Sofirn IF23 Mini RGB Flashlight Review
The Sofirn IF23 is a “Mini flashlight” with RGB and a whole host of other features, including emitters, powerbank, USB-C charging, and more!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the Sofirn IF23 Mini RGB flashlight product page.
Versions
There’s only one version of the Sofirn IF23 Mini RGB flashlight but it’s available with or without the battery.
Price
Without the 21700 cell, the Sofirn IF23 Mini RGB flashlight comes in at $39.99. That’s quite reasonable for such a feature-rich flashlight! The 21700 cell shown in this review adds only $3, so it’s an easy addition.
Short Review
The Sofirn IF23 Mini RGB flashlight really packs a punch. Even before I realized the side light has RGB output, I was thinking how many features the IF23 has… High output from the front. High CRI from the side. Powerbank. USB-C charging. And more! It’s a great package for $40. Then add in the fun RGB, and it gets even better!
Long Review
The Big Table
| Sofirn IF23 Mini RGB flashlight | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Cree XHP50B (Front) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $39.99 |
| Cell: | 1×21700 |
| Runtime Graphs | |
| LVP? | Yes |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (mA): | ? |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | USB-C |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 4000 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 2715 (67.9% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 5.5 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 247 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 469lux @ 5.103m = 12213cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 221.0 (89.5% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | – |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 4900-5500 Kelvin |
| Item provided for review by: | Sofirn |
| All my Sofirn reviews! | |
| Sofirn IF23 Mini RGB flashlight | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | CSP1313 (20) (Side) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $39.99 |
| Cell: | 1×21700 |
| Runtime Graphs | |
| LVP? | Yes |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (mA): | ? |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | USB-C |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 500 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 447 (89.4% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 0.8 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | – |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 41lux @ 3.01m = 371cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 38.5 |
| Claimed CCT | – |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 4600-4800 Kelvin |
| Item provided for review by: | Sofirn |
| 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 IF23 Mini RGB flashlight
- Sofirn 5000mAh 21700 cell
- Charging cable (USB to USB-C)
- Spare o-rings (2)
- Pocket clip
- Lanyard
- Manual
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
Sofirn’s build quality is good and is about what you’d expect (or a little better) for the price.
The style of flashlight that the Sofirn IF23 is has a sort of unique (or at least “interesting”) build in that there’s a COB-style array of emitters along the side.
One downside to this build style is that there’s really no way to keep from touching the threads when removing the tailcap. On the other hand, you might never really opt to open the light since it has charging built-in. You don’t really have to swap the cells!
The tailcap has a spring (seen above) but the head (positive) end has only a button. No problem – this isn’t a tactical light.
Size and Comps
Dimension: 27.5 x 30.05 x 120.5mm
Weight: 125g (without a battery)
If the flashlight will headstand, I’ll show it here (usually the third photo). If the flashlight will tailstand, I’ll also show that (usually in 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.
Also above on the left is a new feature light!! Laulima Metal Craft sent this Todai in tumbled aluminum for some size comparison photos like the ones above. Laulima has a bunch of incredible items. I’ve tested one (the Laulima Metal Craft Hoku) (the official site for Hoku is here) that was a Friend Fund Friday review. I was impressed enough by that Hoku that I bought a Laulima Metal Craft Diamond Slim (also in tumbled aluminum) (review is upcoming!) These lights by Laulima have impeccable build quality and not only that, they’re quite configurable. There are some (great, actually) default configurations, but Joshua Dawson (of Laulima Metal Craft) is open to ideas and emitter options and the like. I haven’t reviewed this Todai, but I have to say, it feels absolutely fantastic and I love it thus far. (Notably, I love how warm and eggy those emitters look through the TIR.)
Retention and Carry
Sofirn includes a pocket clip with the IF23. It’s a pretty standard two-way clip.
The clip does have one spot and one spot only, though. This is ideal since the IF23 has the “front” COB-style emitter array.
Also included is a lanyard, which attaches through this hole in the tailcap. It could also attach through the hole in the shoulder of the pocket clip. Since it’s a friction-fit pocket clip, that’s a much less secure attachment, though.
One final way to retain the IF23 is the strong magnet in the tailcap. This magnet is sufficient to hold the IF23, as seen below.
Power and Runtime
The Sofirn IF23 Mini RGB flashlight is powered by a single lithium-ion battery. If you go for the package deal, you’ll get the 5000mAh 21700 seen below.
The cell goes into the IF23 with the positive end toward the top of the light.
Below are a few output tests for the front emitter as well as one test for the side white emitters. Output is very high, but after the stepdown seems to bounce around quite dramatically.
The side emitter array also exhibits bouncing while in turbo mode.
Low voltage warning (or “protection” or maybe “faux protection”) was observed in all tests, with the light stepping down to a very low output when the voltage gets low.
Charging
The Sofirn IF23 Mini RGB flashlight sports USB-C charging and the charging port is on the side. It’s covered with a press-in rubber cover.
An appropriate cable is included. It’s USB to USB-C.
Charging looks very good at around 2.5A. For a 5000mAh cell like the one that’s included, this is perfectly fine.
Both A to C and C to C work just fine. A to C charges at a faster rate for some duration but C to C seems to charge at a better rate more constantly and thus charges the cell in a shorter time.
Powerbank
The powerbank feature on the IF23 works great, too! I did a sort of “stress test” on the output – run at the highest level where it stays at around 5V until it shuts off, then repeat at the next lower level. The USB-C port can output over 3A at 5V, which is very good. After that shuts off, you can cycle the port and get 2A for a while, then 1A for a while. Just unplug/plug your device. Here are a couple of graphs!
The powerbank does eventually shut off. At that point (in the graph above at 52 minutes or so), the cell voltage was 3.2V – perfectly respectable for cell protection.
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo Front | 4000 | 2h | 2715 | 8.36 |
| High Front | 1500 | 2h30m | 1135 | 2.24 |
| Medium Front | 500 | 4h | 441 | 1.03 |
| Low Front | 100 | 17h36m | 107 | 0.26 |
| Moonlight Front | 1 | 27d | 0.6 | [low] |
| Turbo Side white | 500 | 3h30m | 447 | 3.12 |
| High Side white | 150 | 12h30m | 154 | 1.11 |
| Medium Side white | 50 | 13h30m | 58 | 0.47 |
| Low Side white | 10 | 70h | 8 | 0.05 |
| Moonlight Side white | 1 | 230h | 3 | 0.02 |
Pulse Width Modulation
Nearly all the white output modes (front or side) use PWM. I didn’t record any RGB modes, but PWM wasn’t observed for those.
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 Sofirn IF23 Mini RGB flashlight is controlled by a single switch. It’s an e-switch on the side of the head. The user interface is very similar to other recent Sofirn lights like the IF19 but differs in that there is much more here that needs to be controlled.
What you end up with is a light that more or less has groups that are controlled in exactly the same way. Switching between groups puts you into the same user interface but for that selected output. The consistency is good, particularly if you can remember how to switch between output levels, and which output you’re in.
There’s a surprising amount of travel on this switch. It’s also quite proud but seems reliable.
This switch also has indicating features – below it’s seen indicating red for low voltage. Notably, the switch will indicate for 5 seconds after the light is turned on, as follows:
Green: remaining battery power is good
Red: remaining battery power is poor (less than 30%)
Red Flashing: recharge or swap cell immediately.
Here’s a UI table! The user interface sort of breaks up into three flashlights: front, side white, and side RGB. From off, clicking once puts you into the front output. Clicking twice puts you into side white. Clicking 3x puts you into RGB.
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Click | On (Mode Memory Front) |
| Off | Hold | Lowest level of selected output |
| On | Hold | Group 1: Mode cycle (Low, Medium, High only) Group 2: Ramp up RGB: Fade between RGB outputs fairly seamlessly |
| Any (except Turbo) | Double Click | Turbo |
| Turbo or Strobe | Click | Previous state |
| On | Click | Off |
| Turbo | Double Click | Strobe of active emitter(s) |
| On | Click 4x | Switch between Group 1 and Group 2 |
| Any (Except on in RGB) | Click 3x | On in RGB |
| On in RGB | Click 3x | Both front and side white emitters on in mode memory^ |
| Off | Click 4x | Lockout (blinks twice to confirm) |
| Lockout | Click 4x | Unlock (to side white) |
| Lockout | Click | Main emitter blink 2x to indicate lockout |
| Lockout | Hold | Momentary Moonlight |
^ Accessing both front and side white emitters this way seems to be the only way but they still have the full range of outputs, it seems.
Group 2 (Ramping) is similar to the above Group 1, except holding the switch will cause the light to ramp up. Loosening and then holding the switch again within 1.5s will cause the ramp to switch directions. So it’s possible to ramp up or down. Double click still gets Turbo.
LED and Beam
Sofirn uses a Cree XHP50B as the front emitter for high output. It’s effective!
This emitter has a lightly textured reflector, too.
The second white emitter is actually 20 emitters – CSP 1313 emitters in this COB-style side light setup.
Also tucked away behind that diffuser are 10 RGB emitters!
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
I didn’t test the RGB CRI and CCT (or much else about them), because they don’t have discrete levels. All the white modes are tested, though. Unsurprisingly, the Cree XHP50B (first 5 images) has low CRI (around 70) but the CCT is quite pleasant – at around 5000K-5500K. The side CSP emitters are fantastic, though, at a high CRI of around 93 and a CCT ranging from 4500K to 4800K. Very pleasant, and great for reading or the like.
Beamshots
These beamshots are always with 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.
The order below is the same as above – first the front Cree XHP50B then the 5 CSP levels.
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.
The order below is the same as above – first the front Cree XHP50B then the 5 CSP levels.
I’ve included some sort of random RGB levels here too.
I compare everything to the KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!
Conclusion
What I like
- Very robust feature set
- Powerbank works well
- C to C charging is great
- High CRI COB-style side emitter array
- Fun RGB options in the side emitter array, too
- Fairly straightforward user interface
What I don’t like
- It can be a bit confusing to switch between emitter options
- Output waffles noticeably after stepdown
Notes
- This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
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