Contents

• Pricing & Availability
• What comes in the box?
• Design & Construction
• Size & Measurements
• User Interface
• Emitter & Beam
• Mode Chart
• Runtime
• Driver & Regulation
• Switch
• Carry & Ergonomics
• Batteries & Charging
• Competition
• Conclusion

Pricing & Availability

Sofirn sent me this light in exchange for an honest review. Here is the official product page where you can see current pricing. If it sells well enough, I’m sure they’ll put it on Amazon too. Sofirn has graciously provided a 25% off discount code (A88ZCL46) for my readers.

What comes in the box?

The box is one of Sofirn’s updated white boxes with a magnetic closure and a nicely printed sleeve. It’s nice, but it doesn’t say “value for money” like their old brown cardboard boxes did.

• The light itself
• Battery (inside the light)
• User manual
• USB A-to-C charging cable
• Wrist lanyard

Design & Construction

At first glance, SF26 looks like a typical medium-sized thrower. Upon closer inspection, you’ll notice the large TIR lens, dual-tail switches, and a charging port hidden under a threaded sleeve.

Build quality is good. It feels noticeably higher than most Sofirn lights I’ve tested and also its sister light, Wurkkos TD01. On SF26, the anodizing has a bit of a matte feel that’s really nice, but there are a few spots that have worn already, showing the silvery aluminum underneath, despite my treating the light gently. It seems the anodizing is quite thin.

Size & Measurements

Wuben X1 | Sofirn SF26 | Fenix HT32 | Acebeam L19 | Olight Warrior 3S

Measurement	Measured (mm)
Bezel Diameter	60.0
Maximum Head Diameter	60.0
Length	149.5
Large Switch Diameter	12
Large Switch Proudness	Varies
Small Switch Proudness	2.0
Lens Thickness	2.0
Lens Diameter	54.6
Reflector Diameter	54.7
Reflector Height	29.0
MCPCB Size	Custom
Body Tube Diameter (internal)	22.0
Body Tube Diameter (mode)	26.0
Tailcap Diameter	29.5
Tailcap Length	32.5
Driver Diameter	u/m
Included Battery Length	70.7
Included Battery Diameter	21.9

Weight without battery: 173g
Weight with included battery: 242g

User Interface

This is a cool, simple UI with the dual tail switch setup.

State	Switch	Action	Result
Off	Large	Full Press	On (mode memory)
Off	Large	Half-Press	Momentary on (mode memory)
Off	Small	Press-and-hold	Momentary strobe
On	Large	Press-and-release	Off
On	Small	Press-and-release	Cycle brightness level (increasing)
On	Small	Double-press	Strobe
Strobe	Small	Double-press	SOS (and again for Beacon)

What they got right:

• Clicking the biggest switch turns the light on/off. That’s the most basic and most intuitive function.
• There are few shortcuts. That keeps it simple and reliable.
• There are 5 brightness levels, which is just the right amount. Enough to have options but not so many that it’s cumbersome to use.
• Mode memory. The light always remembers the last brightness level you used and starts back up in the same mode. That makes it reliable and simple to use.

What they got wrong:

• Instant strobe is not as useful as instant Turbo or instant Eco would have been. This is a budget thrower, not an elite tactical light. Direct access to Strobe isn’t necessary and that spot in the UI should be occupied by something more useful to most people.
• If you change modes too fast, you’ll activate Strobe. The Strobe shortcut from on should be a long hold on the secondary switch, not a double click. Since it’s a double click, it’s easy to accidentally activate Strobe if you try and cycle the brightness level too fast.

Emitter & Beam

SF26 uses a Luminus SFT40 LED in cool white with standard CRI. It’s probably the best single-cell thrower LED available right now so I’m quite pleased with the choice. It’s affordable, easy to drive, bright, and intense. They’ve paired it with a large, plastic, TIR optic which is not common for a light this size.

The hotspot is tight with some yellow on the edges. There’s soft, wide, dim spill with no harsh cutoff. There’s also a big obvious ring. You won’t notice it during most use outside but as soon as you shine it on anything relatively flat and plain like a wall you’ll see it immediately.

In the beamshots below, the basketball goal to the right of the hotspot is 39M away and the power pole in the center is 185M away.

Mode Chart

Disclaimer: All of my measurements are taken at turn-on. Lumen measurements were taken on a Texas Ace 3.5″ Lumen Tube. A candela measurement was taken at 10 meters with an Opple Light Master III on the highest brightness, and other candela figures were calculated relative to that. CRI, CCT, & DUV data was taken for each mode from a few feet away at the center of the hotspot with the Opple Light Master and Waveform DUV Calculator. Runtime tests were performed with the Ceilingbounce app on my smartphone. All of these tests were performed with a fully charged included battery unless otherwise specified. I cannot measure moonlight directly, so moonlight readings are calculated based on the brightness relative to the next-lowest mode. None of this is professional equipment, so take all of these measurements with a grain of salt.

Above are the official specs, followed by my own measurements below.

Level	Lumens	Candela	Throw (Meters)	CRI (Ra)	Color Temp. (K)	DUV (Tint)
Turbo	1460	220000	938	TB	TB	TB
High	710	106986	654	67	6530	0.0060
Medium	250	37671	388	67	6600	0.0062
Low	80	12055	220	66	6380	0.0078
Moonlight	7	1055	65	65	6110	0.0119

Mode Spacing / Ramp Speed: is good. There are no weirdly small or large jumps.

It doesn’t meet the advertised lumens. That’s not good but it’s not unusual either for a TIR thrower. All the large TIR throwers I’ve tested have measured significantly below their advertised lumen rating. The manufacturers are apparently rating output based on brightness at the LED, not brightness out the front.

Runtime

Performance: Turbo lasts for around a minute before stepping down to ~400 lumens, and that slowly drops as the battery drains. That’s pretty poor sustained brightness for a light this size. The Turbo time before stepdown is also fairly short for a light this size with this output. To be clear, the performance isn’t bad, it’s just not as good as some of the competition.

Thermal regulation: There appears to be little to no active thermal regulation, just a timed stepdown. That’s highly unusual for Sofirn, as every single Sofirn model I’ve tested until now has had highly active thermal regulation that responds quickly to temperature changes. No active thermal regulation means the light will perform more consistently but may also overheat in hot weather or leave some performance on the table in cold weather.

LVP (Low Voltage Protection): The driver has low voltage shutoff and does not rely on the battery’s protection circuitry. The light cannot be re-activated after low voltage cutoff unless you plug it in briefly for recharging.

Driver & Regulation

SF26 includes a cheap, FET-only driver. That keeps costs down, but FET drivers have very poor efficiency and regulation performance.

Every mode is heavily and equally affected by the battery voltage, so there is no regulation.

Note: All regulation measurements are taken at turn-on so they do not reflect any thermal or low voltage stepdowns that may occur. A value of 0 indicates low voltage shutoff immediately upon activation.

PWM: No PWM is visible to my eyes. On Low, Medium, and High modes I can hear a whining when holding the light up to my ear, and my phone camera can detect flickering.

Parasitic Drain: There shouldn’t be any parasitic drain on this light because it’s got a mechanical primary switch that shuts off power. However, it’s also got that secondary mode/strobe switch that works even when the light is off so there may be some electronic trickery going on.

Switch

SF26 has dual tail switches. The larger, main switch is a forward clicky under a rubber boot. It turns the light on/off and it feels nice and high quality. The smaller, secondary switch changes modes and activates the instant strobe from off. It’s a momentary-only e-switch that also feels high quality with a crisp, audible click. They’re much nicer than the switches on the recently released Wurkkos TD01.

Both switches protrude a bit from the tailcap so they are easy to activate, but there are ears beside the main switch to protect it against accidental activation. I found them more annoying than useful because they can make it uncomfortable to access the switches. They’re also not quite as tall as the main switch so the light still can’t tailstand.

The coolest thing about these switches is there’s only one body tube. Normally, if a light has more than a mechanical on/off switch on the tail, it needs a secondary signal tube for electronic connection to the tailcap. I believe Fenix did that first on their TK16 V2 model and Sofirn appears to have done the same thing. Clever!

Carry & Ergonomics

SF26 fits fine in the hand and is ergonomic enough. It fits best in a reverse or cigar grip, but a forward grip works too if you use the other hand to control it. I don’t like the ears on the tailcap very much because they can make it difficult to access the switches comfortably.

The only carry method included is a basic wrist lanyard. This light is too big for a pocket clip, and I’m glad Sofirn didn’t include a holster that would have raised the price. It fits just fine in a jacket pocket or pants back pocket.

Batteries & Charging

SF26 is designed to take a single 21700 cell. An unprotected flat-top cell is optionally included and will do the job just fine. Protected cells will fit, but just barely, and only if they don’t have a built-in charging port. Any 18650 cell will fit and work but may rattle a bit side to side.

Charging is facilitated by a hidden USB-C port. There’s a threaded collar on the neck of the light that hides a USB-C charging port and a battery indicator. When closed, it’s completely sealed off from the elements. This is really cool and a great solution for users who dislike the typical rubber port covers usually found on flashlights.

Both A-to-C and C-to-C charging cables work just fine. The light cannot be used at all while plugged in to charge. There is no powerbank function.

The charging indicator sits directly opposite the USB port underneath the threaded cover. It’s only visible when the cover is retracted. While charging, it glows red. When charging is complete, it glows green. It also glows green or red for a few seconds after you turn the light on to indicate the battery status, but you can only see it when the cover is retracted. I wish it were located elsewhere so I could see it without having to open the cover.

Competition

Here are some lights in the same class and how they compare.

Wurkkos TD01: similar price, same LED, same optic, same driver type (FET), same performance (except it has thermal regulation), different UI, secondary switch on the side instead of tail, USB-C port under a rubber cover, battery indicator under the switch, lower build quality especially in the switches. To me, TD01 seems like a prototype for SF26. SF26 is equal or better in every way.

Acebeam L19 2.0: The premium alternative. Significantly more expensive, similar size, same LED, similar optic, similar brightness and throw, higher build quality, instant-Turbo tailswitch, fully functional side switch for all other modes, steel bezel, much better (buck) driver, betterperformance. This is my personal thrower of choice.

Convoy L21B SFT40: The reflector alternative. Similar size, same LED, large reflector instead of TIR, higher brightness, more throw, totally different UI, no integrated charging, no side switch, no battery included, better performance, usually has to be ordered from China with slow shipping. If you’re strictly concerned with performance per dollar, buy this one.

This section is not comprehensive. If I didn’t include a particular light here, it doesn’t mean it’s bad or doesn’t deserve to be here. I simply cannot list every possible competitor.

Conclusion

This is an excellent budget thrower. It’s almost as though Sofirn saw my review of Wurkkos TD01 and solved half of my gripes. I like the build quality, UI, and beam. I love the switches and threaded charging port cover. The driver/regulation/efficiency isn’t great but that’s something I can overlook at this price point. Sofirn has done a great job delivering a feature-rich thrower at an affordable price point and I think this is the new complete-package budget-thrower to beat.

Thanks to Sofirn for sending me this light for review!