I would not overthink it.
The M3C is a well featured good quality simple workhorse light that will not disappoint.
I have used mine several times today, its now my third most used light (behind Xtar Moon RC2 and Olight S2).
If you decide in the future you want more lights (if you are a flashaholic you will) then consider the hotrod to squeeze some extra oomph but with complications.
I just purchased the convoy with 5500mah battery from aliexpress specially when i asked for a coupon from Simon and he sent it %10 off, it was $48.77 delivered with the 5500mah battery. thanks yall
The stable level depends on temperature; it keeps the temperature steady, not the brightness. Due to the way the circuit works, it gets more efficient (less hot) as the battery gets low. So after it stabilizes, the brightness actually goes up the longer the light is on. At least, until it gets so low that it can’t maintain that much output any more… at which point it’ll drop off quickly and then trigger low voltage protection.
Results are a bit different on different lights, but they tend to have similar patterns. I don’t have a SP36 test with recent firmware, but here are some others to show approximately what to expect, depending on the host, the driver, and the LEDs:
When it steps up, it’s not sudden. It’s generally too smooth to even see without a lux meter. If we zoom into one of the graphs, here’s how those “sharp” step-ups look:
The M3 had aggressive step down but the M3-C doesn’t. In winter I don’t notice any stepdown. You can try double clicking for turbo and see no difference. In the summer I see some step down. Double clicking to turbo will show a noticeable increase.
Not sure what step down is being talked about besides the ‘turbo >to> high’ multiple reviews have shown it to work on high mode %40 1500lms and hold that until the battery runs out after 2.2 hrs without it dropping from 1500lms. That is amazing performance from a single cell flash light without getting too hot to hold at max 113F. Name another light that can do that at similar price with the same specs and usb charging and ill buy that one too.
My M3 does a quick drop to 40% at a minute and a half (it’s 29c here) and stays at that level. I looked at dave1010’s review and he says his M3C started dropping at 4 minutes and had a gradual drop to 40% over 16 minutes so if the samples are typical it does look like there is a difference in temperature control/heat management. The M3C seems to maintain a high output longer. Maybe Simon misunderstood me.
ill wait till these 2 arrive till I buy more maybe we’ll see a banger deal at the 11.11 aliexpress sales
as far as a choice for a thrower the ‘Convoy 4X18A SBT90.2’ or if simon does the L6 in SBT90.2 would be a great contender for a usable thrower its just close to $106 usd rn so if we see a deal by than ill go for it.
The NTC was removed on the M3 to get rid of the thermal step down, but it also came with the issue of low voltage warning every time it reached x volts. Wasn’t exactly a fix
can these lights be left in the car in a fairy lot climate? like in the glovebox? would it cause any issues for the battery? wouldn’t want my car going up in fire lol