Review: Rofis TR10 (pics, beamshot, runtime plots)

I received the rofis TR10 from Rofis for the review.

The Rofis comes in this box.

Inside the box: Light, Spare Orings, manual, warranty card, clip (my sample did not have the clip but the TR10 you will buy will have it).

The TR10 is another Rofis flashlight with a rotating head, transforming from a linear to a 90° flashlight. The TR10 is powered by a RCR or a CR123 battery.


There is some knurling on the light

The electronic switch

The head of the light has a hidden metallic joint that allows to rotate the head of the light so that the 90° shaped light you saw so far can transform in a linear flashlight



The electronic switch is accessible in both configurations

The tailcap, the only part of the light I could remove with bare hands, hosts a golden spring and a removable magnet. Threads are not anodised.

The outside of the tailcap is flat and allows tailstanding. It has a lanyard hole.

Inside the head there’s the CREE XP-L Hi CW emitter, in a light orange peeling reflector, under a glass with AR coating. The positive contact point in the body is a golden spring.

It is a compact light, especially in the 90° configuration


With an 18650 cell

Side by side with another compact CR123 powered light: The Olight S1R

User Interface
Click once the switch to turn the light on and off.
From off, a long press turns the light on at moonlight mode.
When the light is on, keep pressed the switch to change brightness (moonlight, ultralow, low, medium, high, turbo, in loop). The light has memory mode for all modes except for moonlight (which means that you can use the light at turbo and turn it off, then turn it on at moonlight keeping the switch pressed, and the next time you’ll turn the light on it will remember the turbo setting).
A double click activates strobe.
When the battery is getting empty, the red led under the switch will turn on. When the battery is almost empty the light will go into a sort of high output strobe mode.
From off, keep pressed the switch even when the light is moonlight mode for a few seconds to activate the lockout. To unlock the light keep pressed the switch.

Output and runtime
Both tested with an Efest IMR 16340 600mAh.



Beamshot


As you can see despite the small size of the light, the XP-L Hi emitter allows a good throw.
Also, there is quite some distance between the spill and my feet.

My thoughts
The light is well built and finished.
I like the magnet and the tilting head, it increases the possible uses of this light. I would have preferred a less hard joint, like the one that there is on the TR18.
I like the several well spaced levels and the high output on such a small light. The tested levels are also well regulated.
I like the direct access to the moonlight mode, but I’d also like a quick access to high or turbo mode.
Based on my test, the once the battery is empty the light and the light starts strobing, a li ion battery is pretty much below the minimum threshold of 2.7 volts. I’d also prefer the light to switch to a low mode before that threshold, instead of a strobe (and not usable mode).

I’d like to have a more complete battery indicator, like in the TR20 (where the LED undder the switch does turn on when the light is on, and changes colour as the battery gets lower in charge). The red led that turns on under the switch may not be visible when the light is in the 90° configuration and clipped to your clothes, or hang somewhere as a curtesy light with the magnet. I’d also prefer the light to switch to a low mode before that threshold, instead of a strobe (and not usable mode).
I tried to use Olight protected IMR 16340 650mAh battery, but they are quite long and the spring at the head of the TR10 probably shorts the 2 poles of the proprietary battery and the lights just makes a blink and turns off (Olight protected IMR 16340 550mAh battery works fine).
As you saw in the beamshot, the spill is bright but not very close to the light. Since this light has in its own philosophy of use close range illumination, the spill should be wider, closer to your feet.
To obtain this, either the emitter could be changed (maybe an XM-L2 or XP-L), or the clear glass could be substituted by a frosted lens or some kind of flood optic (maybe Rofis could provide a frosted glass as an accessories, so you can swap between a clear and a frosted glass according to your needs).

I’d like to see this light come with a sheath and available in a NW tint.

I believe flashlight manufacturer should start do “ignore” the possible usage of CR123A, at least in flashlights that are very requiring in term of cell performance. On the TR10 there is no way a regular CR123 can give high output for reasonable runtimes, and I believe many users actually are using IMR batteries. I’d rather have a light that I can use without having to worry about the over discharge of RCR batteries, instead of having the CR123A option at the expense of over discharging cells.
I believe I have to replace my set of IMR 16340 due to their over discharge episodes happened often in the testing of flashlights of this kind.

Thanks to: AntoLed for the camera and the luxmeter.