Specification
- LED: Cree XHP70.3
- Operating voltage: 6V - 8.4V
- Power supply: 2x 21700 (included 2* 5000mah)
- Dimensions and weight: 258.5*70mm and 418g (excluding batteries)
- Body: aluminum
- Waterproof: IP68
- Charging: Type-c 5V/3A, 9V/2A and 12V/1.5A
You can buy Sofirn SP60 at:
➤ Amazon
Packaging and appearance
quite buddet cardboard box
The kit has everything you need: the flashlight itself, 2 * 21700 batteries of 5000 mAh each, type-c charging cable, lanyard, o-rings and a manual.
And now it’s time for the predecessor to enter the stage. The powerful medium-range flashlight Sofirn SP70 does not differ in length, but its body and head are noticeably wider.
The Sofirn SP60 design is better: a button, knurling on the handle and on the head - the appearance, in my opinion, is at the level of models of some more expensive brands.
Sofirn SP60 is controlled only by the side button, so the tail button is gone. And, unfortunately, a grip ring (and shoulder strap) as well
However, with such a deep and tenacious knurling, it is not a big loss. The flashlight sits in the hand like a glove, very securely.
Sofirn made a special cassette to use flathead batteries. really didnt expect to see the one here
There are springs both at head and tailcap
The head of the Sofirn SP60 is quite massive, but still significantly smaller than the wide knob of the Sofirn SP70
Agree, design really improved.
Yes, there are fewer cooling fins, but the fins are still excellent.
The button also finally began to look decent. Yes, it became flat, but it lay on a flat area and you can still feel it instantly. Of course, there is also a backlight of the charge level and the charging process.
Charging is fast. 3 hours for a total capacity of 10000mah is an excellent result. Not so long ago, it took a whole night to charge an 18650 battery.
As usual, the Type-c connector for charging is located on the opposite side of the head button.
By the way, the flashlight works without a battery! True only in Low mode. But still, in some case it can help out a lot.
The bezel teeth are the same as they were, wide and low
The reflector is textured, as it was in SP70.
The Cree XHP70.2 was replaced by the same bright, but more long-range Cree XHP70.3. And that is a great change.
UI]
Nothing unusual
1 click - OFF-ON
2 clicks - Instant Turbo (2 times from Turbo - Moonlight)
3-clicks - instant Strobe (extra 2 clicks switch Strobe-SOS-Beacon)
4 clicks from OFF - lock (3-4 clicks to unlock).
Hold from OFF - Instant Moonlight
After 3 minutes, the flashlight will automatically turn get locked. autolock really pisses me off! there should be a way to turn it off
How Sofirn SP60 illuminates
I don’t have any clear explanation for the difference in color temperature readings.
low-mid-high-turbo from left to right.
in general, there is no admixture of greenery anywhere, in this respect the light is charmingly uniform.
In 2023, and after a number of easily stabilized models, it should be possible for Sofirn make a stabilized brightness for Sofirn SP60 use.
Turbo will give you 20 seconds of full peak brightness and almost a minute of fall off, which is pretty good for that kind of brightness. Similarly, 10 minutes for High. And, unlike turbo, this mode can be restarted.
However, there are also fully functional modes. Mid at 1000 lum will give you a full hour and another 3 hours before sliding down to half that level. Well, Low 450 lum with a quite gentle curve and excellent operating time.
Light? The light is very good. As I said at the beginning of the review, it is relatively comfortable up close. Gorgeous at medium distance - there is a long time of work, and the light itself. If desired, you can break through well into the distance.
The difference with Sofirn SP70 is also visible. It has a greener tint and a slightly wider light due to the wide textured reflector.
As a walk around light Sofirn SP60 is definitely even redundant, here MID mode is more then enough .
Mid mode is quite good at a distance of 150-200m. High, of course, will be better. But it is clear that Sofirn SP60 highlights the structure well in this long-playing MID mode.
At range if 250m + only high or turbo will be of any use.
At a distance of more than half a kilometer, there is almost no longer any use from the Sofirn SP60. here you need a full-fledged long-range flashlight. I sincerely hope that they still become dumb and release something on Osram again. I know that Wurkkos is now doing such work.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS’
What to hide, I expected more from Sofirn SP60. However, all this “more” is about stabilization and auto-lock. If the flashlight had a stabilized brightness, then Turbo and high would still work as long as they do now. And I think the real difference would be at the Low and Mid levels. And here the graph of the fall in brightness is already quite gentle. The eyes will adapt to its fall and for the user the brightness will be quite the same.
But auto-blocking annoys me much more. However, this disadvantage is manifested only if you constantly play with a flashlight. If you use SP60 in form of “turn on and shine”, then there will be no problems.
And the flashlight shines, oh, just gorgeous. In terms of light, Sofirn SP60 is way better than Sofirn SP70, both in overall light distribution and no parasite tints. Cree XHP70.3 showed its best here and I definitely believe that an EDC flashlight with Cree XHP70.3 will be interesting, and soon one will come to me, I’ll tell you.
You can use Sofirn SP60 as a walk around light at two lower brightnesses. At medium brightness, it is simply gorgeous for an mid-range work. At higher brightness, you will have a real spotlight. Not as impressive as the model with SBT90.2 LED like Wurkkos TS30S pro, but also less hot and energy consuming.
And thanks to two batteries, the flashlight will work for a long time. And in case of urgent need, it can be powered by power bank in Low mode even without batteries.
As for progress compared to Sofirn SP70, a lot of good things have been done here. The batteries are smaller in diameter and the flashlight has become more comfortable to hold. There is built-in charging and it is fast.
UI Sofirn SP60 is more convenient for me than that of SP70. Here, only the non-switchable auto-lock is annoying (I hope that it will be removed).
In short, if there was stabilization and a switchable auto-lock, then I would be ready to give the flashlight a solid 5. Now it’s just a very strong 4. And, as for me, “good” is already quite enough for a purchase. Have you seen many really perfect flashlights?