[New + Review] YLP Unicorn 1.0 (1x18650, LH351D, backlit side switch, magnetic tail, TIR lens, ramping)

contactcr · 2019-10-20T18:04:58.000Z

The 10 degree beaded optic is like 10% or less loss in lux with no visible rings anywhere. hot spot fades into corona which fades into spill.

The 5 degree smooth has basically the same hot spot (it’s not more throwy) as stock but changes the corona up a little, maybe slighly less rings but it’s still not smooth by TIR standards.

The 15 degree smooth turns it into a bat signal (10-15% loss in lux) but the hotspot is very wide, smooth and round with corona and spill fading to nothing quickly. (reminds me of my Carclo smooth narrow triples with LH351D)

I think I like 10 degree beaded the best of the ones I tried followed by 15 degree smooth.

hodor · 2019-10-21T12:06:48.000Z

Good info. Optics are on my long list of things to order.

I never got round to ordering the unicorn with the discount though so I’m waiting/hoping for that again.

bts · 2019-10-23T03:59:29.000Z

Just received the light and sadly notice some dirt/finger print on the inside of the lens. Is there anyway to open it and clean?

SammysHP · 2019-10-23T04:07:09.000Z

Press the head against a sticky/rubbery surface and unscrew the bezel.

bts · 2019-10-23T04:10:30.000Z

SammysHP:

Press the head against a sticky/rubbery surface and unscrew the bezel.

It can be unscrewed? Not press fit?

timbo114 · 2019-10-23T04:37:39.000Z

Yes it can be unscrewed.

Inferion · 2019-10-23T06:30:57.000Z

ToyKeeper:

It works on a linear FET driver. This is used in the Emisar D1S V2.

And without OpAmp, like in Unicorn? MCU+FET and nothing else?

ToyKeeper:

The main reason these are not used more often is because there are not enough circuit engineers to keep up with the demand for new circuit designs.

That’s weird. In my view, programmers are also PCB and schematic developers. These tasks can’t be addressed separately. And there are enough people to write programs.

ToyKeeper:

I think perhaps one of the biggest changes is less about the language though, and more about the abstract ideas used.

I don’t think so. Problem is the technical feasibility of these ideas and they can be anything – this doesn’t affect the implementation of the current regulator. There are will still be the same approaches and requirements, no matter what we use for UI. Even type of driver doesn’t matter much. Linear, Impulse, with external stabiliser or software, for 50mA or 50A…

ToyKeeper:

If I understand correctly, Indigo calculates brightness or power on a linear scale, and does math inside to convert linear brightness into a curved ramp?

It is, for now, but I’m thinking to move to a pre-calculated tabular version. That’s faster, more flexible and convenient and takes similar amount of memory.

ToyKeeper:

That seems like a good way to do it, and has advantages like high resolution and straightforward thermal control.

I now have a resolution of 160 steps, and it is enough. 160 steps is not so much for a tabular version with a depth of 16 bits (a total of 320 bytes per profile). This also does not affect the thermal control, because it takes effect after the UI with all its transformations. It modifies the Iref, that was set by UI before it arrives at the input of the current regulator. This is a system mechanism, isolated from the UI. And it does not cause any problems, so the UI can be implemented as you like …

ToyKeeper:

With it, I was able to create clones of a few popular flashlight interfaces in just a few hours.

Clones of fairly simple interfaces, which I can write in a few hours myself? Could a completed engine be so flexible and versatile to allow you to implement at least some non-standard functionality as quickly?

What I need right now:

Do you have a stack of returns a step back implemented in FSM (I’m still struggling to do this with so many branches, and I haven’t gone beyond one step)?
And what about predictions of further actions of the user in order to execute commands even before completion of their activation by user? With an analysis of the commands themselves, to make exceptions like “if you now need to preload the turbo, but it will be followed by the moonlight - it’s better not to preload the turbo, because a prediction error is more harmful than a good forecast”. It used to be easy to do, but now the interface has become amorphous and this mechanism should automatically change its behavior according to the situation. And without it, the interface is laggy.
How does it work with context, transmitted between commands to each other (transmit brightness to a beacon, for example)? To manually drag through the variables?
How easy is it to implement a configurable UI like Unicorn? Will it facilitate this task?

I’m not familiar with FSM. If it has necessary functionality for implementation of all that, than it’s interesting indeed.

ToyKeeper:

I think I found a gcc option to bind registers, or restrict which registers it can use. Maybe that helps?

It may help. If you reserve at least 16 first registers (R0-R15) for assembler inserts, the problem can be considered solved. It remains only to figure out how to explain to GCC which cells in RAM to use to communicate with assembler interrupt handlers.

ToyKeeper:

I implemented a 4th PWM channel in C, using a PWM timer interrupt to turn an extra pin on and off. It works, but sometimes it flickers when two interrupts happen at the same time. So I hope to greatly reduce the time used by each interrupt, to improve timing consistency.

And I have a 4-channel buck on ATtiny24 (located on one side of the 17mm board), and there all 4 channels work in CTC mode (250kHz, 32 steps) without any issues. Since unused Comparator C is only available on timer 1, the timer 0 is reset by interrupt of the timer 1. And thanks to ability of the assembler to strictly plan clock cycles - everything works as it should. In addition, 32 cycles are enough for the DSM of all 4 channels and there is still time left for the background loop.

And another example:
I once developed an ultrasonic positioning system for industrial machines in rooms (where GPS does not work, and its accuracy is worse, than millimetre, anyway). There the slightest jitter of the transmitter led to noticeable errors in measuring the distance to it, and again the assembler came in handy. With it, the main influence became the air flows in the room …

ToyKeeper:

To implement DSM seems much the same, except instead of turning a pin on or off, it would change the duty cycle for built-in hardware PWM. It seems like it should work, but I haven’t tried it yet.

There are fewer latency requirements thanks to hardware synchronization of OCRXX timers over timer overflow events. But this does not cancel the requirements for code execution speed. DSM must have time to calculate everything before the end of the PWM period. And this is, well, a dozen or two clock cycles for several channels. There is no time even to save the context onto the stack…

ToyKeeper:

Anyway, long message!

That we’ve been translating for more than a week this time >_<…
[From translator] And this one as well. That’s on me. Sorry, I’m kinda busy and lazy. Bad mix, I know.

ToyKeeper:

It is good to talk to someone who understands these things. I hope we are not boring everyone.

What do you think if I write in Russian and you will try to deal with google translate? ))

bmengineer · 2019-10-23T10:35:17.000Z

Inferion:

What do you think if I write in Russian and you will try to deal with google translate? ))

Haha sorry inferion! I tried that before this light was released and the prototype was on Fonarevka, Google translate didn’t do a very good job at all.

dropman · 2019-11-19T17:40:49.000Z

Just spent few hours playing with my new Unicorn 1.0 and I am impressed.
Swapped stock TIR lense for 25degree from Convoy store.
UI is very good. Lighted button is fantastic. Tint is very good. FW3A will stay at home for some time now

Tom_E · 2019-11-19T19:05:18.000Z

"That’s weird. In my view, programmers are also PCB and schematic developers. These tasks can’t be addressed separately. And there are enough people to write programs."

That's about 98% false - I've been programming for 42 years and can't design a PCB or draw a schematic. Here on BLF, it's again, not 100% true, maybe about 50% false. I work with EE's every day - they do the board designs, I do the firmware -- it works for me.

BurningPlayd0h · 2019-11-19T20:16:04.000Z

I heard there is a mod to make the button easier to press, but I can’t find the info on Fonarevka (and google translate is awful with Russian). Does anyone know how to do it or can link to the posts showing it?

Lux-Perpetua · 2019-11-19T20:23:04.000Z

BurningPlayd0h:

[…] google translate is awful with Russian […]

I haven't tried it very much yet with Russian to English translation but maybe it's worth taking a look at www.deepl.com. It's working with artificial intelligence and translates quite well between German, English, French and some more languages.

BurningPlayd0h · 2019-11-19T23:10:22.000Z

Lux-Perpetua:

BurningPlayd0h:

[…] google translate is awful with Russian […]

I haven’t tried it very much yet with Russian to English translation but maybe it’s worth taking a look at www.deepl.com. It’s working with artificial intelligence and translates quite well between German, English, French and some more languages.

I’ll give that a go, can’t even find the mod itself even though I read some of the members there talking about it vaguely.

SKV89 · 2019-12-01T19:11:40.000Z

contactcr:

Low, Mid(ish), High:

CCT = 4073K (Duv 0.0034)
Color Rendering Index (Ra) = 94.1 [ R9 = 80.6 ]

CCT = 4099K (Duv 0.0029)
Color Rendering Index (Ra) = 92.8 [ R9 = 76.9 ]

CCT = 4172K (Duv 0.0004)
Color Rendering Index (Ra) = 91.8 [ R9 = 74.2 ]

Thanks for the measurements! Looks like they got a good tint bin compared to the other LH351D 4000K emitters we’ve come to known. It’s still on the green side but on high, it looks fairly acceptable.

Does the Yajiamei optics lower the DUV?

contactcr · 2019-12-01T23:29:07.000Z

It already comes with similar optics and no glass so I don’t think it made much difference

Inferion · 2019-12-10T00:54:15.000Z

Tom E:

That’s about 98% false - I’ve been programming for 42 years and can’t design a PCB or draw a schematic. Here on BLF, it’s again, not 100% true, maybe about 50% false. I work with EE’s every day - they do the board designs, I do the firmware — it works for me.

That could work in case of little mutual integration. But otherwise I don’t know what schematic will look like with routing taken into account, how PCB engineer would like to change schematic and how programmer would want to change it, accounting for features of MCU and software.
For you to design convenient for rouring schematic, you have to understand routing. Moreover, I have to change schematic during routing. Somewhere some parts could be thrown away, somewhere they shoud be added, and somewhere it’s more convenient to rearrange functions of MCU legs.
To devise the least redundant schematic you have to understand the limits of MCU and that’s programmer’s job…
PCB engineers also have to be proficient in cirquit analysis and transients, even more than cirquit engineers. And cirquit engineers have to be really good at MCU architechture and methods that will be used by programmers. (E.g. calculation of ADC lines)
And so it turns out these three guys have to be good in these three subjects simultaneously, and to work in concord somehow.

BurningPlayd0h:

I heard there is a mod to make the button easier to press, but I can’t find the info on Fonarevka (and google translate is awful with Russian). Does anyone know how to do it or can link to the posts showing it?

Here: Показать сообщение отдельно - YLP Unicorn 1.0 - волшебная рабочая лошадка!
A cap, made out of hard material, is put on a “stub” in the cover of the button. And black piece of plastic, that stick out of button itself, should be grinded off as deep as height of the cap:

I’ve used small electrolytic capasitors, but I didn’t like the “click” I got.
Another option is to use these pistons:

But I haven’t tried that.

mattlward · 2020-01-06T20:14:58.000Z

I got mine in on Saturday. I really love the light! It has replaced my Zebra SC62w-L2 in the rotation.

Once I got it into ramp mode, I was happy. I do wish it would go lower. I love that it has no PWM visible anywhere in the range. The tint is pretty darn good, but the beam is a little ringy.

contactcr · 2020-01-06T20:25:49.000Z

mattlward:

I got mine in on Saturday. I really love the light! It has replaced my Zebra SC62w-L2 in the rotation.

Once I got it into ramp mode, I was happy. I do wish it would go lower. I love that it has no PWM visible anywhere in the range. The tint is pretty darn good, but the beam is a little ringy.

I use mine a lot too. With 10 degree beaded optic there is no rings and fills a good niche for me as something between multiple TIR (triples,quads) and reflector (too throwy for close up)

mattlward · 2020-01-06T20:32:17.000Z

contactcr:

mattlward:

I got mine in on Saturday. I really love the light! It has replaced my Zebra SC62w-L2 in the rotation.

Once I got it into ramp mode, I was happy. I do wish it would go lower. I love that it has no PWM visible anywhere in the range. The tint is pretty darn good, but the beam is a little ringy.

I use mine a lot too. With 10 degree beaded optic there is no rings and fills a good niche for me as something between multiple TIR (triples,quads) and reflector (too throwy for close up)

I love the FW1A, carry it almost every day. But, I did change the led to the LH351D to give it a wider beam. The triples and quads are good, but have their place and for me it is not an EDC. I must admit to having 4 FW3A’s with various leds. I will have to look for other optics, most of mine at home are for the 5050 foot print leds and I assume they will look like crap.

Colonel_Light · 2020-03-04T00:31:24.000Z

John M just completed a review:

(thought I’d try cut and pasting the review text as well from YLP Unicorn 1.0 Review (Samsung LHD351D, 90 CRI, 18650 EDC Light) – LiquidRetro.Net's Reviews for the convenience of some users, hopefully this is okay to do.)

YLP Unicorn 1.0 Review (Samsung LHD351D, 90 CRI, 18650 EDC Light)

YLP is a Russian Flashlight manufacturer (Lights are made in China) that is new to the US market. Their name when translated roughly means bright ray. They have been known by enthusiasts for a few years but it’s been more difficult to buy their lights, having to use google translated versions of their website. Recently they have launched a US English version of the website and got in touch with me to take a look at some of their lights. The YLP Unicorn 1.0 has been on my radar since last year so I selected that to take a further look at and review myself. Thanks to them for sending this out and providing a discount that’s in the description along with links to follow me on various social media platforms. This will probably be a little bit longer of a review so settle back and enjoy.

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Packaging & Accessories

Packaging on the Unicorn 1.0 is a nice magnetic closure box full of printing, showing the light on the front, a lot of the highlights on the sides and more details on the back. It’s nicely designed without looking excessive. Inside the light is protected with some custom cut black foam. Accessories include a pocket clip preinstalled, a basic lanyard, and 2 extra o’rings. The manual that came with the light is in borth Russian and English. It’s pretty thorough but an advanced manual is available online as well and I will have a link to it in my description. One other thing to add, my light shipped in a box covered with cool Russian stamps on it too, definitely cool looking and not what I am used to.

Construction

The light is made from aluminum and hard anodized in a gray/brown almost tan color. It’s a really nice color and nice to see something other then black. Machining here is good, with no complaints. Branding is extremely minimal with just the Unicorn 1.0 name and Unicorn logo on the rear of the tail cap, it doesn’t even say YLP on it anywhere!

The tailcap itself is flat, and magnetic. The internal magnet is held in place with the tail spring so if you want to remove it, it’s easy to do so. You have a place for the lanyard to go on the side of the tail cap if you choose. Threads internally are beefy and square cut.

The knurling on the tail and body tube is aggressive, it feels good in my hands but you may see some accelerated wear of your pants under the pocket clip. It’s pyramid shaped with the tip left on. There is a Y shape milled out of the knurling to add some style to the light, you can see some tool paths in this but I think that’s done on purpose. The tube itself is not removable as it seems to be glued to the head.

The head itself has shallow heatsyncs around about ¾ of the range. The button sits in a slightly raised block on the head but is then recessed inside this. The button itself has a clear silicone cover over it. Underheat there are red and green LED’s used for indicating battery voltage and as a locator beacon. The button itself is on the small side and may be a little hard to actuate with larger gloves on. The front of the light has a smooth bezel with the TIR optic in place. There isn’t glass over the optic so you may see some scratches over time.

Size & Weight

The YLP Unicorn 1.0 is a pretty compact light for what all it offers. I measured it’s overall length at 102.2mm, maximum diameter in the head at 27.20mm, and minimum diameter on the body at 25mm. When compared to the FW3A is about 20mm shorter, and the Wurkkos FC11 is about 14mm longer. The Unicorn 1.0 weighed in with a Sony VTC6 battery and clip onboard at 113.6g. Compared to the FW3A’s 98.2g, and Wurkkos FC11 at 111.8G.

Retention

The Unicorn 1.0 features a reversible pocket clip with plenty of room in it’s top loop for thicker pants. It’s not super deep cary but I found it to carry quite well. As I mentioned earlier the knurling here is aggressive and while I like the feel in my hand, you might find it wears out your pants pocket a little faster them most lights, especially under the pocket clip. The magnet in the tail is quite strong and has no trouble holding the light. It’s also fairly easy to remove if you wish. I had no issues with it activating in my pocket during cary thanks to the recessed e-switch on the head of the light.

LED & Beam

The YLP Unicorn 1.0 is using a 4200k Samsung LH351D at a minimum of 90 CRI. This is one of my favorite emitters right now and a fantastic choice for EDC in my opinion. It’s warmer in tint and doesn’t have any of the green that the LH351D in the Wurkkos FC11 had. My LED was nicely centered, and has a TIR style optic. The light doesn’t have a glass lens, which means overtime you might see a few scratches. Not a huge deal with everything else going on here. The beam pattern does have a defined hot center, and the transition to the spill isn’t the smoothest but it’s not bad either.

One of the side effects of this light not being designed for huge output numbers is heat is well controlled and it’s also configurable in the UI if you want to push it a bit more.

1 Minute = 90F

5 Minutes = 101F

10 Minutes = 104F.

I measured the parasitic drain of the eswitch at 22?A which is pretty minimal. I didn’t measure any PWM with my scope or eye.

Runtime and Outputs

Officially the light produces the following in it’s default UI. .

Turbo 850 lumens

High 450 lumens

Medium 170 Lumens

Low 40 Lumens

Moon 3 Lumens

Runtimes here didn’t have any big surprises from the regulated driver. I performed my tests with a 3000mAh Sony VTC6 battery but you don’t need such a high output battery in this application, a NGR18650GA battery would be a perfect comdination here. Turbo was good for just under 4 minutes, and we then saw stepdowns to 65% relative output. This continued to decline to about 50% output at the 30 minute mark or so but then the light started increasing in output as it cooled and the battery was able to keep up. This peaked at 60% relative output before a sharp decline to the lights lowest mode at the 130 minute mark where it continued running till LVP kicked in at 2.859V at 300 minutes. It’s nice to see active thermal controls on this one.

UI

This light has 4 different UI modes. By default it comes in what YLP calls Basic UI where the light has 5 discrete modes and memory mode turned on. It starts off in low and when you hold the button it starts ramping up about every second. When it gets to the top it automatically starts ramping down. Single click to turn off, Double clicking when on gets your to the maximum output. 4 Clicks gets you to battery check mode where the light flashes the batteries voltage. The way the basic UI works with it cycling up and then down instead of resetting takes a little getting used to as it’s different from a lot of lights and requires you to go up through high before going lower if thats what you want.

The other main UI modes are UI1, which is ramping with memory mode turned on. UI2 which is ramping with memory on and the buttons light on, UI 3 is 5 modes, memory off, and starting on medium instead of low.

The light has other advanced features which are best if you look at the advanced manual on the YLP website as you can adjust the thermal settings, and engineering mode where you can configure each UI mode through a series of clicks. These are complex and for time sake I won’t go over them in this review, but the manual has you covered and the translation is decent. You can find the full advanced manual here.

Pro’s

Great overall size and clip
Wide acceptance on it’s battery type, flat tops, button tops, protected, unprotected it takes all the 18650 types.
Not another black light
Great LED and Tint
Very flexible user interface the default Basic UI does it for me just fine but ramping is available if you want it.

Con’s

Knurling is quite aggressive, and if EDCed in a pants pocket this will eat away at it over time.
Not the brightest light in this class but more than enough to get the job done with less heat and more usability.
Lowest output mode should be 1 lumen or less
Minor annoyance with the Basic UI, I would prefer it start back over on low after reaching top output rather then reversing back down through high, mediu, low etc.

Conclusion

This is a light designed with practicality in mind instead of big numbers for a marketing purpose. As a result it can sustain itself on higher outputs without large stepdows. It’s using a high CRI LED with a pleasant tint and very useful beam pattern. For me it ticks all the boxes on what I want as a solid all purpose flashlight.

I have taken it walking several times over the few weeks I have had it and it’s done great with that. It’s a useful beam pattern and I like the combination of tint and high CRI LED. It has a lot of UI options for you if you want, if not the default UI I enjoy.

I hope we see YLP continue the Unicorn line of lights, making enhancements and tweaks as it goes along. At this price point it’s a lot of value, coming in significantly less than some of the well known brands that also share animal names. I look forward to seeing other lights from YLP, after reviewing the Unicorn 1.0 the bar was set high, lets see what they can deliver. I recommend the YLP Unicorn 1.0 without reservations.

If you are considering picking up a YLP Unicorn 1.0 make sure to check the description for a link to their English website and use the code in the description to save 15% off the price which helps cover shipping cost.

Purchase the YLP Unicorn 1.0: UNICORN 1.0 — Online store — YLP light

Use code “liquidretr” at checkout to save 15%

Full Image Gallery: YLP Unicorn Review - Album on Imgur