Lumintop, maker of all things awesome, has released a new bike light. The B01 runs on a single 21700 cell, has a beam shaped specifically for bike riding, and includes on-board charging. Read on for more!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the official product page.
Versions
There’s only one version of the B01.
Price
These are going for $37.90 right now.
Short Review
This is a neat light and I really like the mounting system. For the price it’s hard to beat.
Long Review
The Big Table
| Lumintop B01 | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Cree XP-L HD |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $31.99 |
| Cell: | 1×21700 |
| Turbo Runtime | High Runtime |
| LVP? | Yes |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (A): | |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Chargetime | |
| Power off Charge Port with no Cell? | |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 850 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 814 (95.8% of claim)* |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 210 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 497lux @ 4.849m = 11686cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 216.2 (103% of claim)* |
| All my Lumintop reviews! | |
- Measurement disclaimer: I am an amateur flashlight reviewer. I don’t have $10,000 or even $1,000 worth of testing equipment. I test output and such in PVC tubes!! Please consider claims within 10% of what I measure to be perfectly reasonable (accurate, even).
What’s Included
- Lumintop B01 Bike Flashlight
- Lumintop 2600mAh 18650
- 21700 to 18650 plastic sleeve adapter
- Charge cable (USB to micro-USB)
- Spare o-rings (2)
- Small split ring
- Lanyard
- Bike mount (1)
- Manual
Package and Manual
Standard Lumintop box, standard Lumintop manual.
Build Quality and Disassembly
Nice build quality on this little light. It’s intended to be held in place on a bike, so how it is in hand is not all that relevant.
That said, I really like the knurling, and that there are completely smooth parts of the body.
The head has ample fins for cooling.
The tailcap has a big spring, but it’s not a tightly wound one.
Note below that the threads on the body are big square cut threads, and anodized. Mechanically locking this light out is as simple as a very small twist to loosen it.
The head also has a spring – shorter but also tighter.
The bezel unscrews easily, and the lens comes out too. The reflector here is of course very specialized.
Size and Comps
Officially: 110.23725.4mm, N.W.: 101g (excluding battery)
Retention and Carry
Aside from the obvious bike mount, there’s also a hole in the tailcap for a lanyard (included).
Also included, and the primary way for mounting the light, is a novel mounting system. On the left below is the device together. On the right is a better idea of how it goes over a handlebar. It’s very simple, and also requires no tools.
Here’s the mount on a bar. This is a versatile mount, and will fit many different size handlebars.
The light slips into the mount.
With the switch facing upward, the beam is just right on trail.
Power and Runtime
Lumintop included an 18650 with this light, so despite it accepting 21700 sized cells, I tested exclusively with this included cell. Having springs on both ends, it should work with even the shortest 18650s, and also long 21700 cells. Protected/unprotected, flat top/button top; shouldn’t matter.
The included cell is a button top.
The adapter is just a plastic sleeve – no aluminum or other. It’s just a diameter adjustment.
Turbo steps down after 3-4 minutes to around 475 lumens, which it holds for over 2 hours.
High looks the same, except it starts at ~475 lumens and holds it for over 2 hours.
In both runtimes, the light shut off with low voltage protection, at around 3V. On bench power, the switch flashes green at 2.5V (it’s off long before that with cell).
There’s also built in charging. It’s by a micro-USB port in the head, opposite the switch.
Lumintop also includes a USB to micro-USB cable.
Charging is a bit weird, with an extremely short CC phase, and a long drawn out CV phase. This makes charging take around 3.5 hours.
The switch is red during charging, but turns blue when charging is complete.
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 850 | 2h20m | 814 | 2.74 |
| High | 450 | 2h30m | 476 | 0.95 |
| Med | 250 | 5h55m | 231 | 0.38 |
| Low | 10 | 88h | 12 | 0.01 |
Pulse Width Modulation
No PWM at all.
For reference, here’s a baseline shot, with all the room lights off and almost nothing hitting the sensor. And here’s the worst PWM light I have ever owned. Also one of the very first lights I ordered directly from China!
User Interface and Operation
The switch is a silicone e-switch in the head, with a Lumintop logo and an indicating LED. During normal operation, the green color makes the Lumintop rabbit light up nicely.
Here’s a UI table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Click | On (Mode Memory) |
| Off | Hold (3s) | Strobe |
| Off | Long Hold (5s) | Lockout* |
| Strobe | Click | SOS |
| Lockout | Long Hold | Unlock |
| On | Hold (1s) | Off |
| On | Double Click | Turbo |
| On | Click | Mode Advance (LMH) |
| Turbo | Click | Previous Mode |
- Yes to get to lockout you must go through strobe.
LED and Beam
The emitter is a Cree XP-L HD. The reflector of course is very specialized, making a beam profile suitable for biking on trails or city bikeways.
These beamshots are always with the following settings: f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure.
Tint vs BLF-348 (Killzone 219b version)
I compare everything to the Killzone 219b BLF-348, because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!
Conclusion
What I like
- Nice complete package
- High output of 475 lumens is very steady
- Novel bike mount is easy to install and switch to other bikes
- Mount fits a wide range of bar sizes
What I don’t like
- Weird on-board charging
- UI is a little hard to get used to
Notes
- This light was provided by Lumintop for review. I was not paid to write this review.
- This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
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