performs well.

Thanks to Folomov for providing this flashlight for review. No compensation received for this review other than the item for the review.

Sellers/Manufacturers Specs and Product Description

Technical Details
Part Number B5M
Item Weight 381 g
Product Dimensions 157 x 33 x 44 cm
Manufacturer reference B5M
Material Aluminum
Power Source Battery-Powered
Type of Bulb LED
Luminous Flux 2500 lumen
Battery Cell Type Lithium Ion
Battery description 26650
Battery Capacity 5000 mAH

Feature
Utilizing Cree XHP50.2 LED with a lifespan of 50,000 hours.
Higher level and more effective performance than Cree XHP50 LED.
Able to achieve 2500 lumens due to low inner resistance and high effective driver.

Rechargeable and Power bank function
Conveniently to charge 26650 battery without an extra charger. You're also able to use B5M
as power bank to charge your cellphone. 5000mAh battery capacity is able to help you charge
your cellphone(from 0 to 100%) about 2 times.

Switch-lock Guard: B5M will not be activated accidentally after you lock the side switch.


Illumination Mode:
Turbo: 2500 Lumens (1.8hrs)
High: 800 Lumens (3hrs)
Mid: 300 Lumens (8hrs)
Low: 80 Lumens (30hrs)

Special Mode: Strobe, SOS and Beacon.


Other features
Side switch design allows you to select desired modes easily
Low-voltage indicator reminds you inside 26650 battery needs charging.
Intelligent memory circuit helps B5M access to last-used illumination mode directly when being turned on again
Reverse polarity protection. No harm to flashlight and battery when battery is installed improperly
Made of durable aircraft grade aluminum
Premium Type III hard-anodized finish
Toughened ultra-clear glass lens with anti-reflective coating.
IPX6 waterproof rating. 1m impact resistance.

First Impressions and Unboxing

The box isn't the strongest in design however it did the job as the contents arrived undamaged.

Included in the box was,

1. Flashlight

2. USB Charging Cable

3. Spare O Rings

4. Folomov 5000mAH 26650 Battery

5. Instruction Manual

A 26650 Protected battery was included inside the host. Initial impressions were very good. The items looked to be a high quality. No scratches or any other obvious imperfections. The host felt lighter than I expected.

Also missing from this box was a lanyard, I do however see that some sellers do sell this product with a lanyard included.

Battery dimensions are approximately 68mm length x 26mm diameter. The battery has printing "Overcharge and Over-Discharge Protection".

The Case is a holster style made from strong material with an elastic side pocket where a spare battery can be carried.

The flashlight fits nicely in the holster as does a spare battery as per the image below.

Below is a scan of the manual provided. The details and image are clear and easy to follow. One side (as per below) has the English version and the other Chinese.

Flashlight Build and Disassembly

Below is an image of the host beside a Convoy C8 for comparison purposes. The host isn't very large. It's too large to comfortably keep in a persons pocket but being just under 16 cm in length isn't a long nor large flashlight. The battery section obviously wider than a C8 as it houses a larger diameter battery (26650 v 18650).

The host build quality overall is excellent. As mentioned above there was no noticeable scratches nor imperfections on the host. The black anodised finish looks very good. The host fits in a persons hand nicely, it's a very nice size to handle and carry around when in use.

A view of both sides of the Tour 5BM. The left image shows the side with the main switch. This is a rubber covered switch which has a inbuilt LED to indicate to the user the battery charge status. The button is firm to use and makes a clicking sound on use.

The right image shows the side of the host where the USB port is located. The port is covered by a rubber cover that is easily removed. The part of the rubber cover that connects to the host is ok, however some care is needed as it wouldn't take much effort to to damage that section. Overall it's fine. The rubber cover is shown removed in the image below exposing part of the USB port.

The tail of the host has two sections where a lanyard can be attached.

The weight of the Host is only 161 grams. I would have expected more given the high output of this flashlight and the potential heating challenges to manage. Later we'll see how it fares with the run test which suggests that the heat management is quite effective. The battery weighed in at 94 grams.

The tail cap and middle body section are easily removed. They screw off without much effort. The threads appear to be lightly lubed and O rings are fitted for waterproofing.

A closer look at the threads on the body section. These are square. The body machining is good, it's an easy flashlight to grip without it being a rough surface.

Head section below which shows the Cree XHP50.2 LED. The head section cannot be dismantled it seems, if its possible I've not worked it out. The reflector is quite deep and I'd estimate it to be almost 5cm in length. The crown seems to be coated in silver/grey as opposed to being a separate removable stainless steel unit some manufacturers provide. Lens is glass and coated.

Inside the head section we see the positive terminal spring.

Another view of the same section.

Below is the tail cap with the inner section shown with the brass spring.

Cap design is such that it allows the flashlight to tail stand with lots of stability.

Charging and Powerbank features.

The Tour 5BM has a USB port that provides a battery charging and powerbank features.

The battery charging was tested and it was noticed that the charge current was very low. In the initial stages of charging a discharged battery the USB meter used (XTAR Vi01) could not detect the current level and presented a 0A result. AT this time the red LED in the side switch was flashing red indicating charging was occurring. On checking the battery voltage after 15 minutes it was noticed that the voltage had increased. The total charge time for the 26650 was not recorded. The final charge voltage of the battery was measured as 4.14V which is ok.

At a later stage of charging the current was displayed as per below. As the battery charge approached 100% the current reading reduced. It was unknown as to what the maximum charge current achieved.

As a powerbank I was able to charge a mobile phone. Below we see the charge current as 0.36A. I measured 0.41A whilst charging another phone.

User Interface

The Tour 5BM has a single switch that is used to access all lighting modes. I found the user interface easy to use although I would have preferred a on/off tail switch too.

As per the image below, to switch the flashlight on requires the user to press and hold down the switch. Once on a further press is needed to move to the next lighting mode. The flashlight has last Mode memory.

To access special modes a double press of the switch button is required once the flashlight is on. Whilst on double press for Strobe, then double press again for SOS and a further double press to progress to Beacon.

Whilst the flashlight is on the switch LED is illuminated. It's either green (>50% charge remaining) or flashing red. It's an interesting way of making the user aware of the battery capacity. Quite a nice feature.

As the battery charge reduces the modes available is restricted. For <10% its only low and middle.

Another feature included is the "Lock" and "unlock". It may be useful to some. To Lock the flashlight, whilst off, press the switch button 3 times. To Unlock again press the side switch three times.

The flashlight can lockout too via partially unscrewing the tailcap.

Beam Shots

All photos taken with the following Camera settings,

F 2.7, Shutter 1/800 ISO 100, Lumen figures stated are as per the manufacturers figures.

Low (80 Lumens)

Bright hot spot with some out rings. The Low produces more light than many would expect. A lower brightness would have been preferable. Tint is on the cool side.

Medium (300 Lumens)

High (800 Lumens)

Turbo (2,500 Lumen)

Super bright here, with a very strong hot spot, good spill too.

Outdoor Photos

All photos taken with the following Camera settings,

2.7, Shutter 2.5s ISO 100

Location is at a park with the distant tree approximately 60m from the camera position.

Low Mode

The lowest light setting is quite usable. A moonlight or firefly level would be preferable but as provided its a very usable level.

Medium Mode

High Mode

Turbo Mode

Lots of light produced here on Turbo mode. Distant trees and immediate area are very well lit up.

Light Output

Three test measurements were collected on the Folomov B5M,

1. Ceiling Bounce measurements

2. Run time test with a 18650 battery

2. Host Temperatures over first 25 minutes.

Firstly the Ceiling Bounce test. The purpose of this test is to assess the amount of light produced.

The score 135 is by far the highest I've seen with flashlights I've tested and reviewed previously. This is a very impressive figure and is visually very bright. I'm unable to measure lumens but I would expect it is close to the rated level of 2,500 Lumens.

Below is the run time test on Turbo mode. The test continued until the flashlight ceased to produce light. A freshly charged Folomov 26650 was used for the test. It was noticed that the initial high brightness dipped after approximately 1 minute. The first reading measured were 32,700 lux which dipped to 21,600 for a period of 12 minutes then down to 15,000 for the next 90 minutes. Although the peak output only remained active for a minute the light output for the next 100 minutes was very impressive. I was very pleased with it's performance.

During the first 25 minutes temperature readings were collected and graphed as per below. The peak temp hit 47.7C after which it seemed to settle at around 46C. At various times beyond the 25 minute mark I recorded temperature measurements. At the 1hr point the temp was 47.7, 75min it was 47.9C and then 48.2C at the 90minutes. The flashlight wasn't too hot to hold at any time.

Current Measurements

The Current measurements on the highest setting were taken using a UNI-T UT204 clamp meter with a 12AWG wire with the tail cap removed. Actual current levels will be lower due to the resistance of the tail cap switch and spring. Figures below represent the peak measured

With the flashlight equipped with the supplied Folomov 26650 5000mAH battery the following measurements were recorded.

Low 0.12A

Medium 0.52A

High 1.55A

Turbo 6.73A

Final Summary

The Folomov B5M is feature packed flashlight that performs very well. Build quality and performance scored very highly in my opinion. The single switch button worked fine, although I would have preferred a tail switch and the side button for mode changes. It still however worked very effectively.

I enjoyed using the flashlight outdoors as it provided ample levels of light at Medium and High modes and the jump to the TURBO mode if needed. For a flashlight that produces up to 2,500 Lumens its quite a small size, both physically and in weight.

It's not a budget flashlight which is expect given the XHP 50.2 LED and features included.

Overall a very good flashlight from Folomov.

Pros:

> Build Quality

> Very Good Performance

> Includes a 26650 Battery

> Internal USB battery charger

> Powerbank feature

> Can Tail stand

> Lockout

Cons:

> Premium Price

> No Lanyard (although included in some kits on sale)

> The lowest brightness mode produces too much light. Alternative light spacing would be preferred.

Key sites to see more about the Folomov Tour B5M Flashlight

Folomov Home Site

Product at Amazon.com

Product at Amazon.uk

Facebook Link

reserved