Sofirn SC18 Torches LED Super Bright Rechargeable Torch Flashlight 1800 Lumens IPX8 Waterproof, EDC Light with Side Switch 6 Modes,USB Hand Torch for Camping, Hiking and Emergency Use

Product Information

I measured a colour temperature of 5846K with a very slight green tint that wasn’t really noticeable in most cases and a CRI of 65. Amps were measured with a Klein Tools MM300 digital multimeter to the best of my ability. Battery Life: Runtime graphs

Here’s the tailcap, which has a little bump out to house the magnet. The edge is also even with this bump out, and allows room for the lanyard holes. The lower modes are very well regulated with constant outputs, although I did find outputs a little lower than spec’d. Like the Nitecore T4K there’s no mention of the ANSI standard in the manual or online, but even so I didn’t see 2000 lumens in any of my tests even at turn on. Its output is rather unimpressive though and it’s a little on the large side for an AA or 14500 light. And I can’t help feeling the interface is unnecessarily complex. If Skilhunt could improve the output and perhaps use Anduril 2 firmware instead if they want a customisable torch, I think they could be onto a winner. Thrunite T1S It does get quite hot – I measured over 50°C at the head but even the body gets quite warm in turbo mode. It does become a nice hand warmer though on a winter walk. I measured an unbelievable 4855 lumens at turn on, 4659 lumens after 10 seconds – just, and then a dramatic drop off to 232 lumens for the remainder of my measurements.There’s a few torches that didn’t make this top ten but deserve a mention. The Olight Baton 3 Pro is the most compact 18650 torch I’ve tested and almost the perfect EDC torch. Olight Baton 3 Pro (natural white version) in turbo mode The torch has built-in USB-C charging behind a rubber flap. All modes including turbo are available whilst charging. The side switch glows red when charging and green when fully charged. The torch head got warm to the touch at around 46°C. The moonlight mode I measured at 2 lumens which is a bit bright for a moonlight mode but not too bad. This is the default operation of the torch, but the TS10 runs Anduril 2, an open-source firmware for torches. Anduril is completely configurable but quite complex – I could fill an entire video covering all its options. You shouldn’t let that put you off, the default operation is pretty close to my perfect user interface anyway. But if you like fiddling, I’d highly suggest reading the manual that I’ll link to down below. If you get to grips with Anduril, you can have the same setup with every Anduril torch you own.

The SC18 uses a Luminus SST-40 that Sofirn states is 6000K-6500K, though my Opple Light Master Pro measured it from 5800K-6200K, depending on the mode. The SST-40 is low CRI by nature. The light is focused by a narrow TIR lens that’s exposed with no glass lens to cover it. This could result in scratches if the light is tossed into a bag or something with other edged objects, so you’ll have to be a little careful with that.Interestingly enough, despite not coming close to the output numbers for lumens, the SC18 starts to blow away the candela specs starting from medium. The claimed 217 meters of throw is eclipsed by the measured 231 meters. It almost feels like Sofirn came up with their output numbers using a different optic. When you have the light in your hand, the SC18 can be a bit slippery. This is due to the horizontal-only knurling. It’s fine if you’re applying pressure parallel to the body of the light, but from side to side, there’s nothing for your hand to grip. The Sofirn SC31 Pro comes in a no frills box with a USB-A to USB-C charging cable, a lanyard, spare o-rings and a user manual. I measured 1778 lumens at turn on, 1765 after 10 seconds and 1727 lumens after 30 seconds. Almost exactly the spec’d 1750 lumens. It held over 1000 lumens for a couple of minutes before dropping to around 466 lumens after 4 minutes which is maintained for the remainder of my tests. And again pretty much as spec’d.

A rubber flap covers the USB-C charging port and it charges the supplied battery in around 80 minutes. All my top ten torches that have USB-C charging charge with both a USB-C to USB-A and USB-C to USB-C cable so I won’t specifically mention this from now on. Here’s where things get a little interesting. Under the crenulated bezel, the SC32 uses a fresnel lens not commonly seen on flashlights. In a nutshell, the fresnel lens does the job of a convex lens by dividing up the curvature of the lens over a number of lower-profile concentric rings. This allows the lens to be flatter, saving space and material. Since this fresnel lens is shorter than standard TIR lenses or reflectors, it helps keep the light short. There’s no glass lens to cover the plastic fresnel lens, so that may shorten the overall length as well, but then the plastic lens is exposed, so keep that in mind. The torch has a small OLED screen for real-time display of lumens and runtime. Below the screen are the power and mode buttons. For some reason it arrives in demo mode. Press and hold the power and mode buttons to switch to daily mode.On the other side of the light, the head has some cooling fins cut into it, which are identical to those found on the Wurkkos TS10. That’s where the comparisons end, I promise. In another interesting move, the USB-C charging port is on what I consider to be the front of the light, above the make a model markings. The SC32 has a narrow rubber cover for the port, unlike other Sofirms which have a larger square cover. It fits fairly snugly, but is not too difficult to remove when you need to charge. Next to the charging port is a status light which stays on for 5 seconds when you first turn the light on, displaying in green when charge is good, solid red when it’s low, and flashing red when it’s critical. It also flashes red while charging. Like most Fenix torches I’ve tested there’s no way to get straight to moonlight or turbo mode – something most other torches offer in one way or another. And I’d prefer a slightly warmer, higher CRI LED with a more neutral tint. But the size, build quality, magnetic tail cap, well regulated outputs and Fenix reliability I’ve had first hand experience with for many years with numerous torches, makes this a very tempting offering. Baton 3 Premium Edition I compare everything to the KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint! The cell goes into the light in the “usual way” (which is to say that the positive terminal of the cell goes into the light).

Holding down the switch with the torch off accesses low mode with 2 sub-modes. Press and hold the switch to cycle between them. Low mode 1 is 1.5 lumens for 100 hours and low mode 2 is about the dimmest moonlight mode I’ve seen – 0.2 lumens that can last for up to 50 days! Olight doesn’t specify the LED used but I measured a colour temperature of a fairly cool 5989K, a very slight green tint and a CRI of 68.The switch has a battery indicator light that comes on with a single press when the torch is off, or for a few seconds when you turn the torch on. Solid green and the torch has over 85% charge, flashing green 50-85%, red 25-50% and flashing red if it’s less than 25% charge remaining. This is handy but only works with the supplied Fenix battery – the ARB-L16-700P. In the highest turbo mode I measured 465 lumens at turn on, 462 lumens after 10 seconds, 458 after 30 seconds, and dropped to around 220 lumens after 2 minutes where it remained for the rest of my measurements. I measured a colour temperature of 5612K with a slight green tint and a CRI of 66. That doesn’t sound hugely impressive but for its size and intended use I didn’t have any issues with it.