We have received feedback regarding our product’s functionality and design, particularly the internal structure design issues of Q8 Plus and SP36 Pro, resulting in frequent contact issues. We would appreciate it if you could share your product experiences and suggestions for improvement.
We have a few key questions for all of you.
Which lamp beads will have a better effect?
How to optimize the internal structure of the barrel to avoid contact problems effectively?
Any other suggestions for our current appearance design?
Any suggestions for the design of our switches?
Our R&D team will note the most frequently mentioned suggestions and work on implementing them. We encourage everyone to share their thoughts and ideas, and we wish you all the best.
The difficulty in upgrading the firmware on my SP36 has left them as dust collectors. If you make any changes to the PCB, you must provide a standard pin layout that is easily accessible for firmware flashing.
About the SP36, the ideal LEDs to be used with it, in my opinion, are the Nichia 519A, replacing the Samsung LH351D, and the Luminus SFT40, replacing the SST40.
The Samsung LH351D isn’t bad, but the Nichia 519A is objectively better in almost all aspects, except in terms of the compatibility with the existing driver. The difference between these LEDs forward voltage might or might not result in problems in the long run.
The Luminus SST40 isn’t bad either, but next to the SFT40 it looks almost obsolete, and it is a drop in replacement, no need to change anything.
I never had contact problems with any of the SP36 i ever had, they all worked flawlessly, but one thing that would be welcome is a new color, like the green used in the SC31 Pro, or brown, like the SP40A, with the new logo that is being used on the Q8 Plus. This will give it a much needed breath of fresh air, and alongside the new LEDs (519A and SFT40) it will almost look like a new product. No need to make drastic changes to the body of the light.
A new driver (Buck + FET) is something to be considered too, and it would greatly improve the efficiency and reliability of the flashlight.
It has been repeated already, but it is worth repeating again.
No more sst40
No more lh351d
If a new SP36 is revealed but still has old emitters in it, then it will prove that you’re not really listening to enthusiasts, @Sofirn. Emitter choices is not as complicated as redesigns in other aspects.
Other than this, I actually have no problems with either model of flashlight. I own both and enjoy it. Constant Current regulated driver would be welcome - but imo not strictly necessary in soda can lights.
Nichia 519 and SFT40 replacing LH351D and SST40. I don’t even consider buying lights with those emitters now.
XHP 70.3 HI should be used more often too because of mandatory boost driver
more Anduril 2 lights with aux
better regulated driver (boost, buck+FET) - there’re too many FET driven hot rods on the market already, please make good regulated drivers the new standard
more USB-C charging port hidden in threads like Sofirn SF26
For the Q8 Plus, I feel like pure output is the main selling point, but it would be really interesting to see a variant with XHP50.3 HI and a smooth reflector too, would get some nice throw. For the SP36 Pro, I think SFT40 would work really well in it - if you used higher drain batteries they’d produce similar or higher lumen output as well, plus you can get the high CRI 3000k version. In terms of the LH351D vs other 3535 LEDs, people who want high CRI prefer 519A over the LH351D, while people who are just interested in maximum output would probably rather XP-L HI or XHP35.
Sorry, not sure what you mean by this. Can you clarify?
It’s be nice to see a few anduril lights with RGB aux. Even if it’s just RGB in the switch.
RGB ;). Having a bit of a firmer and more positive feeling click would be nice.
1: I would recommend replacing the SST40 to SFT40 (in the SP36 Pro and SC31 Pro), XHP50.2 with XHP50.3 HI and smooth reflectors (in the Q8 Plus) and LH351D with Nichia 519a (in the SP36 BLF and many smaller models).
The current emitters while they are still bright, but they are lower performance or have undesirable tint so other flashlights get more sales.
2: If you refer to soda-can flashlights, make the tube a little bit longer and include a flat top adapter, similar to the ones that Convoy sells, so it can use both flat top or button top cells
3: I might be in the minority, but I like the older style of lights with diamond knurling (of the SP36), instead of the machined grooves of newer models. It gives a better grip. Maybe offer some more colors, I think a Q8+ in green, red, or blue (like the SP10 Pro) would look very good.
4: I would try to include RGB leds into the switch that are controlled by Anduril. This makes it very easy to see the battery charge, based on the color. The Noctigon K1 is probably the best-known example of this.
Another important suggestion, please stick to a single layout of flashing pads for any new Anduril lights.
The pad layout used in the SP10 Pro and TS10 have commonly available flashing adapters, it was very annoying to update my SP36 and SC21 because of the unusual driver pads. It would be trivial to add this pad layout to any new models, or revised versions of old models (like the t1616 BLF LT1, or the Q8 Plus)
Also, Anduril lights that use regulated drivers (buck or boost) like for example an Anduril version SC33
Short light with knurling, not pretty designs on the handle, something grippy, takes a 26650 or 26800 battery, nichia 519a or xhp 70 3 5000k led, very floody beam 80-120 degrees like the zebra light h604? White shallow reflector, boost driver
I hate hotspots, I hate knowing most of my power is being wasted in the hotspot, the vast majority of the time I’m doing something less than 15 feet away…
My feet and side to side of me is still dark, I hate that
All lights have great spill at 800 lumens or more, but makes my runtime drop to crap
Im looking for a light that has a 120 degree beam and well over 6hours of runtime
If I had a CNC machine I’d build a zebra light sc700 like light, with thicker body and head, more mass for heat dissipation, and a 120 degree beam , like they had on their h604 headlamp, boost driver
I think this would give me a super wide beam with over 8 hours of runtime
I do not care about any runtime under 2-4 hours, I don’t care if the light can do 6000 lumens , if it only lasts for 10 seconds
As has already been said, please use the “standard” flashing pad layout. The same one used by the SP10 Pro and SC31 Pro. This should be used by all attiny1616-based flashlights.
Something that can be done for a regulated driver in the SP36 that wouldn’t require too much R&D and be too costly is a dual boost driver. Sofirn engineers already knows how to make MP343x based boost driver as used in their XHP70/50 models, a dual boost is simply copy pasting the boost converter and CC regulation part, then of course using an Anduril compatible MCU like T1616. The two channels could be either controlled as one, or separately as dual channel light, while I dont think tint ramping is useful in such light (not enough leds for good mixing), with seperate PWM control signals one channel can be turned off at the bottom of the ramp to achieve a lower low.
Dual 5A6V would be perfectly reasonable to acheive and would drive four 519As at their maximum safe current, about 66W and 4800 LED lumens. No risk of overdriving like with a FET or buck+FET driver that has been suggested.
The MCPCB would need to be redesigned though : 2x2S instead of 4P. Also an OP reflector would be much more appropirate for 519As.
Standard flashing pad layout as already mentioned ( there can still be non standard ones next to it)
For high output while also staying efficient, the only better option than XHP50 is XHP70, but that would require reflector redesign as well. That last point is very important and the reason why I never recommend the SP36Pro - by reusing the reflector from the earlier BLF version it introduces weird “halo” effect that is quite distracting.
For the SP36Pro lots of people suggest going for SFT-40, but I think they are a bit too “throwy” for this kind of light. I would either keep the SST-40 with a better reflector or go for the XHP50 (which also requires a new reflector design).
As already suggested by others - a spacer/adapter.
Honestly I think both lights look okay as they are, and I think this style of lights don’t realy need to look trendy compared to EDC lights - they are more of a “get the job done” IMO.
But I will admit I’m a sucker for dark green lights (like used on SC21Pro) and having that colour option would probably sway me a bit more into buing the new versions
Oh, and add some slight crenellation to the bezels so you can see if you accidentaly turn on the light while putting it face down!
RGB AUX in the switch is a no-brainer IMO and I’m surprised it’s not present on any Sofirn light yet. Especially that if you use Anduril you already have the control software for it.
You didn’t ask for this but BETTER REGULATED DRIVERS PLEASE!!! Not at the top end of course as people buing those lights want the max possible output if only briefly, but find an output level at which the light is thermally stable and make sure it switches to a boost driver at this point for maximum sustained output.
1: The SP36 halo problem is now solved, a new gasket has been made and it eliminated the internal reflection that caused the halo artifact. Source: i brought one on the past month and the halo is gone, the new gasket covers the straighter part of the reflector that was causing the halo. The SFT40 sure makes the SP36 more throwy, but not by a huge margin, and most people actually value this aspect more than they value flood (that’s one of the reasons why it is recommended a lot). And there’s the fact that the SFT40 has very little tint shift, especially when compared to the SST40 (another reason why it is recommended a lot), so i see this change as a win-win situation. I tested the XHP50.3 on the SP36 but the heat was too much for the host, and the driver would also need a upgrade (2xFET, like the Q8 Pro).
Agree about SFT40 versus SST40, the SFT40 is better in throw, tint, and tint uniformity.
Given a throwy light (SFT40), it’s very easy to make it floody by using diffusion film. Given a floody light (SST40), it is impossible to use “anti-diffusion film” and make it throwy. A non-concentrated (floody) distribution of light has more entropy than a well-concentrated (throwy) one, and it cannot be reversed.
Thus, as a general design principle: when other factors are fixed, a throwy emitter is always a better choice than a floody one.
