The setup used on this light is click to turn the light on, click to change modes, and long press to turn the light off. Double click activates strobe.
On their e-switch lights, Armytek (and I believe OLight as well) uses a click to turn on, hold (aka long press) to switch modes, and click to turn off. Armytek also has double click to moonlight, triple click to turbo, and I think 4 clicks to strobe.
I find the 2nd option more intuitive. Easier to quickly shut the light off. Not having to click multiple times to cycle modes makes it less likely to accidentally double click. And having strobe something other than double click makes it extremely hard to accidentally activate strobe.
On my Olight S10 R III a single click from off turns on to the last used mode, and a single click from on turns the light off. A long press while on changes modes. Long press from off goes to moonlight, double-press from off or on goes to max, and triple-press for strobe.
I really like that UI, and I’d love to see it on more lights.
One of the nice things about it is that you can hand the light to anyone and they’ll be able turn it on and off without instructions.
The Utorch UT01 and Convoy S9 are ok, but if you hand them to someone who’s not familiar with them they’ll probably end up looping through the modes when they try to turn it off.
I really wanted to like this light, but the combination of 580 lumen high mode, no moonlight mode, not especially useful thread on the tail cap and muggle-unfriendly (IMO) UI, I’m pretty underwhelmed. The best feature seems to be the choice of colour temperature.
However, Simon has already committed to changing the tail cap thread for the next batch, and everything apart from max output can be fixed in firmeware, so I’m hopeful that this light will turn into something really good eventually.
Not many on BLF, but plenty not on BLF. Thorfire TK15S with single frequency strobe (instead of two frequency) would be the ultimate budget light for light painting. Even better if it could come with Convoy’s choice of tints!
Well, based on the 1.4A current, it seems this is using a 7135x4 driver, so the lumen output should be fixed by offering 7135x6 and 7135x8 configurations. Heck, those might already be available on request for all I know. Hopefully we can get an XP-L HI option as well.
Then the only remaining issue is the UI. If we can convince Simon to switch to an OLight/Armytek style UI, or even Narsil, this could be a winner.
This light with an XP-L HI, 7135x8, and improved UI could take the Zanflare F1’s place as the best budget light with built in charging.
I hate dual switch lights. They’re just so annoying when you have to turn the light around for mode switching and vice versa for turning it off.
Convoy L4, L2 - The L4 now has a single-side-clicky-driver so the tail-swiutch is just a lock-out, and the L2 is a too good overall package
I think we can all agree, that a UI with a side-clicky can be just awesome - Emisar D4.
The S9 with a FET driver, XP-L and this firmware… bought
The problem is you ideally need two switches to be able to change modes on a forward clicky. Side switches for on/off aren’t great for light painters as they are located within the connectors between the flashlight and tool.
Very similar to our NarsilM ramping, but using a fixed set of modes instead. Easily do-able in a ATtiny 13A, keeping the LVP features, etc.
114 mm is still too long for such a simple light. Dunno why he's goin with an XM-L2? XP-L2 or Luxeon V maybe? I'd love to see the internals - how the USB charging and switch is configured/wired, etc.
Yeah, this is basically what I’m hoping for. As far as the LED, yeah, not sure why the XM-L2. But I’d expect the XP-L HI to at least be available on request in the future. Just like you can order an M1 or M2 with XP-L HI even though it’s not listed on the store.
So in two words : Olight UI
I’ve owned all their models since 2015 and even if I tried Nitecore, Klarus, Convoy, Thorfire, Sofirn, Skilhunt… Olight is my prefered UI.
The thing is, if you choose to do a long-press-to-cycle-modes UI, the modes have to cycle fast enough to not fall asleep waiting for the right one, and slow enough to avoid missing it… 0,5s between two modes is great IMHO