Review: Folomov EDC-C4 compact side-switch 18650

gchart · 2018-06-18T04:53:20.000Z

Folomov EDC-C4

Introduction: Folomov reached out to me and offered the opportunity to review their recent light, the EDC-C4. While the flashlight was provided for free, I try to be unbiased.

Fit & Finish: The EDC-C4 arrived in nice retail packaging with an included protected 2600 mah 18650 battery. The overall construction is pretty good. I’m not a huge fan of square knurling, but it’s clean and it works. The anodizing is decent, slightly on the shiny end of the spectrum. And the finish is slightly different between the head and the body.

LEDs & Tint: This Folomov uses a cool white XP-L LED. It’s not stated, but perhaps in the 6500K range with a hint of blue in the beam which is very clean overall. If you’re wall hunting, there is a single outer ring, but I don’t find it bothersome. Unlike many of Cree’s newer chips, I haven’t noticed much tint shift with this XP-L. The reflector is very clean and shallow, resulting a floody beam.

Modes & UI: The EDC-C4 has four standard modes rated at 1200 - 200 - 75 - 10 lumens. My rough lumen estimates (DIY lumen tube) are relatively close to that: 1271 - 362 - 165 - 4 lumens using the included battery. Pretty good numbers, but I’d say the jump from low to medium is a bit too large. The mode order is L - M - H - T - H - M - L (ramp up and back down as opposed to wrapping) with mode memory. Strobe, SOS, and Beacon are present but (thankfully) hidden behind double clicks. Lockout can be enabled with a triple click.

USB Functionality: A micro-USB port is present and can be used to both charge the flashlight and to serve as a powerbank (say, to charge a phone). The cord to take care of these tasks was included. While I don’t typically rely on built-in USB charging, it’s a nice feature to have in a pinch. The same goes for powerbank capabilities.

Conclusion: The Folomov EDC-C4 is pretty compact (short!) for a 18650 flashlight. It’s solid overall, and bright. I like the fact that it comes with a battery. To me, the one place where I struggle with this flashlight is pricing. At the time of this writing, the EDC-C4 is $43 on Amazon

Some size comparisons…

Lightbringer · 2018-06-18T05:16:32.000Z

:weary:

I would’ve so much preferred the C4’s UI than the D4’s (H/M/L/strobe/…).

Hella bright, and short, but the UI…

gchart · 2018-06-18T05:20:26.000Z

Yeah, I really appreciate that the blinkies are hidden. I haven’t checked out the D4 - does it always start on high?

Short, bright, USB… there is quite a bit to like.

Lightbringer · 2018-06-18T05:30:15.000Z

gchart:

Yeah, I really appreciate that the blinkies are hidden. I haven’t checked out the D4 - does it always start on high?

Short, bright, USB… there is quite a bit to like.

It has memory, but the order is always high→low, which bugs me. And having strobes in the main cycle is just a Rick James slap in the face.

If I could lobotomise the driver to have it “stuck on high”, I’d be kewl with it.

And yeah, it’s the shortest 18650 light I’ve got, and gets hot really fast, telling me there’s some excellent thermal path from LED to case.

So many nice features, but the UI…

Right now it’s relegated to my nighttime “whut’s that noise out there?” light where I keep it kicked up to high and leave it, but the UI would just piss me off were I to try EDCing it.

AlexGT · 2018-06-18T06:10:30.000Z

I have the exact same model, I like it a lot! Is my new EDC, wish it had Narsil as the user interface, it would make it the perfect light for me.