My convoy lights collection, a few thoughts and the reason why i no longer buy or recommend convoy to anyone.

LED Flashlights – General Info
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So, here are a few convoy lights i have: A bunch of lights and S21G which i forgot to include into that photo.

Yes, i know, waay too many given the issues that kept happening, but each time i hoped that all the trust flashlight community has for convoy must be justified and i am just unlucky…

I’ll start with good(-ish) stuff:

T4 (Ti, 519A) - perhaps one of my favorite lights altogether. Everything works as it should. It is large enough and has low enough output to not overheat, nothing was broken on arrival and the driver seems to work fine so far.

M21H (XHP70.3HI R9050 3000K) - everything good here. Nice beam pattern, charging works, UI is bad as usual, but at least in stepped mode it is usable. This is one of the better lights from convoy i’ve ever had, even though it is a bit too large for EDC.

S21E (B35AM)… works with no issues. It arrived with torn o-ring and no lube, but that’s it. Not a fan of the light though - too throwy to be EDC, not enough output or throw to be a thrower.

UI is… typical (bad) convoy e-switch UI. Ramping is unusable, but stepped is more or less OK. At least this light is large enough to not overheat.

T3 (Ti 519A, 219B, 2x519A) - again, i like this very much. They work, mostly. No overheating, modes are OK, nothing broken apart from (traditionally) torn o-rings and no lube.

There are, however, issues. On all 4 lights drivers do not work properly - memory can not be enabled/disabled. I’ve had some success switching between 1.2v/3.7v cells, but it is annoying. Also no moonlight on li-ion, have to use ni-mh (with lower max output) to get that.

S2+ (519A), both of them are good. They both work as they should and there were no QC issues.

The light itself, however is far from perfect.

I generally like the design, but flat cutout for the branding totally ruins it for me. Good thing copper version has no such cutout, being pretty much a unique variant of S2+. I also have

18350 tubes for both, removing the cutout, but i do prefer 18650…

The biggest issue with this lights is the driver/UI and its lack of thermal throttling. The lights can not sustain 35%, they heat up too much to hold and make me worry about the cell. And 10% is way too dim for the light this size. 20% would be perfect, but then the group which has 20% does not have 0.1% or 35%. I just can not understand why with all the various groups it was not possible to make one which contains all the modes…

So despite being good this lights are both unsafe and only usable either on 10% (too dim), or 20% with no moonlight. With limitations like this they simply make no sense to use at all, given variety of stuff available nowadays, even at the same price point.

S21G (Ti, SFT40 3000K) - this is a beautiful light, being giant T3. It arrived with wrong driver - 5A linear instead of advertised 8A buck. Later i learned that it was intentional to reduce heat, but… my opinion is - swapping components without immediately changing description in store is unacceptable. As well as releasing and advertising lights which melt gaskets during normal use. Also no thermal throttling and still quite capable of overheating - so unsafe and uncomfortable to use.

No lube and torn o-ring too, as expected. Good thing i have a lot of lights so finding compatible o-rings is not hard.

Still looking for non-convoy driver to put in this one, because the host is absolutely beautiful and deserves better than lousy convoy driver…

Good things end here, nothing else works properly or is usable…

S21D (219B 4500K, buck) - the driver is broken. Modes do not worked properly, except sometimes they decide to work. I’ve tried disassembling and just heating up whole driver to solder melting point - did not help. Still looking for replacement driver here too, as it is a fun rosy flooder…

M26D (GT-FC40 1800K, one 26650, one 26800) - unusable. Tailcap springs are way, way too weak, incapable of supporting weight of large cells. Does not work properly when tailstanding - flickers, etc. Does not charge properly unless it is sitting head down. Need replacement springs/tailcaps. For now i just printed 18650 adapters and use 18650 cells, those are light enough to work fine. Apart from that - anodization quality is awful - looking closely there are numerous visible spots of bare aluminum. Charging port cover in unnecessary huge and falls out easily and there are holes in there so that charging LED located somewhere on driver board can be seen at some angles. Horrible solution which looks lousy and lets dust in while charging. Also convoy e-swich UI…

S11 (GT-FC40 1800K) - again - inadequate spring, does not work properly. Here it also causes modes to switch so it cycles through modes randomly on slightest bump. Also has a lot of sharp edges.

M21B (GT-FC40 4500K) - this one kind of works. It has the worst case of egg yolk i’ve ever seen, so horrible that it is unusable. For someone who is kind of OK using $2 unbranded zoomie in some cases. I am convinced that this is not normal and something is wrong with reflector/gasket/etc. Not much more to say about it as i never used it practically.

Conclusion…

IIRC I partly posted about some of this stuff some time ago already, but… i wanted to share just how bad it is. Most of the stuff i got has issues. Some critical some not. Some can easily be fix, other ones require time and effort.

Based on this experience my conclusion is - convoy lights are poorly made cheap lights, plagued by QC issues, build issues and design flaws. They may be good for people who want something to mess around with, modify, etc, but they are not good at all for someone who simply wants a working light. Manufacturer also does not bother solving long standing well known issues like lack of thermal throttling - apparently stuff sells well enough as is. And yes, i know community loves them, but my experience and opinion is what it is…

And… sorry for enormous rant, but i am so pissed at this point that i am contemplating just ripping emitters out of most of this lights and sending them to recycling. Yes, they can be fixed, but i do not have a lot of time for this (and wasted a good deal of it writing this, but i needed to vent) and all they do, at this point, is reminding me of my stupidity (why did i buy this junk?)…

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There are better lights out there but for more money.

We do have many choices in this hobby.

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I have many convoy lights and I am very satisfied with them.
There are much better light but for much more money.
I purchased a solid number of Convoy lights for my friends - ordinary users and they are very satisfied with S2+ SST40 5000k, M21A SFT40 and L21B SFT40. They use it in group 2, with memory and someone rarely without memory.
All of them say that it is the best flashlight they ever see but they don’ t know for better and don’ t want to give more money.
Before Convoy they use cheap bluish led zoomie with 3xAAA or false capacity 18650, so quality rise with Convoy is enormous.
I have T3 with 519A 4500 and 5700k which are both good and T2 4 mode with LH351D 4000k which has one strange feature that 1% mode give lower power of light with 14500 than with AA, contrary from expirience of other blf collegues.
I like very much T4 with 519A but I would like to try it with some throwier led.

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I think you convinced me to buy some more. I know a few people who know nothing about flashlights that have some stupid zoomy things that are cold as ice. I think they would be very happy with the s21e or m21h. So I will test and then give them out.
My primary EDC is a shorty S6. Do I like the UI? Not really. I do love the size and the rear switch and that throw in the color temperature of my choice can’t be beat.
Plenty of S2+. Only one stuck in like a 35% mode otherwise all good. H4 ain’t bad for the money as a utility light. My limited experience has been good.

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I have one Convoy that I am pretty happy with: the S3.

I like the simple design, am very pleased with the 519A emitter, and the 12 groups options are nice.

I use mode group 8 and most commonly use the 0.1%, 1%, and 10% modes which are perfect for around the house or around a campsite. It’s a floody light anyways, so I’m not trying to get high candela at distance. I almost never use the 50% mode so I have never noticed any issues with overheating but am aware that the light apparently does not have good thermal regulation. I do notice some warmth on the 10% mode after it runs for a bit, which seems a bit too low output for an 18650 light to be generating noticeable heat.

I didn’t have any issues turning on the mode memory or switching groups. The UI has always worked as its supposed to.

I do not like the little cutout in the body either, but that is is a pretty minor thing. I do not like the knurling on the body. It is too smooth and the light tends to be a bit slippery. I keep some ranger bands around the body for grip. I think the fit/finish and quality of construction is pretty rudimentary but that is reflected in the price.

I will probably not buy another Convoy but I am not disappointed with the S3 either.

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I do not believe that anyone who choose GT-FC40 1800K is “someone who simply wants a working light”. Convoy is LEGO for enthusiasts, not just flashlight vendor. Almost any LED-gasket-driver-host combination is an experiment, except may be simplest and proved pairs like SST40 & S2+. That is absolutely different business paradigm, and everyone of us knows that.

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Sure, Convoy could be better. Just making Anduril 2 available on some lights would be a huge improvement. I’ve never had the O ring problems you’ve had and I have at least 20 Convoys. What keeps me buying Convoy (and others, like Emisar/Noctigon, Firefly) is choice of emitter. Many other manufacturers (Nitecore, Olight, Fenix, et al) have solved the QC issues you’ve experienced but then you have to enjoy their green tint.

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My Convoy experience:

L6 (2) [These work as expected, the only true flaw is the Purple AR coating on the (replacable) lenses]

L7 [The emitter could be more centered in the reflector, green AR coating would have been better, a stiffer spring would help maintain contact when using heavy 26800 cells]

M21F (2) [Practically perfect, I’d just remove the charging port if I could]

M3-C [Again, would be better without a charging port IMO, otherwise fantastic]

M3 [Slightly worse runtimes, but has no usb port which is a plus lol]

S21A [Probably the worst one, gets hot as a pistol if you leave it on at 100%. So I just use the high setting like Turbo, also has an ugly beam pattern with the SFT40 i chose]

Overall, these lights haven’t been perfect but I’m generally happy with them. Most of them are quite useful.

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If you don’t want all those lights I’ll buy them from you. You can keep the emitters and/or drivers. I just want them as hosts.

Also you can probably toss a Dr Jones in your S21G by using a 17mm adapter ring. That’s a pretty nice UI. Also CWF has some options too.

I can even do that mod for you if you want. I think I have the requisite parts.

Food for thought!

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Unfortunately, the 17mm to 22mm adapter Simon sells doesn’t work. For whatever reason the S21G retaining ring has a different thread pitch than any other Convoy I’ve had.

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That’s one big gripe I have regarding Convoy; Simon should standardize threads as much as possible.

That being said I’ve used copper crush rings to shim out smaller drivers. I’d bet I could get it fitted up… Honestly the crush ring would be preferable anyways since there’s a clearance issue with the CWF/DrJ drivers with the stock rings. They need to be ground down to fit.

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Convoy so far has been very good all things considered. I’ve reviewed several and they’ve all been either very good to exceptional. Only issues I’ve had were driver related, the premature stepdown on the 6v 5A boost driver ther xhp70.3 lights or sft/sst70 lights use. This has purportedly been fixed and any light made after 3-2024 (the M21H Banggood sent in June 2024 worked fine) will have revised drivers. Simon did acknowledge the issue.

I can’t comment on the Ti lights. As you know, Ti is a terrible flashlight material: yah it’s tough and pretty, but it’s heavier than Al, it has very poor thermal properties, doesn’t conduct electricity very well, scratchy threads (lube helps…not much) and the finish picks up imperfections.

The FC40 LED is a bit of a gamble with the tint and outout binning lottery. I got one from Hank and it’s awesome. Some others have complained like you.

The UI…the 12 mode UI is actually really good and I recommend it. The ramping/stepped are okay and nothing major to complain about unless you’re used to Anduril and the awesome smooth ramping. Simple fix…keep it in stepped mode.

Bottom line, if you’re having issues, tell Simon and he will make it right! I’ve had awesome customer service from Convoy.

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