While they were sending me the MT07 to review, they offered to send me a final version of the MT18S (more commonly known on here as the Astrolux MF01S) as well since all I have is a prototype right now. Naturally I said sure as the MF01S is my most used light at the moment outside of my EDC.
I picked the Sand color. I have grown so very tired of black flashlights. The sand is quite good, it is a bit of a gold/bronze/sand combo and looks quite good. My prototype is purple and I also really like that. The other color I was considering was Red but sand won out.
Only real complaint with what comes in the box is that the wrist strap has a metal clip to attach to the light. This will of course scratch up the finish. I wish it was a thicker then normal cord instead.
Before this my most used light was my custom MT03/MT09R with 80CRI LED’s. The MF01S is a nice upgrade in CRI and tint from these and I find that more important for general use. Plus the fact it uses TIR optics instead of reflectors makes for a much nicer beam IMHO. Although the MT03 is still a better flooder and brighter and the MT09R throws further. The MF01S is better for general use in my case.
I got the SST-20 90+ CRI 4000k FD2 tint version, the best tint of the SST-20 you can realistically get. They are ok at low levels where they have a slight green hue but as soon as you ramp it up a bit more and the FET channel kicks in, they turn to a positively great tint that is ever so slightly rosy. The best tint I have excluding the 219B 9080.
I got this poster from a BLF member awhile back. I am not sure if he is offering these to the public so not going to mention his name but thanks a lot for this! If he is ok with posting his name I will be happy to do that.
This is a pretty good representation of the light at lower modes before the FET kicks in, it gets even better above this:
I measured ~8500 lumens with 30Q cells, higher drain cells should net you a bit more. Pretty good for 90+ CRI SST-20 LED’s. Well worth the tradeoff in lumens from the 70cri versions IMHO.
A quick throw test showed around 500m of throw and 65kcd
The internals are well made, it has a lot more fin surface area from the first gen MF01. It has a “body tube carrier” like the MT03/MT09R. It works well and the double springs seem to be up to the task.
Bypassing the springs will net you minor gains but not sure I will worry about it myself. The driver spring is already bypassed which is a nice bonus. The driver is an FET + 1 design running Toykeepers Anduril.
On the front it has a nice stainless steel bezel followed by a nice thick piece of AR coated glass. It is not glued so that is a big bonus.
It also have AUX LED’s under the optic. By default they are setup for unicorn rainbow, not my personal taste but some might like it. You can adjust the pots under the optic to disable some of the colors if you want (which I plan to do).
It of course also has a lighted switch. You can see the glow from the unicorn AUX LED’s as well here.
My light did not come with a manual as it was a factory sample but it should be very close to the MF07S:
In conclusion I am very happy with this light, it is my most used light for a reason. It’s well rounded performance and great tint. It is great for close range out to moderate ranges.
No real complaints to speak of except the unicorn AUX LED’s which are fixable with a screwdriver. Also wish it used a wrist strap without the metal clasp and instead used the more common cord to attach to the light.
I would highly recommend this light as a soda can size light for anytime you need a lot of light for random situations.