Yeah, I fear the business model is “make a batch, sell them off, discontinue them in favor of anything that looks new and diffrent’’
They could keep my attention if they were competing on driver efficiency instead of look and feel, but (sigh) I don’t see it happening.
Got my SD2 in the mail today (surprised me once again, as the tracking last updated on Jan-14). Very nice. Best $10 light I’ve ever bought. Machining is truly about as good as it gets on a light of any price. Seems like they did a light/fine bead blast before anodizing, which gives the light a that quality feel and sound when handled. The lanyard ring jingles though, but an extra o-ring will fix that. The thermal transfer is honestly impressive too. Virtually immediately you can feel the head warm and cool when going in and out of max mode. Input current was measured across the working voltage range on a power supply, and at 4.1V the readings were 160mA, 750mA, and ~3150mA. It seems purely direct drive, with all modes showing zero regulation. PWM is high enough frequency that my phone camera didn’t pick it up at all, and definitely not visible to the eye. The worst news I have to report is the driver is glued in, but the good news is that they only used a light silicone. I scraped with an exacto knife what was visible, and then poured some acetone around the perimeter of the driver for a few minutes to soften it up. Using a narrow 2mm screw driver, I gently pushed it out from the front through the screw holes on the emitter shelf (carefully avoiding components on the driver though). With moderate but gentle and persistent pressure, it finally let go without much drama (or damage). The body tube is what makes the () contact, as the driver shelf/rim is anodized as well. Driver diameter is about 23.5mm. Forgot to measure it precisely before re-installing, but that should be close enough for now. I’m going to do a full review in the coming days but this is the quick and dirty. There are two parallel R250 resistors on the board and a beefy looking (output?) capacitor that may be responsible for the lack of visible flicker. Traces are wide and vias a plenty. Rear spring is a copper alloy and THICK. The driver spring however is the opposite thin and steel. Body tube is 22mm ID, so rewrap cells should not be any kind of problem. Accommodations for cell length seem to be minimal. A flat top 18650 does not make contact with the factory springs, yet a 21700 doesn’t have much room to grow - protected cells likely will be a tight fit (if they work at all). The threads are fully anodized so lockout is possible, tail-standing is stable, switch is firm and good/decent feeling. I’ll probably change the boot/cover out for a black one (I find the green cheap looking) with rounder edges, as the stock boot has a square cross section that makes it stiffer on the edges than necessary IMO. UI is actually not bad. L-M-H with a ‘hidden’ (double press) strobe AND mode memory. This actually causes you to need to slowly switch modes, and causes an awkward pause between steps as the MCU is waiting for a potential second tap. Very livable though, and this is what takes this light from awesome value as a host, to an incredible torch - period. (For ~10USD)
Thanks for the hands on review.
Sorry to hear about the 18650. I ordered the light too, and because it’s 21700 light I’ll put those cells in it. But sometimes it’s just very handy to be able to put in a 18650 (in a tube) if the 21700’s are empty. Maybe a small magnet on the 18650 solves the problem….
Any longer cell could work. What I’d recommend instead is just killing two birds with one stone and replacing that tiny driver side spring with a longer, thicker one. Flat top 65mm compatibility is a must for me.
".. Have you ever bought a flashlight of, say, $5 and it pleasantly surprised you?
While it was not a 3000lm hotrod with a zillion settings, you were pleasantly surprised by the build quality.
A non flashaholic would say the light is very bright..."
Funny you mentioned this, as a "cheapo" light I bought last December 2019 answers the above comments positively.
I bought this no-name, zoomable light online when my wife asked for a brighter flashlight to use during the midnight Mass. The ad said its fitted with XHP50.2 and builtin USB charging system, although I had no idea about emitters and such. It came complete with an 18650 battery, better than Sofrn larnyard, and USB cable. I was immediately impressed with its build quality and light output. This was my first powerful led light and it led me to look further and see what else is out there...
I have a few smaller but better flashlights now. But I give this one credit just for being what it is and continue to use it still once in a while.