Astrolux S43 - New model (On Sale)

Yes, I’ve gone through factory reset and every possible menu option now. No green led to be found anywhere :disguised_face:

I don’t have a soldering iron so I’ll await Banggood’s response for now!

This is my first encounter with Banggood. Very swift and pleasant customer support! They will send me a new S43 :+1:

A friend has asked me for advice…he wants to buy a flashlight.
After analysis of requirements I decided that Emisar D4 would be a great choice, but a rechargeable D4 would be even better.
So S43 came to my mind….
I haven’t followed that light and know very little about it beside the fact that it has a TA-developed driver.
I did some reading, but not enough to really understand whether it’s a good pick….not that this is the most written-about light, but nevertheless the amount of discussion is large and I’d like to avoid going through all of it.

Would anyone mind answering a few simple questions?
If there are any problems known with the light?
What is the real output? I see some measurement of 3000 lm, OK. Others say 1xxx which I find pretty low for a light like that.
What is the overall quality compared to D4?
Is it reasonable to assume that this light will be reliable?

If there are any problems known with the light?
Too early to say
What is the real output?

Is it reasonable to assume that this light will be reliable?
Too early to say. Astrolux lights in this series have had many early problems

There are not any known issues that I’m aware of. The built in charging rate is a bit low at 0.5A. It means it takes longer to charge, but that may not be a big deal for most.

Whoever said 3000 lumen is crazy. You have 2 different emitters and 2 different models, S43 and S43S.

The S43 with the neutral white Nichia 219C emitters should be about 1600-1700 lumen.

The S43 with the cool white xpg3 emitters should be about 2100 lumen or thereabouts.

Then the S43S is an upgraded version that can draw higher amperage from a battery. This might bump it’s specs up maybe 200 lumen more.

Thanks for the answers. That was enough to make me make a decision - I won’t recommend that light. The tipping point was reading about the inefficiencies mentioned in the review thread.

What is your budget? There must something else worthwhile that falls in your criteria.

Just got hold of the s43s and its pretty nice bearing in mind its a budget unit.
Some pics if anyone is interested. The turbo stepdown is better then the s42 and heat is better also probably due to the massive lump of copper.
i have a 18650 tube and and short tube as well.

Your friend must be a hard core flashlight guy to care so much about the efficiency. Does he also care a lot about driver efficiency? That may rule out a lot of lights, as well. :stuck_out_tongue:

300 PLN, so about $78 including cell and charger (built-in charging is preferred).
I recommended Emisar D4, it was my only recommendation truly faithful to the requirements (small, BRIGHT, very good quality). But since the person liked the idea of a built-in USB charger, I know he likes gadgets and he likes to travel - I also recommended Folomov EDC-C4 as its powerbank feature might be more valuable than the output.

ADDED:

Since he cares a lot about output and S43 doesn’t deliver, largely because of a major design flaw - I decided it’s not worth recommending. D4 costs $12 more (with shorty tube and 219C) and delivers 75% higher output. The person wants small weight and here D4 is better as well. The XP-L HI option may be interesting as well, if he wants D4 I’ll talk the LED choice with him.

ADDED: Also, it’s quite funny S43 output is closer to that of EDC-C4 that to that of Emisar D4….It sits half way between a boring work light and a flashy toy - in both output and features.

I would recommend the Olight S2R Baton II. It’s over a thousand lumens, great beam, uses Olight proprietary charging system which I personally love. It is reliable, has good run times, is comoact, has a proper warranty and customer service. For a non-Flashaholic it’s ideal.

Got one for my brother in law who’s a non-flashaholic and it is his favourite light. Not sure if you have a Olight dealer in your country though…

Otherwise clicky switch lights are very reliable and easy to repair in case of a rare failure.

OTR U18 checks most of your boxes.

For the record, the S43 driver is exactly the same efficiency as any other 7135 based driver, they all do exactly the same thing, using exactly the same components. That includes the D4 driver, The D4 is technically using a TA driver.

The only difference between the D4 and S43 driver is the pinout used for the MCU and the S43 has the add-on charging board.

Now the optic in the S43 is not the best and the bezel does reduce some of the light output lowing the OTF lumens and thus the efficiency of the light.

Just wanted to clear up that the efficiency drop is after the driver.

Oh and I am pretty sure that most of the low output that the S43 has in stock form is due to the springs, bypasses should bump the output up to close to if not the same as the D4 seeing as everything else between the lights is basically the same with the bin of the LED’s being a a possible exception. I warned them that the springs were sub-par but at this time I was not able to get them to fix it.

Wow. You really believe all that?

How does the D4 deliver 75% higher output when it uses the same leds, driver and battery? It makes you scratch your head and wonder “Hmmm, something doesn’t sound right”. Anyway, good luck on the search. :+1:

I actually did think about it and I don’t see the community measurements unbelievable.
Optical losses - we know that S43 has them high. Emisar likely has them lower, but obviously non-0.
Electrical resistance - Emisar is known to be superb in this regard, S43? Doesn’t seem bad, but it’s likely worse.
LEDs - Emisar uses the top bin for the CRI. How about Mateminco / Astrolux?

Due to the way a linear driver such as these in the D4 and S43 work, this has no effect on efficiency in the lower modes, technically it makes the driver itself more efficient if you want to get really picky.

What it does do though is limit the maximum output. This is where a fair amount of the lower max output on the S43 comes from.

Thank you both for recommendations. Frankly I believe that for this friend, both S2R Baton II and U18 may be technically inferior to EDC-C4, but they should be of a little higher quality. Local availability of Olight is a plus as well because that friend isn’t happy to wait for long holiday season shipping. Though the price with shipping within country is actually slightly above the budget.

I’ve been thinking about a range of clicky lights, frankly I believe that a $7 S2+ would be good enough for the actual needs of the friend. But I know too well that “want” often is more important than “need”. :slight_smile: I already asked how strict I should be at limiting size, maybe that will unlock some clicky options like BLF A6.

I’m really digging the new Sofirn SP33 with xhp50.2. It’s only $23. You can also buy it with a decent battery and simple charger for about $29.

Is the “hammer” made of carbide, or steel?

Thanks, though I really don’t think this size class is interesting for the friend. I haven’t heard back since yesterday, so I don’t know if any major size increase is on the cards, but SP33 next to shorty D4….not really comparable.