Spec me an LED Torch

My A6 BLF turned up today.

Really impressed with it, the interface is great and the output is incredible!

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A6 BLF on the left --- SC600W on the right.

It's a lot brighter than my Zebralight SC600w MK1. Even when it steps down from Turbo it's still a lot brighter.

The A6 BLF moonlight mode is nearly twice as bright as the SC600w.
 
I wonder if the lack of heat sinking in the BLF will be a problem, mine heats up really quick on turbo.

It's not significantly brighter than my Fenix E35 UE from a first play, but runs a lot hotter.
 
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My BLF arrived today, first impressions are decent, it's nowhere near the build quality and feel of the SolarForce stainless steel special edition, and they both cost roughly the same price (the SS was on offer iirc).

The SolarForce is also at least twice as heavy!

A few things I don't like about the BLF:

  • The reflector has dust inside. I don't want to open the head up to clean it myself really as it's faff,m maybe if I find my tweezers and the patience I will spend a bit of time on it... one day.
  • The colour tint is too warm for my liking. The SolarForce one is pretty much pure white with a hint of purple/blue from the AR coating.
  • I don't like the mode select on this, the button is too sensitive, and switching between strobe/SOS etc is too finicky. Sometimes when I want to switch from Turbo to Moon mode, it just does that double blink and goes to sleep waiting to be switched to strobe mode.
  • It gets very hot.

They're both pretty close in terms of brightness, the XP-L v3 in the SolarForce is 1030 lumens and it is said the BLF is closer to 1400(?) on turbo.

I'll keep the BLF, which will replace the LuckySun D80 as secondary light. I like the belt clip on the BLF, it's small too, which is nice. The moon mode on the BLF is dimmer than the one on the SolarForce, but not by much. It's too dim for me to use to make use of in most things I'd normally do, whereas the SolarForce one is just right.
 
Minstadave said:
I wonder if the lack of heat sinking in the BLF will be a problem, mine heats up really quick on turbo.

It's not significantly brighter than my Fenix E35 UE from a first play, but runs a lot hotter.
Click to expand...

It does heat up very quickly, I wouldn't want to keep hitting up turbo many times in a row.

mrk said:
My BLF arrived today, first impressions are decent, it's nowhere near the build quality and feel of the SolarForce stainless steel special edition, and they both cost roughly the same price (the SS was on offer iirc).

The SolarForce is also at least twice as heavy!

A few things I don't like about the BLF:

  • The reflector has dust inside. I don't want to open the head up to clean it myself really as it's faff,m maybe if I find my tweezers and the patience I will spend a bit of time on it... one day.
  • The colour tint is too warm for my liking. The SolarForce one is pretty much pure white with a hint of purple/blue from the AR coating.
  • I don't like the mode select on this, the button is too sensitive, and switching between strobe/SOS etc is too finicky. Sometimes when I want to switch from Turbo to Moon mode, it just does that double blink and goes to sleep waiting to be switched to strobe mode.
  • It gets very hot.

They're both pretty close in terms of brightness, the XP-L v3 in the SolarForce is 1030 lumens and it is said the BLF is closer to 1400(?) on turbo.

I'll keep the BLF, which will replace the LuckySun D80 as secondary light. I like the belt clip on the BLF, it's small too, which is nice. The moon mode on the BLF is dimmer than the one on the SolarForce, but not by much. It's too dim for me to use to make use of in most things I'd normally do, whereas the SolarForce one is just right.
Click to expand...

The finish on mine isn't pristine, but I really can't complain for £20. It's a bit of a bargain really.

I'm really happy with the tint on mine, very close to being perfect. It's much nicer than my Zebra SC600w! It's a total tint lottery though. I've read that many have ordered a particular tint and get shipped something completely different.
 
Could anyone check their BLF and see if the O ring is in front or behind the lens. I cleaned my lens but when trying to put it back together can't get the O ring to stay seated in front of the lens - is it meant to be behind?
 
Thanks - it's a lot easier to put it together that way! Probably not as water resistant though.

So I took it out for the evening dog walk and compared it to my 900 lumen Fenix E35 UE, main thoughts.

1 - Build quality is OK, not perfect. Removed quite a few small bits of aluminium from the lanyard holes. There's a fair few machining marks/scratches on the body. Threads aren't well lubed and a little rough.

2 - Brightness is similar to the E35, maybe a little more floody, certainly not a huge difference. So if you've got an XML-2 based light this isn't going to blow your mind (No surprise, the XP-L too is essentially the same LED on a smaller package).

3 - Temperature - the output is a lot warmer than my E35, not sure that's a good thing.

4 - Temperature! - this gets really hot, really quickly on turbo. The E35 can run on turbo without any temperature issues (though it's annoying you have to hold the button down) whereas the BLF A6 gets uncomfortably hot very quickly. Think it probably needs some heatsinking.

5 - Flexibility - like to be able to customise the setup. I've put mine on 4 levels instead of 7 and turned mode memory on. Very nice setup that way.
 
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The head being remove-able is likely playing a big part with how quickly it gets hot, not much mass there.

Really tempted to order the SC600 MKIII.. argh. But which tint...
 
Took the plunge and ordered the eL cheapo on amazon so will see what that is like! You never know, I could get addicted and start buying more that I don't need :S
 
Damn - a decent torch, good batteries and good charger - you're doing it right.

On a side note those Panasonic cells have dropped £3 quid over the last couple of days and you get another £3 digital credit through prime if you choose no rush. That's a good price - bought myself them!
 
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Been using the BLF this evening, got used to the mode switch now and no longer have an issue with how sensitive it is. I like the battery check mode, doubles up as safety strobe too, which is nice.

Does anyone know the runtime for each (7) mode of this with a 3400mAh battery?

Also, trying to get the head apart, damn this is a pain in the bum!
 
mrk said:
Been using the BLF this evening, got used to the mode switch now and no longer have an issue with how sensitive it is. I like the battery check mode, doubles up as safety strobe too, which is nice.

Does anyone know the runtime for each (7) mode of this with a 3400mAh battery?

Also, trying to get the head apart, damn this is a pain in the bum!
Click to expand...

You mean get to the reflector and LED or actually take the LED out?
 
Reflector, figured it out!

The reflector dust wasn't dust... it's actually marks on it :mad:

I don't want to send it back, can I just get a new reflector? Not sure who to contact since banggood are just the reseller?

Edit*
Emailed the store and they got back to me right away. New reflector being posted asap.

Bang good customer service!
 
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