42

That store has been there since 2011 or something, they update the models on it yet zero sales, I wonder if someone has actually successfully ordered one from there.

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43

Favourites:

  • Emisar/Noctigon
  • Sofirn/Wurkkos
  • Acebeam
  • Weltool

Exactly this.

Took me about 3 months from my first nice light to building my own custom versions of anduril, then another 3 months or so from there to first code contribution.

Sometimes I feel like some manufacturers don’t really understand the principle of open source, as they keep making lights with very old versions of anduril when updates often improve the performance. The updating process could probably be streamlined a bit, but it means the value a light gives the user can keep improving even after they buy it.

I’m surprised by that. I’ve only had great customer service from both Hank (Emisar/Noctigon) and Simon (Convoy). I’ve had 2 defective lights from Hank out of 60, one replaced and another repaired under warranty without any problem.

44

And they used to link Chinese customers to it from zebralight.com. It’s weird, their Taobao store has a seller rating indicating thousands of sales, but zero reviews or sales of any listed item. The store info also says they operate as 上海埃卡通信技术有限公司 in China. I seem to recall @TimMc said it was impossible to actually buy Zebralights domestically during his recent visit.

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45

I tried to order 5 times but I ended up getting refunded by Taobao. I think the 24 hour timeframe for my bank to release the funds was too short or Taobao’s integration could be improved. I’ll try again with a different account.

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46

Yeah. Last time I checked, a local Taobao account couldn’t see the Zebralight store while a global Taobao account could. But my global account can’t seem to process the funds in a timely manner and payment fails (despite debiting my bank and later refunding).

47

Maybe email Hank directly and ask for a way to order: contact@intl-outdoor.com
He’s usually very friendly and communicative.

Emisar is definitely my favourite brand right now. Affordable, good quality and very innovative.

48

My favorite brands are:
- Emisar / Noctigon (>35 lights)
- Sofirn / Wurkkos (19 lights)
- Convoy (12 lights)

These lights are all high quality, affordable, have good support, and importantly follow what the community wants.

I have a preference for “DIY lights” as you call them, but I also like Acebeam because of the high performance and good build quality. The brands I prefer usually have good service and flaws are rare.

I mostly like lights with Anduril UI, I rarely buy a e-switch light without it, because lights with Anduril I can customize the firmware, and keep them updated when there’s new features. If a light has Anduril and is cheap, I will probably buy one to try or modify

I would also really like to add Lumintop (7 light) to my favorites because some of their older models are awesome (FW-series, GT-series) but I think they don’t deserve a place there anymore for a few reasons:

  • Lumintop’s implementation of Anduril is closed source (does not publish hwdef and cfg files), usually very old versions, and make it very complicated to update (requiring lots of disassembly)
  • When Lumintop doesn’t use Anduril it is usually also not a very good UI, like hold for off, or a bad ramp shape.
  • They have discontinued or downgraded enthusiast favorites:
    – discontinued FW1AA and GT Mini/Micro
    – simplified and cheaper driver in the FW3A for some time (from 1+7+FET to 1+FET) without telling anyone
    – worse reflector in newer FW1A
    – downgraded the GT Nano and Frog (originally could be flashed to Anduril but now have a worse MCU with terrible UI)
    – use of glue in the newer production FW-series lights

I really like the SBT90 as well, even if I only own 3 lights with it right now. Incredible throw. Another favorite emitter is the SFT40 because it is like a smaller SBT90, and dedomed Nichia 519a because it is bright and has very good CRI.

Are you familiar with the “Sanan” leds? I’m not 100% sure who the real manufacturer is but they have model names like SFN60, SFQ43, SFH55. Very bright but inefficient, SFH55 is over 10000 lumens but also needs 30-40A. Nightwatch brand lights usually have these.

To be clear, do you refer to the Lishen 21700 4000mAh battery?
There is a 3000mAh Lishen 21700 “LR2170HP” that is more powerful but is usually only sold in China (called the LR2170LH according to my research).

I would also like to ask if you know more of a few brands that aren’t usually available outside China like JKK and Nightwatch

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49

It seems that the three brands Noctigon Wurkkos Convoy have been loved by many people here due to their Anduril UI and high customizability. And in china, Anduril is not the first choice. He sounds like a legend, maybe many people know him, but few people come into contact with him. Perhaps this is why these brands choose overseas markets.I found some sentence on the Chinese internet that I can show you what they think: “I recently bought an Anduril flashlight, it’s really complicated. The flashlight works just like a computer. Can’t the manufacturer Lock after adjusting the settings before selling it？”“The Anduril system of Noctigon flashlights is too complex for ordinary flashlight players to use. “” My Anduril flashlight is already covered in dust. “” Anduril should have been designed by foreign enthusiasts, but there are not many people playing flashlights, so there is not much development. ", etc

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50

They discussed more about the appearance design, price, second-hand price, defects, charging method, performance (lumens, candela, battery life, etc.) of flashlights. As for gear settings, as long as they are not particularly difficult to use, everyone is generally tolerant. The Anduril UI does not play a decisive role in prompting them to purchase flashlights. A handsome appearance, powerful performance, or high cost-effectiveness are the key factors.

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51

The full name of San’an Optoelectronics is “三安光电股份有限公司” They acquired Luminus in 2013. I am not familiar with their various lamp bead models, but I can be certain that their product quality is good

52

Could you clarify what you meant here? The point of the configurability is that the settings shouldn’t be locked, the user is meant to be free to modify them (or even flash entirely different firmware, if they wanted) - the default settings are intended as a set of defaults so most people can pick up the light and use it without going deep into configuration, but the phisosophy of the project is that if you want to change them, you can. For example, I run customised versions on many of my lights with extra features that aren’t in the main version at all yet.

Well, as an anduril contributor, I’d disagree :wink: - I’d say there’s probably a good 10 or so people who actively contribute to varying degrees, and more who build their own custom versions and do small mods but don’t really contribute code to the main project. The community of actual developers is smaller than I’d like but it’s also been something I’ve been putting effort into growing, and hopefully in the future then being able to configure it using a computer rather than just on the light is a project I (and a few other people I know) have been working on, even if still mostly in the conceptual stage.

You do raise a good point about instructions though - it seems most light enthusiasts are concentrated in countries where english is spoken fairly widely. there are a lot of good writeups and diagrams for anduril - would a chinese translation be helpful at all?

PS. Out of interest, where do Chinese enthusiasts mostly discuss lights? Are there any dedicated forums, or just the major platforms like tencent, weibo, etc? I know subject-specific forums aren’t as common as in the rest of the world, but I’d definitely be interested in talking to more people.

53

I am referring to the 21700 4000 milliampere version. I found the sales page for LR21700LH, priced at approximately $1.8, but I don’t know if it is sold abroad. JKK and Nightwatch have a good reputation, especially Nightwatch, as their performance is too powerful and impressive compared to their size and price

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54

I don’t know if the translation is easy to understand, what he means is that he needs a flashlight as simple as a traditional flashlight, rather than a custom gear flashlight, and he doesn’t need custom functions. (Maybe he accidentally bought an Anduril flashlight)

There are some enthusiasts working on Anduril’s Chinese translation, as well as some excellent Chinese tables, but the key issue seems to be not in translation, but in usage habits.

Chinese enthusiasts usually discuss on social platforms such as QQ groups, WeChat groups, or Baidu Tieba

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55

Not directly, but there are a few companies that can source them who resell outside china, most commonly vapcell, although it’s by request and not a regular product of theirs.

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56

Wait, what I mean by the DIY brand here is that the boss makes it himself and sells it to customers. What does DIY mean to you?

57

I understood what you meant, but in general, to most people in the west, “DIY” without further context would imply people assembling their own lights from parts that were ordered specifically as parts rather than buying a specific product, more similar to computer enthusiasts (do gamers/enthusiasts in China build their own computers, or are they mostly prebuilt? Never really thought about that)

e.g. Convoy sell their drivers and hosts individually as well as as a complete light, and there are a few companies like https://www.mtnelectronics.com/ or https://lumencraft.com/ who primarily sell parts. For DIY in the sense you referred to, most people here would more commonly think of as “custom” (e.g. Emisar/Noctigon, where lights are built to order) or “non-mass-produced” (e.g. Convoy or Fireflylite - the lights are produced in larger quantities than custom ones without specific orders, but not mass produced on a production line in a factory (e.g. Sofirn, Wurkkos, etc), just by a few people in a workshop).

58

Thank you for your explanation. I think they belong to the category of “non mass produced”, such as Nightwatch. The quality of a flashlight depends on the boss’s mood. He even includes an external fan that can be clamped onto the flashlight in the set to dissipate heat. Have you heard of this

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59

For computer enthusiasts, they definitely assemble their own computers by purchasing graphics cards and motherboards and other accessories. They will also purchase them online, not offline, because the greed of offline computer stores can increase prices by 2-3 times or even more, and deceive people who do not understand computers

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60

Some things are just universal, I guess :rofl:

Once I needed a few SATA cables in an emergency and had to go to a physical shop and it was literally 4 times the price of online. They weren’t even good cables.

61

Haha, we have reached a consensus on this point. The situation I mentioned was most rampant 10 to 20 years ago when online shopping was not yet developed, and now it is much better. Speaking of it, is it possible to open an offline flashlight franchise store? I feel like I’ll lose money