Hello,
have anyone tested the Lumintop POWER flashlight?
On paper it seems like a nice option for high power thrower. Big battery capacity and USB-C charging. I could not find any reviews so far.
https://lumintop.com/product/power/
I’m considering this one or the Lumintop GT110 (should perform better but its size is a big downside). Are there any other options worth considering?
It is probably also very expensive, and many of these Lumintops with 46mm-diameter batteries are glued shut, making it impossible to replace a worn out cell.
If you are fine with slightly lower intensity (around 750-800kcd), I recommend the Convoy 3x21D.
It uses the same LED (SBT90.2) and only costs around $100 with 3 Molicel P45B cells included (around 14000mAh) when you buy it from convoylight.com
If you want even more intensity, I would recommend the Acebeam K75, but it is very big and much more expensive than the Convoy.
Seconding everything you said, especially the Convoy 3x21D.
In fact, I doubt that the Lumintop can outperform the 3x21D at all. It has a slightly smaller head/reflector than 3x21D, and the advertised 7000 lumens is obviously false.
The problem with Convoy is that the UI is shitty and the battery capacity is nowhere near 46mm cell. Where did you find the information of the batteries being glued shut? Lumintop itself sells the cells for replacement.
Also Convoy 3x21D with batteries is now 160usd (AliExpress). Plus I would need to buy a charger. This makes the price the same as Lumintop with 46mm cell.
93€ with P45B on the Convoy webshop. No idea about USD, should be cheaper since the € prices include VAT.
Don’t buy Convoy lights from aliexpress; convoylight[dot]com is Simon’s webshop where things are cheaper–the 3x21D with battery goes as low as $93.10 depending on battery choice.
Is there anyone who actually owns or tested one of those Lumintop lights (Power or GT110? Would be nice to know opinion of someone who used it. I would rather take Acebeam K75 rather then Convoy light.
Convoy 3x21D, 3X21A or 4x18A. Maybe acebeam k75, astrolux mfo4 or amutorch dm90. The astrolux mf05 is an absolute beast that outperforms almost anything
What makes the lumintop offerings more appealing to you than the Convoy? Let us know so that we would know what to recommend you. So far all I see is that it has more battery capacity, but is it worth doubling the price? I am personally quite scared of single cells with this much capacity, in the case of failure the consequences are catastrophic.
The Lumintop Power appears to be a new release, and from past experience it is generally better to sit it out, wait for the light to be reviewed and major/minor issues to be sorted out, before committing such a large sum of money. With the amount of deceptive silent-downgrading they have done with the FW series and the obviously false 7000 lumen claim, I don’t trust this light to not have issues upon first release, and the battery to not present a hazard in the long term.
It is actually the battery that drives me to Power/GT110 (this one has measured over 6500lumen).
This is a new type of cells from automotive (EV vehicles). I think it is only a matter of time and all those Convoys and so on will use them as well.
I saw a review of GT110 and it is a really good light. Brighter than K75 and can maintain turbo for quite a long time. Why is it not that popular in here?
I have convoy 3x21D with molicells and can confirm battery life is plentiful in most modes. Also batteries are cheaply and readily available unlike 46950s. Modes and UI is fine and not much different than other brands like imalent. Single click on off, hold to change brightness (smooth or stepped) and mode memory. Even turbo is memorized. For the price a good flashlight, and unlike lumintop highly serviceable and modifiable.
I am not looking for the cheapest option. 14000 mAh vs 32000/38000 is a crazy difference to me. One cell is also better for performance since there is smaller voltage drop due to less contact points.
In which way is the Convoy more serviceable than Lumintop?
All components can be unscrewed no glue and replacement parts including leds and drivers are cheaply available. You can also upgrade such as change the stock driver to a constant current driver or alternative install a 54A fet driver and sfh55 led or similar giving you up to 10000 lumens or more
Edit. Lumintop is usually sealed
If you dont like Convoy, you can always choose lumintop but i feel as if theres better options in terms of price and distance. This review shows some of the best long distance flashlight. Long range flashlights: The best throw flashlights we reviewed (for 2024 )
Ignore the wuben a1 its $1000.
If you want distance AND good runitme, maybe consider Lep flashlight like a maxtorch or a weltool but they are more expensive and less versatile.
I would not trust the output numbers tested for large lights like the GT110. The issue is that integrating spheres are designed (1) with small opening to measure small lights, and (2) to measure diffuse rather than highly concentrated sources.
In comparison, the Lumintop X9L with the same LED claims 6500lm but achieves only 4812, and this number is more realistic, in line with the test of the LED here. If you perform a quadratic extrapolation of the test curve, the LED would have trouble breaking 5500 lumens even when highly overdriven. Add in optical losses and non-ideal power supply and cooling setup, and no SBT90.2 light could realistically break much past 5000.
The battery capacity difference is significant, but I doubt it’s noticeable in real use unless you plan to run turbo continuously for hours at a time. It’s like recharging my phone once every 2 days versus once every 4 days: the difference is significant, but really does not matter in practice.
I’m still most worried about the single high-capacity battery: 38000mAh at 3.7V is 140Wh; in comparison, a typical electric bike battery is only 400Wh–this cell contains as much energy as 1/3 of a e-bike battery pack. And many buildings won’t even allow these bike batteries to be charged inside, for good reason. Unlike a single cell where a single defect could make the whole cell fail, multiple cells with the same combined capacity is less risky as it is much less probable for more than 1 cell to fail simultaneously, so even in the event of failure the amount of energy released is only a tiny fraction of the combined capacity. I don’t trust Lumintop’s battery and charging circuit to be safer than that of electric bikes.
If one cell has a thermal runaway inside a flashlight body tube, chances that the others reach thermal runaway as well are pretty high.
I agree. You dont want to be holding a pipe b0mb instead of a flashlight if that huge EV cell fails. I dont see how big of an inconvenience it is to carry spare 21700 or 18650s. You can keep a small box in a backpack or car. Remember turbo only lasts 3 minutes on lumintop website so there isnt big advantage in 46950. Flashlight still overheats and has to step down. If you want long turbo runtime condider a flashlight with cooling system like the mf05. It uses 8x 18650 so still nice runtime
Apologies for the wall of text, I tried to respond to your questions
I would consider that of lower importance than the chemistry of the cell.
Many of these large cells are optimized for capacity, whereas the Molicel P45B has good capacity but is designed for the maximum peak power, so there will be less voltage sag from internal resistance. Each P45B can safely supply over 50A (for a few minutes), and they are known to be particularly safe (tolerates low and high temperatures, high current, etc).
With the 46950 cell we have no information about safety or IR, or the current handling characteristics, and Lumintop doesn’t usually provide information of that sort, but I would assume they are probably optimized for capacity instead of current (as EV batteries usually are) so they will probably have more voltage sag than 3xP45B, reducing the performance.
You can also much more easily carry a spare set of 21700s in a small rectangular box, and it will instantly go back to the maximum brightness as they are fully charged. It will also make it easier to travel by air, as many airlines don’t allow batteries and battery packs with capacity over 100Wh.
Nearly all of my Lumintop flashlights have been sealed with threadlocker or glue. Many people reported the GT4695 was sealed with glue to prevent battery removal too.
Convoy lights are entirely serviceable, using only screws and threaded rings, with spare parts (drivers, emitters, etc) readily available from Simon.
It is much cheaper on the official website (outside of Aliexpress) and the flashlight has integrated USB-C charging
If you really don’t want the Convoy, and just want more intensity, I would recommend a much larger light like the Acebeam K75 or the other BLF-GT sized throwers.
Thanks for your comments. What do you think about GT110 if I decide to go for a larger size? Looks like it is a bit brighter than K75 (based on YT tests).
Just so you know. A GT110 was just posted for sale in this BLF thread.