This is the Speras EST Plus v3, a tactical flashlight with 3000 Lumens featuring a SFT-42R emitter, throwing around 800m on Turbo, powered by a PB50 5000mAh 40A CDR 21700 battery, type III anodizing and more!
• My opinion
This flashlight is pretty good I have to say. The SFT42R LED is very suitable for a tactical flashlight like the EST Plus v3, very powerful and no green tint at all. The included PB50 battery is truly amazing! I don’t see a lot of brands including such good batteries on their products, the new Tabless technology and 40A CDR is awesome. The main body is compact and very grippy with the type III hard anodizing. Awesome tactical flashlight.
The major downside on this flashlight is that the driver isn’t regulated, it has many good features, and I really thought the driver should be regulated on this flashlight. I think it would be better to have the momentarily Turbo on the tail switch instead of the Strobe, but you can have Turbo memorized for instant use if needed. The tail switch is a bit too loud, and the bezel could be a little more resistant, it seems a little fragile as it’s so tiny.
*I was informed in the comments the driver isn’t regulated at all, after confirming this I edited this post to include this info.
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Type III hard anoziding | Driver is not regulated constant current, so it loses a lot of efficiency and brightness stability |
| Excellent included PB50 5000mAh battery with 40A CDR | Doesn’t have Moonlight, the lowest brightness level has 10 Lumens |
| Works with almost any 21700 cell | Bezel is small and made of aluminum |
| Color battery indicator | *Tail switch is a little too noisy |
| Easy access to Strobe and Turbo |
• Price
The EST Plus V3 is currently priced at $89.99 on Speras Official Website.
• Box contents
- EST Plus V3
- Speras PB 21700 5000mAh Li-ion battery
- USB-C charging cable
- Lanyard
- 2x extra O-rings
- User manual
• Body and build quality
Anodizing Colors/Material Options: The EST Plus V3 is only available with matte black type III hard anoziding. The anodizing is feels pretty nice and thick, always very nice to have this high quality anodizing on flashlights.
Main body/Grip: The main body is full of grooves and knurling, very good grip, especially as the anodizing is matte.
Material: The main body is fully made of 6061 aluminum, while the buttons and USB-C cover are made of silicone rubber.
Threads: The tail cap and bezel threads are anodized and trapezoidal, very smooth threads and mine came properly greased - few flashlights come with a decent amount of grease on the threads.
Clip: The flashlight already comes with the clip pre-installed. The clip is made of stainless steel with a slightly matte coating - like the main body. The clip seems pretty sturdy but it’s a little too short in my opinion.
Tail stand and rolling: The flashlight rolls without the clip, so be sure to use it to avoid impacts. It can tail and head stand with stability.
Magnet: It doesn’t feature a magnet.
AUX lights: This flashlight doesn’t feature AUX, but it does have a color battery indicator - which is a super important feature on flashlights in my opinion.
Buttons: 2 buttons are present on this flashlight: a mechanical tail switch covered by a big silicone rubber cover - it has a slightly loud click; and a electronic switch on the side of the main body that includes a battery indicator under it. The tail switch is only for turning the flashlight ON/OFF and accessing momentary strobe, the side switch changes brightness levels.
Battery contact: Contact is made with the battery by 2 gold-plated springs, one on the tail cap button, the other at the driver.
Bezel: This flashlight bezel is kind of simple, made of aluminum, agressive but small. I wish it had a bigger stainless steel bezel.
Water Resistance: It features IP68 rating for 2m under water, submersion duration not specified. This one seems pretty good sealed, so I would trust it to go even deeper under water if it wasn’t for the USB-C cover; don’t get me wrong, it seems decent, but I think a potted USB with a thicker rubber cover would be best on a tactical flashlight.
Size comparison: On the left is the Brinyte PT16A (21700), on the center the Speras EST Plus v3 (21700), on the right the Sofirn SK31 (21700).
• Weight and size
Weight:
- With battery (Speras PB50 5000mAh): 184.9g
- Without battery: 112.2g
- Battery (Speras PB50 5000mAh): 72.7g
Size: 142.1mm x 39.8mm x 26.1mm - (height x head diamter x tail diameter)
• Battery, runtime, and charging
Battery: A Speras PB50 Tabless 21700 5000mAh protected Li-ion battery is included on the package. The battery is one of the best things about this flashlight, it’s an Awesome battery included on the package. 40A constant discharge rate. Probably one of the best batteries included directly with a flashlight (not bought separately). The flashlight also works with unprotected, button top and almost any type of 21700 cell.
Battery Indicator: This flashlight features a 3 color battery indicator, lighting up green, yellow, red and flashing red depending on the battery level. Pretty solid battery indicator, very useful and important on a flashlight. The indicator works as it follows:
| Color | Battery level |
|---|---|
| Green | > 70% |
| Yellow | 70% - 30% |
| Red | 30% - 5% |
| Flashing Red | < 5% |
Charging: USB-C charging on body is present on this flashlight. The port is covered by a silicone rubber cap to protect against water and dust damage. Speras advertises 4h30min for a full charge, so the charge isn’t too fast and this will avoid battery damage on the future. During charge the battery indicator will be lit red, when charge is complete it will light up green, if the battery is not inserted correctly it will light up yellow.
• Modes, Runtimes, Throw, Candela
Modes: A total of 5 main brightness levels are present on this flashlight, with 2 blinky options being Strobe and SOS. The levels brightness are well spaced, but sadly this flashlight doesn’t feature a moonlight mode - which is a pretty useful at complete darkness to not blind yourself - in it’s place there is the ECO mode, which has 10 Lumens. Advertised specs:
| Brightness levels | Brightness (Lumens) | Throw (Meters) | Candela | Runtime |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 3000 | 800m | 160,000 cd | 1min - 3h |
| High | 1500 | 566m | 80,000 cd | 4h |
| Medium | 500 | 400m | 40,000 cd | 5h |
| Low | 100 | 146m | 5,300 cd | 13h |
| Eco | 10 | 45m | 500 cd | 200h |
Turbo: Turbo mode is very powerful, being advertised to have 3000 lumens, really powerful and very good for a tactical flashlight. Speras doesn’t explicit the Turbo time before stepdown, but I measured around 1 minute before it stepping down noticeably. Turbo mode can me memorized for instant use on the tail switch.
Moonlight: Unfortunately, this flashlight doesn’t feature a proper moonlight mode, the lowest mode present is Eco with 10 Lumens. A good moonlight mode of around 1 Lumen, or less, would improve this flashlight and make it more versatile.
Blinkies: This flashlight has the classic combination of tactical flashlight blinkies: Strobe and SOS. Both can be useful under certain conditions.
Lockout: It doesn’t feature a lockout mode, as one of the main purposes of the mechanical switch is to prevent accidental activations.
Throw: The beam pattern of this flashlight is pretty throwy, so the throw is amazing. Throwing more than 100m on the second lowest mode, with the Turbo mode reaching around 800m. As you will see on the beamshots, the throwy beam pattern really throws a lot, and I really belive that it gets to the advertised throw.
• Emitter, reflector and CRI
Emitter: It features the new SFT42R LED in 6500K. This emitter is very throwy and powerful, making this flashlight have a very bright and focused hotspot that throws light pretty far. It’s an excellent emitter, I think it’s even better than the older SFT40, I hope the 42R get high CRI versions too.
Lens: There is an AR coated glass lens in front of the reflector
Reflector/TIR: It uses a 34mm smooth reflector for improved throw.
Beam profile: The beam has a very strong and defined hotspot, there some light rings especially close to the hotspot, which bothers me a little, but doesn’t make the flashlight unuseable as it’s not much noticeable after some distance.
*Flashlight at 45cm of distance on the desk beam and 1.5m on the wall beam.
CRI: The SFT42R has standard 70 CRI in 6500K.
• Beamshots Camera settings
- 18mm lens 1" F8 ISO800 WB-5200K
EST Plus V3 - Turbo
EST Plus V3 - High
EST Plus V3 - Medium
(The trees at the back are at a distance of around 100m)
I always try to match what my eyes can see on the beamshots, so camera settings may vary.
• Driver and UI
Driver: The driver is not stated directly, but it’s claimed to be a regulated driver - as it uses a SFT42R ~~it’s a Buck constant current driver.~~ The driver is actually not regulated constant current, so this is a big downside to this flashlight. With so many good features and high quality materials I am truly impressed it doesn’t have a regulated driver.
UI: The UI makes this flashlight very simple to use and fast to learn. The tail switch turns the flashlight ON/OFF, and can also be used to access momentarily Strobe. The side button is used to change brightness levels and access to momentarily Turbo and Strobe. I think it would be better to have the momentarily Turbo on the tail switch instead of the Strobe, in my opinion Turbo is usually more important to have ready easier.
| Button | State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tail switch | OFF/ON | Click | ON/OFF |
| Tail switch | OFF | Half click + half click/click | Momentarily Strobe/Strobe |
| Side Button | ON | Click | Cycle Brightness levels |
| Side Button | ON | Hold | Momentarily Turbo |
| Side Button | ON | Double click | Strobe |
| Side Button | On Strobe mode | Double click | SOS |
| Side Button + Tail switch | OFF | Press both | Eco |
Low Voltage Protection/Warning: The battery indicator will be flashin red when the battery level is too low, also, the flashlight will turn OFF when below 2.8V.
Reverse Polarity Protection: The flashlight has reverse polarity protection and will not let current flow on the wrong direction. When the battery is inserted incorrectly, the flashlight does not turn ON.
Temperature Control: The EST Plus v3 seems to use the Speras real time temperature control, dimming the light down as the temperature rises, it will make available to activate the Turbo mode again when the temperature goes down.
A special thanks to Neilo and Speras for sending this flashlight for me to review!
*I am not being paid to do this review, everything here is my honest opinion.
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Thank you for reading my review