[Review] Convoy T2 : AA flashlight (200-400 lumens)

Just had a play with my T2 following your suggestions, and its working OK.

I wasn’t waiting the 5 seconds after turning it off before turning it on again :person_facepalming:

Minimum 5 seconds seems to be correct.

Thank you guys!

Thanks for the review Chibi!

That is weird stuff happening with the spontaneous boost after lots of time. I would not mind that boost right from the beginning. It seems like the driver has current regulation that suddenly fails and then the output goes to whatever the electronics are able to deliver (which is a pretty good output for boosting from a single Eneloop)

I agree, it would be better to have the boost happening from the start rather than towards the end (on eneloops). I haven't seen the boost by eyes, but I assume it's quite obvious to notice..

I believe the weird boost is related to what i have seen when trying to measure the current with a "too high R value shunt" (basic mmultimeter) : When the voltage reach some point the driver enters a on-off loop (no current > the converter starts, draw a bunch of current from the battery so the voltage falls > the converter stops drawing current > no current, battery voltage is higher > loop !) and i bet the converter can't react fast enough and overshoot the output so what you get is some kind of PWMed current with high amp

Too bad about the visible PMW. I am wondering what is stopping them to use say 1-2kHz frequency (no need for ultra high freqs, just keep it high enough for it to be not visible flicker), it’s already nearly 2019.

The T2 could been a great AA flashlight but there’s simply too many downsides. Low PWM and no LVP+RBP. The mode changes if you turn on quick also feels just like those $3 fake cree sk68 clones where if you turn it on repeatedly, it starts from brightest>low>strobe.

For those still thinking of getting the T2, get from their Taobao store instead. https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.1-c.w4004-16307498356.2.7c0b2cc50oiNEg&id=576076762624

Taobao Description:
(2) Low voltage protection: When the battery voltage is between 2.9 and 3.1V, the flashlight will alarm, showing a weak brightness with 2 flashes per second.
(3) Reverse battery protection: the battery will not light up, but there will be no abnormalities, no need to worry about burning the battery or circuit

It has low voltage protection and reverse battery protection while the one on Aliexpress store doesn’t have them. Pretty disappointing as the Aliexpress store is direct from Convoy. Anyone contacted Simon about this?

Absolutely!
I’ve heard cost as a factor regarding low PWM frequency, but how much could it be?
There’s plenty of budget lights with high PWM freq, I’d love to buy this one but visible PWM is just unacceptable.

1 Thank

Taobao says it has low voltage protection and reverse battery protection ... who knows if that's true. Might as well be copy/past from an other flashlight or anything like that.

Does anyone have one from Taobao and can verify ? (good pictures from the driver would be enough to see if it's the same)

I don't trust the Taobao description at all. For 1 single reason: it's an AA flashlight, how would it be possible to have a Low voltage warning at 2.9V :)

But I do believe it's made of the best orange noodles!

Hahaha.. ;)

“Orange noodles”…… nice!! :+1:

It must be a survival flashlight…… when the batteries die, you can eat it if your hungry. :wink:

Hmm. If you peel an orange, or other fruit, the peelings kind of resemble noodles, or worms.

Orange peel translated into orange noodles……. heh.

And with a Duracell battery:

Yesterday I did one with a Duracell battery. After I stopped the runtime test because it was so dim compared to before. my phone measured no Lux anymore, but in reality it was still doing about 2 lumens according to my integrating sphere.. I let the light on, and when I checked the light today, it isstill running on 2 lumens. This didnt happen with the Eneloop, A Force and Panasonic for that long... just with the Duracell. And it's still running on 2 lumens, even more than 16 hours later.

So, do I recommend using Duracell?

... oh boy oh boy.. No. I don't :p
For 2-3 duracell battteries you can buy 1 eneloop (at least in the Netherlands) so it makes no sense buying duracells.. and no alkaline in general... especially not for the long run.

Oh yes, i remember purposely saving up and running depleted alkalines in my Xeno E03 lights just for the super low firefly modes. :smiley:

Yep, the good old Xeno E03...

I bought a new version of T2 a month ago. Really nice little light for the price, and very practical. 4 modes (1-10-35-100%) are spaced nicely. No strobe modes. Nichia 219c 4000k is a tad cooler than Zebralight`s H53c Xp-L2 4000k, and CRI seems to be a bit lower, but in general it`s very nice tint. Beam quality/geometry is also nice, I mean it can be used both for close and medium-range tasks. Nice throw for this size. I use it with NiMh. An ideal light for everyday use at your home/garden. I`ve never used my S2+ since I got T2.
P.S.I had Fenix LD10 almost 10 years ago and consider T2 as a happy reincarnation of that beloved little light with then fantastic 100 lumen from one AA (and CRI about 50 I think). So now T2 has about 200Lm on max, and for me this is absolutely enough for light of this size.

Did you check for PWM in all modes?