Solarstorm T3 and T4

New BLF favourites?

I see a lot of things to like here (some assumptions)

Budget prices. Solarstorm finish/anodizing us usually good. Usually consistent in driver circuits, and with good heatsinking. Only 3xbatteries makes a nice handle that some will prefer over the 4 batteries in other lights. A single side switch. I also notice that the head on the 3 XM-L light is thinner than a SRK too. Probably a decent stock UI, 3 modes + hidden strobe and battery indicator light in the switch.

Cons: CW first gen XM-Ls only.

Links:

T3

Banggood 31,27$ with BLF Coupon (Special code "ST3" 27$)

Camaly @ Aliexpress 28,35$

Fasttech 28,69$ with BLF Coupon

Cnqualitygoods 33,2$

Kaidomain 33,21$

T4

Banggood - 31,27$ with BLF Coupon (Special code "ST4" 29$)

Fasttech - 32,92 with BLF Coupon

Camaly @ Aliexpress 35,31$

Cnqualitygoods - 37$

Kaidomain -37,67$

Ultrafire branded

Ultrafire U3 from DX - 32,91$

Ultrafire U4 from DX - 37,53$

Kinfire branded

Kinfire K30S from DX - 39,51$

Kinfire K40S from DX - 44,51$


Reviews:

T3 review by M4D M4X

T4 mini first impression review/teardown/measurements by RaceR86

T4 review by freeme

Good prices but based on what I have read of the L3 it seems like SolarStorm greatly exaggerates output. The L3 claimed as much as 8500 Lumens and owners tested it more in the 2000 to 2500 lumens range stock. Way under driven emitters in that one. Pretty minimal heat dissipation fins in these too it appears. Excellent prices though.

Personally after trying a couple I really like the Mountain Electronics modified SupFire M6 lights with the 7 mode UI.

Nice find!!

I recently purchased Solarstorm SC1 and its very quickly becoming one of my favorite lights. I like the look and feel and build quality of Solarstorm.

T4 seem like something I would buy. I don't much care for cooler tints though. So I would have to wait for NW or Warm tint version.

Credit for posting about these lights first goes to Miguel_79.


Chinese lumens.... It is what it is.. (all over the place.)

A modified light will always be more desirable compared to a stock light. I might prefer the lights above as a mod hosts to the M6.

Stock vs stock. M6 have a quite bad UI IMO.

Modified, DrJones various UI`s are generally a league above most others custom UI`s IMO.

T3 is just a smaller light. Size wise it seems more suitable as an all rounder compared to a king.

I like the beam pattern of the 4 emitters lights, and the reflector in the T4 seems to utilize the head nicely. Its mostly reflector. Or maybe its just the picture that makes it looks nicer than the regular SRK quads.

Who will be the first one to buy one of these and do a teardown and (quick) review?

KD certainly have the best prices, but im not a fan of any of the vendors. Especially not KD.

Im not sure which light I prefer the most either. I think I need both. :D


Can someone say something about the connection between Solarstorm and BlackShadow?

I will. Solarstorm and Blackshadow are one in the same…same company, 3 brands , same jerks. Starry Light is the third fwiw.

I have been working with blackshadow behind the scenes for about 5 months now to help bring us lights that we can complain less about. The t3 and t4 were the replacements to the warrior. These were the goals to the new lights. Light up button with low battery indication, 3 x 18650 instead of 4 x 18650 to keep the light slim, flat black anodizing,good output, hidden strobe and no stupid sos, and tons of knurling. I was a little annoyed a few weeks ago when i saw the one sad strip of knurling on the prototype for these new lights. Actually very annoyed! The output, feel in hand and finish should be top notch for the price though.

There is also a new 4 x aa light coming out soon. It will be similar to the sunwayman d40a but much lower price

here are a few other lights that they just released. The sd01 is an obvious remake of the roche f6 but for good reasons. The f6 is a good light and the price will be about $15.50 per light for a group buy on the sd01.

I cannot stand the extra material on the tc11 star pattern tail cap. Its absolutely unecessary to stick out that far. The stainless is a little over done on the head. Sometimes they dont listen to suggestions.

Inexpensive enough so I ordered one of each and paid via Paypal which allows purchasing without registering with Kaidomain. They did send a all numerics password using my Paypal email address as my account identification.

Personally I wish that more Chinese lights either used the magnetic ring interface with continuously variable output level or some variation on the two side button Fenix design with memory so the light comes on at the same level as it was in when last turned off. UIs that always start in the maximum output mode are a turn-off to me for high powered lights. Also I would like all of them to have a very low to moonlight minimum in the .5 to 5 lumens range. 300 lumens for low is way too high for night use in the house or many field uses.

Low, medium, high was the goal. Just like solarstorm k2. We are dealing with ex flashlight designers that left their previous designer jobs 4 years ago and started their own company. “Blackshadow”. The original very first designers of the sky ray king. The “Ray” in sky ray king is from the first name of the guy that was the original designer of that light. Then all the other shenzen factories copied it.

There is a bit of conflict with these designers that think they know what the customers want. They are only 50% correct.

nice!

Curious about the 4x AA too!

The 4 x aa has been 3 months in the making. As long as the strict guidelines have been followed, it will be a top notch light. Green glow button, red low battery warning. Higher output than d40a with copper mounted led. Big reflector.

me want badly!


I just don’t know which to buy first

Of course what customers want keeps evolving as the name brand flashlight designers at Fenix, Olight, Nitecore and other brands widely distributed outside China have evolved and as things like programmable user interfaces that customizers like ME and Vinh can take advantage of have evolved. Hard to think of a flashlight that is computerized with as much smarts as the first Apollo lunar lander!

Very tempting… But not sure if I will like the ON-OFF twisting method (edit: you can hold for 3sec too).

I don’t condone false advertising and made up statistics, but claiming under driven might be a stretch. I’m not entirely sure what the L3 is, but assuming it’s a 3 or 4 emitter torch, then some simple maths is all that’s needed.

8500/3 = 2833 lumens per emitter
8500/4 = 2125 lumens per emitter

Complete pipe dreams. As production lights few XM-L2’s really offer more than 700-800 lumens OTF and many a lot less.

Simply using 1x18650 per emitter will struggle to drive it to anywhere near it’s full potential either.

Lies yes. Under driven, well maybe not so much.

Lets face it, if a car company claimed 800bhp from a 1.5 turbo 4 pot as a normal production car, would you believe them?

L3 has 7 emitters.

wonder if these will take unprotected 18650’s?

No, but the Society of Automotive Engineers has detailed horsepower test standards that have been agreed to by virtually all of the car makers in the world and most makers even have an SAE representative observer present for certifying official test runs used for advertising horsepower and torque claims. Absolutely no such controls are in place for Lumens or Lux claims for flashlights. The best we have for lights is the ANSI test standard which is totally voluntary and also almost totally ignored by the smaller Chinese manufacturers.