I received this Convoy BD06 flashlight free of charge from Banggood for review purposes.
Link to Convoy BD06 at Bangood (non-affiliate).
Overview/Specs/Facts
Product specs from Banggood page:
Product name: Convoy BD06 XM-L2 AMC7135x8 LED Flashlight
Brand: Convoy
Model: BD06
Emitter Brand
Emitter Type: XM-L2
Light color: U2-1A(6500-7000K),white light
T6-3B(5000-5200K),white with little yellow light
T6-4C(4300-4500K),warm light
T5-5B(4000-4200K),yellow light
T4-7A(3000-3200K),deep yellow light
Material: Constructed from aero grade aluminum alloy
Driver: AMC7135x8
Mode: 5%low-30%mid-100%high-100%strobe-100%SOS
Battery Configurations: 1 x 18650/26650 battery (not included)
Switch Type: clicky
Switch Location: body side of the flashlight
Max Output: 900-1000lumens
Lens: Toughened ultra-clear mineral glass with anti-reflective coating
Reflector: SMO reflector
Waterproof: IPX-8 waterproof 2 meters
Color: black
Weight: 300g with all the other accessories
Size: 144mm x 41.8mm x 32.3mm(length x head x body diameter)
Features:
· Utilizes XM-L2 LED
· Maximum output up to 1000 lumens
· Features advanced temperature regulation (ATR) technology
· Features 5 brightness levels and comes with memory function
· Reverse polarity protection prevents damage from incorrectly inserted batteries
· Toughened ultra-clear mineral glass with anti-reflective coating
· Constructed from aerograde aluminum alloy
· Sturdy HAIII military grade hard-anodized
· Waterproof in accordance with IPX-8 (two meters submersible)
· Tail stand capability
Package included:
1 x Convoy BD06 XM-L2 AMC7135x8 LED Flashlight
1 x USB charging cable
1 x Suitable plug
2 x 18650 to 26650 plastic ring
I received the following which also included a US plug adapter (not shown in pic). Tint sent was T6-4C.
Plenty of room for protected cells.
Close to full square threading.
35mm smooth aluminum reflector. The lens is AR coated, but I couldn’t get a good pic to show this…you’ll just have to take my word for it. Also, I measured the lens at 36.96mm in case anyone breaks theirs and is searching for the size 2 years from now.
This flashlight has a built-in charging system. A snap-on adapter is included which plugs into a micro-usb cable and then into the included wall plug with an output of 1000mA. The snap-on adapter pops on over the metal clicky switch which is the same one used on the S2+.
I thought the ‘button’ on top was to assist in popping off the adapter, but it’s actually so you can turn the flashlight off and on while it’s charging.
The reflector glows red while charging and green when charging is finished.
There is an led on the driver which glows through a hole in the shelf lighting up a plastic retaining cover/centering ring over the aluminum star allowing the reflector to ‘glow’.
XM-L2 on aluminum board with thermal paste adhering it to the shelf.
The driver is 8x7135 and 28mm and is held into place with plastic cover and retaining ring. Brass button on top of the spring. Standard clicky switch mounted on the board.
There is no tail switch. The large spring rests on a ledge inside the tailcap.
The modes are Low>Mid>High>Strobe>SOS with memory if current mode is kept on for 3 seconds. Driver also features low voltage and reverse polarity protection.
I measured the following using a Samsung 18650 30Q.
Low .11A
Mid .78A
High 2.72A
Conclusion and personal opinion
To start on a positive note, this is by far one of the nicest Convoys I have held. I’m comparing this to the smaller lights such as the C8 and S-series lights. The BD06 has great matte anodizing and it just feels solid and robust. Also, for the record, I normally couldn’t care less how a light ‘handles’ or ‘feels’ or how balanced it is. However, this light just seems almost perfectly balanced to me. It fits right in my hand and the switch is easily accessible.
This can also be purchased in a large variety of tints. Cool white all the way down to warm yellow.
The charging system is easy to use as long as you understand red means charging and green means done. The flashlight did not come with any directions. This may not be an issue for most flashaholics, but if this light were gifted to someone, I think a set of instructions would be nice.
Tons of room for protected cells. The pic shown above with the protected cell does not show the spring compressed which allows the cell to get pretty deep into the tube. Non-protected cells sit very deep inside the tube. Also, no worries of 26650 cells shorting out due to the plastic cover which sits inside the retaining ring.
The beam is pretty ringy as shown in the pic.
I do not like the modes and see no option to disable strobe and SOS. I let it go on low for a while hoping for the quick flash to disable them, but it never came. This is way too nice a host to have such standard modes.
I charged several different cells and all cut off right at 4.2 volts. I let one cell charge for 4 hours and 44 minutes with a known capacity of 2,625mA. I picked the light up while it was still charging and the very slight movement of the adapter over the metal clicky switch caused the charging indicator light to flicker back and forth from red to green several times. I unplugged it and checked the voltage and it was 4.22 volts. This was very disconcerting. It only happened one time. All of my other test charges ended at 4.2 volts. Still seems slightly high. I most likely won’t use the built in charger, but this could be a great light to be gifted to someone as they would not need an additional charger, so I hope that was just a one-off incident.
Lastly, there seems to be quite a lot of internal resistance. The light output seemed extremely low on high when I first used it. I was using a Panasonic NCR18650B cell. I measured only 2.11A on high. I was only able to get the 2.72A using a Samsung 30Q. 2.70A with a purple Efest 3500 26650. I did tighten the retaining ring, but same results. My guess is it’s the brass button on top of the spring. Soldering the button to the spring with a spring bypass might resolve. This still lowers the output significantly.
The host quality is most definitely present with this light. Seems like it would be a great host to mod with an XPL HI and additional 7135 chips, however, stock performance seems sub-par if you are not using a high discharge cell.
