1800 High Lumen EDC Flashlight

Excellent every day carry flashlight. It is quite small for an 18650 light, 25 mm D x 102 mm L, and fits in the pocket well. The switch can be activated inadvertently, so you may want to use the lockout feature, 4 clicks. This is one area that could be improved by slightly lowering the switch or building up a protective land around it. However, the lockout mode can avoid problems. From moonlight to turbo, it offers a good choice of brightness levels 30 - 1800 lumens in a total of 5 steps. As in most flashlights, turbo automatically throttles down to high after a few minutes to prevent overheating. Moonlight (30 lm) and low (100 lm) are about all you need indoors. The higher modes give you the brightness and throw needed for some outdoor uses. For prolonged outdoor use, you may want a real thrower with bigger battery and longer run times, but that won't fit in your pocket well. The User interface is simple and intuitive. It has memory for low, medium and high modes from your last used setting, hold the switch to step between low medium and hot. Access moonlight from off by holding the switch for a few seconds, turbo by double clicking. It does have a strobe mode (3 clicks) but no other blinky settings. I find the UI to be a reasonable choice of settings in a reasonable number of clicks. It is not overly complicated with things I don't really need. It will tail stand, and projected upwards onto a ceiling give useful room lighting if the power is out. The pocket clip is unidirectional and can not be reversed on the flashlight, so you can't attach to the visor of a baseball cap. That might be another area for future improvement, as would a magnetic tail cap. I've only had it a few days but it is a better EDC for me than any of my other flashlights.

Noch kleiner wäre zu klein. So aber hat sie die richtige Größe, leuchtet für Spaziergänge, Gassi-Gehen und Wanderungen richtig hell. Und - sie scheint mit einer Ladung recht lange auszukommen. Auch kein zu verachtendes Argument. Die Qualität beurteile ich dann in zwei Jahren. Aber bis jetzt: Top!

The SC18 delivers on nearly everything you could ask for in a compact and simple flashlight, and it's amazing how inexpensive it manages to be! The user interface is very straightforward, but still has great features like moonlight mode and an electronic lockout mode. I really appreciate the low battery indicator on the switch and that charging works with USB C to C cables (which unfortunately not all flashlights I've had can do). The beam pattern with the TIR lens is great for the outdoors or large rooms: it has a tight focused hotspot in the middle and a wide spill that gradually tapers outward. It's surprisingly throwy, but still completely usable up close. It's not the brightest light ever, but it's as bright as a light this size can be without overheating in a matter of seconds and it's more than enough output for anything I ever need a flashlight for. I always prefer a warmer tint and higher color rendering, but those are features that will lead to less output, so I'm happy with the tradeoff for a light like this. It feels incredibly premium given the price. The finish feels very smooth, and the machining is more comfortable and more interesting than the knurling on most lights. The body and head are all one piece instead of separate like most lights, so it's probably a little more durable than average, too. I would love if it had a tail magnet, but I understand given the price that some things need to be left out. I also would have preferred a metal switch, but the rubber one at least has a very satisfying click to it. It has springs on both ends of the battery, so there's no rattle or movement of anything, it just feels super solid. In the end it's a great light at a great price. I often prefer to use more complicated or more specialized flashlights, but I will probably end up buying more SC18s in the future as gifts or to loan to other people because it's a high quality light that just works.

This light is a pretty nice and handy light, it's got a decent tint and pretty good brightness and great and intuitive ramping user interface. The clip is very useable and the lighted electronic switch is not so easy to press that I end up accidently turning it on all the time and seems efficient as I've had it for about 2 months so far and use it daily and still have yet to need to recharge the battery. The beam is pretty useful with a mix of throw and decent amount of spill. The build quality is far above average as is typical for Sofirn making it an exceptional value at it's price point. One small possibly gripe is that it isn't as mod friendly as most Sofirn lights and the other lights I typically purchase.

I was recently furnished the SC18 flashlight by Sofirn in exchange for an impartial review. Here are my thoughts; Size & Weight: The most obvious characteristic of the SC18 is its small size and weight for an 18650 light. It’s easily the smallest 18650 light I’ve owned. The pic below shows how it compares to the popular Sofirn SC31 Pro, on the right, which is a fairly compact 18650 light itself. On the left is the SC21 Mini, which uses a much smaller 16340 cell. I usually reach for a smaller flashlight, as long as it has the output I need at the moment. For me, that’s usually an AA/14500 or 16340 light. But the SC18 is small and light enough that I’ve found myself choosing it recently. The impressive output, and superior runtime, give it a big performance edge over my AA/14500 and 16340 lights. User Interface (UI): The SC18 has a side “e” (electronic) switch. I generally prefer a mechanical switch, but as e-switches go, the SC18’s is pretty good. One reviewer noticed a slight delay between pressing the switch and the light activating, but I don’t see that. A common problem with side e-switches is that they’re so recessed that it’s hard to locate them in the dark. The SC18 suffers a little from this as the button lies fairly flat, but not so much as with some I’ve seen. The fact that it sits right between the pronounced cooling fins also helps locate it. Finally, placing the clip 180 degrees opposite the switch also makes it easy to locate. One of my dislikes for e-switches is that their operation varies from light to light. I have a lot of flashlights and so remembering the various schemes is a challenge. For the SC18 it’s a quick press to turn on, then press-and-hold to cycle through low-medium-high. From off, press-and-hold activates moon mode (even during lockout). Double click for turbo; triple click for strobe; quadruple click locks or unlocks the light (to prevent it turning on accidentally. You can also simply unscrew the tailcap just enough to break the circuit). I like the simplicity of low-medium-high as you can get to where you’re going quickly. Double click for turbo is a common feature on many lights and is quick and easy. The mode spacing is very good. The SC18 also has mode memory---when you turn it on, it will remember its previous level (low-medium-high). Beam and Output: The SC18 uses a TIR (total internal reflection) lens and produces a clean white beam. Some reviewers have found it too cool but it suits me fine. I’m not a warm tint aficionado and am happy with a cool tint, as long as it’s not too blue or green, as it tends to yield a little more output. The SC18 manages a good combination of throw and spill, emphasizing throw a bit more with a fairly bright and tight spot. The throw is impressive for such a small light and comes close to matching that of its bigger brother, the SC31 Pro. We have a large yard and I can reach every corner with medium, and way beyond with high and turbo. I’ve read SC18 reviews where the lumen output was measured and it fell fairly short of the claimed lumens. I’m nevertheless impressed with the actual output I’ve observed. Moreover, one of those reviews measured the candela (hotspot intensity) as greater than claimed---meaning longer throw. Runtime: I’m not equipped to do any serious runtime tests but so far I’ve been impressed with how slowly the 3000 mAh 18650 cell depletes. Maybe because I’m used to how quickly my 14500 and 16340 lights run down, but when I periodically check the SC18 cell on a multimeter, I’m surprised how little the voltage has dropped. My impression from some reviews is that the SC18 is a direct drive rather than a regulated light. That is, the output decreases as the battery depletes. In the SC18 this was observed most dramatically in turbo and high, less so in medium, and just slightly in low. (A regulated light, by contrast, maintains near constant output even as the battery depletes.) I consider this a significant negative, though it will be more or less of one depending on how you use the light. If you use it for hours at a time between charges, it would be more of a problem. If, like me, you use it for fairly brief periods and can access a charger whenever you like, it’s not as important. I’ve been using my SC18 for brief periods every night for the last 5 or 6 nights and any decrease in output hasn’t been noticeable. Charging: A separate charger isn’t needed for the SC18. To charge, simply plug the USB-C cord into the charging port and the other end into the USB port of your computer. I dislike rubber port covers as they’re flimsy and can get in the way and become easily dislodged. I hope Sofirn will develop a metal sleeve covered port similar to the one certain Fenix and ThruNite lights have. That said, those lights have built in, non-replaceable batteries, which have their own disadvantages. So, if that’s a requirement for the metal sleeve feature, there’s a real trade-off. The SC18 does use USB-C charging, which is faster than Micro-USB, and is quickly becoming the standard for rechargeable flashlights. Misc. Features: The SC18 has reverse polarity protection, so that if you accidentally insert the battery in the wrong direction, it won’t damage the battery or the flashlight. There is low and high voltage protection. If the battery is over-charged, or overly depleted, the light cuts off. There is a low battery indicator. When you first switch on the SC18, a green light in the button appears, indicating good status. A red light means the battery is low, and a flashing red light means to charge immediately. The tailcap is wide and flat, so the SC18 will easily and steadily tailstand (although not if the lanyard is attached). Some reviewers have complained of lack of a magnetic tailcap, but that’s not a feature I need. The clip is nice looking, sturdy, and firmly attached. It was too tight out of the box as it caused the light to scrape pretty hard on my jeans. But I was able to bend it slightly and now it’s fine. The SC18 has an attractive design and appearance. It’s fairly sleek and not “junked up”. The cooling fins, which perform an important function on such a small and high powered light, aren’t oversized and ugly. The horizontal lines on the body are a nice design feature. One reviewer said they make the grip a little slick, but this isn’t an issue for me, especially since the clip gives you something extra to grab. Value: The Amazon price tends to jump around but at the time of this writing it’s $22.49, which includes the 18650 battery, USB-C charging cord, lanyard, 2 spare o-rings, and user manual. For such a small, powerful, and well designed light, the SC18 lands towards the top of the bang-for-the-buck list. Overall, it’s just a great value.