Pocket thrower, forward clicky, inexpensive: Sofirn SP31 V2.0

Markus · 2018-10-16T18:24:18.000Z

The Sofirn SP 31 V2.0 was given to me for a review by Sofirn. It looked like a good quality budget light, a bit boring perhaps and yet another take on the “one flashlight does it all”-genre. In fact it is a dedicated thrower with a dedomed LED, no compromise on the hotspot, excellent heat transfer and a simple UI. The tactical forward-clicky makes it a good duty flashlight for professional use and I find myself using it much more often than I expected, including on my night shifts. This light is a quite specialized fellow unlike its cousin the SP32A.

Here is my review:

ggf31416 · 2018-10-16T19:26:18.000Z

Ramping pretty much requieres PWM, which is often visible to a camera if your are not using the high mode and may have noticeable effects under specific circumstances like rotating motors at the right frequency. That is the reason to offer lights without PWM. Also not using PWM would be more efficient.

Your video points to the end of the review for me.

Markus · 2018-10-16T19:31:48.000Z

I am not sure, I did a review of the SP32A V2.0 and found no PWM-flickering on any level and the same goes for the C8F:

Therfore I would have loved had they done ramping on the SP31 as well. But Sofirn told me, they wanted to keep it very simple for customers therefore no mode groups and ramping.

mcfarlie6996 · 2018-10-17T14:33:21.000Z

Markus:

In fact it is a dedicated thrower

That’s a very generous statement that I definitely wouldn’t agree on. It’s still a 1” tube light and so it’s far from being a thrower. Yes it throws more than other LEDs that are not domeless but still it’s not a thrower. Even the TN12 I skimmed through the video and didn’t see any comments or measurements of throw. Using someone else’s review of the SP31 V2.0, they measured 243m of throw. I have experience with the Acebeam EC35 XP-L HI and the Nitecore P12GT which uses the same emitter and personally measured 271m and 301m respectively. Even 243m isn’t much considering many of the domed models still reach around 205m (more or less).

I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s not a thrower and just merely throws a little better than other 1” lights and that I don’t want people to be misguided into thinking this is a thrower. The Emisar ~~D1S~~ D1 or Nitecore P12GT are good models to check out that I’d consider as the base models (that I’d state) to be considered as a dedicated thrower.

DavidEF · 2018-10-16T20:05:15.000Z

mcfarlie6996:

Markus:

In fact it is a dedicated thrower

That’s a very generous statement that I definitely wouldn’t agree on. It’s still a 1” tube light and so it’s far from being a thrower. Yes it throws more than other LEDs that are not domeless but still it’s not a thrower. Even the TN12 I skimmed through the video and didn’t see any comments or measurements of throw. Using someone else’s review of the SP31 V2.0, they measured 243m of throw. I have experience with the Acebeam EC35 XP-L HI and the Nitecore P12GT which uses the same emitter and personally measured 271m and 301m respectively. Even 243m isn’t much considering many of the domed models still reach around 205m (more or less).

I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s not a thrower and just merely throws a little better than other 1” lights and that I don’t want people to be misguided into thinking this is a thrower. The Emisar D1S or Nitecore P12GT are good models to check out that I’d consider as the base models (that I’d state) to be considered as a dedicated thrower.

Well, where I am, I can’t see the video. So I don’t know about this particular light, until I get somewhere that I can see it. However, there is one logical fallacy I can go ahead and clear up for you. Whether this light is as good at throw as other lights doesn’t determine whether it is a “dedicated thrower” or not. It could just mean that this light is designed to favor throw (for it’s size) and minimize spill. Throw is affected by more than the shape of a reflector and the size of an emitter. It also is affected by the actual power output of the emitter and some other factors, like the clarity of the lens, and the reflectivity of the reflector surface. But a light can be designed as a “dedicated thrower” whether it is comparatively as good as another or not.

Markus · 2018-10-16T20:07:53.000Z

mcfarlie6996:

Markus:

In fact it is a dedicated thrower

That’s a very generous statement that I definitely wouldn’t agree on. It’s still a 1” tube light and so it’s far from being a thrower. Yes it throws more than other LEDs that are not domeless but still it’s not a thrower. Even the TN12 I skimmed through the video and didn’t see any comments or measurements of throw. Using someone else’s review of the SP31 V2.0, they measured 243m of throw. I have experience with the Acebeam EC35 XP-L HI and the Nitecore P12GT which uses the same emitter and personally measured 271m and 301m respectively. Even 243m isn’t much considering many of the domed models still reach around 205m (more or less).

I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s not a thrower and just merely throws a little better than other 1” lights and that I don’t want people to be misguided into thinking this is a thrower. The Emisar D1S or Nitecore P12GT are good models to check out that I’d consider as the base models (that I’d state) to be considered as a dedicated thrower.

Good points, I see your angle of reasoning. However, I focus on the characteristic of the beam - tight, very bright hotspot and little spill is a thrower in my books. That even powerful lights won’t throw very far with a small reflector is a bit of a different issue. One could even debate if a throw-heavy beam pattern and dedomed LED make any sense below the reflector size that i.e. a C8-style light offers. (I would start with a C8 if I needed a dedicated thrower)

BTW I have to get a Emisar light soon. They must be awesome.

wstrachan · 2018-10-16T20:08:15.000Z

I am not arguing that the light is nice or not but it is definitely an EDC light and NOT a thrower.

Markus · 2018-10-16T20:15:52.000Z

wstrachan:

I am not arguing that the light is nice or not but it is definitely an EDC light and NOT a thrower.

All my EDC-lights of this size class have a much softer beam-pattern, less throw. I find floody lights even with multi emitters like my Astrolux and my Jaxman very useful. They would be the opposite to the SP31. Now you can EDC all of them very well but they do represent extremes while many lights of this size and output are more something in between.

Lightbringer · 2018-10-16T20:39:50.000Z

Yep, that’s why I always ask someone “Whaddya wanna do with it?”.

Grubbling around in a dark room, you want a floodier light.

Checking the grounds for anything suspicious, you want a throwier light.

“Jack of all trades, master of none.” All too often, “compromise” means doing everything so-so, but doing nothing very well.

That’s why all of us here tend to have 467 lights on average, to cover all the possibilities. :laughing:

Markus · 2018-10-16T20:52:44.000Z

Lightbringer:

Yep, that’s why I always ask someone “Whaddya wanna do with it?”.

Grubbling around in a dark room, you want a floodier light.

Checking the grounds for anything suspicious, you want a throwier light.

“Jack of all trades, master of none.” All too often, “compromise” means doing everything so-so, but doing nothing very well.

That’s why all of us here tend to have 467 lights on average, to cover all the possibilities. :laughing:

In every size and output class we need every beam pattern, plus multi-colour lights, UV-lights, lights with taser, lanterns, lights with secondary lasers and knifes. All of that needs to be upgraded every second year. This ensures the right tool for every job except that the perfect light is rarely ever at hand

eas · 2018-10-16T22:22:19.000Z

ggf31416:

Ramping pretty much requieres PWM

That isn’t at all true. You can have ramping without PWM with a continuously variable constant current driver. I don’t know of many, but I’m pretty sure the Sofirn SP32a v2 has one.

d_t_a · 2019-04-08T13:53:27.000Z

eas:

ggf31416:

Ramping pretty much requieres PWM

That isn’t at all true. You can have ramping without PWM with a continuously variable constant current driver. I don’t know of many, but I’m pretty sure the Sofirn SP32a v2 has one.

Just chanced upon this message thread while searching for something, and noticed the comment about variable constant current driver.

I also noticed the Sofirn SP32A v2.0 does not have PWM even while ramping.
Another flashlight that does not have PWM while ramping is the BlitzWolf BW-ET1 and the Haikelite SC26 in ramping mode.

(maybe if someone else knows which other ramping flashlights do not have PWM while ramping; the NarsilM and Anduril use PWM while ramping)

Someone mentioned the C8F-21700 in ramping mode has no PWM, but in my test (I use the “shine light through portable fan blades” method to check PWM), I can see “PWM” when the C8F-21700 is in ramping mode.

4492011 · 2019-04-08T21:30:55.000Z

Op Great review, and perfect matching title, I am somewhat of a newbie and have purchased many tube lights already. convoy S9, S2+, S8, Astrolux BLF A6, Sofirn SP 32V2 plus a couple of others, and this is the best thrower of the group that I have found so far. So I would agree that the light is appropriately called a pocket thrower compared to other lights of this style and size. I really like this light for my purpose.