[review] Sofirn SP32A

CCed from my review on Amazon, nothing fancy.

This is definitely a *wow!” light. I never was a fan of tubelights before, feeling that they were limited in power because of lower thermal mass, lower in throw due to the small-diameter reflector, but the SP32A will definitely make you go “wow!”. :smiley:

The kit comes with a commodity Sofirn/Thorfire charger, ie, inexpensive but good quality, as well as a Sofirn cell, which according to my/others’ tests are about on par with a 30Q, or quite good. No cheap cells here…

It comes in the “standard” Sofirn black box, a bit confusing because the model of light is not printed anywhere on the box, and with all the Sofirn lights I have, it’s hard to tell what’s in which box. Inside the box are the usual accoutrements: extra O-rings, lanyard, and clip. I can do without the clip, so I did without it. Still, it’s quite thoughtful.

Anodisation is perfect, no chips or dings or missed spots, a nice semigloss black. The LED’s well-centered in the smooth reflector.

The beam is nice and neutral in the hotspot, but has a yellowish corona and bluish spill, so given my druthers, I’d prefer an orange-peel reflector to help blend the beam, even at the expense of throw. It’s a bit distracting when going white-wall hunting, but in practice isn’t that objectionable.

Modes? A beautiful low but not too low moonlight level, then low, medium, and high. A doubleclick (even from off!!) gives you a stoopid-bright turbo. Be prepared to giggle like a little girl when you experience over 1500 lemons coming out of a small black tube barely the size of a cigar. :smiley:

And yes, thanks to an e-switch, it’ll go right to turbo from off, no need to “turn it on” first. Same as my SP10B AA/14500 light. ’Though one important difference is that most e-switch lights, even fellow Sofirns, will turn on with a long-press, but the ’32A turns on with a single press, no need to hold it. I understand the new new SP10…A, B, whatever, now does this. I’ve only got the original/old A and newer B, not the renamed-B-to-A nor new new A. I’m getting dizzy…

So… right out of the box, you got everything you need. A decent cell to fuel the light, the charger that feeds it, and a stoopit-bright light that’ll put a smile on your mug.

Fun part is, I didn’t even look at the manual, and I haven’t hit on any strobes or other blinkies by accident. Yes!

I did play around with ramping, but I keep on going back to stepped modes. I got ramping in my Q8, and that’s fine. I know lots of people are crazy about ramping modes, but honestly, even with my Q8, I default to lowest with a quick press, and turbo with a doublepress. As much as I like Narsil and ramping in the Q8, those are my two most-used modes. So I get the feeling I’m going to be doing the same with the ’32A.

Still, when you do in fact want a nice stepless ramping, the ’32A got it. Press’n’hold the switch until it blinks several times, and it’ll be in ramping mode. It’s a bit of a slow ramp, I believe 6sec vs 3sec of the Q8. Plus, it “pauses” at the middle of the range, so it’ll ramp from lowest to about 50, pause, then ramp from 50 to maximum. And then release and re-press to go back down, pause, then down the rest of the way. That ramping is a bit long for me, and while it’s nice to see the pause and know you’re at the midrange, it takes a bit of getting used to. So that makes it easier for me to go back to stepped modes.

Then, press’n’hold and it’ll go to maximum, but keep holding it, and it’ll then blink a few more times to switch back from ramping to stepped. Now I’m back in my comfort zone.

Anyway, for a truly kicking light for less than 30bux for the whole kit, you cannot go wrong. And it’s immensely pocketable, about the same size as an S2/S2+.

If I absolutely had to find something to complain about, it’d be the clip. It’s got a wide band to fit into the same-sized notch near the tailcap, but as with most clips, that makes the light ride quite high in the pocket. I’d get a nice deep-carry clip with the narrow band, and let the light sit deeper in the pocket and not be as likely to fall out. ’Though the deep-carry clip like for the S2+ could slide up/down the wide notch if pushed hard, possibly wearing down the anodisation.

Wow, if I have to beat up on the clip to find something “wrong” with the light, you know I’m liking it a lot. :smiley:

Anyway, yeah, it’s an awesome light, well worth the price, and with performance to match.

Oh, before I forget… It’s got a perfectly flat tail, and will tailstand nicely for lighting up a room via ceiling-bounce, and it’s got a pentagonal collar around the switch to keep it from rolling off any tables. How’s that for thoughtful design? :smiley:

Like I said, you can’t go wrong with the SP32A. I’ve gotten quite a few lights lately, and this definitely stands out as far as performance…

Great news. Sofirn keeps delivering. Thanks for the report LB.

Thanks for the review. I’m holding out for the SP32 version 2.0! I think I’m going to end up buying the entire Sofirn lineup at some point lol. Their stuff is so good for the money and their customer service has been great.

Tell me about it! This is the older ’32A, and still I’m wowed.

Funny thing is, well, not so funny ha-ha as funny oh boy that really sucks, is that I had the review ready to go waaaay back when I got the light. Looked, and just couldn’t find it. My best guess is that as I usually do, I hit “preview” a whole bunch of times, correct mistakes, rephrase things, etc., and go back, hit “preview”, go back, hit “preview”, go back, etc.

Well, guess what happens when you’re happy with the “final copy”, but kiiiiiiinda forget to hit “send”?

Yeah…

But given all the Sofirn lights I got now, not just “review copies” but those I bought myself, I probably gave Joe Sofirn the downpayment on his new in-ground pool. :smiley:

It kicks arse, though. I had it on turbo just a minute or so, and already the light was heating up something fierce! Talk about an excellent thermal path… it was wicking the heat away from the LED so fast to the case, it wasn’t even funny.

Man, oh, man, when the v2 comes out, with the battery indicator and all, I’m gonna be in Hawg Heaven.

Only grex is about the long ramping with pause in the middle. Q8ify it, and it’d be nigh perfect. ’Til then, I’m sticking with discrete steps.

And this is why I go and “preview” a brazillion different times…

“neat the tailcap” → “near the tailcap”. :person_facepalming:

Back to Amazon to correct it there, too. :confounded:

Got it at amazon. 20% off with a 15% off coupon. Can’t go wrong for that price. Thanks for the review. Now I’ll have someone to blame if I don’t like it :slight_smile:

Cheers

Old one or new one?

I like the old one just fine, but the new one… whoa!