[Review] Convoy M21J || Luminus SBT 90.2 , 2 x 21700, TIR || Output measurements and outdoor beamshots

The flashlight was sent to me by Convoy for review.
Here’s the product’s links (non-affiliate) for more info: ConvoyStore Convoy M21J , AliExpress Convoy M21J

The Convoy M21J comes in a hard cardboard box.

The flashlight is seated inside some laser cut foam for extra protection during shipping.

The Convoy M21J uses 2 x 21700 cells.
It comes with black anodization and as usual per the Convoy standards, the fit and finish is excellent.

Overall the light follows a very clean design.
Along its body and tail we find some grooving to enhance grip.

My own bundle also included two Vapcell F58 cells, rated with 5800mAh of capacity.
Along with the batteries, there’s also a spacer included that allows flat top cells to be able to contact each other.

The M21J is operated via dual switches.
An electronic switch is mounted on the lower part of the head and it’s used to operate the modes of the flashlight.

The switch is covered by a semi translucent boot and is held in place by a polished metal retainer.

The power on/off of the flashlight is operated by the rear mechanical switch.

On the tail of the flashlight, we can see a thick copper spring.
The switch assemebly is secured in place via a brass retainer.

Here’s the tail fully taken apart.

And a closer look at the switch.

The head comes with a polished metal bezel.
Inside the head we find a 50mm 3 degree TIR lens along with a Luminus SBT90.2 emitter.

As with all Convoy flashlights, the head can be easily taken apart.

On the back side of the head, we find the driver, which according to the specs it can deliver up to 20.5A of output current. In order to minimise resistance, a brass tab is used as the positive terminal.

The driver is held in place via another brass retainer.

User Interface

The majority of Convoy flashlights come with very easy to under UIs, and the M21J is no exception.
Here’s all the supported action by the flashlight:

Turn on/off: Single press (rear switch)
Mode cycle: Single press (front switch) (1% > 10% > 35% > 100% > 1% > …)
Strobe: Double press (front switch)
Momentary On: Half press and hold (rear switch)

Mode memory is present for all modes excluding the Strobe.

Output
Here’s my output measurements using the included Vapcell F58 cells.

image

As we can see, the Convoy M21J pushes almost 4000 lumen OTF at startup while puling 9.78A from the cells connected in series.
Overall, mode spacing looks pretty good.

Outdoor Beamshots
Here’s some outdoor beamshots of the Convoy M21J.
Needless to say, some neighbours were looking strange at me while I was deploying this light cannon :smile:

Final words

I think the pictures speak for themselves.
Build quality is great and the light produces a large, throwy beam with big output.

I would like to mention that the Convoy M21J is a flashlight I’d recommended only towards flashlight enthusiasts.
This is not a light to give to your parents or your kids to play around, as it pulls a significant amount of power and generates plenty of heat.
Additionally the dual cell setup requires proper handling of the batteries - always keep them balanced / equally charged.

6 Thanks

Thats a lot of light for fifty bucks.

1 Thank

Not even 10A on turbo? LOL

I’d have assume that’s because of the cells used, those F58 have a CDR of 10A? With the cells in series the current isn’t doubled like parallel cells would be. Try some Molicel or Samsung and I’m sure it’ll draw significantly more.

Edit: I forgot to figure with the cells in series the voltage is doubled, so it’s still drawing like >75W. So the emitter should still be getting the claimed 20A.

3 Thanks

2 cells in series, so a bit over 20A at the LED.

2 Thanks

Cheers guys. That’s make a sense.

1 Thank

This is a pretty good summary of the M21J :smile:

That’s now how series works. In series, multiply the voltage, same current; in parallel, multiply the current, same voltage.

Buck…

Nice write up! Yes the M21J is a monster. I have an earlier model - I think he fixed the driver as there was an issue with the location of the temperature sensor. In short, early models got insanely hot, if I recall I believe mine can hit 80 C. But, I think all that has been corrected.

In short, I agree this is one for enthusiasts only; not one to hand to someone else.

Nice post; much appreciated.
I’m curious to know if you’ve ever reviewed the Convoy 4 x 18 with sbt90.2 and if so, your thoughts on it; mainly comparing/contrasting the two torches. (M21J & 4 x 18)

I’m more interested in a real world assessment and opinion of the candelas and lumens in “real life,” as opposed to specs listed.

Thank you,
Duker1

im shocked how much hype the M21K has seen, the M21J is overlooked meanwhile, maybe if there is a driver that can push sbt90.2 to full 30amp limit then this thing will make a lot of sense for sustained long range throw/intensity over m21k and other models like l21a etc?

There’s only 15% output to be gained pushing the SBT90.2 from 20A to 30A, which is not a worthwhile gain for 50% more power input. A drive current of 30A is also unsustainable.

M21K is vastly better. The M21J is borderline dangerous.

3 Thanks

Is there any benefit for choosing the SBT90.2 over the SFT90 other than the warmer cct of the SBT90.2?

From what I could gather, the SFT90 has a very comparable performance and shines in an almost identical way, but is a lot cheaper.

1 Thank

Nice info! In essence, the SFT90 has significantly higher Vf than SBT90.2, more than 0.5V higher at 20A, reaching 3.9V. This means turbo will be completely unregulated even with a high-current cell fresh off the charger, and the 20A is never achieved in practice. Not even the newest tabless cells can float above 3.9V under 20A draw.

Thermal concerns are less relevant–in practice the SFT90 will likely run cooler on turbo due to being unable to draw the full 20A. On lower modes within the scope of regulation, the SBT90.2 will run a bit cooler due to lower Vf and thus lower power consumption at the same current.

1 Thank

leaving the nerdy details to the nerds, for 20$ cheaper, the sft-90 is brighter at 20amps than sbt90.2 although the candela is a bit less but not by alot, the tint on sbt90.2 is puke green, the sft90 is far less green in comparison. so overall i think winner is sft90, sbt90.2 only makes sense for 3x21d flashlight, otherwise for l21a/l21b type of hosts and m21j/l6/l7 sft90 is the way to go, the pros FAR outweigh the nerdy little cons like vf, in practice you literally WILL NOT be able to notice much difference between the two emitters unless you are EXTREMELY PARANOIDS/'NERDY and use all the tools in the world to measure these vf differences and crap.