Everyone here knows Convoy, right? So I can skip the introduction of how great their flashlights are. 
I’d like to show you the Convoy S21E with XHP50.3 HI 5000K R9050 which I got for free from flashlightgo for a review. Thank you very much!
This review is also available in German on my website: SammysHP Blog › Convoy S21E XHP50.3 HI
Supplied parts and hardware
You’ll get the flashlight in a simple box with some bubble wrap. A dual-way clip and a lanyard are already attached. That’s all. Do you need more? Everyone should already have a USB cable, a battery can be bought separately and if the o-ring breaks, it’s easy to order a replacement from Simon. This keeps the cost down, but preserves the quality.
I’ve decided for the orange version because I like orange. It was hard to color match the photos, in real life it looks even better. 
For a 21700 light it’s rather small with only 116 × 27.4 mm. It also weights only 82 g (plus about 70 g for a battery).
Instead of a classic knurling the battery tube has a more interesting pattern that feels very nice. The shape of the head prevents any rolling on a flat surface.
The front is protected by a stainless steel bezel. It also helps to prevent colored reflections in the beam.
This series of Convoy includes USB-C charging. Many reviews report that it charges at 2 A, but I only observed 1 A, even after switching cables and power supplies.
The charging port is protected by a silicone plug. Rather flat and easy to close, but already popped open when I inserted a battery and tightened the tailcap.
During charging you can use the flashlight as usual. A status LED in the switch indicates the charging status in a rather bright red or green, bright enough to illuminate the whole room.
The supplied dual-way clip is tight and has some defects in the painting. But I don’t use clips anyway.
A hole in the tailcap can be used to attach a lanyard. I like this design because it doesn’t hurt in the hand like the spiky version. And it makes tailstanding very good. Unfortunately it doesn’t come with a magnet.
The rear end of the flashlight has coarse trapezoidal threads. The spring is secured with a retaining ring. Enough space for a thin magnet?
Threads on the other side are finer and not anodized. The spring is more like a spacer, not that springy and very tight.
Machining is excellent on this light. No sharp edges, perfect anodization. That’s the great thing about Convoy: They are inexpensive, but the quality stays high!
User interface and features
The S21E has an electronic side switch. It’s protruding, which makes it easy to find and easy to press inadvertently in a pocket.
The UI has some minor similarities with Anduril, but is much easier and not configurable.
| State | Action | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Hold | Turn on in moon |
| Off | 1 click | Turn on in last used brightness (except moon) |
| Off | 2 clicks | Turbo |
| Off | 3 clicks | Strobe (10 Hz) |
| Off | 4 clicks | „Tactical Mode“ (Momentary turbo) |
| Off | 5 clicks | Battery check |
| Off | 6 clicks | Switch smooth/stepped ramping |
| Off | 10 clicks | Lockout |
| On | Hold | Change brightness Stepped: Low → Med → High → Turbo Smooth: ramp up/down Moon: nothing |
| On | 1 click | Turn off |
| On | 2 clicks | Turbo |
| On | 3 clicks | Strobe (10 Hz) |
| On | 5 clicks | Battery check |
| On | 6 clicks | Switch smooth/stepped ramping |
Noteworthy that you can’t increase the brightness from moon. You can turn it on either in moon or the last used brightness which might be turbo.
Smooth ramping is difficult to use because it ramps through lower brightness rather quickly and slows down when it gets brighter. Stepped ramping is better, but when you keep the switch pressed the levels are changed each second, rather slow. It’s faster if you hold and release it for each level.
The tactical mode gives you momentary turbo as long as you hold the switch, but only when you hold the switch. A short press does nothing. So it can’t be used for blinking or morse code. (Also an H would be the last character in your message because it leaves tactical mode on 4C.)
Battery check blinks out the voltage with one decimal place as known from Anduril. 10C for lockout is cumbersome and a quick mechanical lockout is much easier. Too bad the status LED can’t be used as a locator or for charging status.
Illumination
Usually for Convoy you have the choice between several LEDs. Do you like you light cool or warm? Brighter or better color rendition? Floody or throwy? I’ve decided for a Cree XHP50.3 HI in 5000K and R9050.
Typically the “HI” variant, which comes without a dome, has less tint shift and more throw. This 5000K version has a very neutral tint without the usual green of the XHP50. The flashlight comes with a green AR coated glass, which might improve the tint.
The small orange peel reflector creates a surprisingly throwy beam with a small spot, which smoothly transitions into the bright and wide spill. A nice universal beam, great!
Driver and runtime
As usual Convoy doesn’t tell you much about the brightness, intensity or runtime. All they mention is the maximum brightness of 1600 lm.
The S21E uses a “6V/3A” boost driver. Here is the current I’ve measured at the battery:
| Level | Current |
|---|---|
| Turbo | 4.40 A |
| High | 1.36 A |
| Medium | 0.42 A |
| Low | 0.05 A |
| Moon | 0.02 A |
| Off | 42 µA |
Runtime is really great. Turbo runs for two minutes, even going up quite a bit. Then it is slowly throttled to about 80% which is held for almost an hour. High even runs for almost three hours at a constant brightness.
The temperature regulation makes sure the temperature of the flashlight doesn’t exceed 52°C. Here you can see the difference between cooled and uncooled runtime. After starting the fan at 18 minutes, the brightness increases until it reaches the cooled level. Neither the temperature nor the brightness show any oscillations. Nice!
The brightness is regulated without PWM. In my runtime measurements the flashlight never switched off. When the battery voltage reaches 3.0 V the output is reduced to the lowest level and the switch starts blinking red. Then it runs for a long time until it turns off completely at 2.83 V.
Conclusion
I’m pretty amazed by the Convoy S21E with the XHP50.3 HI R9050! Considering the low price there’s nothing to go wrong with it. A reasonable performance for a light of this size, very nice light with good color rendition and the universal beam are properties hard to find even for much more expensive lights.
The UI has some rough edges, but is still absolutely usable in most situations. For example the ramping could be improved or a way to increase the brightness from moon.
