So I have decided to buy my first 21700 flashlight, and S21e fits all of my criteria (nice size and shape, USB-c charging, option of 4000k tint) and I definitely want that beutiful white color (MAO is called I believe?), but for the love of god I can’t choose which LED emitter to get. And the more I read about them, the more I am undecided lol, so I really hope you will be able to help me here.
I understand that warmer tints, specially the high CRI ones, are lower input than bright white ones. But still there are so many options!
The list of available in white color and with 4000k tint are:
-1. 519a → was my original choice, but I read that some had some problems and they stopped shipping with this option, even though there are still ton of available on AE. I don’t want to buy an old stock, and than have some possible problems.
-2. 719a → seems a good option as well.
-3. B35AM
-4.XHP50.3 HI R70 (I think strongest of them all, but I assume worse CRI). But 4000k is still a nice tint and would change some lower CRI for more beam probably.
-5. SST40 in 5000k maybe, only if it comes with MUCH stronger beam, otherwise I prefer 4000k from first 4 options.
Forgot to add that some fancy SW like Anduril is not important at all to me, and I just want quick and easy control of beam intensity (holding power button for example), which I believe all SW offer.
But I would definitely prefer it to NOT get too hot, so if you have info on those emitters in S21e how hot they get, it would be helpful a lot.
And which has good sustainable beam (after Turbo ramps down)
What’s most important to you in an emitter? Do you have any right now that you like/dislike?
Only real thing I see to go off of is you mentioned SST40 would be good if it was brighter - they’re definitely bright but do suffer in tint imo. If I was buying a light with these emitter choices, I personally would only pick SST40 if it was going into a thrower that I needed good lumens out of. I do have 519A in some throwers though so not always - I have strong CCT and tint preferences (warmer, neutral to slight red tint)
Yeah I agree and would prefer 4000k tint, and warmest in SST40 is 5000k anyway, I just threw it there as an different option.
Would prefer one of the first 4 choices. How do these 4 compare in power and heat management/sustainable lumins?
I don’t have experience with the XHP line yet, but if you’re dead set on 4000K neutral tint I’d personally go 719A.
719A is an iteration of 519A. I don’t own any because I personally like that I can dedomed 519A and shift the CCT warmer and, more importantly, shift the tint red. 719A doesn’t have a dome. It’s a teeny bit more efficient than 519A, while providing similar color performance to domed 519A. Domeless emitters are also better in throwers, so if you prefer neutral tints, 719A is better in that regard. It’s also a 6V chip so it requires a boost driver as opposed to 519A which can be used with either a boost or a FET driver. Boost drivers are usually a little weaker on max output but always noticably more efficient.
This all said, if you’ve never seen a rosey emitter, you should give one a try sometime. Many people I show them to think they prefer neutral emitters until they see my dedomed 4500K 519A (becomes a rosey ~3700K). But there are many folks who do infact prefer neutral tint, and even some who prefer green
B35AM is basically a big E21A. Really pretty (good color rendering) but quite inefficient when compared to others. It’s not pretty enough to make 519A or 719A look ugly, so imo it’s sort of a niche emitter. I really only use E21A/E17A for the super warm versions (2000K, 1850K) which aren’t available from the bigger B35AM chip
That helped a lot, thank you!
I think that my only choice now is between 719A and XHP50.3 HI R70, which has quite a lot stronger beam by specs (around 1000 vs 2000lm), while still having a nice 4000k tint. Probably worse CRI though.
What an impossible choice, no wonder most of you guys have 50 flashlights
I bought it in b35am 5700k. Its like a pure white light, the tint is pretty incredible. The b35 is limited to 2.2a and its a boost driver so its reasonably efficient and can run at 100% for a while without getting too hot. I like the ui. Ramping with hold for moonlight and doubletap turbo.
I dont have any xhp50.3 hi leds. I have xhp70.3 hi r70 5000k and r70 4000k from simon, they both look really nice with a hint of rosieness. Maybe the xhp50 is similar.
For pure output and lower cct. You can buy the alternate fet anduril driver for the s21e that pushes up to 8.5a for the sft40. Pair that with sft40 3000k for a ballin combo.
Too many options, I think I will run a RNG generator between 3
I would really like to try 519A, but than after seeing how much less efficient and lower output it is against similar CCT in XHP, I am really not sure if it’s worth it. Today I read that 719A is basically worse than 519A in most aspect, so I was back to XHP or B35AM again (it should have boosted driver afaik?), so it might be quite efficient as well.
I’d go for the XHP, it’s quite bright and efficient without being very floody. The R90 version adds good color rendition and it’s still brighter than any other high-CRI option like B35AM or 719A. SST40 is bright, has a lot of throw but the colors are pretty bad.
It’s not similar, it appears cooler at the same CCT.
Yup I ordered XHP 9050 version, mainly as you also pointed out - it is almost 30% brighter than best CRI trio 519a/719a/B35AM, and >90 CRI is very good for average user like myself.
And it also has much better battery life as well. I think it is a good compromise between them all.
Agree with going for the XHP 50.3. A single 519A is just not that bright and it is already the brightest out of 519A/719A/B35AM trio.
Whatever you choose, stay away from SST-40. I call it the stupid bright emitter. It has lots of lumens - low, low quality lumens. If you want lots of okay quality lumens and good throw, go for the SFT-40 5000K.
Nice review(s), numbers based in your review had a lot to do with my choice They sound just too good to deny - almost 30% better brightnes, which comes also with 30% better battery, while still keeping >90% CRI.
And having a wider range of CCTs I don’t see as a real advantage when comparing 2 emitters tbh. It just means some have more options than others, it tells you nothing where strenghts and weaknesse of each are.
The lowest lumen light I own (C8G) uses sst40 (2000 lumens max). It throws like crazy - most of the time I only use low. It never gets warm.
I also have the C8L with xhp 50.3 - it’s kind of frustrating for me. I ride at night time and have to run the C8L at higher levels to be effective; then it gets warm and burns through the battery. It has 1100 lumens more (at max) than the C8G, but is a bit more floody.
also have the wurkkos ts22 with xhp 70.3 which is pure flood - only really good for walking. I need to run that on high if I’m riding, and it gets hotter again. The ts22 is 4500 lumens.
So in order of preference and lumens #1 C8G 2000 lumens, #2 C8L 3100 lumens, #3 TS22 4500 lumens.
The problem is throw, or candela per lumens. The more throwy the emitter is, the less power you need to drive it to achieve the same candela on your intended target. If you can get our hands on SFT-40, it will provide more than twice the candela than SST-40, which means at same amount of illumination, it will be even more efficient. Good tint is yet another added bonus.
For my use cases of night photography, the choice of CCTs is absolutely critical. For example if I want to illuminate a location with high CRI cool(ish) white 5700K and warm white 2700K emitters, then the 519A is the only option. (719A is currently out of stock on 5700K, and XHP50.3 HI R9080 is only available in high CRI between 3000K and 5000K). So yes, CCT options are very important to some people.
