DOUBLE 1 AND ½ "REVIEW": Sofirn SP10A and Sofirn SF14 *[added night / distance shots]

The red and blue are supposed to be available on Nov 25th…

I guess that depends on the option you are looking for. Currently, on their official store, there are 6 options for the SP10B. 2 are for the red and blue, 2 for the SP10B, 1 for SP10B + charger, 1 for SP10B black/red/blue, and this last is the most expensive (+ $18). I guess that on Amazon ($16) they must be making the comparison with this “model”, therefore the price is higher. The other ones are about $13 (flashlight without charger).

Hum, same here. Some time ago I asked Cissy (their “rep” on AliExpress) about that and she answered “we do different link in order to apply for different promotion”.
They are modifying one of the SP10 version (A, I guess), and a new batch will be available, according to what was said, on 20th November.

The red and blue are available on AliExpress, maybe it’s like Pete said, in some days they’ll be on Amazon.
Normally I don’t pay much attention to Amazon store because they normally don’t ship to Portugal. So I order from AE and then…wait for it to arrive :+1:

The red and blue seem pretty nice (the colour)! The photos on the stores don’t seem to make justice to the colour, so I hope that if someone gets them, there will be some photos posted :sunglasses:

After only 3 and a half months (yes, 105 days) I got my SP10A and SF14

Despite the wait, these are 2 proper products, much better quality than the SF12 and SF10 (specially than the 12). No weird mode spacing/order, threads are actually good, not the squishy poor type the SF14 had.

They allegedly use the same emitter, reflector and non AR-coated glass, but the tints shift differently. The SF14 has a smoother transition from hot spot to spill, and a hint of green in the corona. The SF14 has harder transitions, but not by much, and the spill tends to purple the closer to the edges

Overall I’m happy with them and would consider them good gift flashlights, I might give one of them to my family. This is nice considering my previous experience with Sofirn wasn’t great

Wow, that was a looong ride to you :zipper_mouth_face:
But you finally got it! And I agree with you, these are much “better” than the SF10 (at least) . Sofirn improved and changed and made 2 very nice lights :wink: I believe you still have the SP10A with the “old” driver, 3 modes + strobe, right?

I believe that there was some “mistake, here! First you’re talking about the SF14 and them from the SP10A, right? At least from my experience, the SF14 is more ”yellowish” and the SP10A more white, with those here and there “rosy”!

I also, gave 1 SF14 (to my dad) and my SP10A (to my girlfriend)! I kept for me 1 SF14 and the SP10B!

Glad you liked it :wink:

Wow, that was a looong ride to you :zipper_mouth_face:
But you finally got it! And I agree with you, these are much “better” than the SF10 (at least) . Sofirn improved and changed and made 2 very nice lights :wink: I believe you still have the SP10A with the “old” driver, 3 modes + strobe, right?

I believe that there was some “mistake, here! First you’re talking about the SF14 and them from the SP10A, right? At least from my experience, the SF14 is more ”yellowish” and the SP10A more white, with those here and there “rosy”!

I also, gave 1 SF14 (to my dad) and my SP10A (to my girlfriend)! I kept for me 1 SF14 and the SP10B!

Glad you liked it :wink:

Oh, I just realised the typo, once I’m back home I’ll check and correct which is which

Yes, mine is the A variant with 3 modes, but I like it anyway, with AA batteries it’s not like low is that bright. I wish it had no mode memory though, but from my head I can’t recall now which one has mode memory and or not

Eheh, no problem :wink: I just found it strange, though it could be the way you were describing!
Hum, I’m just using them with 14500s, but with AA (alkaline or Ni-MH), they still are very nice lights :wink:
The one that has NO memory is SF14! The SP10A and B both have memory :person_facepalming: Wish they didn’t as well, specially the SP10B always start on ML would be nice!

I’m also on the “always start on low” team. I kinda like the sf14 better because of this, and also because the side switch of the sp10a is not that easy to recognise in the dark. Being a e-switch light it could’ve had shortcuts for specific modes, like Nitecores usually have

Yup, the SF14, among other things, has that as an advantage for me too! I know I’ll not blind me or others when swithching on!
Regarding the SP10A button , you’re right, it could be a little more protruding, specially because it has the “long” press to turn ON.

The SP10B has those shortcuts to “Turbo” and to strobe, and also lockout. I guess that if it didn’t have memory, it would be even more incredible!

Sofirn has been doing some changes to these models and their drivers, but I don’t know if they changed that! I wouldn’t mind installing a new driver on the SP10B as long as it didn’t have memory :sunglasses:

Can anyone identify the sense resistor on the driver of the SF14? Mine starts to flicker in high-mode, when used for 30s, with all my eneloops. I’ve read that this is caused by a to high temperature of the driver, so i would like to reduce the current. On fresh eneloops I see a tailcap-current of about 4.5A.

Cheers
Alex

I have to disagree with both of you, Persechini, and MascaratumB :smiling_imp: . I have carried a Thorfire TG06 ( pretty sure a close twin of the sf14 ), for the past 2 years. It’s almost a perfect EDC, for my needs. The one thing I didn’t like was no memory. My 1st model was low to high, the later models are high to low. I don’t use my light to pee at night, I’d rather stumble and stub my toe :wink: I want it to come on at my preferred luminous . That’s what I like about the Sofirn. They could oblige all of us if they would offer a configuration option to turn memory off/on ( Are you listening Tracy? :smiley: ). I am carrying an SP10b now, and am very satisfied with the pocket size, and performance.

!! might not be the exact driver, but I’m sure it’s similar.; The R150 is the sense resistor.

BTW, this is a Thorfire TG06

Wow, that was fast!
Thanks a lot! :+1:

Thank you for a great review MB!
I am planing an order of SF14 for a host :slight_smile:

Which TIR will fit for a 3535 emitter?

Thanks PH_Oton :wink:
Hum, there are several lens that fit the 3535 emitter! But sorry to ask, are you going to use the TIR on the SF14?
If so, I may try the ones I have at home and give you a better indication of which can be used! :+1:

Sorry for imprecise question :blush:
I am planing to use it in sf14 with or glass in front of it.
My plan is putting LD-A4 2-3 amp driver together with sw45k-D220-R9080 on noctigon.
I appreciate in advance your efforts and help MB!
:beer:

Oh, ok!
I will try the ones I have at home at night and post some pictures here if they fit! I have some that have narrow beam and others that are Pebbled (Hive shape) .
I’ll try both and let you know later :+1:

BTW, I always try to use a glass lens above the TIR (unless they don’t fit), and also an o-ring, as it helps in waterproof :wink:

I am afraid of efficiency drop in already inefficient sw45k-D220-R9080 (flux vise) with TIR and lens, as well as tint shift and CRI drop if I choose to use AR lens. I always use O-rings ofc, not just for waterproofing but also for dumping if light is dropped and I avoid GITD ones in HCRI builds :slight_smile:

Hum, if you want the light to still be on the “throwy” side, I guess it will lose something of that longer distance range with the TIR optics, even if they are narrow.
On the other hand, if you want it more in the “floody” style, a Pebbled TIR will to the job, and even with the AR coated lens, my guess is that there will not be so much tint shift as with the reflector or the narrow TIR.

About the o-ring I almost use only black o-rings now, even in the Convoys! I prefer to put GITD tape around the TIR or even above the board, around the LED :smiley:

Later I’ll let you know how it behaves with different TIR (I have at least 3 types that may fit), and you can see what is preferable to do :wink:

What I am aiming for is uniform smooth spot beam for general usage. I am not looking for complete flood of pebbled optics although I would love to see how it works for me :).

Dimensions of optics is mainly what I am interested in and where can I find them (Ali?). I would love to have more TIR options ordered so I can try them all myself :slight_smile:
Thanks for help :beer: