Hey all,
I have a been looking at the Fenix PD35 V2 for some time but the price in Canada is $100 plus batteries. I opted to order the Sofirn SP31 V2.0 as an alternative. I have now found a local selling the old 2015 PD35 850 lumen for 40$ and was wondering what everyone thought of this light. All the reviews I have found are great but are from 2013-2015. I was just ondering with all the changes in technology if this light is still worth picking up.
Thanks
Hi Camps.
I have them both. Got the Sofirn for $21 just delivered today (impulse buy - lightning deal). I have had the PD35 V2 for a while.
The Fenix feels a little higher quality but at over 2x the cost in my mind no doubt the Sofirn is the better value. They are very similar in form and function. I would save the money for another type of light.
I have the SP31 V2.0 - good light for the price. I also once had the PD35, 850 lumens. It’s also a good light. I measure the lumens on both lights and the 850 lumen Fenix is slightly over 1000 lumens and the SP31 V2.0 stated at 1200 lumens measured under 1000 lumens. None the less I like both lights. But for the price can’t beat the SP31………especially when there is a sale on it.
The Fenix is a little better regulated and may be more efficient. IMO $40 is a good price for one new but with the price and competition these days……….wouldn’t want to pay more than $40 for that one if new. The newer lights seem to have a few more features such as battery level. I sold my PD35 when the 2016 PD32 came out. There was nothing wrong with it………just trying to keep the # of lights I own at a respectable level 
.
I only take my Fenix and Zebralight FL’s to work. I’ve dropped them all and they never miss a beat. My bargain lights are all in a drawer waiting for the lights to go out. The only time I’ve seen one these fail was a buddy doing a majorette impression (flipping his light up into the air) until he failed to catch it… On the bright side Fenix replaced the head without any delays.
I have a 2013 PD35 with 850 lumens. I would say that they are 850 “strong” lumens, so the poster above who measured 1000 is probably correct! It’s an excellent light and has served me well for various tasks for years and there are very few scars to show it. Beautifully built.
Downsides are the lack of tailstanding ability, and the mode button has become a bit finicky over time.
Honestly, I’d buy an older PD35 for 10-15 bucks, it was that good back in the day. More than that…. ehhh. Sofirn and Convoy offer way better bang for the buck, with a low mode below 10 lumens.
I got the pd35 but i think its the 960 lumen model. Im not sure but its a great light that never failed me.
$40 is worth it.
I was able to purchase it for $30 CDN. I will let you know my thoughts when it arrives.
Fenix PD35 feels way way better than sofirn anytime.
I own a sofirn SP31 (not the 2.0) as an alternative to the pricy PD35 but it’s no comparison in “feel”
Yes the sofirn has better brightness but Fenix overall feels superb.
Tactical forward clicky is stiff and solid without feeling difficult to depress compared to sofirn mushy button and mushy switch.
There is no air gap in Fenix light and the tailcap rubber feels grippy even when covered in wall paint powder dust or any contamination.
Sofirn gets mushy inside and it takes about 1mm of travel for the rubber boot to touch the switch. Air gap yo. At least Convoy S2+ feels better than fenix (but they’re reverse clicky)
The side button on fenix clicks well and feels define with less to no wobble. I still prefer Fenix old rectangle rubber side switches but both old rubber and the new tac button are good.
The sofirn old silver button and the new black button both had wobbles and needs to depress quite deep to engage the modes. It just feel inconsistent.
While this may be a grey matter of opinion, I always liked the defined circle hotspot on the old fenix PD35. The new tac all had hotspots fade to spill.
Sofirn beam is nice. No complains to that.
Fenix always looks good to me with their fade to ON light output compared to many flashlight which goes 0-100 when you depress the switch. It just feels professional. Even their small LD12 lights has them and I still love my LD12
But overall sofirn is definitely great value when comparing light output to expensive fenix. Use it a while and you forget all the nitpicking I said in my opinions about their button feel. It’s like comparing mushy membrane keyboard to cherry mx mechanical switch. Just a preference thing. Thanks for listening to my opinions.
Oh and I like how Sofirn can be disassembled in the future (at least in my unit)
Fenix just glue everything
When Fenix came out with their stiff(er) tail cap switches is when I started to lose interest in Fenix. First it was the 2016 PD32 and then the LD12, NW. I asked Fenix-Store if the new PD35 V2 also had a stiff tail cap switch like the others and they did not respond. I guess a no response means yes. I never bought the PD35 V2. I liked the older square rubber side switch models because the tail cap switches weren’t the newer stiff type. I Still have the original PD32 (XP-G that I changed to XP-G2 NW), and a PD25. I did not like the beam pattern of the PD35. I would have preferred a smoother transition from hot spot to spill, but that is all personal preference. When the PD32 came out with XP-L HI, I decided I really didn’t need a PD35.
I agree the side switch on the SP31,V2 is a bit mushy but the tail cap switch seems about right for me. I found my SP31,V2 to only be brighter than the PD35 on paper………but not when measured in the light box. The PD35 likely has a better more efficient driver than the SP31 (another area where you get what you pay for).
Since the SP31 is at least half the price of a PD35, that’s a great light to use when you don’t want to worry about loss or dropping (ie: scratched up). So it’s hard to find the perfect light and that is when I balance price with what I’m getting. If I pay a lot then I want it to be what I like. But if paying a budget price then I may be able to live with a couple of the quirks. One of them is that on my SP31, V2 the low level has an overshoot when first turning on the light in the low mode. 4 Sevens had that problem on one of their models. The guys called it “preflash”.
What would be the best 18650 battery for this light ?
Will this work ?
Yes it’s quite good, especially since you can get it one without paying a boatload of cash.
Otherwise, if you can wait a few weeks(+ additional few weeks), you can get some higher capacity and higher drain cells.
That would work but I wouldn’t go with that battery. (Not sure about the history of that brand and battery). You really don’t need a high drain battery for either the PD35 or the SP31. My favorite is the Panasonic NCR18650GA. Next would be a Samsung 30Q. But a Panasonic NCR18650B would work too and there are plenty of those with built in protection circuits offered by a number of vendors. I believe both lights have springs on both ends so you can use either button top or flat tops.
From the Canadian Ebay site:
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Genuine-Panasonic-3500mAh-NCR18650GA-Lithium-Battery-18650-Cell-ncr18650b/283252647416?hash=item41f32c65f8:g:YX4AAOSwqLRcIpo8:rk:2:pf:0
@hiuitahs, I’ve had plenty of cells from PKCell and I confirm that they only sell legit cells.
I only recommended this seller for now since Chinese sellers are currently away, and it is not possible to order any cells from them.
OK. I just wasn’t aware of them. Will Illumination Supply (Illumn.com) ship to Canada? They always seem to have good prices.
I just checked and lllumn.com will ship to Canada. What battery from there do you recommend ?
BlueSword: Can you send me a link to a reputable Chinese seller as well ?
Well, I’m just looking over the options. Are you OK without using a battery without the protection circuit?
So I see both the Samsung INR18650-30Q’s in either a flat top for $4.90 or the button top for $4.99. Or this seems like a good price for a protected battery……Keeppower INR18650-30Q for $7.50. Usually adding a protection circuit bumps up the price by more than that. I’d skip over the NCR18650B and go for the NCR18650GA if you’re wanting the Panasonic. Looks like those are $5.99ea. The GA’s are 3500mAh but when adding a protection circuit to them, I have found some to be a bit tight in some flashlights. Maybe you get one 30Q and one GA and see if you can tell a difference in your flashlight. I don’t think you will but if you ever get another flashlight that needs higher current, the 30Q might slightly edge out the GA when in turbo mode. Maybe you get a 30Q flat top and the GA has a slightly raised top (not exactly a button top), but enough that it satisfies a number of lights needing button top over flat top. Also while you’re at it and already going to pay for shipping, pick yourself up some shrink wraps for the 18650 cell. This is in the case you ever drop your battery and the wrapper splits you can put a new one back on. (10 pieces for $1).
Why the 30Q over the GA or the other way around?
Forum member HKJ has a great battery comparison tool that you can play with.
https://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Common18650comparator.php
If you put the Samsung INR18650-30Q, 3000mAh battery as one to be compared against the Sanyo (panasonic) NCR18650GA (3500mAh). Check just the 3 amp box so as to not have too many graphs and you can see the discharge curve. If running the light mostly on a very high level, it doesn’t really matter whether you are using the 30Q or the GA as they both can hit the current levels of the PD35 or any 1000 lumen light. 3 amps is I think the max current that will be drawn from the PD35. Now uncheck the 3A box and check the 0.2A box. Now the higher 3500mAh GA cell shows why its rated at a higher capacity. But in reality most of us recharge our batteries before they get to 3.0 volts because the voltage isn’t high enough to drive the higher modes on most lights, and you’ll realize it before running the voltage down and all the capacity out of the battery. That is why for the most part I don’t worry about having a protection circuit because I’m disciplined to recognize a low battery situation and will simply recharge before ever allowing any damaging undervoltage situation on a lithium ion battery.
So in conclusion, I don’t think it matters whether you get the 30Q or the GA. But having several of both isn’t a bad idea either. .
1. I would recommend the 30Q, or any other 3000mAh+ cell. There’s not too much difference in runtime.
2. Get cells from the Aliya battery store:
https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1382210?spm=2114.12010612.0.0.7a5b23dbkNLBYu
They are perfectly legitimate, as I’ve ordered and tested 18650s from them before.