[Review] Impressive & Compact Sofirn SC18

Photos

I took a couple of photos that go with this review.

The first is of the Sofirn SC18 along with the Sofirn 3000 mAh unprotected 18650 cell to show how small the flashlight is.

I don't think that my photo perfectly shows how small this flashlight is, but it gives you an idea if you know how large an 18650 cell is.

The second photo is of the SC18 on top of an unknown Gasteria succulent.

What's interesting about Gasteria is that its leaves break off pretty easily, but you can plant the broken leaves and get new Gasteria plants without much effort.

The other flashlight images in this review are from Sofirn, and the images are being used with Sofirn's explicit permission.

I used a program called Topaz Gigapixel AI to improve the image quality.

Size & modes

I'm going to start this review with the figurative "elephant" in the room.

This flashlight is very compact for an 18650 flashlight.

I have a bunch of compact 18650 flashlights, and this is one of the smallest, if not the very smallest.

It's also quite bright on turbo.

The SC18 gets warm somewhat quickly on turbo, but not on high, which is what I like.

The three main modes (low, medium, and high) are nicely spaced out.

Moonlight is of course quite dim, and you don't have to cycle through moonlight or turbo, which works for me.

User Interface

The UI is well thought out.

A single click turns the light on or off.

Holding down the button when the light is on cycles through the main modes.

The flashlight has proper memory and will remember which of the three main modes was used last.

When the light is on, a double click brings you to turbo.

When the light is on, triple clicking takes you to strobe.

When the light is off, holding down the button takes you to moonlight.

When the light is off, a quadruple click locks out the light, and another quadruple click unlocks the light.

Honestly, I wish all of my flashlights had a UI this good.

It just works quite well for me.

By the way, the strobe is very quick and disorienting, but I'll probably never use it because I have no use for disco modes.

Fit and finish & extras

The fit and finish are very nice, which is what I expect from Sofirn.

The SC18 has a great clip for those that like clips.

It also has a side switch, which is what a lot of people prefer.

I prefer a tail switch, so I'll give this flashlight to my family because they like side switches.

The light comes with a lanyard that seems pretty decent.

One slight problem is that if you attach the lanyard, it interferes with tailstanding.

I think the light will still tailstand with the lanyard attached, but it will not do so perfectly.

The light also comes with a USB-C charging cable for those that don't want to use their own charger.

The rubber cover over the charging port is quite nice.

Also included are two spare o-rings.

Manual & tint

The printed manual seems to be written well, but the font is incredibly small.

It's almost too small for me to be able to read.

The tint of the emitter is described as 6500K, but it looks like 4500K to me, which is good because I like warmer tints.

Flood/Throw

The SC18 has a TIR lens.

This is my first flashlight with a TIR lens.

In general, I am not a fan.

I much prefer a regular lens.

This light has some throw, and a bit of flood.

With a regular lens and a deeper reflector, the SC18 could have more flood and more throw.

If all you care about is having as small of a flashlight as possible, then choosing a TIR lens makes sense.

Otherwise, a regular lens makes more sense.

Summary

The SC18 is extremely compact.

The modes are spaced out well.

I really like the UI.

The fit & finish and all the extras are very nice.

The manual's font is too small.

The tint is very nice (about 4500K).

I am not a big fan of the TIR lens.

It's an impressive flashlight and the price is right.

Retail links

Here's the link to purchase this light from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BB2DMPSL

And here's the link to purchase this light directly from Sofirn:

https://www.sofirnlight.com/products/sofirn-sc18-rechargeable-edc-flashlight-max-1800-lumens-tir-lens-with-side-switch

I thought the TIR was one of the best features of this light.

Great price for a fairly decent light.

The side switch is soft-touch and protrudes though. Lockout is pretty much mandatory on this light. A raised ring around the switch would be a big improvement.

There is a huge demand for TIR lenses, but I don't care for them.

In the future, I will probably avoid any flashlight with a TIR lens, though this flashlight is for my family and I don't think they care either way about TIR lenses.

(They're not nearly as picky as I am.)

TIR optics can be made in many different shapes with different properties. Usually they are more efficient in forming the light like you want.

I added my typical ring around the switch to stop pocket activation which usually works for most lights but not this one. I am going to buy some finish washers that have a deeper depression and try that. I never use lock out in a pocket light. Too many motions to access your light.

The best use of the strobe light is for pointing at the ground when crossing a busy street at night.

When locked out is there any parasitic drain from this light?

Sorry, but I don't know and I don't have the equipment or knowhow to figure it out.

Any way to return to last used level from turbo? Mine doesn’t seem to have a way. It would be a perfect UI if it could. EDIT: Disregard, wrong light, duh me. Picked up the wowtac a6 by mistake.

In my wurkkos wk03 (same as sc18) single click from turbo returned to last used level. The same from strobe. Really perfect ui.

Yep, the UI is the same for me, too.

FW3A is about 10mm shorter!

And? fw3a doesn’t have charging and uses much shorter tir

you said it was the shortest light you knew of, you thought

i would rather have short than charging, maybe others would too
shorter tir means more floody
which i also like

yes there are tradeoffs either way

fw3a is also more expensive
the sofirn is a pretty good bargain
i would get one if i didn;t already have about 20 18650 lights i rarely use

wle

For an unregulated light, has anyone seen a worse graph than this?


Credit to ZeroAir: Sofirn SC18 Flashlight Review - ZeroAir Reviews

Thank you for the review.

I had come to think that all quality lights were regulated, are the Fenix lights regulated? Is Fenix still making top-notch lights?

regulation sounds nice but i couldn;t tell you which of my roughly 40 lights have it and which do not

if a light has anduril, what does that imply about regulation? possible, impossible, likely, unlikely?

that;s all i know

i have 2 anduril lights and i like them the best—if those are not regulated, then i do not miss it

plus BLF A6, and a couple 1xAAA lights that surely are not regulated

Does it have a glass lens?
AR coated or plain?
Is the TIR plastic or glass?

Huh. Mine turns off with a single click while in turbo. This is the case when activating turbo from on or off.
EDIT: Complete brain fart. Turns out my sc18 ui does return to last the used level with a single click from turbo. I picked up my Wowtac A6 thinking it the sc18. Thats how close they are.