EDIT August 30th: I've finally posted my full review of this light! Some key takeaways:
- Thermal throttling works as planned
- The beam is fantastic
- The magnetic tail is strong
- Standby drain is a measly 21μA
- The indicating LED alerts you at 3.7V (red and green), 3.4V (red) and at 2.5V the low voltage protection turns off the light entirely
Size comparison:
Runtimes:
Here's a link to the Advanced Manual (in English) for anyone wanting to get deep into the customizability!
YLP has launched a light they've been prototyping for some time, and one I've been quite excited about all summer: the Unicorn 1.0
This is a welcomed break from all the multi-emitter hot-rods we've seen lately: a single LED side switch EDC light. The light is using a Samsung LH351D, with a brand new driver, configurable ramping UI, and magnetic tail.
I should have a review sample soon - there's still a lot of unknowns about the driver and performance. Stay tuned!
Edit: For the sake of disclosure, YLP sends me review lights from time to time
Find all my reviews of flashlights and more gear at www.bmengineer.com
This is exactly what I’ve been hoping for. Looking forward to your review
FWIW, I got a copy of the manual a while ago and put it through a translator site.
The short version seems to be:
It can't be mapped quite the same as Anduril, but it can get sort of close... ish:
Here are the full details:
Yeah I’m gonna have to tap that switch a few times and see what happens.
Find all my reviews of flashlights and more gear at www.bmengineer.com
Oh right, I forgot about this one. I’ll be very curious to see a few quality reviews for this one. It was trying to be a Zebralight but better and cheaper, iirc. I had a rough time on that Russian website with google translater a while back…
Edits: $38 is not bad. bmengineer and others, I’ll be extremely interested in an evaluation of the side-switch for pocket activation. As in, that alone will likely 100% determine if I end up ever buying this light. Looks to be ~6mm longer than my SC62, which is probably about the difference between having a separate driver from the MCPCB, and not.
Hopefully it gets sold in some more convenient places.
Old Lumens Contest 2020 - Hand-made light category
ZL SC62(w) | Jaxman E2L XP-G2 5A | Purple S2+ XPL-HI U6-3A | D4 w/ Luxeon V | RRT-01 | Purple FW3A, 4000K SST20 | Baton S1
Boruit D10 w/ Quadrupel Fet+1/Anduril | EagTac D25C Ti | DQG Slim AA Ti | Jaxman E3 | UF-T1 by CRX | Olight S15 Ti | Nitecore EX11.2
L6 XHP70.2 P2 4000K FET+7135 | Jaxman M8 | MF02 | Jaxman Z1 CULNM1.TG | Blue S2+ w/ ML Special | Thrunite T10Tv2
Supfire M6 3xXHP50.2, Sofirn C8F, Unfinished: Sofirn SP70, IYP07/Tool AAA hot-rods, Jetbeam E3S
Others: Nitecore EC23 | Nebo Twyst | Streamlight ProTac 1AA | TerraLux LightStar 100
Ooo interesting. Begs the question then, can I just flash Anduril on it?
There is a pdf manual with english instruction.
That’s a question of what microcontroller is used.
Old Lumens Contest 2020 - Hand-made light category
ZL SC62(w) | Jaxman E2L XP-G2 5A | Purple S2+ XPL-HI U6-3A | D4 w/ Luxeon V | RRT-01 | Purple FW3A, 4000K SST20 | Baton S1
Boruit D10 w/ Quadrupel Fet+1/Anduril | EagTac D25C Ti | DQG Slim AA Ti | Jaxman E3 | UF-T1 by CRX | Olight S15 Ti | Nitecore EX11.2
L6 XHP70.2 P2 4000K FET+7135 | Jaxman M8 | MF02 | Jaxman Z1 CULNM1.TG | Blue S2+ w/ ML Special | Thrunite T10Tv2
Supfire M6 3xXHP50.2, Sofirn C8F, Unfinished: Sofirn SP70, IYP07/Tool AAA hot-rods, Jetbeam E3S
Others: Nitecore EC23 | Nebo Twyst | Streamlight ProTac 1AA | TerraLux LightStar 100
Thanks. That explains a couple things which weren’t clear in the auto-translated version.
It looks like the English manual doesn’t even mention how to calibrate the temperature sensor though. I recall the Meteor had the same issue, so its thermal settings were basically random with ~25 C difference between individual lights. That part of the UI should probably be documented in a more visible place.
Me too. Especially how it compares to a D4. I gotta say, tho, those aux LEDs in the V2 are pretty tempting for a light that’s $3 less expensive, and 8mm shorter.
I’m interested in what advantages the Unicorn has. It’s kinda purty.
Without having one I can already predict it will have more throw, less heat, and a narrower profile.
Find all my reviews of flashlights and more gear at www.bmengineer.com
+1 Although I understand LH351D is very floody so maybe the throw will be similar to a D4 with 219C?
From their respective websites (lenght must be Chinese and Russian for length):
I’m interested so see if the 1mm difference in diameter is real and significant.
And, yeah, the less aggressively driven Unicorn does make it more muggle-friendly and appealing to me. Maybe it won’t need to be physically locked for pocket carry.
The total throw on turbo might be similar to a D4, but only because the D4 uses a lot more power. The candelas per lumen should be much higher on the Unicorn, allowing it to throw farther when the lumen levels are the same. In other words, it’ll probably have a much narrower hotspot.
Not sure what the exact cd/lm value will be, but usually I find that the ideal range for EDC purposes is about 5 to 10 cd/lm. The D4 generally gets about 3 to 5 cd/lm, so it’s slightly more floody than I’d like.
I hear the FW1A is moving along too, which has a similar purpose… but it uses a reflector instead of a TIR optic. And with XP-L HI, it’ll probably be even more throwy, like perhaps 10 to 15 cd/lm.
Shhh, you’re telling all our secrets!
Find all my reviews of flashlights and more gear at www.bmengineer.com
In search of the most ideal flashlight in town:
1. BRIGHTNESS
2. Durabillity
3. Design
4. Quality
5. Price$$$
What kind of driver is YLP using?
Is it a linear FET driver or a buck driver?
My very own high current Beryllium Copper springs Gen 3:
http://budgetlightforum.com/node/67401
Liitokala Aliexpress Stores Battery Fraud: http://budgetlightforum.com/node/60547
Very very interested with this one. so far three YLPs already in the cart. I hope it uses an efficient buck driver and has flat runtime unlike Folomov 18650.
+1 YLP for sensible max output with thermal regulation.
And pleaseeeeee, NO FET driver for this one.
[Clemence]
www.virence.com
Physical and thermal properties of solder alloy - Shooting Beamshots With HDR - Nichia E21A Tint Shots
Its Okay To Be Smart - SmarterEveryDay - Deep Look - Veritasium - Tech Ingredients
@clemence, a linear FET driver is a linear driver that uses a FET linearly by varying its resistance.
Basically, it’s a constant current linear driver with no PWM needed and higher LED efficiency.
My very own high current Beryllium Copper springs Gen 3:
http://budgetlightforum.com/node/67401
Liitokala Aliexpress Stores Battery Fraud: http://budgetlightforum.com/node/60547
This sounds very interesting. I love the LH351D’s in my BLF SP36.
FW1A?! Nice.
“Electricity is really just organized lightning”
― George Carlin
Yup I know. I meant no linear, linear + FET, or linear + FET + PWM (worse). Simple buck drivers already cheap these days.
[Clemence]
www.virence.com
Physical and thermal properties of solder alloy - Shooting Beamshots With HDR - Nichia E21A Tint Shots
Its Okay To Be Smart - SmarterEveryDay - Deep Look - Veritasium - Tech Ingredients
Is this what LED4Power is using?
I like the looks of this one! Looking forward to your review!
Thier ain’t no bones in a hot dog. F. York
Anybody ordered one yet? Looks interesting even though I’m not a fan of single tir lights.
V11R and V10R Current Mod
If I understand correctly, it’s a linear FET. As INFERION said in the Unicorn thread, “Initially, there was an impulse (boost). YAL will have a linear (without PWM).” So it was originally going to use a boost driver, but was changed to a linear FET. The firmware’s UI diagram is named Indigo_Linear_UI.png, and he was talking about using an opamp. It’s all there in the thread for anyone who wants the details.
It looks like it’s using an attiny85v in a QFN package, plus a small FET running in linear mode. The FET seems to be a Vishay SiA448DJ. That info is from December though, and may be out of date.
www.virence.com
Physical and thermal properties of solder alloy - Shooting Beamshots With HDR - Nichia E21A Tint Shots
Its Okay To Be Smart - SmarterEveryDay - Deep Look - Veritasium - Tech Ingredients
There is Attiny25 in Unicorn.
There are several versions of user manuals: short , full and from Inferion himself last two only in Russian
Small review
And several graphs
Termal regulation test 1
2
Thanks for the extra details, AEDe. I’ve been getting information from blurry photos and automated translation sites, and the information isn’t always clear.
I wonder why he used t25 instead of t85 like the Meteor. It seems like a strange step backward.
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