[Review] Sofirn SP10 V3.0 || 14500/AA , Samsung LH351D || A crazy bright 14500 light- Output, Power Regulation Graph, Beamshots

The flashlight was sent to me by Sofirn for review.
Here's the product's link: Sofirn SP10 V3.0



The Sofirn SP10 V3.0 comes in a normal cardboard box.



Other than the flashlight, the following accessories are included in the box:

  • Wrist lanyard and
  • Keyring with clip
  • Pocket clip
  • Micro-USB charging cable
  • 14500/18650 charger
  • 2 x replacement o-rings
  • User manual

The flashlight comes in a black satin anodization.



The body and tail of the flashlight is knurled with a diamond pattern for extra grip.



The flashlight is operated via a metal e-switch which is mounted in the lower part of the head.
The switch has a sandblasted finish and is quite tactile.



The Sofirn SP10 V3.0 comes with a flat bezel.



The head houses an texture reflector along with a Samsung LH351D emitter.
Thanks to the centering ring, the emitter is perfectly aligned.



The tail of the flashlight is flat with two protruding flaps that are used for attaching the keyring.



The rear part of the head houses the drive, which seems to be glued/press fit into place.
A brass tab is used as the positive terminal of the light.



A copper spring is mounted on the tail piece of the flashlight.



Both the head and tail threads are anodized, which allows the flashlight to get mechanically locked out.
The threads arrived with lots of lubricant in place.



As already mentioned, the Sofirn SP10 V3.0 comes with a two-sided metal clip.



The pocket clip provides great retention and keeps a slip overall profile.



Sofirn also includes a Sofirn-branded 14500 cell with 900mAh of rated capacity.



The battery is button top.



Finally, a Li-ion charger is also included in the bundle.
The charger can charge most modern Li-ion sizes (14500, 18350, 18650, 26650) and provides 0.75 of output.



Of course, a little indicator LED is available on the face of the flashlight to report the charge's state.



User Interface

The Sofirn SP10 V3.0 comes with a simple UI.
Here's all the supported actions by the flashlight's firmware.

Turn on/off: Single press.
Mode cycle: Long press (Low > Mid > High > Low > ...)
Turbo: Double press.
Moonlight: Long press while off.
Strobe: Triple press.
Flashing Mode Cycle: Long press while on strobe (Strobe > SOS > Beacon)
Lock/Unlock: Quadruple press while off.

Output

Here's my output measurements (14500) for the flashlight along with the current draw per each output level.



I think that the Sofirn SP10 V3.0 is the new record holder for the most current draw from an 14500 flashlight
Thanks to the FET driver, the flashlight is able to push 1150+ lumen at startup, which actually surpasses the manufacturer's rating.
Also, the mode spacing looks good!

Power Regulation

Here's a power regulation graph I've created for the Sofirn SP10 V3.0 with 14500.



As we can see, the flashlight seems to be using a FET driver, since the output current is linearly proportionate to the input voltage.

Beamshots



Bottom Line

The SP10 V3.0 is yet another great EDC flashlight by Sofirn.
It provides great performance and using the LH351D is always a pleasure.

Thank you for the detailed review! :innocent:

Good to mention a major selling point IMO that it can take AA batteries:

Also, are there warmer color temperature options? So happy to see the LH351D being used. Any other body colors?

Very interesting light, Sofirn!

The hole for the LED seems to be much larger than in V2, does it significantly change the beam? I wonder why the change.

How can a fet driver work with 1.2v? Is it some kind of boost/fet bypass hybrid?

Unfortunately I don’t have the V2 in hand, so I can’t really provide any info on how the beam is affected.

I didn’t quite manage to get the driver out, but judging by my power regulation graph you seem to be correct. Some combination of FET/boost driver must be in place.