Sofirn SP36, impressions of a sample

Bezel is not glued, but driver is, and you need to remove it to swap the leds

Right my mistake

Load the battery tube with the best cells you can lay your hands on, run the light til you’re afraid the bezel is going to melt, the driver should pry out easily. :smiley:

Mine has a 2 min stepdown to 1500lm. I guess this can be configured with narsil

A double click gets back to turbo for another two min. I measured the light at 72 degrees. How hot it needs to be to remove the driver? :slight_smile:

The last glued driver I had to remove was my Amutorch X9 and they just used plain old silicone RTV which was real easy to remove. I guess Sofirn isn’t that nice.

I went back through the posts and now I understand why the driver has to be removed to swap emitters.
I was getting over the blah looks of this light; I have a need for a bright, mulitcell light with good run time, but not if I have to do this to get good emitters.

The Emitters are good, I think. They are genuine Cree XP-L2

But for me, the problem will be, that they use CW LEDs. And for that, I will not buy it, because I can not change it easy.

For me, those are opposing statements. To my eyes, a cool emitter cannot be a good emitter. I like soft white, warm emitters. 3000K to 4000K. I can live with a cool white emitter if it doesn’t have a noticeably bad tint shift, but every time I use a cool white light, I wish it was warmer. The only reason I leave cool white emitters in a light is because the light is too hard to mod (like this SP36) or because I don’t like the light enough to spend more money on it. I have spent too much money on lights that had features I really liked, but had emitters I don’t like, or drivers I don’t like. If the light is mod friendly, I will fix those problems. But this light is not mod friendly.

I don't mind glued drivers, soft silicone style, when you can poke thru a LED wire hole and pop it out easy enough - done this many times, usually couple light taps of a hammer on a solder pick or something. But if we can't do that with this, plus the fact every time you open access to the batteries, the driver is loose - that's not good, unless you have to re-glue which I would not want to do.

I ordered one, shipped on the way. Guess we'll find out soon enough what everyone is doing to get access to the driver and LED's. Right now my favorite LED's are 351D 4000K 90 CRI's and XPL HI V2 5D's from Richard, so one or the other is my plan for this light. I always preferred the 5D tint goin way back to early XML2 days, and the XPL HI's in 5D are bout the most perfect tint I've seen - creamy white thru all areas of the beam pattern.

All the small Sofirn e-switch lights I got have been so disappointing with right angle driver mounted switches . I also got an SP33 on order, so hoping it's an easier mod.

To get the driver out the way I did, when I found how to do it, it was not difficult, it just needed some preparation and a very hot solder iron to attach the handle to the brass ring. I just can’t guarantee that it will be the glue that gives in first, you could be unlucky ripping the brass ring off.

But to be honest, this only a good host if you manage to get the driver out. I really tried to convince Sofirn to use a retaining ring or screws to fix the driver but that did not happen. Hopefully Sofirn instead of making this a good host brings it out in more emitter options. And give it a bit more bling perhaps.

The flashlight is listed on gearbest in flashsale and on aliexpress.
I would order it, but not with the light color and the glued driver. I don’t want to remove the driver like djozz has shown it. And I don’t want to pay for extra LEDs, if I want to keep XP-L2 in it, but in other color.

Nice flashligh, but can not order due to these problems.

Those are all valid points. Perhaps Sofirn will take you up on the change in color.

Mine should be in my hands on Saturday. I really love my Q8 lights and am grateful that this one will be just small enough to make it easier to carry. The performance of the sample is solid and I’m hopeful that the regular production lights will be just the same.

I remembered the knot I used (and most likely would use on the SP36). It’s called a Constrictor Knot. There are variations such as the Double and the Strangle Knot.

I got home to find that my SC36 was waiting for me in my mailbox. It arrived in a small, slightly padded plastic envelope like so many other items mailed from China. Inside was a plain box which was somewhat smushed.

All was well on the inside and the thin bubble wrap and single layer of foam kept the light in one piece.

It came with four backup o-rings, instructions, “Happy?/Not Happy?” card and the charging cord (in addition to the light itself).

Everything was put together well with no scratches or blemishes at all.




It has double springs in the tail which seem relatively firm. The driver is glued (as it was in the sample) and there’s barely a trace on the inside of the head. It could use some grease on the square threads, but after dropping in my freshly charged cells, it worked just like a slightly smaller Q8 that I know and love.




The rubber piece over the charging port sticks out a bit but the rubber seems reasonably sturdy. I’ll see how well it holds itself closed, but it’s quite a bit better than my Astrolux and Eagle Eye charging covers.


I couldn’t get a decent beam shot in my bedroom but it does have distinct petals on the edges. It’s a bit warmer than I expected. I’ll give it a test outside later on but overall I can expect it to be a nice around-the-house and in-the-car light. I’m really appreciating how quickly it ramps up and down. It’s still a bit large for jacket pocket carry but I’m happy with this first in-hand impression.

Is it floody or throwy? How is it compared to the Sofirn Q8?

thanks!

It’s both. Very much like my Q8. The distance across the reflectors is about 2.5mm wider on the Q8. It floods my entire yard and throws quite a distance. I really should measure my yard, but I’d estimate that it’s about 200’ until the treeline.

Compared to my BLF Q8, the Sofirn SP36 is a bit cooler but not harsh to my eyes. I prefer warmer tints but I’m not screaming to swap these (especially with the ordeal it takes to remove the driver).

Thank you PBWilson and Sofirn I will be ordering one for sure!

Hello everyone, could you please record a short video for hand-on and beam shot of this great flashlight?
I tried to find a review video for Sofirn SP36 on Youtube, and the result return is zero.
Thank you in advance.

Sofirn SP36 (quad XP-L2, 6000 lumens, 5350-5750K)
www.youtube.com/embed/BrjSPCtCb_w

Sofirn Q8 (4x XPL-Hi CW, ~5000 lumens)
www.youtube.com/embed/7nYh2kppL9o

BLF Q8 (4x XPL-HD NW 5000K, ~5000 lumens)
www.youtube.com/embed/qnHUnv-bW4E

Emisar D4S (quad XPL-Hi V2-3A, 4300 lumens max on startup)
www.youtube.com/embed/CeVX2E6OKVw