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Banggood.com -- Review Of Astrolux S41 Flashlight

BGroars

Enlightened
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
946
Hello dear friends,
Good day!
Today very glad to share a review about Astrolux S41 flashlight that was written by one of our customers, Phogiston.

Astrolux S41 4x Nichia 219B/CREE XP-G2 A6 1600LM Mini LED Flashlight -- Only $45.95 ~ 47.95



The review is as follows:

My E14 / S41 order has arrived from Banggood, with 18650 tube, so I thought I'd post some thoughts here on CPF.

First up, I consider the light great value for money. As others have pointed out, it would cost a lot more to get someone to build a custom light like this.

My version is the Nichia 219B, which is my favourite LED when I can get the 5000K version, so I'm very happy Manker picked that one for the Nichia option. Manker's custom-designed optic produces a nice floody beam profile, so kudos for that, too :thumbsup:

I compared the E14 / S41 in Medium 2 to a BLF 348, which also has a 5000K Nichia 219B in it. My eyeball check says the colour temperature and tint are the same, but the E14 / S41 has a smoother and floodier beam than the BLF 348.

I actually have trouble finding an edge to the E14 / S41 beam unless I'm holding it a few centimetres from the target surface, whereas the BLF 348 does show a more defined edge. It seems that although a small (if relatively deep-seated) reflector will be pretty floody, a flood-optimised TIR optic will be floodier still.​

As expected, the light does get very hot in Turbo mode. I'm using EagleTac 3500mAh 10A protected 18650 cells, which I estimate will be pushing 8 or 9 amps through the light. I'm happy to report that these cells work perfectly - no trips in Turbo. The 40 second auto stepdown timer is fine if you put the light straight into Turbo from a cold start, but too long for me if the light's already warm from previous use. I find myself stepping the light down manually to a lower mode after 20-30 seconds.

Again as expected, you can get a couple of minutes or so in High 1 (the highest constant mode), but you can't actually run it continuously, because it will get too hot. High 2 appears to be fine, though - it gets very warm after a while, but shouldn't reach overly high temperatures unless the ambient conditions are themselves warm.

I've tried the E14 / S41 18350 tube on my later-version BLF A6, and it seems to fit correctly, but I don't have any 18350 cells to verify correct operation. However, the 18650 tubes for the BLF A6 and the E14 / S41 are fully interchangeable; I have verified that both light designs operate correctly with each other's 18650 tubes. That seems a promising sign for the 18350 case.​

By the way, the 18650 tubes are indeed delivered without O-rings. I consider that unnecessary penny-pinching, given that O-rings literally do cost pennies. However, Convoy sell 21mm × 1.5mm O-rings in packs of 10, and those work perfectly. They're the standard size for a whole range of lights in this class, so I'm sure the spares will come in handy as well.

Unfortunately, the 18650 tubes do have some minor anodising flaws. That's not something that would normally bother me much, but it's important if you're relying on tailcap lockout to prevent accidental activations for safety reasons. It's a good idea to visually confirm that at least one of your tailcap or tube has properly anodised threads.

I've also noted flaws in my actual E14 / S41. The worst one was that the thread machining on the copper head section was dire. I actually had to use a jeweller's screwdriver to lever crud out of the threads, then scrape part of the thread itself a bit smoother before I could get the 18650 tube to screw down properly. Note that the 18350 tube screwed down fine, so the light would have worked as delivered. The poor threads didn't become a showstopper until (I presume) they hit the variation in tolerances of the 18650 tube.​

The other flaw was much less problematic: there was a blob of something like superglue on the outside of the copper head section. Removable with metal polishing materials, but nonetheless disappointing.

Manker definitely need to shape up on quality control, or they're going to put off the people who aren't willing to get hands-on with problems like these. That would be a sad thing to have happen, because Manker do have very nice light designs.

Having said that, I am actually happy with my new light :) Saving the money it would have cost to buy a custom quad Nichia light is definitely worth a bit of cleanup to me.


Know more about the E14 / S41, click into the product page directly.​

 
Last edited:

Phlogiston

Enlightened
Joined
Jan 7, 2015
Messages
601
Location
Scotland
Hello, everyone!

I'd like to add a couple of useful links to my thoughts above, which Banggood have politely quoted with my permission.

First, I don't have the sophisticated test equipment that our power reviewers here on CPF do. However, maukka does, and you can see his review here. He actually wrote his review before me, and he provides all manner of interesting technical data.

Second, some of you may have heard that there's a risk of a short circuit in the E14 / S41 design. I consider the risk to be low, but if you're concerned, you can safeguard yourself by testing your new light with a protected cell when you first receive it. If you'd like more information on that aspect, I've written a short summary here.
 
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