Disclaimer: The Astrolux MF02S was provided for testing by Banggood free of charge
Tracking link for purchase: Astrolux MF02S XHP70.2 6000Lumen 8Modi Dimmung Super Heller Flutlicht Flutung Sale - Banggood Deutschland-arrival notice-arrival notice
Coupon code code 7dc412 for a discounted price of $108
There seems to be a trend for flashlight manufacturers to release high output XHP70.2 versions of their previous XHP35 HI throwers. Astrolux did this to the MF02 and came up with the MF02S. The body is physically identical to the original, but instead of the small die domeless emitter there’s the big boy in its place.
If you’re here only for the numbers, here they are:
Manufacturer’s specifications
Battery: 4x18650 (accepts button tops by default, protected and unprotected both fit)
LED: Cree XHP70.2 in neutral (5000 K) or cool white (6500 K)
Reflector: smooth (SMO)
Lens: -
Waterproof: IPX7
Switch type: electronic side switch
Mode memory: yes
Low voltage protection: yes
Thermal regulation: yes
Lockout: electronic and physical
Tripod socket: yes
Body material: Aluminum
Anodizing: HAIII
Color: black
Manufacturer’s output specs
Maximum output: 6000 lumens
Other output levels: 35, 508, 934, 2800
Light intensity: 270000 cd
Beam distance: 1039 m
Special modes: strobe, sos, beacon
Measured dimensions and weight
Length: 189 mm
Head width: 84.3 mm
Handle width: 52.0 mm
Tripod plate maximum width: 24mm
Weight: 815 g plus 185 g for the batteries
Box and contents
The light comes in an all white cardboard box with a shiny outline of the MF02S embossed on it.
Bundled in the box with the light:
Holster
Lanyard
Shoulder strap
Two spare o-rings
Manual
Tripod adapter / mounting ring
Physical appearance
The side switch is located in a recess, so it’s not too easily activated by accident. It also has a green breathing backlight which makes the light easy to find in the dark.
Battery carrier holds four 18650s in 2S2P configuration (8.4 volts with full batteries). The carrier can be inserted to the body both ways. There is no electrical contacts on the body or tailcap. Both the positive and negative are at the end of the battery carrier and make contact at the head.
There’s white spacers at the positive ends in the carrier which prevents contact if the batteries are inserted the wrong way round, but also prevents the use of flat tops. These can easily be removed though.
I would periodically check the screws that hold the posts together to the end caps. Continuous inserting and removing of batteries may loosen them as you twist and turn the carrier in your hands.
The tripod hole acts as the mounting point for the lanyard and shoulder strap ring. Many tripod base plates will be too big and hit the large fins on the light.
The bezel is well tightened and will probably not open without proper tools. I couldn’t open it after 5 minutes of trying even with rubber strap wrenches. It would probably need heating and a lot of elbow grease.
The driver resides under a heavy duty retaining ring attached with torx screws. There’s a double spring on the driver.
The body is physically identical to the original MF02. The finish is smoother and shinier than my early sample of the MF02. The switch has also been redesigned and is now less protruding and mushy. A clear upgrade! Astrolux uses the new switch on the current MF02 as well.
MF02S top, MF02 with XHP35 HI bottom.
User interface
The light is operated via an electronic side switch. There’s a green pulsing backlight that helps locating it in the dark. The firmware is not complicated but also lacks any programmability. For more options check out Lexel’s driver offerings, with which you can convert this light to a 4S battery configuration with NarsilM user interface. Assuming you are able to remove the darn glued bezel!
Operation is very simple. Click to turn the light on (last mode memory), click to advance modes (low-med1-med2-high-turbo), long click to turn off. Turbo shortcut is a double click.
Special modes are activated via a triple click and advanced with a single click (strobe-sos-beacon-off). Special modes are not memorized.
Electronic lockout is activated with a long press from off, which is a poor choice, as it’s disengaged the same way. This makes it easy to accidentally unlock the light when it’s pressed down in a bag for example. Thankfully physical lockout is possible by a half turn of the tailcap. Use that instead.
What is lacking is a shortcut to the low mode from off. For this, you have to first unscrew the tailcap to cut power. This is easy to notice as the switch backlight turns off when power is lost.
Triple click for special mode has to be done fast enough, and isn’t easily activated by accident when cycling normal modes.
Size and beamshot comparison
The shootout comprises of
Astrolux MF02S (NW XHP70.2)
Convoy L6 (NW shaved XHP70)
Acebeam K60 (NW CRI90 shaved XHP70)
BLF Q8 (NW XP-L HD)
The Astrolux MF02S is stock of course. The BLF Q8 has the stock emitters, but the tailcap springs have been bypassed for a boost in output. The Acebeam K60 has had its original cool white XHP70 replaced with a high CRI and shaved (dome removed) XHP70. The Convoy L6 has the stock XHP70 emitter dedomed. No mods to the electronics were done, so the latter two have lower output than they would if they were stock.
To be honest, the MF02S makes all the other look kinda wimpy. It has an addictive mix of flood and throw and the tint rainbow doesn’t look that bad in a mixed real life environment. The low CRI is visible most of the time, and that’s where the modded Acebeam K60 shines.
Individual beamshots
Astrolux MF02S
Convoy L6
Acebeam K60
BLF Q8
Individual beamshots
Astrolux MF02S
Convoy L6
Acebeam K60
BLF Q8
Beam and tint
The beam exhibits the largest tint shift I’ve tested to date. The light starts quite neutral from the hotspot, turns warmer and greener in the corona and returns back to the original tint in the spill. This was expected as the XHP70.2 is known for it especially when used with a large smooth reflector.
With the combination Astrolux has managed to make the MF02S quite throwy, but it’s the potential buyers responsibility to decide whether they want that at the cost of beam consistency. The big beam with a very intense hotspot will undoubtedly draw attention and there’s nothing wrong with that. I just prefer an even tint in my flashlights.
Spectral data and color rendering
For spectral information and CRI calculations I use an X-rite i1Pro spectrophotometer with HCFR, Babelcolor CT&A and ArgyllCMS spotread for the graphs and data. For runtime tests I use spotread with a custom script and an i1Display Pro because it doesn’t require calibration every 30 minutes like the i1Pro.
If you have an hour to spare, I recommend watching this presentation on IES TM-30-15 which also shines light into color rendering in general.
CRI data on turbo measured from the hotspot
CRI data on Medium 2
CRI data on Low
Output and runtimes
The unregulated output handily exceeds manufacturer’s specification of 6000 lumens. With half drained batteries the maximum output drops just a little to 6550 lumens (at 30 sec). Output stays very high even on mostly discharged batteries. Throw isn’t as good as promised at 185 kcd (880 m) vs. spec of 270 kcd (1039 m).
Mode spacing is badly chosen and not even close to what the manual states (35-508-934-2800-6000). The visual difference between med 1, med 2 and high is very small (1.5x), but significantly larger from low to med 1 (38x!) and from high to turbo (2.4x). Ideally the low mode would be lower and there should be at least one mode between it and medium 1. Medium 2 is not needed.
Better spacing could be for example:
Moon (1-3 lm) - 100 - 400 - 1200 - 3000 - 7000
Total system efficacy is very good at an average of 125-143 lm/W throughout the runtime depending on mode.
The beam is quite throwy at 26 cd/lm thanks to the big smooth reflector.
Standby drain
There’s significant parasitic drain on the batteries when the light is switched off but the switch backlight is active. This is understandable due to the electronic soft switch and especially its backlight
Standby current
3.7 mA at 8 V
3.3 mA at 6 V
Electronic lockout mode doesn’t significantly change the drain (other than it being steadier at 3.5 mA because the switch led is off).
It would only take about a month to drain four 3000 mAh batteries.
Remember to always physically lock out the light by opening the tailcap when the light is not in use!
Low voltage protection
Low voltage protection turns the light off at 5.43 V (2.72 V per cell)
Switch backlight turns from green to red at 6.84 volts (3.42 V per cell)
Starts blinking red at 6.07 volts (3.04 V per cell)
Flicker
I measure the flicker optically from the LED with a Thorlabs DET36A/M photodetector and an oscilloscope.
Thanks to the high frequency there is no visible flicker, even though high amplitude ripple is imminent on a scope on any other mode than turbo.
Flicker frequency: 20 kHz
Snob index: 0% (not visible)
Flicker measurement on low
Medium 2
Other modes
Medium 1
High
Turbo
Temperature
My testing was done indoors in 25°C ambient temperature.
Despite high power output (and consumption), the MF02S doesn’t get very hot. The temperature limit is set quite low so it steps down quickly and you can hold the light indefinitely on any mode. Highest I measured was 52°C at the one hour mark after the light had been first started on turbo. Medium 2 is well below uncomfortable at 45°C.
For some the temperature regulation might feel too aggressive. Reactivating turbo is possible, but if the light hasn’t cooled off enough it’ll step down almost instantly. It could feel frustrating, since the light isn’t even too hot to the touch yet. For sensitive hands the behavior has its advantages, since you’ll never hurt yourself.
Verdict
Astrolux took its MF02 and replaced the throwy XHP35 HI LED with one of the highest output emitters, the XHP70.2. The result is an addictive mix of flood and throw from a relatively reasonable sized light. It makes many other lights look underpowered.
The heavy construction instills serious confidence. The light weighs a lot more than you’d expect just by looking at it. Thanks to all the mass the MF02S doesn’t heat up like lightweight hotrods, but pumps out oodles of light. Even more than the manufacturer’s spec (7200 vs. 6000 lumens). Most of it is also available with nearly empty batteries.
Throw, however, is nowhere near the advertised value of 270 kcd at 185 kcd. In throw distance the difference doesn’t seem so huge though (1039 m vs. 860 m) and it’s still more than on many popular smaller throwers (~130 kcd Lumintop GT Mini or Emisar D1S for example). But only for shorter bursts due to the stepdown which drops the intensity to the 60 kcd range.
One known recipe stands: XHP70.2 + smooth reflector equals huge tint shift in the beam. If you can’t decide between a cool and neutral white or green and rosy tint, the MF02S is for you. It has all the color temperatures and tints you could ever want. All within the same beam. And no, this is usually not a good thing. But if you just want a whole lot of light and long runtimes even at 1000 lumens this may be the one for you.
UI deserves some critique as well. There’s no direct access to the lowest mode from off, and the light has mode memory. So if you previously had it on turbo, you must first remember to unscrew the tailcap to reset the output to low as not to blind your dark adapted eyes. Long press for electronic lockout and release is also stupid. Mode spacing needs a rework as the three middle modes are too close to each other.
Always remember to open the tailcap when you don’t use the light. Otherwise the light will drain a set of batteries in about a month and ruin your batteries.
+Massive output of over 7000 lumens with addictive mix of flood and throw
+Most of the output is accessible even with almost completely discharged batteries
+More throw than on some smaller dedicated throwers (at least for short bursts)
+Great efficiency (lots of light for a long time)
+Will not burn your hands
+Good tactile switch
+Comes with a holster, lanyard and a shoulder strap
-Bad mode spacing
-Temperature limit very conservative and not user adjustable
-UI is not programmable
-Output not regulated (flat)
-Large tint shift within the beam
-Very high parasitic drain in standby mode (just one month to drain a set of 3000 mAh batteries)
-Long click for electronic lockout and release
-No shortcut to lowest mode from off (unless cutting power first)
-Lowest mode quite high at 34 lumens
-Bezel is glued on very tight, not modder friendly
