I probably need to wait for another payday, but I’m tempted to order an SST-20 4000k D1 Mini.
The SBT.90 was partly my want for a light with this emitter. I’d previously looked at the Lumintop X9L which also uses the SBT90 for similar money. However the D1 is slightly more pocket friendly, so I went with it instead.
The SBT90.2 is somewhat overkill in some ways. The beam is a little ringy on a while wall. But I wanted something with a very broad depth of abilities. It has a low (not quite a moonlight IMO), and a big enough hot spot to read with or use up close. But crank it up and it can light up a large area AND at distance. Few other setups can do this, they usually only offer one or the other (distance or big area).
When I’m across the farm or over the fields, the ability to light up the entire field or barn can be quite useful. It gets super hot on a turbo, but having 4000 lumens even for a handful of seconds is most impressive. High is more useful, although it’ll still get hot.
The only real negative aside from the price is the tint is not great on the SBT90.2 (at least my one). It isn’t terrible, but I do really love the warmer 4000k other emitters offer. Which is why I didn’t go for the SFT-40 either, very cool or somewhat blue in some photos I’ve seen.
I think the SST-40 would be a nice beam, not too throwy but still useful distance and a pleasant beam a bit like an XM-L/XM-L2 light. Although I think I’d like the SST-20 more, as you can get it in 4000k and high 90+ CRI. The SST-20 is more sized like an XP-G emitter. And in this host should make for a medium range thrower (circa 50,000cd vs 29,000cd for the SST-40), but with the trade off of less lumens.
I’m glad I’ve got the SBT90.2 version, although I probably wouldn’t buy another. But I don’t have any regrets. Had I gone for something else, I’d still end up desiring adding the SBT90.2 to my collection one way or another.
