The Sofirn C8G was sent to me from Sofirn's Official store in Aliexpress.
The flashlight comes in a simple cardboard box.
The accessories included in the Flashlight + Battery Kit are the following:
MicroUSB cable, adjustable wrist strap, 21700 Sofirn-branded battery, li-ion charger and two spare o-rings.
Additionally, there is also a simple 18650 to 21700 adapter included.
The C8G comes with glossy black anodization.
It's operated using two switches, a mechanical in the tail and a side e-switch.
The e-switch is covered by a semi-translucent boot and has two indicator LEDs installed in it.
The tail switch is using a dual spring setup.
Here's the switch fully taken apart.
It's worth noting that the switche's PCB has two unpopulated slots for diodes (probably LEDs).
The boost driver is using a short, thick but quite soft spring.
Here's a closer look at the driver's circuitry.
The XHP35-HI is CW tinted and is seated inside a smooth reflector.
Thanks to the centering ring, the emitter is nicely centered.
The charger has an indicator LED installed (Red: Charging, Green: Full or Disconnected)
After a full charge / discharge cycle, I measured 4111mAh of real capacity in the included cell.
User Interface
The C8G is using a dual switch setup.
The rear switch is only used to turn on/off the flashlight, while the side-switch is used for mode switching.
Two mode groups are supported: Stepped modes (Group 1), Ramping (Group2).
Here's all the supported actions:
Turn on / off: Single click of the rear switch.
Mode Cycle: Single click ( Low > Mid > High > Low > ... ) - when in Group 1.
Ramp up/down: Long press - when in Group 2.
Mode-Group change: Quad click.
Turbo: Double click.
Moonlight: Double click while in Turbo, or press-and-hold the e-switch while powering on the flashlight.
Strobe: Triple click.
Blinky mode cycle: Long press ( Strobe - Beacon - SOS).
The flashlight comes with regular mode memory, while the LPV is activated at 2.8V.
Output and Regulation
In order to take my measurements I used the RD DPS5020 bench power supply.
Here's the measured lumens (at turn-on) along with the current drawn in each power level.
Turbo is pushing around 1650 lumen, which is lower than the advertised 2000.
The lower output is probably limited by the capability of the circuit to efficiently boost the voltage from 4 to 12V.
Also, the power consumption at Moonlight is quite high, which is quite typical for 12V boost drivers.
And here's a V / A graph to view the regulation of each output level.
The the respective V / W graph.
What we can see from the graphs:
- Turbo isn't regulated, at the current draw is directly affected by the input Voltage.
- When the battery is at < 3.5V, Turbo won't activate at all in order to prevent over-discharge and high voltage sag.
- High and Medium are fully regulated down to 2.9V
- Low and Medium are fully regulated down to 2.8V
And here's a ~20 min thermal regulation graph for Turbo mode.
What we can see:
- Maximum output is sustained for 30 secs.
- After the first 30 seconds, output gradually steps down to 1075 lumen.
- 1075 lumes are sustained for 3:30 mins.
- After the 4 minute mark, there's another gradual stepdown to 790 lumen, which is completed at 8mins.
- Once stepped down to 790 lumnes, the flashlight's temperature stabilizes and that output level is fully regulated and sustainable.
- (Not shown) Turbo can be re-engaged at any time.
Outdoor Beamshots
At 12m
At 35m
At 400m - The white dot is a van. Not clearly visible in beamshot, but it's easily recognizable in real life.
And the comparison shots at 220m (captured at Dusk)
Sofirn C8G - Sofirn C8T
Lumintop GT Mini - Sofirn C8A