Sofirn Q8 Flashlight Review

The Sofirn Q8 is a flashlight that uses four 18650 cells and has four emitters. The e-switch has an indicating feature, too! Read on!

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Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Sofirn Q8 Flashlight product page (amazon referral link).

Versions

At this point, we can say that there are at least two versions.  There’s the BLF version, and there’s the Sofirn version.  The BLF version used the Cree XP-L HD in 4750-5000K.  This Sofirn version uses Cree XP-L HI in 6000-6500K.

Price

$60 on Amazon right now, but Sofirn has hooked me up with a 20% off coupon.  Here’s the code: ROQSPECB.

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Short Review

This light is as good as I recall, and still so much fun.  It’s a great mix of throw and flood, particularly with the HI emitters.  The UI is so versatile, too.

Long Review

The Big Table

Sofirn Q8 Flashlight
Emitter:	Cree XP-L HI (Four emitters)
Price in USD at publication time:	$59.99 on amazon (referral link)
Cell:	18650×4
Turbo Runtime	High Runtime
LVP?	Switch to Low
Switch Type:	E-Switch
Quiescent Current (A):	?
On-Board Charging?	No
Claimed Lumens (lm)	5000
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	4630 (92.6% of claim)^
Claimed Throw (m)	550
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	2705lux @ 5.959m = 96054cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	619.9 (112.7% of claim)^
All my Sofirn reviews!

^ Measurement disclaimer: Testing flashlights is my hobby. I use hobbyist-level equipment for testing, including some I made myself. Try not to get buried in the details of manufacturer specifications versus measurements recorded here; A certain amount of difference (say, 10 or 15%) is perfectly reasonable.

What’s Included

• Sofirn Q8 Flashlight
• Spare o-rings (3, two types)
• Spare rubber switch cover
• Manual and paperwork

Package and Manual

Unusually for Sofirn, this light just ships in a simple cardboard box, with a bar code sticker.

Inside is just some bubble wrap packaging material.  It should be noted that this is the same packaging as the BLF Q8.

The manual is quite good, but there’s a lot to cover with this UI.  The manual covers that thoroughly.

Build Quality and Disassembly

The build of this light is really great.  It’s an oddly proportioned can light (long head), but very well built.

The build isn’t exactly like the BLF Q8.  The body tube is just a little different (the BLF version had more material removed – this one is all knurling).

There’s nothing in the tailcap, which unscrews easily.  The tail end of the body tube does have four springs, and all the cells are put into the light in the same orientation.  The head end has nice big brass terminals, and two screws holding things in.

The body tube has square-cut, anodized threads, and is directional.

One of the main mods users do is to replace these screws with brass versions for higher current flow.  I have ordered the screws from China twice and never received any.  It wasn’t meant to be.

The bezel is easy to unscrew and remove, but the reflector doesn’t fall out very readily.

Size

Officially 132mm x 59mm x 50mm (length x head x body diameter).

 

Here’s the test light with the venerable Convoy S2+.  Mine’s a custom “baked” edition Nichia 219b triple.  A very nice 18650 light.

And longer than the Meteor M43 and FireFlies ROT66, as well.

Retention

The main means of retaining this light is with the tripod mount on the body/head, opposite the switch.  There is no pouch or pocket clip or lanyard.  A lanyard could be attached via the tripod mount, of course.

The tripod mount is a nice addition.

Power

Button top cells are required for the BLF Q8.  You also want high drain cells, and as mentioned, you want to keep them married, as a set of 4.  That’s better for the cells and safer for you.

I tested the light with the cells seen below, which are “30Q” cells from Aliexpress.  I haven’t actually tested these cells (thoroughly, anyway) but they seem to be good enough performers.

I said button tops are required, but I did actually use these unprotected 30Q cells – they have enough proudness on the positive terminal to allow good contact.

Here’s a runtime profile for Turbo.  I actually reset the light from “Ramping” (which is the default UI) to the discrete Mode setup, because I like that better for testing.  After this test I’ll likely switch it back to ramping.

Turbo output lasts for a short time and appears to be timed.  This profile is exactly like the BLF Q8 profile.  Initial output is at the claimed 5000 lumens, but at 20 seconds I measure down around 4700.  In reality, given possible losses and the like, 4700 at 30 seconds is well into the “5000 is accurate” realm.

The runtime on “High” (which is the mode below Turbo on the group I’ve selected – the 5 mode group) proceeds exactly as the Turbo runtime, minus the Turbo blip.

In these runtimes, the output steps way down toward the end of the runtime.  When I stopped both tests, the cells were just over 3.0V.  This firmware has LVP as an option, but I’m not sure what specifically is the default.  (Based on the way I read the manual, it’s on by default, and isn’t one of the optional things:  It should cause a decrease in output (as seen in the runtimes) at around 3V, and shut off at 2.8V).  Regardless, it’s recommended to remove the cells (or break contact, at least).

User Interface and Operation

There’s a single indicating side e-switch on this Q8.  It’s a responsive and clicky button.  The indicating aspect is quite nice, and also configurable.  One absolutely massive difference between this light and the BLF Q8 is that this light has a green indicating switch, while the BLF Q8 had a multi-color indicating switch.

The Q8 still has NarsilM which makes this a ramping UI.  Ramping is all the rage, and I do like ramping just fine.  This version of ramping is good, too.

In stock configuration, the switch emitters will be green when the light is off.

The UI is much too complex for my usual table, and I’m not going to undertake that here.  This Cheat Sheet is not my work! but is very useful, and thorough.

There are two groups.  One group has ramping, one group has discrete modes.  It’s possible to switch between ramping and discrete easily.  The default is ramping, and to switch to modes, first turn the light on, then hold the switch for 3.2s.  It’ll blink twice, pause, and blink once.  At that point, click once.  This disables ramping.  Once this is done, put the light down so you don’t change other settings (which is very easy to do.)  There are other things you could do to expedite termination of programming, but just skip it, and wait.

Narsil is wonderful firmware.  It’s extremely versatile, and possible to change many (most? all?) of the settings about the light.

Modes

No usual mode table in this case.  I don’t think it makes sense in a ramping light (even if it does have discrete modes).  I will say that the Turbo mode drew 6A if I allowed it to, but I didn’t go higher.  Basically, this light will probably take whatever your cells will give.  So use quality cells!!

LED and Beam

The emitter in this light is a Cree XP-L HI, and it’s 6000-6500K.  There’s a white centering ring, and the reflector is very smooth and fairly deep.

This is a departure from the BLF version.  That version was warmer and also used the HD version of this same emitter.  I like the warmer choice, but I prefer XP-L HI’s too.  So a warmer XP-L HI would be perfect!  The HI emitter also provides a lot of throw, when accompanied by these smooth reflectors.

The available low is very low.

Beamshots

These beamshots are always with the following settings:  f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure.  This is the output on the discrete mode group I selected, which had 6 modes.

Tint vs BLF-348 (KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b version) (affiliate link)

I keep the test flashlight on the left, and the BLF-348 reference flashlight on the right.

Random Comparisons and Competitive Options….

Here’s a relevantly filtered page on parametrek.com.  There are some other options in a similar configuration.  Take the Nitecore TM26GT, for example.  Similar lights, but the output on the Q8 will be much higher.  And though the Nitecore claims more throw, they’re probably actually very similar in real life.

Now this light vs the BLF Q8?  Which to choose?  Well, this light is available now with the coupon I’ve provided for $40 and is a good choice with the stock XP-L HI’s.  However, as a modding base, this light with the new hottest Samsung emitter is a wonderful choice!

Conclusion

What I like

• Output is great
• Good throw, too!
• UI is extremely versatile and programmable
• Good build quality

What I don’t like

• 6000-6500K is not a good choice

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Notes

• This light was provided by Sofirn for review. I was not paid to write this review.
• This content originally appeared at zeroair.org.  Please visit there for the best experience!
• For flashlight-related patches, stickers, and gear, head over to PhotonPhreaks.com!
• Use my amazon.com referral link if you’re willing to help support making more reviews like this one!
• Please support me on Patreon! I deeply appreciate your support!