Folomov EDC C1 v3 Flashlight Review

Folomov responded to issues by releasing a new EDC C1 flashlight.  It has a bigger heatsink, a stainless bezel, and should be better. Read on!

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Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Folomov EDC C1 v3 Flashlight product page for aluminum.  I don’t see the updated product on their site.

Versions

This is an iterated item, so there are some older versions.  But buy this one, not those.  This one is distinguished by the stainless bezel.  There are two bodies, though – brass (seen here) and black anodized aluminum.  Also, it seems that the different materials get different emitter temperatures, too.  The brass is a very warm 3000K, and the aluminum a more neutral 5000K, and 80CRI.  Both are Nichia E21A, though.

Price

Brass is going for $34.90 at the moment.  This light was sent to me for testing by Illumn.com, and I recommend you buy it there.

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Short Review

I liked the original (and had no issues – still have no issues in fact), and I still like this one.  I like the tail e-switch, love the warm emitter and high CRI, and overall just really like this light.

Long Review

The Big Table

Folomov EDC C1 v3
Emitter:	Nichia E21A (98 CRI)
Price in USD at publication time:	$34.90
Cell:	1×10440
Turbo Runtime	High Runtime
LVP?	Yes
Switch Type:	E-Switch
Quiescent Current (A):	?
On-Board Charging?	Yes (on the cell)
Chargetime
Power off Charge Port with no Cell?	–
Claimed Lumens (lm)	335
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	89 (26.6% of claim)^
Claimed Throw (m)	62
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	40lux @ 3.374m = 455cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	42.7 (68.9% of claim)^
All my Folomov 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.   This is after a pretty big stepdown, although I don’t measure the output to be near the 335 claimed lumens anyway.

What’s Included

• Folomov EDC C1 v3 Flashlight
• Spare o-rings (2)
• Pocket clip
• Charge cable (USB to micro-USB)
• Manual

Package and Manual

The light ships in this cardboard box, and inside this box is a tin with the light and goods.

Below is the manual.

Build Quality and Disassembly

Build quality is at least as good as the original version, and I’d probably give this one the edge.  There’s not one specific thing I’d point to, though; it just feels better.

The tailcap is what unscrews to change/charge the 10440 cell.

The body doesn’t have any knurling, or really even any cooling fins.  The head has some texture, though.  That said, the tailcap isn’t hard to remove.

The body does have some branding, which is a deep cut into the body.  Based on the ad copy it looks like the aluminum is different here – it’s printed, not cut.

The tailcap unscrews easily as I said, and the threads are square-cut and fairly big for such a small light.  This does mean that mechanical lockout isn’t as much of an option.  The tailcap has to be unscrewed halfway or more to achieve this.

The tailcap has a spring, but the head has only a button.  There’s also a… what looks like Teflon washer of sorts – not sure what purpose this serves.

The package includes the cell seen below.

Size and Comps

Officially this light is 70.7mm long and 13.5mm in diameter and weighs 35.7g with cell.  

It’s a small light.

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 here’s the light beside my custom engraved TorchLAB BOSS 35, an 18350 light.  I reviewed the aluminum version of that light in both 35 and 70 formats.

It’s not as small as the previous generation, though!  Note at least two differences.  First and most obviously, the bezel.  Namely that there is a separate bezel on the new one.  Secondly, it looks like the tailcap has changed a little bit.  It’s now longer, and also the rubber button cover is rounded – no tailstanding here!  One final difference is the clip placement.

Retention and Carry

There’s a pocket clip included.  It’s a friction fit steel clip, which affords only bezel up carry.  This does mean the EDC C1 v3 will serve well as a hatlight if you wish.

I quite like this clip, even though it could be improved a little.  A bigger mouth, for one thing, would be very nice.  But it’s a snug, secure clip.

The clip has a couple of cutouts, which would allow lanyard attachment.  A lanyard is not included, though.

Power and Runtime

The EDC C1 v3 runs only on lithium-ion cells (no alkaline, NiMH, etc – anything under 3V).  The appropriate lithium-ion cell is included – a 10440.  This specific cell has built-in charging, a feature I don’t look for in cells.

The included cell is a button top, and I’m fairly sure you actually need a button top to run the light.  It’s unclear if the head end of the cell tube has physical protection to prevent flat tops.

I found this bit awkward.  The pocket clip just put this light as backward for me, so it was always weird putting the cell in this way (seen below), so just be aware – if you use the clip as an index, that the positive end goes into the tube.  (Again that’s not unusual, just weird when seeing the clip which is most often on the tail end of lights….)

Just like the EDC C1 before it, the output doesn’t even come close for me on Turbo – even at startup.  Also the stepdown is dramatic – from an initial of 230ish lumens to 60 and trailing off in under a minute.

High also has a big stepdown, and exhibits essentially the same profile as Turbo after the stepdown.

Both runtimes did show LVP.  I wasn’t able to confirm this with bench power – e-switches are hard.

Charging

The included cell has built-in charging, via micro-USB.  A cable is included.

Charging is unremarkable, which is good and safe.

Modes and Currents

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
Turbo	335	0.5h	89	?
High	150	0.8h	82	?
Medium	40	1.2h	37	?
Low	8	4.8h	9	?
Moon	0.5	30h	~	?

Pulse Width Modulation

There’s PWM on every mode.  I’m not a fan but the PWM is very fast, and I don’t find it to be noticeable.  I don’t recall testing the other edition of this light but I have a feeling the PWM on Turbo will help keep the emitter from being burned out – that was one of the issues with the original.

For reference, here’s a baseline shot, with all the room lights off and almost nothing hitting the sensor.  Also, here’s the light with the worst PWM I could find.  I’m adding multiple timescales, so it’ll be easier to compare to the test light.  Unfortunately, the PWM on this light is so bad that it doesn’t even work with my normal scale, which is 50 microseconds (50us). 10ms.  5ms.  2ms.  1ms.  0.5ms.  0.2ms.  In a display faster than 0.2ms or so, the on/off cycle is more than one screen, so it’d just (very incorrectly) look like a flat line.  I wrote more about this Ultrafire WF-602C flashlight and explained a little about PWM too.

User Interface and Operation

There’s a single switch and it’s an e-switch on the tail.  It’s marked with a big power logo and doesn’t have any indication features.  It’s a clicky switch, and very accessible.

There are two UI’s.  Illumination mode (default), and Tactical mode.  To switch between them, from off click 7x.  The light will flash 6x to confirm the change.

Here’s a UI table for “Illumination Mode”!

State	Action	Result
Off	Click	On (Mode Memory)
Off	Hold 0.5s	Moon
Moon	Click	Mode Memory
On	Click	Mode Advance (LMH)
Any	Click 2x	Turbo
Turbo	Click 2x	Special Mode Advance (Turbo>Strobe>SOS>Beacon^)
On	Hold 0.5s	Off
Off	Click 3x	Lockout (Three flashes to confirm)
Lockout	Click 3x	Unlock (One flash to confirm)
On	Click 3x	1-minute countdown timer (One flash to confirm)^^

^ This isn’t a typical beacon – it fades in and out approximately every 5 seconds.
^^ Countdown starts at 1m but minutes can be added. After the timer, click three more times to add one minute. The light will flash twice to indicate the timer is now 2 minutes.  You can add up to 10 minutes total.  The manual seems to be incorrect on this matter, but the above works on my copy.  The timer seems to activate a lowish mode, not really corresponding to Low.  But it’ll time in Moon as well – so really two modes are available in timer mode.

Here’s a UI table for “Tactical Mode”!

State	Action	Result
Off	Hold	Momentary Turbo
Off	Click	Turbo
Off	Click 2x	Strobe
On	Click	Off

LED and Beam

The emitter of choice in the EDC C1 is a Nichia E21a, at 3000K temperature, with a CRI of ≥98.

There’s a reflector too.  The beam is good for a keychain-type light.  A nice large hotspot, with a little spill.

Moon is quite low – maybe a little higher than 0.5 lumens, but still low.

These beamshots are always with the following settings:  f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure.

This is a very warm 3000K emitter.  I don’t have a spectrophotomagic meter, but by eye, and comparing to what else I’ve handled, it’s…. definitely warm.

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

I compare everything to the Killzone 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!

Conclusion

What I like

• Neat update to the other light
• Glad it includes a cell
• Neat that there’s two UI’s

What I don’t like

• Requires liion cell (no NiMH support)
• Output not even close to 335 lumens, and the stepdown is massive
• Wish more modes were available in Tactical and/or click for off was default for both groups.

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Notes

• This light was provided by Illumn.com for review. I was not paid to write this review.
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