Convoy S21A (Short Technical Review)

LED Flashlights – General Info
54

I agree, while the size is good for the cell size, it’s not ideal.
I agree with this thread’s OP: Review: Convoy S21A (21700, SST40). Seems, there is no use of old S2+ anymore.

3% (82lm) - Indoor use and simple outdoor walk.
30% (692lm) – Excessive for indoor use. Often not needed for regular outdoor needs.

When I buy another light, I look for advantages over my current lights that I actually use.
For me that’s:

- Tool 2.0 AA. I have this one in my pocket 95% of the time. Even during daytime.

  • DQG Tiny III 26650. Certain walks. Work light.

Obviously a 21700 packs a lot more power than the AA/14500 that powers the Tool. So at equal lumen, the Convoy has far better runtimes.

But do I really need that? No. A runtime of >240 minutes is good in my book.

Tool with 14500 gives me 360 minutes runtime at 85 lumens.
For me that means I don’t need the Convoy for “Indoor use and simple outdoor walk.”

Tool with a 14500, at its peak matches the Convoy’s 30% @ 650 lumen.
The 33 min runtime is way to low.
Swapping cells every 2 or even 1 hour would be acceptable. But not half an hour.
So that’s where the Convoy clearly has the edge.

I mostly use my lights for looking for stuff, for not tripping in the dark.
I do forest walks, but they are mostly “simple walks”, because rarely I need to see far away.
So even then 85lm suits my needs, with perhaps a brief high/turbo, using a 14500 cell.

Using an AA in the tool would give me:
360 mins at 85lm.
150 mins at 140lm. (requires a spare cell)

So…. do I really need it? No.
It’s so cheap I might try it anyway.
Because I don’t like stepdowns and 500-600lm is the turbo sweetspot for me, what really holds me back is the mode spacing.
Something like 3, 15, 50, optionally hidden 100, would make my choice much easier.
I fully get it, to suit everyone’s needs a light would need 500 mode groups.
That’s why ZebraLight’s approach is nice. 4 modes which each can be selected from a total of 16 (I think) values.

EDIT
I hope like the S2+ there will be options on how many drivers the light has. That would at least take away part of my reservations.
7135*3 output current 1050mA
7135*4 output current 1400mA
7135*6 output current 2100mA
7135*8 output current 2800mA

55

Recently picked up one of these with the 12 mode grouping.

Seems that whatever mode I choose it will at some point in the future randomly reset to the first mode (ie. 0.1 , 1…blinkies etc)

I recall there being something about driver memory wearing out if left in config mode for too long (which i haven’t) but it makes me wonder if this is an inherent bug with the driver, or do i simply have a buggy item.

Any ideas would be welcome. Thanks.

56

pls contact me any time if there is problem with the driver ,my friend

57

Check Convoy S2+: the selected group is reset after battery disconnect

58

At present, the manufacturer has replied. This is because the mode group is not saved at the moment of power failure. At present, the manufacturer has fixed this bug by modifying the program.
If some users need me to mail a new driver after one month, please leave me a message,

59

Odd, the S21A has been on the market for a while, but I feel like I’ve only started reading about these memory bugs in the past couple months.
Was the manufacturing process changed at some point recently? I’ve got one in the mail, so fingers crossed that it doesn’t exhibit similar bugs…

60

Are you sure it’s power failure? The mode memory on mine has never been affected by opening the flashlight. It will just randomly reset at some point in the future. There does not seem to be any particular cause.

61

same for me, once per like month it will simply change mode group for 1st one

I dont know what cause it, as it happen very rarely

62

I have one of the new 8A buck drivers with 12 mode group firmware and I’ve had this happen once as well.

63

anyone can chip in whether there are any safety concerns when the bypass cable snaps?

64

Probably not. But, the light can be run at a lower level. I have remade the bypass with a larger wire due to this happening on some of my S21As, too. At first, I was surprised it happened because the stock wire looked ok.

65

I dont think so, you will just lose few lumens on higher levels

66

Is the SST40 of this review the 5000K version ? It seems like by the picture

67

Just got mine in, does anyone know of a clip that fits around the light and is captured by the tailcap?

In this style…

Click

68

It's the 6500K version

69

The Convoy S21A can be had with either the “4 modes” driver or the “12 groups” driver.
Link:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33026858558.html?pdp_ext_f={"sku_id":"10000012685260820","ship_from":""}&gps-id=pcStoreJustForYou&scm=1007.23125.137358.0&scm_id=1007.23125.137358.0&scm-url=1007.23125.137358.0&pvid=fbf2855a-361a-42fb-9ce1-6b7f0d8ee00c&spm=a2g0o.store_pc_home.smartJustForYou_650637087.0

In the “12 groups” driver instruction it is mentioned: “BTW, do not leave the light in config mode for long period of time, because it will wear out the driver’s memory faster.”

Does that mean that Convoy lights with the “4 modes” driver will last longer than those with “12 groups” driver ?

Thank you in advance.

70

Probably best asking in a thread that Convoy owner Simon posts in regularly about the driver ‘wearing out’.

1 Thank
71

yes, IF you plan on leaving the light in config mode… !

If you use it like a light and reconfigure it only occasionally I cant see you being able to see any meaningful difference in driver life

72

Cheers everyone!
Does anyone know what kind of thread is used in the tailcap to hold the switch in place? For a modification project I need to 3D print a part with the same thread. I’m from Europe so I’m not familiar with threads outside of metric threads. My closest guess would be ANSI 3/4-28 UN right now? Unfortunately, a test printed ANSI 3/4-28 UN created with Fusion 360 did not fit.
Thank you, Jan

73

No ideas?