Convoy New L6 (4000K) Flashlight Review

Convoy has released a “new L6” which uses a Cree XHP70.2 emitter, and comes in many CCT options – mine is the 4000K.  Look no further for some data!

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Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Convoy New L6 4000K product page.

Versions

As stated here, this is the “New” L6 – there are other and older versions.  I’ve reviewed two of those, which you can see here in a clear finish and a review from way back when of the XHP70 version.

Of the New L6, there seems to be only one body color, but many emitter colors, as follows:
N4-7A: 3000K
P2-5C: 4000K (seen here)
P2-3C: 5000K
P2-1A: 6500K

There also appears to be a reflector option – smooth and orange peel.  My sample is the smooth variety.

Price

$73.45 at BangGood – affiliate link.

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Short Review

The L6 is still a fantastic light, after all these years (>5 years since the first L6 was reviewed on this site!).  It’s great they’ve started using the XHP70.2, and the warmer temperatures are very nice.  I’d say in the mid $70s might be just a touch costly, but still probably reasonable.

Long Review

The Big Table

Convoy New L6, 4000K
Emitter:	Cree XHP70.2 (4000K)
Price in USD at publication time:	$73.45 at BangGood
Cell:	2×26650
Turbo Runtime Graph	High Runtime Graph
LVP?	Yes
Switch Type:	Both
Quiescent Current (mA):	–
On-Board Charging?	No
Claimed Lumens (lm)	4300
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	3513 (81.7% of claim)^~
Candela per Lumen	24
Claimed Throw (m)	300
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	8630lux @ 3.235m = 90315cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	601.0 (200.3% of claim)^
All my Convoy 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.
~ Notably this is a warmer version than what was probably rated at 4300 lumens, and the bezel makes capturing every single lumen very difficult.  So I have “81.7% of the claim, but it’s probably at least somewhat higher (probably much higher).

What’s Included

• Convoy New L6 4000K
• Tactical ring with lanyard holes

Package and Manual

There is no manual.

Convoy New L6 4000K Build Quality and Disassembly

Typical, and very good, build quality here from Convoy.  Everything is as it should be.

Here’s a top-down view:

As you can see below, the bezel is fluted, and light escapes.  I prefer this, but it does not work so great with runtime testing.

This bezel does in fact unscrew quite easily though.  Good for emitter swaps, if that’s your thing!

There is ample cooling surface area because of these cooling fins.

A few things going on with this tailcap.  First it’s beefy.  Secondly there’s a “tactical ring blank” here. You’ll see more later.

Threads are very smooth, square-cut, moderately lubed, and not too long.

Convoy does a spring bypass on the switch spring, as you can see below.  The switch is also accessible by simply removing this retaining ring.

The cell tube comes off the head and tail.

It’s not a reversible cell tube, though – the head end has unanodized threads.

As you’d expect, the head spring has a bypass as well.  Don’t know what a spring bypass is?  It’s that little red wire, which shortens the path of electricity from the cell to the driver (or cell to switch, on the tailcap side).  This allows for higher current to cause less heat.

Here’s the tactical ring, installed the wrong way just for show (no of course I didn’t try to install it this way, nope.)

The blank must be removed first.  These parts screw-on, and unscrewing the blank was a bit difficult because of lack of grip.

With Convoy anodizing so many of their other lights orange now (C8 is available in orange!!!) maybe we can hope to see an orange L6?  In!!!

Size and Comps

Head diameter: 75mm
Outer diameter of battery tube: 35mm
Inner diameter of the battery tube: 27mm
Flashlight length: 255mm
Light weight: 550g

If the flashlight will headstand, I’ll show it here (usually the third photo).  If the flashlight will tailstand, I’ll show that here, too (usually the fourth photo).

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.

Here’s the Convoy New L6 4000K beside my old Convoy L2.  I gave away the other L6 lights that were previously reviewed.   The L6 is quite a bit bigger than the L2.

The shorty tube from the L2 will fit in the L6, but the voltage from one cell isn’t high enough to actually run the light.

Retention and Carry

There’s really not much included for carry of the Convoy New L6 in 4000K.  The first I’ll mention is this lanyard hole, which is in the tailcap.  It’s a double hole, so the light can still tailstand when a lanyard is in place.

Note that no lanyard is included.  Both sides of the tailcap have these holes.

Next, and probably more useful, is the tactical ring.  I can’t see any good reason to not use the tactical ring, so for my money I’d rather the light just ship this way and save 50 cents on the blank.  The tactical ring also has lanyard holes.

Holding the light this way, in a tactical grip way, is cumbersome because of the overall size of the Convoy L6.

There is no belt clip or pouch or anything else for carry of the L6.

Power and Runtime

The Convoy New L6 4000K requires around 8V for the driver to work.  (I guess that’s technically referred to as “7.4V nominal.”)  This means two of whatever lithium-ion cells you’re putting into the cell tube.  It’s made for 26650 cells, and BangGood included these seen below for testing.  These are Astrolux 5000mAh 26650 cells, and they work very well in this light.

Again, you need two of them.

If you did actually want to use the shorty tube seen on the L2 above, you could run this L6 with 2×26350 cells (which do exist), and have quite a fun little light.

The cells install in the usual way – positive (button in this case) toward the head.  One thing very nice about these Astrolux cells is that there’s absolutely no slop.  They fit very snugly and don’t rattle even a little.

Here are three runtime graphs.  Output on Turbo hits under the claim, but I can name two reasons this might be lower than spec:  1) My sample is 4000K, and almost always the spec is written for the coolest white option (in this case 6500K).  2) The bezel shape prevents every single bit of output from entering my testing apparatus, so I’m missing some of those lumens.

Either way, the output is fairly remarkably spectacular.  Over 3400 lumens for over half an hour, and all with minimal temperature at hand.  The light blinks a warning when the voltage is low, too.

Now a runtime on High:

And a runtime on Medium.  I didn’t actually intend to do this test because I figured it’d take a while, but I got it started (somewhat accidentally), and once it had been going for an hour or two and I realized what I’d done, I just let it go.  So here’s probably my longest runtime – nearly 40 hours – and I had to modify my calculations so that the graph wouldn’t kill my MacBook, but I got it sorted.  Hope you enjoy this graph in particular.

Modes and Currents

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps (@8.4V)
Turbo	5000mA	–	3513	3.78
High	1700mA	–	1780	1.81
Mid	200mA	–	223	0.18
Low	50mA	–		0.02

Pulse Width Modulation

There’s PWM, which is probably no surprise.  I don’t really notice it even on the slowest mode, Low.

Here you can see a “baseline” – a chart with almost no light hitting the sensor.

Then there’s the Ultrafire WF-602C flashlight, which has some of the worst PWM I’ve seen. It’s so bad that I used a post about it to explain PWM! Here are multiple timescales (10ms, 5ms, 2ms, 1ms, 0.5ms, 0.2ms) to make comparing this “worst” PWM light to the test light easier. That post also explains why I didn’t test the WF-602C at the usual 50us scale.

User Interface and Operation

The Convoy New L6 4000K is a two-button light. The tail switch is for on/off (and momentary) and the side switch selects mode while on. Four regular modes can be selected with a fifth (strobe) available. It’s pretty simple and is very intuitive. Click the light on (tail button) and then select the mode with the side switch. While on, double-click the side switch to access strobe.

Here’s a user interface table!

State	Action	Result
Off	Click Tail Switch	On (Mode Memory)
On	Click Tail Switch	Off
Off	Click Side Switch	No Action
On	Click Side Switch	Mode advance (LMHT)
On	Double Click Side Switch	Strobe
Strobe	Click Side Switch	Previous mode
On	Hold Side Switch	No action

LED and Beam

Convoy uses the updated Cree XHP70.2 in this New L6.  Mine is 4000K, which is absolutely fantastic, and I love it.  The warmer version (3000K) will be quite warm.  The next cooler CCT (5000K) will probably be the “most best” for everyday use.

My reflector is smooth.

A smooth reflector and an XHP70.2 might give you pause – you may be thinking “beam artifacts.”  And on a wall up close sure I can see some.  This might make you want the orange peel reflector.  I prefer a bit of throw and will take a “white wall hunting” ring.

These beamshots always have the following settings:  f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure. These photos are taken at floor level, and the beam hits the ceiling around 9 feet away.

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.

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

Conclusion

What I like

• Great CCT options (and the 4000K is great!)
• Standard Convoy build quality
• Dual switch interface (why oh why can’t the L2 have this)

What I don’t like

• Cost – $75 is not inexpensive
• Tactical “blank” seems like an unnecessary extra
• No pouch

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Notes

• This light was provided by BangGood 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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