Astrolux ST01 Hotspot dark center issue

Hey everyone, Just received Astrolux ST01 with XHP50.2 6500K from Banggood. My intention was to find a better replacement for Convoy S2+ i have at home & in car, because I always lacked USB-C charging there. ST01 is just slightly bigger than S2, and i find the flashlight totally okay overall, except this darn dark center in the light's hotspot. I'm including the images of different power modes. Is it normal? I haven't seen it with S2 flashlights and with Astrolux FT03 (SST-40).

I really thought on buying 1 or two more for myself & friends after this one arrives, but this issue, if confirmed as normal, makes me gift this flashlight to relatives to use and to jump into searching something better. I won't be able to return it cause I got rid of packaging, but even if it was left, I wouldn't bother returning it if it's faulty.

P.S. Right now I'm using 16850 battery with it, as I still haven't received 21700 from VapCell, but don't think it's power-related issue.

Yes, it is normal. It happens because of the LED being made of 4 separate dies. With the XHP50.2 it really isn’t that noticeable unless you are pointing at a uniform wall, IMO.

It may be “white wall related”. Take it outside & see if you notice it.

Thanks guys. Sure I don’t point it at white walls on daily basis, but maybe it’s my first LED made out of 4 “dies”.
Surely I won’t notice it outside, that was my first impression by checking it inside. Just… cannot unsee it now.

If you shine a light that is so powerful on a wall 10 feet away, you will see artifacts. Try shining the light in a wide open area outdoors.

As told, this is very uncommon to me compared to my experience with Convoy S2. No artifacts.
It will take some time for me to stop seeing the dark spot. Don’t you guys use flashlights inside? Workshops? (sub)Urban explorations? :smiley:

I guess I’ll keep this flashlight and continue with my quest of finding the best EDC light for me

Much looked at those pictures, and I would presume you are within a couple of meters from a wall. The camera’s EV (Exposure Value: auto compensation of white balance to ISO) over-compensates and it’s very difficult to see that dark center spot.

In real-life situations, small artifacts are not seen. Stop looking for faults and enjoy the light for its usefulness.

Eww, what a hideous beam. Great if you want to project a bullseye, but…

Is the 50.2 made up of 4 G3 chips? The G3 pretty much defined the fried-egg beam.

I turned all my LuxPro lights into flooders with heavy-duty diffusion film. Wonderfully throwy, but hideous fried-egg beams with nasty urine-yellow coronas. Needed DF to fix the beam, even if it meant turning ’em into pure flooders.

Try it. Don’t like it, it peels right off.

Just goggled it, and watched The Flasholic’s review… yeah, you can see the horrible yellow ringing even “in the wild”, not just when white-wall hunting.

Nice light otherwise, and pretty good UI, too!