What’s the difference between Sofirn SC21 and SC21 Pro?
The Pro has Anduril
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It looks like the regular, non-Anduril, SC21 is the one I want.
I’ve read that the early batches had no LVP, and that the battery that comes with it is unprotected. Is that still the case?
Another common comment was that it has high parasitic drain, especially if in electronic lockout mode? But then there were some more reports that this is not really an issue.
Could some resident experts set me straight on those two?
Cheers!
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About the Mini:
Yes the battery on both the Mini and Pro is unprotected LiIon.
No LVP on the Mini. The button lights Red when battery is low, electronic lockout is a bad idea.
Better to lockout by unscrewing the head. (suggest start w the light On, and just unscrew til it turns off, less than 1/4 turn is enough)
availability of Mini and Pro body colors:
it appears both the Mini and the Pro are out of production, and only black hosts remain on Sofirn there are some green on Amazon USA.
on Aliex there is still a Blue host for mini, afaict only Black for Pro.
about CR123a:
Neither the Mini nor the Pro work properly on CR123a. The Mini will turn on the Red low voltage warning light on the button, the Pro will step down to 20 lumens and will trip protection when the cell gets below the LVP trigger.
about the Pro:
The Pro model now ships w 2022-02-08 Anduril 2 firmware, which lacks LVP on the Aux. I reflash to later firmware that adds LVP for the Aux, and adds lower moonlight.
The Pro model with a firmware update is my personal preference and recommendation.
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Aaaah, this works because the threads are anodised and only the rim of the tube makes or doesn’t make contact with the board (-) and 1/4 turn can disconnect it!
The spring keeps the battery (+) in contact with anode even if the head is unscrewed, but that doesn’t matter, and this confused me. Brilliant!
Another part I’m confused about is the regulation. The mini is flat-regulated (which I like) while the pro is not so much. I thought the Andruil is a firmware type for some kind of controller within the driver that allows the user to reprogram functionalities to meet his or her taste. But then the Sofirn firmware, while not reprogammable, seems to result in better-regulated light to my eye. Are there hardware differences between the Mini and the Pro? Or are there some other differences beside UI that course those different behaviors? Or is there something that I’m not thinking about at all? Please explain…
I will try, but not an expert, so hopefully others will help clarify any mistakes.
You are correct that the Mini has a regulated driver, and it also is more efficient, iow, the battery lasts longer, at all output levels.
The Pro has a different driver and is only regulated below 100 lumens.
The drivers are a hardware difference. And the UI on each driver is different. I did my best to detail the functional differences between the two models, from a users perspective, in the link in post #3.
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I found this review of SC21 Mini. At 10:00 min there is a graph on Turbo. This is a distinctly different behavior from what I figured out from ZeroAir review on Turbo (the first stabilizes at a constant lower output, and the latter jumps from high to low as the temperature permits). Which one is it?
