I love my unicorn 5000k SFT-25R so much I ordered a second light. The lights I considered seem to have higher max current than T8:
T8: 5A
S21E: 6A
M21E: 8A
The M21E is one of my most favorite hosts in Convoy line up (not too big, not too small, large head for heat dissipation, side switch, USB-C charging, decent size reflector) so that’s what I went with. The largisth reflector will be good for throw and with 8A output should be higher than T8. Will post what I find when it arrives.
If you want the identical beam color as what I posted above, I think safest bet is still the T8 for now. BTW I think T8 is a great light for gift or emergency light for glove compartment and camping etc. with its dual battery capability. Good throw and useful good spill.
I repeated the white-wall shot, this time with the 6500k version of T8. Hotspot is green, but there’s green, and there’s SBT90.2 monstrous green LOL.
BTW, personally green problem in throwers doesn’t bother me as much as in a flooder. In a thrower, the target is far and dim, less bothersome than the overwhelming nearfield green of a flooder. But… YMMV of course. IRL, this slight green of SFT-25R in T8 is not a problem to me.
Comparison between 6500k and 5000k Convoys in real life and not white wall hunting? 6500k has a certain clarity that I like, but 5000k is warm and pleasant, and exceedingly rare to have a thrower with tint this nice, so it would be my choice were I to choose one. However, I do recommend both to experience the (subjective) clarity of 6500k vs the warm nice tint of 5000k. They are BOTH great lights.
In picture above of TS30S Pro vs T8, eagled eye observers among us have likely noticed how T8’s hotspot is so much larger than that of Wurkkos TS30S. I was (pleasantly) surprised but should not have been. Although SBT90.2 is a much larger LED than SFT-25R (LES 9mm2 vs 2.25mm2), it is paired with a very large reflector, and both size of LED and size of reflector determine size of hotspot.
Just so I don’t get blamed for not pointing this out to potential buyers, yes, T8’s hotspot structure also shows a whitish ring around a central colored spot. This does not surprise me as at least in the throwers that I have (SFT40, SST40, SFT25R, SBT90.2, FFL909MX, Osram), I’ve seen this white ring when SMO reflectors are used. The effect seems worse in super long distance throwers, and more or less disappear with TIR or OP reflectors.
Suffice it to say, in the T8 this effect doesn’t bother me nearly as much as in my two “kings of white ring” TS30S Pro w/ SBT90.2 and Firefly T9 w/ FFL909MX, both 1000 meter thrower. T8’s hotspot not a problem to me, especially when looking at nature, vs white walling. But YMMV.
All 3 SFT-25R 6500k lights have a slight greenish hotspot, with a white ring at periphery. This ring probably makes the greenish center more noticeable. But again, nothing as horrendous as some of the bad ones out there, and in real life use for distant target, is much less noticeable.
Convoy LED is clearly from a different bin from Wurkkos. It has a much higher CCT, and the least positive Duv. That said, the difference among the 3 tints are subtle as seen in picture below (better seen in my OLED computer than in the one with LCD), with Convoy T8 best, and TS15 worst, by either eyeballing or measurement.
Again, I love all 3 lights, but, outside of the bigger size, Convoy T8 6500k gets my recommendation. Not just for the LED, but also for the buck 5A driver. If you want a 14500 + AA thrower in either 6500k, or especially 5000k, Convoy T8 is an excellent choice IMHO.
Check out the Duv, this is a very green LED at low output in T8. It is clearly visible with white-wall and photography. But again I have noticed that with real life use this green bothers me very little in thrower (T8), and a lot in a flooder like Skilhunt EC150 (an absolute nightmare- review to come). But this is subjective, YMMV.
I had to pick my jaw up from the ground when I saw this beam shot, showing how horrible green Convoy T8 is vs Wurkkos when both lights are at the lowest brightness level (around 10-25 lm). WTH happened?
Despite of my weak technical background, I think I know the reason. This shot actually shows how good Convoy’s driver is (buck 5A max, no PWM), versus Wurkkos (not sure, likely FET + 1 (?) with PWM). So, nothing to worry about regarding T8, still THE mini thrower to buy. I’ll post my “theory” next, and hope to be right.
Anyone pls correct me as needed, but I believe what happens is Convoy’s buck driver decreases brightness by lowering voltage (and therefore current), not by PWM. As voltage/current lowers, we see drastic changes in CCT and Duv as shown in this post above. At the lowest voltage/current, the beam is very green with Duv 0.0100.
OTOH Wurkkos T12/T15 pair appears to maintain “highish” voltage/current to the LED, and uses PWM to decrease brightness. For this reason, the LED stays at more or less the same CCT and Duv at all brightness levels. Beam at lowest brightness looks not too different from that of higher brightness, without significant Duv change.
Tint snobs check out numbers of Convoy T8 5000k: warm thrower with perfect neutral Duv. A unicorn .
T8 pair mostly wins the number game, but size is everything in this class, and there Wurkkos wins. Especially the Wurkkos TS15, which “disappears” in pocket.
T8 has nice buck 5A driver, and no PWM. Both Wurkkos have PWM.
White walling shows all lights have central slightly greenish center, surrounded by a white ring. IRL use, does not bother me at all, not nearly as much as Wurkkos TS30S Pro 1 km-thrower. YMMV.
All 4 have fantastic and fun throwy beam, with decent spill.
I got my T8 SFT-25R 5K yesterday.. I like it. I need to get the meter out and see how it measures, but to my eyes it looks good. No green to my eyes. Pretty neutral actually. Beam quality is decent with a couple of rings and a bit of diffuse light just outside of the hot spot. But that is on a white wall from maybe 3 feet. Not really noticeable at any distance. I like the little thing. Thanks for the recommendation.
All 3 of these Lumintops use the throwy Osram LED CSLNM1. All 3 are old release and in fact are no longer made. GTA is a dual fuel 14500 + AA design, with tail switch. The GT Micro twins, one brass one copper, are 14500 only with side switch and interestingly enough, Tom E’s NarsilM firmare adapted by @Texas_Ace (who makes my lumen tube?). Narsil is the forerunner or inspiration for Anduril. And of course, Narsil is also the sword later reforged into Andúril in Lord of the Rings. LOL - per AI and confirmed by my son, a LOTR expert.
AFAIK my GT Micro’s are not the original version with XPL HI, but the latter release with Osram. They are rare as hen’s teeth and I was so happy not just to find them, but find them with significant discount. Why my jubilance?
Hands down the most beautiful lights in my small collection.
Absolutely outrageous thrower @ 830m. Yep for a smallish 14500 light this sure is outrageous. This ought to be about the furthest throw ever for a 14500 light.
Very quickly after starting this mini-thrower comparison, I realized there is no clear winner. Each light excels in certain areas, and all 7 have can’t-miss, fun, throwy beams. Having said that, these are my top 3, YMMV:
1. Convoy T8 SFT-25R 5000k: A “unicorn” thrower because of its warm color rendition and beautiful non-greenish tint. Add fantastic buck/boost driver without PWM, dual fuel, rock bottom Convoy pricing, and this becomes a must-buy. 6500k has subjective “clarity” to me, 5000k is unique, both extremely highly recommended. A little large for 14500 light.
2. Lumintop GT Micro Copper/Brass Osram CSLNM1: Stupendous 800m plus thrower (longest ever recorded for a 14500 light?). Largish reflector + small LED result in very small hotspot. But… this also means the most fun and laser-like beam profile of this group. Has greenish corona that does not bother me in real life use for throwers (vs flooders) but YMMV. A rare, beautiful, premium quality light on big discount. Check out the copper patina. Great self gift for upcoming Holiday season :-).
3. Wurkkos TS15 SFT-25R 6000k: Size is everything in this class, and here TS15 is the clear winner. Tiny enough to fit in a shirt pocket, yet with on-board USB-C charging and dual fuel capable. This tiny of a size and still throws 420m? A marvel of modern LED and engineering.
Good info thank you. I erroneously thought first version in 2019 only had XPL, because it seems all the reviews of this light around that time 5, 6 years ago had XPL.
My brass and copper versisons while among my most beautiful lights (together with the Fireflies) are too heavy. If you ever want to sell that aluminum GT Micro, I am just a PM away.
TS30S Pro w/ SBT90.2 and Firefly T9 w/ FFL909MX, both 
.
