Sofirn IF25A received today!

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

Not a review but an observation after this first night with this light. AND notice they are on the way to a mailbox near you. :+1:

Mine came today and I eagerly awaited the dark night (no moon) then finally got out to “see what I could see.” :wink:

I went out an hour ago with the IF25A and my C8F (21700) host (I put together last March using 18g wire throughout and shaved XPLs which run about 5.5k after slicing).

This is the 4k version of the IF25A and so I didn’t expect a lot of throw compared to the C8F. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised as it kept up pretty good. The beam is nice and WIDE and very natural at 4K of course. I ran it on turbo for about a minute and felt the heat coming down the tube pretty quick though! Not super hot, but about as warm as can be comfortably held on a June night in Kansas.

I looked down a fence line (I use as a gauge of distance as it starts in my back yard and runs about 150 yards going away from me at a slight angle). I could see the wooden fence posts VERY clearly out to 150 yards with the C8F. Then swapping the Sofirn 21700 (4000mah) stock battery between lights, I was able to barely see the same fence post with the IF25A, but the “field of view” (of the “field” to the side of the fence that I “viewed”) was really nice and wide as mentioned.

Light came in a nicer color printed box with the acetate light holder inside and included: the 18650 tube, a NICE, long USB charge cord, spare o-rings, and a fitting lanyard (with the nicer THIN end loop). There is a smaller notch on the tail cap that this lanyard can JUST get through- and I LIKE it because it fits the form factor of the light.

This is a small light for a 21700 battery. Everything in this design seems to me to be about getting a 21700 light that can be used as an EDC light. No clip, but this light easily slipped into my gym shorts pocket and didn’t feel heavy for my short trip to the backyard just now. The trade-off in head mass compared to the C8F means it heats up fast driving the four LEDs at top output— BUT it does drive them! Out to 150 yards, the little IF25A keeps up with the C8F build pretty nicely all around.

If I were technical back packing (like I did in the 80s) where every ounce counted… this light would be the perfect pack light. And given the USB charging, small form factor, and 4k output and solid, wide throw past 100 yards… this light will be going in my hunting pack (next to my C8F rifle lights). With a 4800mah 21700 battery it should run for days as a hand carry in normal use. And the USB charging is really a luxury as a charge is a car (or solar) charger away while out in the wild for a week.

The heat factor might not make it the best muggle light though. I’ve ran some of my C8Fs hot a few times, and they certainly can get warm. But the IF25A got hot pretty quick running on turbo for less than a minute. While I always WANT the light run 100% full out when I run up to a turbo setting… it’s rare that I ask more than a medium brightness beam 95% of the time in normal use. With that, the IF25A gets the job done and packs some output and throw not usually found in smaller lights like this little beast.

The IF25A will make an excellent addition to the “Sofirn shelf” until September when it will see service through the winter at camp and whenever I’m on the road to about anywhere :beer:

2

Thanks for your input.

I’m guessing you haven’t used a Fireflies E07 with 20 sec turbo before hitting 55°C. That thing is nuts but I don’t see the point myself when you can get much cheaper for the lumens it can actually handle.

It would be interesting to know the genuine lumens as the IF25 was rated at 2300 lm but only measured 1650 lm.

3

No, haven’t played with a lot of lights as I just got addicted here these last few years :wink: I also need to brush-up on my photo posting skills and do better with my postings as pics are worth (my) 1000 words I’m sure.

I would LOVE to buy a light from you sir… that would mean I was standing in New Zealand! I hunt (a lot) and dream of a place like NZ where you can hunt pretty much year round. Kansas is cool about the deer though as I am allowed up to 5 Whitetail tags (one buck, four doe) a year. I Ate venison back-strap for dinner last night in fact… never gets old. We also have good Turkey and wetland birds here too. But if I ever get rich enough to go anywhere in the world to hunt, I’ll be dropping by (for a year) for sure. :blush:

4

Mine arrived today. Everything works except the memory settings. I cannot remove the “automatic memory” setting. I know the theory, its five clicks and so on. But its does not work. Any ideas?

5

Also just received the IF25A a couple of days ago.

Tried to determine the Anduril version of this IF25A by using some "checkpoint" notes that I compiled using the Anduril changelog history..

Newer Anduril versions have the "version-check" function so it's easy to determine which Anduril version (compilation date) was used.
Older Anduril versions, need to check which "features" they have or don't have..

some notes I compiled:

Based on checking out some "features" of the IF25A, I notice that:
- the button-LED has the "heartbeat" effect (7-clicks to change the LED blinking state to "Blinking"), which implies the Anduril firmware version date has to be 2018-12-14 or later.

(comment: if the "blinking" state is just plain "blinking" and not "heartbeat blinking effect", then it has an even earlier firmware version)

- when in Lockout mode: it does not have the 2-level brightness, nor the momentary strobe; which implies the firmware version date has to be earlier than 2019-05-22

So the firmware is likely between 2018-12-14 to 2019-05-22 (the same is actually true for the Astrolux EC01, and the Sofirn SP36 BLF Anduril).

The "automatic memory" toggle feature you're looking for is only present with firmware version 2019-06-02 and later..

6

Fragmentation. There are so many updates so fast and apparently very little effort is made by the manufacturers to make sure they are using the newest version. Manual memory is my favorite addition to Anduril, I was interested in the IF25 when the Anduril version came out, but not if they are using an over year old version of the firmware. The IF25 isn’t listed on Toykeepers page, so it looks like updating it won’t be easy. Has anyone tried taking the driver out yet?

7

D_t_a, can you please measure the current drawn of the IF25A? I’m kinda of suspecting that the current drawn of the 5-7 modes would be 1A, 2.9A and 6A like those of the test of D4V2.

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IF25A (4x SST20-4000k)

in ramping mode:
battery first inserted and turned on ~ 0.35A
ramp ceiling ~ 6A
Turbo ~13+ Amps (battery was 4.10v, so not "fully-charged", using Sofirn 4000mAh 21700)

in stepped ramp mode (7 levels):
7th level ( = ramp ceiling) ~ 6A
6th level ~ 3.3A
5th level ~ 1.4A

9

Thank you very much, d_t_a. Just as what I suspected. If then, I think using a high drain 21700 would probably draw a couple of more Amps.

10

Hum… it’s a powerhouse light for sure. As much as I like the output this thing can hit on turbo… the heat factor makes me second guess using a Molicel P42a I have in the fridge waiting for a light for a month now. But like most BLFer’s… I’ll probably do it just to SEE :smiley:

11

Well… just got back inside from a walk through the property with the Molicel P42a in my 4k IF25a and I am impressed!

BUT, muggle warning… this light gets HOT fast! I’d drop it out of turbo after about 30 seconds but even then (on the factory high setting) it stayed hot. I tried it for a full minute on turbo and it just got too hot to hold comfortably. It will make a great little hand warmer this WINTER when I am elk hunting in 5 degree weather. :wink:

The throw was a tad bit more (to my eye) than when using the Sofirn 21700 4kmAh battery. The Molicel is a very high drain battery and although my custom (old 18650 version) C8F “outhrew” it— it wasn’t but much tonight.

The natural white of the 4k IF25a is really nice. I kept going between the C8F and IF25a shooting trees about 100 yards away and the main beam of the IF25a is literally TWICE the width of the C8F at that distance. And the rendition of the 4k LEDs in the IF25a is just “better” to my eye compared to my shaved XPL HDs in the C8F that are at about 5500k (after the “shave”).

This light is a real tight package and both the host and battery got hot fast as there just isn’t anywhere for the heat to go other than down the entire light. The C8F never got warm in testing (under a minute on most tests). Just confirms what I said before… IF you NEED high output for short amounts of time (typical use for me), the IF25a kicks butt! :smiling_imp: BUT the price is instant heat for a super lightweight tool that can do it, but probably not without gloves in summer.

I see this little light being my go-to this winter where it will be more WAY more usable to me out in the field where the beam is WIDE, the ambient temps below freezing, and the throw is there for 99% of my needs.

Very cool (hot) light! :+1:

12

Glad you like it. I really like it too. It does not use the latest version of Anduril firmware, which doesn’t bother me. Though it’d have been better if the latest version of firmware had been installed from the factory.

13

Does the manual say anything about whether or not it supports 2xCR123 batteries? Might give some insight into what kind of driver the IF25A has.

14

Funny you ask about the manual… this light didn’t come with one. Maybe they didn’t have it printed yet as this was one of the first to ship out just last last month.

I have to figure out Anduril. The light when clicked 6 times (I guessed right :smiley: ) changed over to ramping, but the ramping didn’t go up near as far as the step-up setting did on high (in the step mode out of the box). I am assuming I need to go set all that up.

Also when out last night, after heating up the light good… the ramping was almost immediately reducing the output after I hit the top of the ramp. And it wasn’t just trimming it down a bit, but dropping it WAY down to the first or second lowest setting. Anduril tweaking should fix this (I hope).

I find that because of its super wide beam, one has to run this light higher than most to get the same throw. For general hunting and any field use at night, most lights on medium output are fine. But I predict that when I get it set up, it’s going to need to ramp up to a more “high” setting— where it’s going to be running on the warm side for sure. Again, not a problem in most cases where I’ll be using the light.

15

Here’s my UI simple instruction to follow

6 clicks is Muggle Mode for simple mode for lending the light. Disables all the features and reduces output. Doesn’t work properly until you configure the temp sensor

Full Manual

1 Thank
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Thanks for the anduril UI manual. I was searching for it

18

That's the plausible explanation, maybe first batch was missing the printed manual -- the Sofirn IF25A I got came with the correct IF25A manual describing Anduril firmware. (although it's probably not possible to write everything about Anduril in a manual).

Specs indicate 3800 lumens max (likely for the 6500k version) and 420 meters beam distance. 21700 battery recommended. (no mention of other battery types, although an 18650-to-21700 battery adapter is included in the package.

I tried comparing the beam pattern of the IF25A with an Emisar D4v2

(unfortunately the D4v2 I had is sort of customized - uses 4x SST20, 1 each of 3000/4000/5000/6500k, so an "average" of around 4700k)

~~~~~~

Here is a comparison between the IF25A and the FM1, both use the same 4x SST20-4000k LEDs.

Sofirn IF25A (4x SST20-4000k) vs Meote FM1 (4x SST20-4000k)

(The FM1 is more floody, but even then, its brightness is quite dim)

19

Thanks for the great info and beam shots guys!

So I just thought I was in ramping uh? My six clicks went to the weird ramping I described and I’m guessing the heat (I had already built up) was triggering a LOW temp setting that immediately reduced the output every time I ramped to the top (which was about 1/2 output compared to Turbo- for about a 1/2 second before reducing to low). Sounds like a perfect muggle ramping mode to me :wink:

I ordered the 6500k version last month after getting this one. Thought I’d compare it to my C8F and see how close it really gets. Any luck and I’ll see it by August :stuck_out_tongue:

So I need to play with Funtastic’s chart here and figure out how to make this into a little super hand heater for this fall :beer:

20

Just got mine today after a month. Just want to mention I was able to charge the battery through the built-in USB C port at around 5V x 1.78A = 9 Watt. Also, out of the box, the temp calibration seems way off. My house is at 19C, but the temp calibration shows 31C. I had adjusted it down to 19C, hopefully that will keep the turbo a little longer.

BTW, here is how you do temp calibration in Anduril (text version of diagram above):
From Off
3 clicks to enter battery check
2 clicks to enter sunset mode
2 clicks to enter beacon mode
2 clicks to enter temp check
Flashing shows current temp
4 clicks to enter temp calibration
1 flash - follow by rapid flashing, while flashing, click N times where N=room temp in C, stop
2 flashes - follow by rapid flashing, while flashing, click N times (up to 35) to set max temp to 30+N, stop
Flashing shows original temp -> brief pause -> flashing shows new temp
1 click to turn off

Enjoy