A Great Little Giveaway ---- SOFIRN

I’m pretty new to this game overall but I’m not new to the concept of great light. Just not portable. I’m still pretty much testing the water and seeing all that’s possible. That is to say that the first thing I’ve done the day my new LT1 arrived is- ordering a second one. It was such an overwhelming sense of awe. And that stems from what Sofirn apparently does right- that is listening to a dedicated user base. Not just influencer unboxers/ reviewers that will drool over paper specs and thinness of the product, but a community of people who strive for excellence in a specific type of product. We unfortunately live in a world where the supply largely dictates the demand, where a customer/ user is viewed as a consumer, an entity that consumes yet it turns out that listening to what they have to say might actually (surprise surprise) be the way to actually progress and improve.

I’m not big on brands, let alone the concept of brand loyalty, but I can appreciate a thing that’s done right by a company. To me this is exactly that. Thanks.

edited to add:
A fresh minor critique. The o-ring groove for the external orange bumper ring on the LT1 is way too shallow, the ring comes off easily, in wintery weather outside use I’ve even had it roll off on its own from fully seated position without any twist in the material. This is the case for both of my lanterns so this might be batch related but it’s not a fluke, the two have been ordered a week apart.

So there’s that. A little engineering improvement.

Never owned a Sofirn so can’t comment other than from the others peoples comments it seems I’m missing out!

Sp10 Anduril 2! Flash kit for BLF LT1!

2021 Feedback: I think Sofirn did pretty well this year. Rather than focusing purely on numbers (like max lumens) you’ve worked to deliver products with features that your customers are looking for. The IF22A is a great example of you guys reading the market correctly.

Requests/Criticisms:

  • It would be great if you would list the step-down times for the turbo modes on your lights as measured in a standardized testing environment. It would be nice to know how long I can expect to see max output on turbo, and how bright it will be after stepping down. I know this isn’t required by ANSI standards but it is very helpful when shopping for lights. Thrunite does this already for some lights.
  • Please continue to offer Neutral White emitter options on as many lights as possible. I love the SF47 I picked up this year but I would love it more if the SST40s were 5000k instead of 6500k.

Unfortunately, I don’t currently own any Sofirn lights. But I’ve been hoping to add the sc31 or sp40 to my collection (need a good headlamp anyway :stuck_out_tongue: ) c01s looks like the type I usually carry, so I plan to try one of those for sure.

My current favorite Sofirn is SP31 Pro with 18350 tube.
And, I am looking forward to Andúril 2 lights.

Woohoo, my lt1 could use a friend.

Keep the lights coming. Love my if25 and the headlamps. Keep up the excellent communication. We really appreciate it.

I have your less expensive flashlight. It works very nicely. I cannot speak to any critique, it was such good value that it’s hard to complain about any quirks.
This was great to read some of the comments and see how more knowledgeable members feel about your products! I have now some new ideas for things to look in my flashlights.
Thanks for your offerings and coupons. I always find it nice that there is options to find a good price all year around.

Affordable flashlights and always open to suggestions from the flashlight community.

I hope someday your shop will be equipped to handle copper and titanium machining.

D25LR is a great addition. Would like to see a tail e-switch only Anduril 18650 tube light (an alternative to the FW1A).

Thanks for the giveaway, I bought 4 of your lights so far this year and I like all 4 so you’re doing pretty good.

As for next year: please stop with the double clips, especially on the bigger lights. I mean: nobody is going to clip a IF22(A) to their cab or hat, the clips on those lights are handy for stopping the light rolling off the table and to locate the button in the dark, these really don’t need to be the double type. Well, personally I don’t like them on any light of any size, just make the battery-tube reversible so everybody can choose their favorite direction simply by reversing the tube and make them single and deep-carry.

To me, Sofirn’s best attribute is the personal response we receive when we have a question or a problem or just a suggestion about future offerings. We don’t see this kind of genuine attention from other manufacturers. It’s almost always a canned response. Keep up the great work!

What do you think is best thing that we’ve done this year? Offered this giveaway!!!

I don’t have a Sofirn flashlight yet, but hopefully I will by the end of the year. :smiley:

IF22A is an excellent pocket friendly thrower.

What a nice thing to do for us….wishing all of you very happy holidays and a happy upcoming New Year also!

Sofirn is one of my favorite companies both for myself and to recommend for friends and beginners. You guys have so many very good things going for you as a company and with your products, and you are continually developing new lights and new approaches. I’ve always thought it was great that you ask for our input, work with us on ideas and problems, and were even willing to adopt new firmware/UI like Anduril. There are only a couple of other companies who do this with us. And you guys are always friendly and helpful. I see that here on the forum but it has been the same when communicating with you on aliexpress and US amazon as well. When there is a problem, you take care of it quickly and easily, and there aren’t too many problems at all.

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I didn’t buy one yet but I think the new IF- lights were the coolest thing I saw this year and the videos and beamshots are impressive. I bought more C8-F from you (six now), and a couple of SC31Pro just to have one like that with Anduril. I’m waiting patiently for the new AA/14500 model with Anduril to be released - and I must say that the entire development process there was neat to watch. I’m glad we are working with you on that instead of someone like Lumintop who has recently declined in many important ways. :slight_smile:

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Some small things concern me and I guess it comes down to resisting any urge to save costs by changing products using cheaper parts or assembly methods. Your lights are a great value with very good quality at a lower, fair price - and you will sell spare parts and repair parts to us for almost everything - that’s awesome! I noticed with the last few C8-F lights that you are no longer soldering the bypass wires on the springs as you once did. That’s easy for me to add myself but it was nice to have the factory already do it. I know that isn’t always fast or easy for workers to do correctly, but it’s a nice touch and would be nice to see again. If saving time/cost was the reason, I think most of us would be happy to have it there and see the retail price go up a tiny amount instead of having it disappear.

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I would like to see the return of metal retaining rings to hold drivers in place instead of using glue. I’m sure that is a great way to save a lot of money and time in assembly but it makes it much harder for people to repair their lights with a high chance of damaging the driver board or components when they have to overcome the glue for removal. Again, a little price increase would be ok if it means keeping easy retaining rings.

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One thing I do not like at all - but which many manufacturers have started doing recently - is using brass buttons/posts for the battery + on the driver, instead of using a spring. For small lights/small batteries it is ok, but for larger 21700/26650/26800 cells, the light really needs two springs to cushion the weight of the battery. On some lights, having only one spring with a larger battery can interrupt the electrical current if the light is bumped or set down to tail stand, causing the light to flicker or sometimes to turn off - that is irritating and could possibly be dangerous in some situations. Two springs also help to protect both the battery from being dented and the driver board from being damaged if the light is dropped and hits hard on either end. Going back to two springs seems like a good idea for most lights, even if the driver spring has to be narrow to leave room for components on the board.

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And now…a wish. I would love to see some really well designed and well made work lights. You have some already on your aliexpress site and there are many others on the market, but many of them do not put out nice light or they are not very durable. Most of the world’s major power tool manufacturers have better work lights, but they are a poor value for what they offer, and could benefit from the knowledge of engineers that know Light better….like flashlight engineers and like Sofirn! Work lights that could run on normal lithium cells, use durable body materials and design for tough use and heat dissipation, have useful firmware/UI, efficient run times and good light color and beam patterns would be wonderful to have. I would study the power tool brands (Milwaukee, Makita, DeWalt, etc) and see if those styles could be made better and a little cheaper. It involves other manufacturing facilities, too, though, more than just machining light bodies and heads…big project. I believe it could be very successful if the product(s) is good and not terribly expensive.

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Anyway…big thanks to you, Sofirn, for everything. Among all of the light manufacturers, many agree that you are a standout and a favorite!

Well said and very important considering the direction of some designers. That said, my favorite Sofirn lights are the SP36 series. What I truly enjoy about those lights are the extreme low to high spread. From dim moon light to field flooding with one button press.

First off thank you for the giveaway! :+1: I have purchased a few Sofirn torches this year and I have noticed the quality upgrade in your flashlights. The HS05 is a great little headlamp with impressive output and love it uses the 14500 cell. My new IF22A has nice throw with really good run times thanks to the 21700 cell. The fit and finish of these flashlights compared to older models has really improved. I look forward to the 2022 models! I love my Wurkkos HD20 that you make and find the 21700 cell gives me longer run times over an 18650 cell. The best thing this year is the ramping in the IF22A and would like to see it in all your new flashlights this coming year. I would like to see more color options in the flashlights, black is getting old. :smiley:

I like that they use Anduril, I would love to see a Q8 Pro with SFT40 led.

Since Sofirn is improving and earning a good reputation of making good lights, it shows that it has an ear on what the enthusiasts and the industry is wanting.

My suggestion to Sofirn is to entertain the possibility of making a good and fairly-priced Analyzing Charger that can also meet most of the new, bigger and longer cells that are coming out.

An analyzing charger that has the simplicity and easy-to-operate design as the Opus 3100 series but with added USEFUL features like Storage mode, dimmable display, etc….features that can be discussed here in BLF,
in another thread, if ever.