Requirements, beyond the obvious

Hahaaaa … didn’t even do that on purpose, but nice pickup there!

I’m very comfortable with following guides to hack electronics and replace firmware and such. But for flashlights that would be a whole new area. And I am for sure not the person to reverse engineer things and actually write the guide. Very sad. This light has so much potential!

I will go and have a look, thanks!

I’ve done that.

Specifically to my use case though (I’m hoping that thread remains a bit more general), Turns out ZeroAir has a review for both the IF23 and the E21C (which you already linked to). Comparing the two, my observations:

  • Comparable output levels on the throw light, Sofirn wins for the sidelight
  • Lumintop has sensible firmware
  • Sofirn has the colors
  • Sofirn has a strong tailcap magnet, but Lumintop adds the tailcap hook
  • Lumintop has a very stable output, with Sofirn wildly fluctuating
  • I can’t judge those color charts, so I don’t know if Lumintop is any better

Since I am in Asia, Amazon is not a great source. AliExpress sells the Sofin for $30 for me with the Lumintop for $55. While I’d be happy to spend the $55, I’m not sure the differences justify nearly doubling the cost.

Hoping more options will be posted in the new thread, but between these two … somewhat begrudgingly, I think I’d choose the IF23 despite all its high blood pressure inducing firmware shortcomings. @Sofirn please let us reprogram this light!!!

Also, my enthusiasm for this search seems to have worn off on my wife!