Sofirn IF23 is an interesting and controversial flashlight. That is not EDC flashlight. Chances are few that you will carry it in your if you live in a city. But it will help you out in lots of situations if you live in countryside or if you’re involved in some repair work.
Sofirn IF23 has a couple of serious drawbacks, but the advantages outweigh them (at least for me). I will show both them in this Sofirn IF23 review.
SPECIFICATIONS
- LEDs:
1* Cree XHP50B
10 side color LEDs JF-387F-Y
20 side neutral white LED CSP1313(13-3A3-I1-90-B2-BD-GR) - Power: 1x 21700 battery
- Controls: Side tact button
- Self-discharge: <=150uA
- Charging: Type-A 5V * 3A (there is a power bank mode)
- Body: A6061-T6 aluminum alloy
- Waterproof: IP68
- Reflector: textured
- Optics: Tempered glass
- Size and weight: 27.5* 30.05* 120.5mm and 125g (without battery)
- Reverse polarity protection
YOU CAN BUY SOFIRN IF 23 AT:
➤ AMAZON
PACKAGE AND DESIGN
The flashlight came to me in an old black and yellow package. Subsequently, he can get a presentable new white packaging.
The kit has everything you need: the flashlight itself, a 21700 5000mah battery, a Type-C charging cable for it, a clip, o-rings, a manual. There is only no lanyard, as usually.
In terms of size, the flashlight fits perfectly into the ranks of ordinary pocket ones. But the weight knocks it out of the EDC models for me, it is too heavy. But that is only too much for lightweight EDC (i.e. constant carrying on your pocket) - it is no heavier than any mid range 26550 model. So, Sofirn IF23 is pleasantly weighty in the hand.
The appearance of Sofirn IF23 is frankly unusual. Aside from its white underbelly with side light LEDs, the squareness of the flashlight reminds me of the unusual Nitecore P18 tactical flashlight. Or, if you look at similar models, then Lumintop ED21C (yeah,that promising but sunk down one - thanx to the button and UI and ) is very close to Sofirn IF23 in design.
Here, for example, both of them.
In general, Sofirn IF23 looks good. But, as usual, you can’t hide its price category. This is just a flashlight, without any obvious design embellishments.
The magnet in the tail of the flashlight is strong enough to hold the flashlight with the battery inside horizontally. As usually, this magnet will be so damn convenient when using side LEDs.
The clip is double-sided, always in the same position
There is a rather thick spring in the tailcap. And an ordinary contact pad in head. No surprise.
Despite (or maybe thanks to) the angularity of the case, the flashlight actually fits comfortably and securely in the hand.
The cover of the type-c connector closes it tightly. But there is a problem here. The small opening around the connector prevented me from using most of my cables.
Charging is quite fast, 5000mah battery is fully charged in 3 hours. The flashlight supports power bank mode.
Important! The flashlight can be used without a battery, but only Low mode is available for the main and side light. Anyway, this can be of great help in some situations.
The button is medium sized, with some play. I would not say that it is pressed very easily, but I think that Sofirn IF23 is one of those flashlights that are better to block when not in use.
Of course, there is an indication of charging and the level of the remaining battery capacity.
And now let me show somethubg interesting. The button is fixed above a metal panel that covers the side LEDs, the main functional feature of this flashlight.
The LEDs are covered by a textured white plastic plate.
Let’s see what’s under this metal panel? There are 20 CSP1313(13-3A3-I1-90-B2-BD-GR) white light LEDs and 10 color JF-387F-Y.
There is the Cree XHP50B LED at the bottom of the shallow textured reflector.
Sofirn SP35 (the one on the left), let me remind you, has SST40 at the bottom of a smooth reflector.
UI
UI is all good besides the non-switchable auto-lock that pisses me off.
All in all, there is nothing new
- OFF/ON - 1*click
- Mode switch - button hold from ON
- Instant Firefly mode - hold from OFF
- 2 clicks - turbo. 2 clicks out of turbo - strobe
- 3 clicks switch between main and side light and them both
- 4 clicks out of OFF lock. unlock - 3 or more clicks
- 5 clicks switch between smooth and step brightness adjustments
Everything is the same for a sidelight. But there is the difference as well:
- 3 clicks from ON - switch to “color” mode. The brightness is not adjustable!
- holding in color mode smoothly changes color
- 2 clicks - turn on the flashing side light. Conditionally, some kind of alarm
HOW SOFIRN IF23 SHINES
The color temperature is quite suitable for the average user, although I would have preferred it to be ~500K warmer. But I liked that there are no parasitic green tints in the lower modes.
Alas…there is no stabilization as well. Ok, I would not expect it here from Sofirn + XHP50B). But this is not such a problem. The problem is the active and overly aggressive thermal control, the saw of which seriously complicates the use of a flashlight at higher brightness. Well, why not make the usual thermal cutoff, like in many other Sofirn-Wurkkos flashlights?
The flashlight reacts sensitively to cooling, but High starts jumping up and down like a crazy saw. The brightness in HIGH simply falls on the conditional and quite decent 700-750lum without cooling.
The only mode that does not jump back and forth is the MID (well, LOW as well) of course.
Side light is way less bright. So i was surprised to see the same zigzags.
Its maximum brightness is equal to the MID of primary light and it would be great if it behaved the same way.
turbo side light
I think that High mode of side light will be enough for you for the whole evening, even taking into account the drop in brightness. And below in the photo you will see that most likely you will generally use the MID mode, which will last all night.
And here is light itself. Overall, it is great for all the needs of guy who live in countryside! If that is not rocky contryside where where you should be able to send a light signal to your cousin that moonshine is ready for probe. (dont think i mock them. i drink it literally daily when live in countriside)
The side light will fit both for emergency needs (flashing red) and for some special needs (other colors of the RGB line). And, of course, in order to illuminate the table in the gazebo or engine of your car or whatever you repair or build. 150lum High mode here seem to be a low brightness only at first glance. Take a look at pics below and you see that table is brightly illuminated.
Although, sidelight should have been made a little warmer.
If desired, however, you can set the yellow light. There will be a kind of soft warm cozy light.
The primary light is wide enough to be convenient for quite near range works. Mid mode (the one where there is no thermoregulation saw) of Sofirn IF23 is definitely be bright enough to illuminate the suburban area, you can count on 20 meters. This is more than enough for the same trip
Well, High and Turbo will allow you to really shine widely, brightly and moderately far. I would limit the maximum range in the turbo to 150 meters, no further. Both of these modes are more than enough for all everyday needs. But Sofirn IF23 certainly does not shine with range.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
It would be an outright lie to sing the praises of Sofirn IF23. The flashlight turned out to be far from ideal, and for me it almost repeated the fate of the failed Sofirn SP33 v3.
I did not like the following :
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a) Non-switchable auto-lock. Of course, you can get used to it and make 3 clicks on every time you take a flashlight out of your pocket. But I never block the flashlight and don’t want to get used to it.
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b) But the aggressive saw of thermoregulation annoys me much more. It’s not that you could use the turbo longer without it, no - it lasted the same amount. But the brightness would then simply fall to a level of the order of 500-700lum without these wild jumps. And the same story with High. Now it turns out that you have one and a half or 7-8 minutes in each mode. Brightness jumps begin after this time and you must manually switch to MID. Not that it’s a problem - I’m sure you’ve had more than enough
If you do not see a problem in either one or the other, then you get a real versatile flashlight. Sofirn-Wurkkos have already made these with low and high beams: the head-mounted Wurkkos HD15 \ HD20 or the Wurkkos TS32.
The versatility of Sofirn IF23 is based on its side light feature, and this advantage will not appear in every situation. For example, I do not see Sofirn IF23 as an EDC flashlight, here Wurkkos TS22 or Sofirn SP35 is much more interesting.
But! If you live in a countryside or are somehow connected with the repair of various equipment, then this side light will show its best side. Sofirn IF23 can be magnetized or hung to light up a gazebo, walkway or whatever you are currently renovating. And you can do this even without a battery, simply by connecting a flashlight to the power bank. Yes, it will not be a bright light. But tents or repairs at arm’s length may be enough. U can use it in situation of power outage as well.
I don’t see any significant benefit from being able to customize the color. However, it is better to have some unnecessary feature than not to have a necessary one.
In short, in my opinion, the advantage of Sofirn IF23 in the form of its side light outweighs the disadvantages. And I am sure that there are people for whom just such a combination of main and side light in a hand flashlight will be just what the doctor ordered. I think that Sofirn IF23 is suitable if you want to choose a good flashlight for your countryside shack.