Sofirn SP36 Pro Comprehensive Review

Hello fellow BLFers. I have published a comprehensive review of the Sofirn SP36 Pro. Please let me know what you think.

The review can be found here: Sofirn SP36 Pro - Reviews in English - TheLab.gr

Nice review, and a new site for me to look around in.

I noticed what appear to be scratches on the brass + contact ring.
Others have noted that the recent Sofirn batteries have vent holes with burrs that extend above the button top and scrape the brass contact.
Some show significant brass shavings that could lead to a dangerous condition - IE shorts in the head area.

Does you light show this after opening and closing the battery compartment?

My older Sofirm batteries have the same vent holes, but the burrs do not extend into the contact area and I get no shavings.
All the Best,
Jeff

Hi Jeff.

There are indeed vent holes on the batteries that are rough around the edges, but not enough to create any shavings.

Very nice review. I see yours slightly over charges also. Seems to be a SP36 trait.

Nice job!

There's some classic trade-offs. Use better cells and great at start #'s, but drops go deeper from the thermal regulation. All has to do with the thermal reg algorithm combined with an unregulated driver - you will never get consistent results with variations of cells in type, age, off the charger/rested, etc. Also a big factor is allowing the light to fully cool down between tests - this often effects my numbers because I don't wait long enough, or cool it down properly - water, ice, etc.

I have seen just the opposite. My Sofirn lights undercharge just a bit. I like it like that.
TF84 - 4.17v
BLF LT1 - 4.16v
Don’t remember what my 2 SP36s did.

Don’t know if this is the luck of the draw or???
But I think there might be some variance across a model range.

My two SP36s (BLF and S Versions) had some ??? on the inside of the glass. I didn’t see any in your photos.
Hopefully they got the contamination problem fixed

Had to take them apart to clean the inside of the glass.
All the Best,
Jeff

Most of my Sofirns stop in the 4.1x range too. I remember someone else said their SP36 went over, mine and now this one.

This one definitely came with no contamination inside the lens.

I tested this light and it charged to 4.20 on the nut. Very nice soda can light, but overinflated specs as usual from Sofirn. I needed Sony vtc6 to get 7100 lumens at start. On the included cells i got a hair over 5700 lumens I think.

I run the GAs in mine and use the top of ramp mainly. This way I get a sustained ~ 1500 lumens for my short walks in winter.

They may not on the first few times you open the light but in time they can cause damage. I file off the sharp burrs just to be sure the terminals (which are ok cells) don’t damage any of my lights.

Great review.

I have this light. One of my favorites.

For the battery cover, you can consider to spin it clockwise or counter clockwise to expose the USB-C port. This will put less stress on the rubber while you charge.

The picture on the right = that kind of “foggy glass” seems to happen fairly often in Sofirn flashlights that I receive.

I think the reason is that we’re in a very humid and tropical country.

Several times, I’ve even “mildly complained” to Sofirn about this issue, though Sofirn replied it’s a bit difficult to eliminate when their warehouse may also be in a relatively humid area (+ the change in temperature during transportation)…

Great light but the inside of my glass was full of residue. They must store the glass in the smoking break room…

Surprising to hear. Don’t own this particular model, but I can say with all confidence the Sofirn lights I have purchased have the cleanest lenses and reflectors of any flashlight I’ve ever seen. I certainly don’t own the largest collection, but my C8G, SP35, SC31 PRO’S are absolutely immaculate.

Very dry here. This haze is not moisture but some sort of contaminate. Moisture would burn off during use (I think).
I suspect some sort of out gassing of something. A little came back on the S version (the worst of the two) after cleaning.
All the Best,
Jeff

Just checked my sc31pro and same foggy glass on the inside of lens, thanks Jeff for pointing it out. Still great lights would buy again without hesitation… absolutely love the sc31pro and sp36pro…