I apologize in advance for the long rant I’m about to post regarding my defective Astrolux MF01S. After waiting for over a month for the light to arrive from Banggood, it was finally delivered in the mail last Saturday. I thought it looked great with the blue anodized finish and, initially, the MF01S worked properly. I own several lights with Anduril firmware (Astrolux MF01 Mini, Lumintop EDC18 and FW3A, Fireflies EO7) so I’m familiar with how they’re supposed to work. Within an hour, my MF01S began malfunctioning. Over the next two days, it would work correctly for one or more hours then, for no apparent reason, it would suddenly become erratic. I mean seriously malfunctioning. I’ve cleaned/greased all the threads, cleaned all contact points, and ensured the head and tail cap were screwed down tight.
For over three hours one night, it was impossible to turn off the MF01S except by partially unscrewing the head or fully unscrewing the tail cap. For the past five days, the light has continually malfunctioned every time it’s been turned on. Clicking the side switch once to turn it on results in: the light ramping up or down in brightness without my finger holding (or even touching) the button, activating one of the strobe modes, rapid flashes or a variety of other incorrect behavior. With the light on, two clicks which should activate Turbo instead causes the light to: ramp up or down in brightness, engage a strobe mode, decrease in brightness, do nothing or turn itself off. For the past five days, three clicks do not give a battery check and four clicks do not turn on or off lockout mode.
All I’ve ever used any of my Anduril lights for is to ramp up or down to a particular brightness, and engage Turbo or tactical strobe. I’ve never tried to use Momentary mode, Muggle mode, change any temperature setting, change the default ramping levels or any of the advanced features possible with Anduril. This light sometimes changes from smooth ramping of brightness to graduated step levels without my clicking three times. Sometimes I can, eventually, get the light turned off by clicking the side switch; other times I have to partially unscrew the head. Most of the time, the side switch feels like those of my three MF01 Mini lights. Occasionally, however, merely lightly touching the rubber button will cause the light to react as if it was clicked. After I got this light turned off, it has repeatedly turned itself back on when I didn’t press, or even touch, the switch. It’s turned itself on a few times when I wasn’t even holding the light. I have no idea how this is even possible.
I don’t know which has been more aggravating: the hours I’ve wasted trying to get this defective MF01S to work properly or my experiences with Banggood Customer Service after reporting the issues I was having with their product. At their request, I provided Banggood with videos showing the MF01S obviously malfunctioning and pictures of the shipping labels, SKU code, and batteries I’m using. I’ve tried eight new, fully-charged Samsung 30Q cells I purchased from Illumination Supply. Normally, I use four flat top Samsung 30Qs. I also tried four button-top Samsung 30Qs; they made no difference.
Banggood CS told me to perform a factory reset as described in the User Manual. Nowhere in the User Manual that came with my MF01S is there any mention of a factory reset. I read online (including posts by Toykeeper) describing two methods of doing a factory reset with an Anduril flashlight. I performed, or at least attempted to perform, such resets numerous times. The MF01S immediately continued to malfunction as soon as power was available. Even if a factory reset was successful, it would only return the light to its original default settings. A factory reset doesn’t magically repair a faulty side switch or defective circuit board.
Banggood CS suggested I allow the flashlight to “cool off” and directed me to adjust the light’s temperature. This MF01S constantly malfunctions the moment it’s turned on, even if it’s cool from not having been used for over ten hours. So heat is not the problem. Since I can’t get the light’s sole control mechanism to correctly operate for basic functions, I certainly can’t get it to access temperature config mode.
Banggood CS asked me to contact a “local service shop” and obtain an estimate to have the MF01S repaired. Ignoring the fact I’m sure no such shop exists in the South Dakota town in which I reside, Banggood CS said the shop must not disassemble the light in any way since “disassembling will cause invalidation of warranty.” How could any skilled person capable of making repairs on an electronic device even offer an estimate without opening the MF01S to examine it?
After I opened a PayPal claim, Banggood CS offered me a $40 refund. Since I bought the light on sale for $80, that means I’d be stuck with a constantly-malfunctioning $40 flashlight which is completely useless to me … except serving as a paperweight. While I’m hopeful I’ll eventually get a full refund via PayPal, the many hours of frustration I’ve experienced over the past week with this defective MF01S and Banggood CS have been highly aggravating.