The convoy s2+ nichia uv from Simon I received last month has smo reflector. I tried it with xp-g2 s3 3d and fet+1 driver and it has the same throw as my convoy s2 smo reflector with xpl v6 1a and fet+1 driver. There is a slight visible ring around the hotspot of the s2+ w/ smo reflector.
I don’t see a big difference between OP and smooth reflectors in real life performance. That said its odd the Convoy C8 comes with an OP, why design a throw light and try to reduce its throw. For Convoy M1 and smaller lights i see no problem with OP reflectors, they are not meant for maximum throw.
You cannot be serious! 
How often is it the case where orange peel reflectors are the only choice?
I think what the OP is trying to say is that he wants a small tube light thrower to keep in his pocket when ice fishing - so he can see the holes way in advance and the light can double as a hand warmer 
Zebralight does make some SMO reflectors. My SC5w has one and it seems to suit the light nicely I think. Most of my Zebras are OP. I also have one of those Convoy S2+ UV lights with SMO and its got tons of artifacts. I’m going to swap it for OP.
Like others have said there are plenty of lights with SMO and plenty with OP. Buy the one you want.
In the thread I posted the link above, the OP reflector lowered throw 8 meters. This is on a C8. If you sandblast or diffuse a lens, the beam is smoother, but you are blocking the light out of the front. With an orange peel reflector, and a clear lens, the light is all going out the front, just not all in the same direction.
I like OP, but smooth and diffused have their place too…
I’d like to see see actual statistics on the difference in throw between OP and SM reflectors.
^^This. I have seen quite a few people say you can’t tell the difference with your eyes.
I suspect the throw difference you’d see would probably be minimal unless you are running an XP-G or smaller LED and even then I’m not hugely convinced with those hosts.
Sure on a Lux meter there might be a different number. But using it outside I don’t think there would be enough to tell.
For the record, I have a few compact lights with SMO reflectors and XM-L2’s such as SWM V11R. They all have ringy beams and would probably have been better off with an OP reflector, albeit maybe a very mild OP like EagleTac does.
If you want throw from the A6, then either dedoming the LED or swapping in an XP-G2 or even swapping in a de-domed XP-G2 will have far greater affect on throw than a SMO reflector will.
The biggest thing a SMO will do in a light this size is make the transition from hot spot to spill beam sharper and more distinct. This will have the affect of making the hotspot more noticeable. So a placebo affect is, it looks a lot throwier.
The reality is, yes PEAK lux will have increased. But I honestly don’t believe it would be in any meaningful way that you’d be able to see with the naked eye, not unless you were doing side by side comparisons. A SMO reflector isn’t going to double the distance you can light up.
We need data. All this is just talk so far. I wish I had and knew how to use a Lux meter. It would be so easy to try it out. I have both reflector types for my Convoy S2 XP-G2 S4 MtnFet+1. Maybe I could try setting the camera up and do white wall beam shots.
Give me a few weeks. Really busy lately with my first born just a month old now.
Lots of good arguments in here. I like it.
Extreme lack of sleep and irritability?
Congrats on the new addition. Make the most of him/her as they dont stay babies long. 
I think PflexPro found that instead of 526 meters of calculated throw from a SMO reflector, it went down to 518 meters with an orange peel reflector… I think that is an amount I can live with. Up close, who doesn’t want a smoother transition from the melt-a-cat hotspot to the edge-of-the-beam-that-you-make-your-face-scary-with-when-you-hold-it-under-your-chin part… I know it makes actually using the light up close a lot easier for me….
O-Range-peel, O-Range-peel, O-Range-peel…. No one wants to chant with me LOL, what I love about flashlights, you can make them what YOU want…
That’s actually not a big difference. Then you can just pick whatever you want for spot type without sacrificing much at all.
I’m guessing this was tested on a C8?
What if the reflector was a lot smaller like in a tube light? Would the change be more there?
PFlexPro makes awesome P60 stuff, so I’m sure that’s what his test was done on. He’s even got this really cool half-n-half reflector for P60 that’s smooth at the top but gently “frosted” down near the base that gives the best of both worlds - max reflectivity up high but a smooth hotspot with no artifacts around it. Cool stuff.
http://www.pflexpro.com/ is his website but he’s around here a lot too. Searching that name should turn up lots of fun info.
I wonder why the Hybrid reflectors haven’t taken off yet, Orange peel near the reflector and smooth at the edges… Kind of best of both worlds!
Here is an example, credit goes to Lightreviewers.com
The Convoy C8 I got has a smooth reflector.
I have two identical S2s (XML2 U4) and both produced the same amount of light with the stock OP reflectors. I put an SMO reflector in one and compared them side by side. The SMO was noticeably brighter and the beam profile showed only a slightly sharper corona on a white wall. In normal use there’s no noticeable image difference other than being brighter. I think the S2 reflector is too small to need OP and will never have a sharp hot spot. The C8 or any larger reflector is a different story.
Both my S2s now have SMO so I can’t take a side by side snapshot to show how much brighter they got but it was pretty significant. Whether they gained lumens or not, I can’t say but I’m sure the lux increased without appearing more throwy. That said, you probably wouldn’t notice a difference if you only have one light unless you measure it.