The Convoy L8 was sent to me by Convoy for review.
Here's the product's link: Convoy L8
The fit and finish of the Convoy L8 is excellent.
A side-mounted e-switch is used to operate the flashlight.
The switch is covered by a rubber boot and is held into place via a polished metal ring.
Opposite to the e-switch one finds the USB-C charging port.
A rubber flap is used to seal the port from moisture and dust.
The body and tail of the flashlight makes use of some texture to increase the grip.
The head contains multiple heatsinking grooves of various depth which help cooldown the heat generated by this powerhouse.
The front side of the head utilises a subtle crenelated bezel to protect the glass lens.
Looking into the head, we can see an ultra-wide, smooth reflector along with an SBT90.2 emitter.
As you can see, the alignment of the emitter is perfect.
The driver of the flashlight uses a brass tab as its positive terminal.
A brass retainer ring is used to keep everything in place.
The head of the flashlight can be easily taken apart.
Plenty of thermal paste has been used during the assembly of the light.
The tail of the light is flat, which allows it to tailstand.
A few cut out slots are there to allow for the installations of a lanyard.
A very thick spring is used as the negative terminal of the light.
It's held in place using a brass retainer ring.
The threads of the flashlight are very cleanly cut.
The tail threads are anodized, which allows the unit to be mechanically locked out, while the head threads are not coated.
Plently of lubricant is in place.
An 26800 battery is used to provide the flashlight with the required power to push the SBT90.2 emitter.
Additionally, the manufacturer also includes an additional extended, which allows the use of a 26980 cell.
The 26800 battery is way bigger than the regular sized LiIon cells.
From left to right: 18650, 26650, 21700, 26800.
User Interface
The driver of the Convoy L8 supports both stepless dimming and stepped modes.
Here's all the supported actions by the flashlight's firmware.
Mode memory is in place.
Low Voltage Warning and Low Voltage Protection is also available.
Output
My measurements were taken using the included 26800 cell.
Here's my output measurements for each of the stepped modes along with the respective current draw.
The Convoy L8 pushes more than 5000 lumen and pulls 20+ A at turn-on.
Very impressive figures!
Thermal Regulation
Here's a thermal regulation graph for the Convoy L8.
What we can see in the graph:
Turbo is sustained for 2.5 min. The flashlight thermally regulates the output during this period to prevent excessive heat build up.
At the end of the stepdown, the flashlight's output matches the High output mode.
High, Medium and Low are fully sustainable for the whole span of the test.
Even on Turbo mode, the flashlight never got too hot to handle with bare hands.
Outdoor Beamshots
Bottom Line
Yet another throw beast from Convoy. Truly amazed by both the build quality and performance of the flashlight.
Why do you think that the regulation is happening due to a dying cell?
The output fully stabilizes once it reaches the output level of High mode. If it was a dying cell, I’d expect it to continue dropping below that threshold.
I really like the concept of this light and the design of the host. That High mode seems kinda low though. For similar money I think the L7 is a better light.
Bear in mind that the flashlight also supports stepless dimming!
In terms of L7 vs L8, I’d say it’s a difficult one for me! I do like the single cell setup of the L8 and the “compact” design (compared to L7), but can’t give a definite answer
I’m still skeptical of the future of 26800 as a format, seems there aren’t a lot of reputable manufacturers producing them. This light is very appealing, but in a few years, when the supplied cell starts to go, it would be nice to know that there are other options if 26800’s turn out to be a flavor of the month and are no longer available. Maybe a 21700 adapter or 26650 spacer or tube?
As always, it would also be nice to see Simon improve his e-switch UI, or offer these FET based lights with Andruil.
26800 wasn’t created for flashlights, and the markets that adopted it seem to like it and won’t be drying up anytime soon. As far as flashlights go, I don’t know what you define reputable as but we have what, a half dozen now? offering lights that way and/or adapters/tubes for it. They’re actually a great cell that brings something to the table over 21700 for the majority of light configurations save super-lumen models that are really overdriving and using many emitters. One thing for sure, if some manufacturers take the risk of offering it, as they have, and it doesn’t sell, then it may not be around long for flashlights. Earlier this year there were all kinds of people who had not even used the cells themselves questioning them (despite tests and reviews on performance), and then saying also that they were impossible to find as if it was a general truth rather than a covid-related glitch in the global supply chain. I mean sure they aren’t widespread yet but they aren’t exactly hard to get either, just more costly with some avenues at present. In the US we’re pretty lucky to have a retailer that has embraced them and kept them affordable.
Adapting to 21700, doable but with the trend toward single-spring designs with a solid contact post on the driver, that may be more challenging in many hosts. 5mm is usually no big deal but making up 9mm-11mm is much easier with dual springs and a designer that takes it into account.
As much as I like smaller pocketable lights I do also love the larger fatter-tube lights and have been super pleased with the 26800 in the four lights I have running them…hope it sticks around. I ended up buying ten cells so I’m ok for quite awhile if they do fade out, and can “downgrade” to 21700 or 26650 in those lights if I have to. But the more skepticism and lack of encouragement there is, the more likely they are to not gain traction or last in the market - this is the same as every other time we’ve seen new cell sizes introduced as platforms.
My intent is not to discourage others, but a single supplier keeping things affordable is the exact circumstance I’m concerned about. In all things there are people who will be early adopters, and others who prefer not to be. I wouldn’t presume to try to tell you not to be an early adopter, and I would have you respect my position as well.
But…it’s not just a single supplier. I generally buy my loose cells here in the US because it’s cheaper (and right now that does mean one CONUS retailer with only the QB cell…but we have Jackson in Hawaii making them available as well) but it’s quite easy to get them elsewhere, too - I guess in 2 or 3 or the 3 flavors that seem to be available. I’m certainly not trying to sway you or anyone else, maybe just a commentary on the skepticism. Everyone kind of did the same thing with 26650 and 21700, too. The former was kind of a washout but it stuck around and thankfully, eventually, some factories started giving that size some attention and better cells were produced. 21700 came out pretty strong out of the gate and has remained there with some predictable and appreciated improvement. 26800 can be like the 21700 in that way, possibly. It seems to offer something better than smaller cells but without going ginormous…if not in flashlight models, I think it’ll stick around as long as it’s profitable for the factories to produce and/or doesn’t get eclipsed by li-po or some newer chemistry in the future.
For me it’s a question of volume. 18650 is used widely in consumer and professional goods, like power tools. 21700’s are also used in high power applications as well as EV and electric bikes. I’m not sure where 26650’s are used, but this may be why they were slow to proliferate.
The flashlight community it absolutely minuscule compared to consumer electronics, tools, and industrial applications. Thankfully, with easily made adapters, this shouldn’t be much of an issue. If 26800’s become unavailable, a piece of delrin with some threaded rod through it would probably be sufficient to adapt a 26650. A 21700 would also probably be trivially adapted as well.
I happen to agree with you about the dimensions of lights with larger cell diameters. I think 26mm is substantially more ergonomic than 18mm or 21mm as a base for a flashlight.
To bring things back to the flashlight at hand, I find the L8 to be a very appealing light, visually, and I suspect it is an ergonomic sweet spot. If it was just the oddball cell size, I probably wouldn’t be deterred, but the UI quirks and lack of regulated lower modes combined with the aforementioned cell size was enough to put me on the fence.
Btw, great review @Bilakos10, I appreciate the hard work and sharing with the community. Sorry for the partial thread hijack, keep up the great work.
Not the same spring. According to Simon this one in the L8 is much stiffer, using thicker wire, than the one you linked to for the M3, etc. I was curious if using this thicker spring in the M3C would work to prevent the bump-contact issue that light has but he thinks it’s too stiff and not a good idea.
