[REVIEW] Sofirn SC32: good light at a good price

Hello! A while ago Sofirn sent me out the new SC32 to try out and give an honest review. I’ve been carrying the light for a few weeks now, so I’ve had some time to formulate my opinion. Sofirn has made this as well as many other lights to hit a more budget oriented market, coming in at a price of $35 for the light, and a battery, which is pretty good compared to other lights on the market right now.

Specs:

The sofirn SC32 is an 18650 light that takes advantage of onboard USB-C charging. They claim a max output of 2000 lumens, and compared to some of my other lights, looks to be about right, but it does drop off rather quickly (20-30 seconds). Sofirn has picked the ever-hated SST-40 emitter, available in both 6500k and 5000k variants. The light they sent out to me is the “6500k” version, but it looks to me to be around 6000k. The light uses an optic instead of the classic reflector, so they are able to make the light much smaller. The light is a little less than 4 inches in length, and just under an inch in diameter, making it a bit longer than the lumintop FW3A or EDC18, but an inch shorter than a Convoy s2+. The light uses an E-Switch located at the tail of the light, it is really clicky and has a reasonable actuation force. If any of you have the Wurkkos TS10, it uses the exact same switch, just upsized a little bit (pictures in my profile). It uses Sofirn’s own interface, which has 2 mode groups to choose from:

Group 1: click on, hold to cycle through modes High-Med-Low, double click at any point for turbo, triple click at any point for strobe. Hold from off for moonlight. 4 clicks from off for lockout mode. 4 clicks from on to switch mode groups.

Group 2: the same as group 1 but instead of 3 modes, it has a stepless ramp so that you can pick the perfect brightness for your application.

THE GOOD/ WHAT I LIKE

  • Pretty good CCT, not the greatest, but better than the SC31 PRO
  • Really good switch, very cicky
  • Hard to turn on in the pocket
  • Pocket clip is very nice (enough ramp and retention)
  • Beam profile is very neutral (no hot spot)
  • Very compact size
  • Lightweight but good balance
  • Light can tailstand on or off
  • The interface works nicely
  • Light is easy to use for beginners
  • Budget price focussed at newcomers ($35)

THE BAD/ WHAT I DON”T LIKE

  • Stepless ramping is incredibly slow (almost unusable)
  • I’m not really into 2 way clips
  • Charging doesn’t work with USB-C to USB-C cable
  • They used the SST-40 AGAIN!!! (please use better emitters)

FINAL OPINION

Overall, I really like this light, and I would highly recommend it to anybody looking to get into flashlights. I would really like to see a “PRO” version of this using a nichia or SST-20 emitter and Anduril firmware, to me that would be the perfect edc light. I really like the switch, with it being clicky unlike the FW3A. I aso like that they are hitting a sub $35 market, which is accessible to many people. If you’re looking for a new edc light to add to the collection, I would definitely consider the SC32, but I would get the 5000k version.

Thank you for your time! I have a few pictures of the light on my profile with more coming soon if you are interested. Have a good day!

1 Thank

Nice review.

I have an SC32 which I emitter swapped to Nichia 519a.

It’s a nice light, but I still find it a bit too big for EDC. It’s not a large 18650 light, but it’s also not the smallest.

Have a pleasant time at this friendly forum, Chickenboi!

Good review. I was debating between this and the similar SC18, then I saw the other day an active code on a thread here to get the SC18 for $17 with same day Amazon shipping (including battery, a diffuser and a separate magnetic cap).

I am weak. I ordered a SC32 hi cri and another sc18. They are on flash sale

I have one. It reminds me of the short fat shape of the TS21. Nice form factor.