From what I understand their black/gold 5000/5500 is really about 4700mah and is just a generic battery. Average. Not high drain. Nothing to write home about. Good for general purpose stuff.
I’m sure it would run this SP33 just fine, but might not run turbo very long (total time) due to getting weak and having the voltage sag.
I would recommend getting a good high drain cell like the Shockli 5500 or use some Liitokala 5000mah if you already have some, etc…. High drain cells should have less voltage sag and allow for longer turbo run time (total time). So it’s up to you.
I have not heard anything bad safety related about the Sofirn cells.
Thank you for the info Jason. I ordered 2 SP33’s today, one of them was a ‘kit’ and I was just curious about the battery.
I have a bunch of ‘The Original’ Littokala Blue 26650’s (the GOOD ones) & a half dozen Littokala Black cells I plan on using them most of the time. But if the one in the kit is at least semi-decent…. I’ll put it in the rotation.
It will be fully updated soon. I figured a lot of people were curious about the lumens, etc… right now. I’m very short on time, so the rest will be added later.
Correct. Both the Keeppower 6000 and the Shockli 5500 use the PLB-55A cell. FWIW, the Keeppower appears to use a thicker wrapper what one can discover when putting it into the Convoy L6. Anyway, both these batteries fit gently into the SP33 tube without any issues.
Note you can no longer purchase the SP33 reviewed here (the one with XP-L), if you order now you’ll receive the new version with XHP50 so no, the led in the SP33 and the light you speak of are not the same…
The two lights you mention are what we call “total crap” and should be avoided. Xml T6 zoomies. Maybe 500 lumen zoomed wide and 200 lumen focused tight. Crap user interface. Basically junk lights. Don’t waste your money on them.
The new Sofirn SP33 version 2 with xhp50.2 is in a totally different league. The quality is high. The output is real. It’s rated at 2500 lumen, I measured 2200 lumen, very close and very bright. It’s also quite a bargain.
It's 30.50 usd with 26650 battery and charger. I have one Alonefire 18650 battery that came with the flashlight and a spare 18650 GTF still to receive in the mail... so they are both brand new.
From the page specs we can use the Turbo mode for 36 min or 3h54 (give or take) in Medium with a 18650.
Are the stock 26650 good batteries or I am better in getting just the flashlight and buy a branded 26650 separately?
That link is still good. Or go to Aliexpress and search for SP33.
I have not measured any run times. The posted specs don’t say what battery was used for their tests. So I would take the listed run times with a grain of salt. Or else ignore them completely. The Turbo times are at 2 minutes each. Then you have to let it cool down and then use Turbo again. This level of brightness generates a lot of heat so it can’t run 36 minutes straight on Turbo. This is also effected by the ambient air temperature and if it’s windy or not. On a cold windy day the temperature may never get hot enough to step down to high. So it all depends.
The Sofirn 26650 batteries are just average batteries. Not the worst and not the best. They should be okay for this light since the amp draw never goes higher than 6A. They are pretty inexpensive as well. So it is up to you. They are better than 18650, though. About 4700 mah of capacity is what others have measured. That’s probably twice what your 18650 have.
If you want maximum run times I would get a Shockli 5500mah or Keeppower 6000mah (both measure about 5700mah). Or just carry a spare battery.
But of course, this thread is about the XP-L version that seems to be discontinued. So advice here as to cell and run time is not really applicable. Worthy of mention though is that when I stacked an R100 resistor on the two already present it pulls 5.31A for 1566 lumens, better beam profile and better tint .
And of course, Jason, the Samsung 30Q is a popular cell with 3000mAh capacity, much more than half of 4700.
The Alonefire 18650 I found is rated at 4200 mah and is $1.23. I would guess these are actually 1500-2000 mah at most. Maybe less. Pretty much junk batteries. They may not even have the power to activate Turbo, so I would not use them in the SP33 version 2.
When I started with flashlights some 6 years ago, I paid JayRob on CPF $165 to build me a 1D Maglite. He recommended a cell called Novae, a 32650 Li-ion with a protected circuit, bought on ebay. He claimed the light did 1000 lumens and it was mind blowing!
I still have that light, of course, and even the Novae cells I bought for it. (The light has been modified multiple times) But now I have over 220 lights, have sold over 100 lights, have built over 500 lights (600?), and have over 300 Li-ion cells to go with all my lights. The point I’m trying to make is, buy the proper cell for the light you are buying. It’s obviously really not that difficult.
We have recommended here, on BLF, for a VERY long time… no cells with Fire in the name! Sony, Panasonic, Sanyo, LG, Samsung… stick with the top names and you can’t go wrong. Samsung 30Q’s are a premium cell and often sold at or below $5 each. Not much reason for anyone not to have one, or multiples. There have been some off brand names come in that have proven themselves, like Basen, LiitoKala (careful where you buy them) Golisi, and several others. These may be rewrapped name brands, often argued over, but of course in the end just buying from the top 5 makes it easy and simple. I used to buy a LOT of Efest cells, but I haven’t seen them keeping up performance wise with the top names, so now I buy Samsung or Sony mostly.
Jason, stating things in the open forum to new flashaholics like “I would guess” is just simply folly. It may be likely that those cells really are junk, but if you don’t have one to test or don’t have a link to where it was tested, you just really do not know. Always best in that type situation to recommend the known good cells, lead the new folks to the safer higher quality products. Or direct them to HKJ’s testing site so they can choose for themselves from established data…
That's what I taught too. In the lack of any data regarding the abovementioned batteries on the SP33, I ended up getting the kit with the 26650.
I am not a flashlight "gearhead" nor I will be using the flaslight as a job tool, or on a daily basis (heck, I just need a compact, reliable, neutral flashlight with good contruction and illumination, for any emergency).
I believe it will fit my needs, even in the Turbo mode that I will use twice a year, at most. If it happens not to be enough in future endeavors, then I will consider a Shockli/Keeppower/or a branded battery like DB Customs suggested.
For now, I am just like a kid, waiting in front of the fireplace, in the Chrismas eve, for the Santa to arrive and get down the chimney.
The 2 "crap flashlights" i'll likely hand them to someone who understands flashlights as much as me, or keep them in the car, just in case.
Anyhow, you both have bashed the Fire flashlights so much, that I am REALLY curious on the Sorfin.
