[Review] Convoy M21D XHP70.2

Convoy M21D



At the end there will be a summary for those who like only particulars. In each topic I will bold the key sentences, so it will be easier to notice what's the most important. Enjoy!





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I got this flashlight from Simon (Convoy owner) from his official Aliexpress store: https://convoy.aliexpress.com/store/330416?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_allProduct.pcShopHead_12391894.0

Link to this flashlight: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002858966871.html?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_allProduct.8148356.5.7ddd3ac6uSzDEx&pdp_npi=2%40dis%21PLN%21235%2C47%20z%C5%82%21235%2C47%20z%C5%82%21%21%21%21%21%402100bb4c16579276714466431e022d%2112000022908284513%21sh

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Table of Contents:

- General parameters
- Package content
- Appearance, parameters
- UI, runtime and charging
- PWM
- Waterproofness
- Light pattern, tint
- Beamshots
- Usage and my experiences
- Gallery and Summary





General Parameters



LED: XHP70.2 4000K, available different tints

Brightness: max 4300lm

Glass: AR coated

Reverse polarisation protection: yes

Reflector: SMO, available OP reflector

Low voltage indicator: yes

Mode memory: yes

Switch position: side e-switch

Tailstand: yes

Charging current: 2A, build-in USB type C

Size: head/body diameter: 55mm/28mm, length: 161.5mm

Weight: 286g

Package size: 185*85*59mm







Package content

In the package there was only M21D flashlight, but it is ok. Convoy is always selling flashlight for cheap price compared to its capability. Of course everything was well secured.



Appearance, parameters



Overview

It's medium size flashlight, and that's what the M in the name stands for.



At the front we have a SS bezel for more protection. It sits tight, without any gaps

Glass AR coated lens with o-ring:

OP reflector, smooth transition between spot and spill. Less throw

Copper MCPCB

XHP70.2 4000K LED, centered in reflector by plastic gasket

E-switch, 2 modes group (smooth ramping and standard modes)

USB type C charging port with tight sitting rubber cover. Charging indicating LED is also present

Springs are thick, probably thick enough for the job. On the driver side there is a metal pill



Driver itself:

Battery tube also has thick walls, very sturdy.

Smooth and greased threads


And it's a one finger long

Tailcap with lanyard holes







UI, runtime, heat dissipation and charging



UI

2 groups:

  1. Smooth ramping
  2. 4 modes: 1% - 10% - 40% - 100%

Mode memory on, quick access to turbo (2 click from on or off) and moonlight 0.2%brightness (long press form off, will not be remembered)

Smooth ramping is not great, and it needs to be polished to work properly. I mean, brightness changing is not linear, and you can notice it changing brightness from 10% to 30% and from 50% to 70% or 50% to 100%. In the first case, brightness rise is easily noticable, in the second case not so much. In the third case, it probably feels as brightness rised the same amount as in the first case.

And ramping in this flashlight is linear, so it changes brightness from 0% to 50% as fast as from 51% to 100%, while it should ramp slower at the beginning and faster as it approaches 100%.

As a result, we have quick brightness gain from 0% to 50% and slow from 50% to 100%



Runtime





Heat dissipation

Tested at home temperature of 23°C. 10 min at max brightness, heat measured at the head surface on the hottest place. With cooling fins I expect it to perfor well.

It continues to lower the brightness over 10 min test and will probably stabilise at 50%.

Charging

USB type C port, covered with rubber cover, well sealed and waterproof. 2A charging current. LED indicator near the USB

The flashlight can be used while charging, it even can be used without battery at all



PWM

Did not observe any at the lowest brightness.





Waterproofness

Convoy don’t give any standards for their flashlights, but usually makes waterproof products. Let’s test this bad boy and see.



Light pattern, tint

XHP70.2 4000K, OP reflector, max output 4300lm. OP reflector gives quite even light, and pairing it with big size LED such as XHP70.2, spill is nicely lit.. Of course this is not a TIR lens, or frosted glass, so don't expect the spill and spot to blend together.

Picture taken with sunlight white balance, at 70cm distance from the wall, each line is 15cm apart.

It gives about 70cm diameter circle from 70cm distance, which then gives 90° light spread.





Beamshots

ISO200, t2s, f/3.5 sunlight white balance



General picture of what the forest looks like:



Beamshots of M21D:


I like 4000K especially for general EDC use. This flashlight is too big to be EDC, but can be used while hiking. Reproducing colors is nice, and the tint is very pleasant.





Gallery







Summary

M21D is a middle size Convoy flashlight. It’s powered by 21700mAh cell, giving 4300lm at max brightness. Combining XHP70.2 4000K with OP reflector gives a nice warm light with decent throw and bright light sides. M21D can be used in smooth ramping or standard 4 mode group. Quick access to turbo and moonlight, as a mode memory is present. Flashlights body is sturdy and quite heavy, but also very durable.

If you run out of power, USB type C port is there for you, ready to charge your cell at 2A current.



Pros:

+ SS bezel

+ USB type C port



Cons:

- smooth ramping UI need to be better programmed for smoother ramping (for more details, see the ”UI”





If you have any questions, put them below, thanks for sticking for a while :)

Nice! I have the same tint, but smooth reflector.

Like!

Thank you :slight_smile:
What do you think about smooth ramping? Do you too feel like it ramps too quickly at the beginning and too slowly at the end, or it is just me?

Few points of ramp UI that should be improved:
-It’s too fast on low levels and should be faster on higher ones.
-You should be able to continue ramping from moonlight.
-If 2 clicks for turbo, you should be able to quickly return to where you started from without needing to ramp slowly down.
-It shouldn’t remember ramp direction. Now, no matter how long has it been of, it tries to go opposite direction you last used it.

Stepped UI is fine. Maybe little slow.

Can anyone tell me whether the glass lens on their light is loose? Mine actually rattles if I shake it.
I tried the O ring between the bezel and lens, that way it no longer rattles. But the bezel will not screw down all of the way leaving a gap between the head and bezel.
I wonder if maybe I got an O ring that is too thin?

I don’t have M21D, just sharing my experience in case it helps you.

In my Convoy M21B, the O ring goes over the lens, to be in between the lens and bezel. This is the case for most of my lights btw.
However in my Convoy M21F, which shares a similar design to M21D, where there is a steel bezel that screws onto the glass, the O ring goes under the lens.

I didn’t realize this and did put ring over lens the first time I assembled the M21F, then I had same problem as you described, not only bezel didn’t screw down all the way, twisting the bezel directly on the rubberO ring predictably distorted and even scarred it permanently a little bit. Something drastic will have happened to me with climate change or whatever if I ever use these lights under water, but still I was kicking myself a little bit. Note the one difference is I do not have any rattling like you do. Hope this helps.

Thanks. I am pretty sure the O ring on the M21D goes under the glass. There is even a slot for it right above the reflector. Either something is out of spec with the MPCB height, or the O ring is just a bit thin. It definitely rattles though. Just wanted to see if maybe it happened to others. I will shoot Simon a note and ask him what he thinks.

EDIT: I played with it some more. It is actually the reflector that is rattling, not the lens. I can hold the glass and it will still rattle when I shake it… Hmmmm.

Yes! The ramping doesnt feel good. I think this problem is common with thes smooth ramping drivers from convoy.

Simon need to fix this, ramping is unpredictable when you are using it.

I use stepped and im ok using it.

I have handled more than 10 M21C,(U & D). Most has this problem. Hand tightening does not help due to limited strength(at least for me). Press the bezel hard on a Yoga mat or similar material to tighten it. That helps for me.

It is a common problem, I had it too with my previous Convoy light, don’t remember which one. You can try to screw it really hard, but I think the better option would be to use thicker o-ring, or add a rubber, maybe part of the elastic band. It should help. Try to figure out what is causing the rattle - is it loose glass or loose reflector?

Any idea where to look for such an O ring? I have literally well over 100s of O rings from years of flashlight collecting and plumbing work. I can’t find any that fit.
I am sure now that it is the reflector rattling. The O ring ID is too small to contact the lip of the reflector. No matter how much the bezel is tightened… as it can’t tighten past its outer lip.
So a much thicker O ring would be needed to contact the lip of the reflector.
Thanks for the responses !!

Can I ask what % of max brightness you are getting on 40% mode. I’m finding that the 40% mode is under performing on these side switch Convoys, more like 30%.

Hi, sorry for late response, I somehow overlooked your question. It is ~ 40% brightness, my measurements (right now) showed 44% brightness, but due to heating (I was measuring all modes before the max brightness), 100% mode was not as bright as it would have been if I hadn’t used it on other modes. So 40% was as bright as it should be, and 100% was a bit dimmer, so when I calculated it (lux of 40% / lux of 100%) * 100% I got 44%

Anyway, I did some tests and here are more detailed data:

I hope this is more than enough to answer your question :D

Now that is a great answer…

Noo, I overlooked your question too.
Sorry…
It’s currently 2 am and I need to get some sleep. But I will come back to this question, and it is a common problem, so I hope to find an easy solution.

Great review, thanks takin the time to put this together. Not sure if it’s intentional, but the runtime section is empty for me.

You are right! :person_facepalming:
My bad, the runtime will be updated

Thank you for review.