Lumintop Apollo Flashlight Review
The Lumintop Apollo is a 21700-cell flashlight using four high CRI Osram emitters. It has an indicating e-switch, too! Read on!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the Lumintop Apollo flashlight product page.
Versions
I see only one version of the Lumintop Apollo flashlight specifically but there also appears to be a V2 of the Apollo. It’s different in that it has small reflectors for each of the four emitters and output is slightly higher.
Price
The Lumintop Apollo flashlight lists right now with a sale price of $33.96. Lumintop sent a 25% off coupon, which you can copy here:
TPJS3
and use at lumintolighting.com. This brings the with-cell version down (after shipping) to $40.28. Very reasonable!
Short Review
I love quads, and the Lumintop Apollo flashlight is a good one! I’d call it “fairly simple” but not in a way that demeans the light – it’s very capable, well-built, and solid. I like all those things! One thing I like is that the output isn’t just pushed to a jokingly high level. The claim of 1000 lumens seems reasonable and is around what I experienced. Around $40 with coupon and including the 21700 cell! It’s a deal.
Long Review
The Big Table
| Lumintop Apollo flashlight | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Osram GW Pusta1.PM (4) (High CRI) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $33.96
25% off with the coupon for lumintoplighting.com TPJS3 |
| Cell: | 1×21700 |
| Runtime Graphs | |
| LVP? | Yes |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (mA): | ? |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | with cell: all modes without cell and/or without tailcap or body: all modes except turbo |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 1000 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 906 (90.6% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 2.7 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 120 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 123lux @ 5.196m = 3321cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 115.3 (96.1% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | – |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 4700-4800 Kelvin |
| Item provided for review by: | Lumintop |
| All my Lumintop 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
- Lumintop Apollo flashlight
- Samsung 50G 21700
- Spare o-rings (2)
- Charging cable (USB to USB-C)
- Lanyard
- Manual
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
The build quality of the Lumintop Apollo flashlight is very good. On the whole, the light looks much like some previous Lumintop lights like the EDC18. It’s bigger, of course, but still very similar. I think Lumintop has an 18650 version that’s even closer to this Apollo than the EDC18, but I can’t recall the name!
The threads on this quad are very smooth. They’re square-cut and fairly fine, long, and anodized. You might want to lightly unscrew the tailcap like I do, to mechanically lock out the light.
The tailcap has a magnet, too.
The head and tail both have springs. 
The cell tube is completely removable. Also, the cell tube is not reversible, and the ideal way to swap cells is through the tailcap end.
Size and Comps
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 titanium Todai 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
A lanyard hole is built into the tailcap.
The included lanyard is a very simple lanyard.
Also included for retaining the Lumintop Apollo flashlight is the tailcap magnet. It’s quite strong and sufficient.
Power and Runtime
The Lumintop Apollo flashlight is powered by a single 21700. My package included this Samsung 50G 21700, which is a high current, good capacity flat top unprotected cell for my runtime tests. If you purchase a cell with your package, you might get a Lumintop branded/wrapped cell and it might be a button top. It’s likely perfectly sufficient to run this light hard.
The cell goes into the body with the positive end toward the emitters (as usual).
Below you can see a few runtime tests – the highest three modes. Turbo does step down but not immediately, and not in a “gamey” way. Output is not of the barn-burner variety, either, which I appreciate.
When the cell voltage gets low, the switch blinks. The light shuts off when the cell gets around 2.8V or so.
Charging
Charging on the Lumintop Apollo flashlight comes by way of a USB-C charging port in the head. The charge port has a press-in cover, which seems secure.
A charging cable is included. It’s a short USB to USB-C cable.
C to C charging works just fine and is reasonably quick at under 4 hours, but notably around 2A. 2A is probably near the max (at 5V) that you’ll get out of most USB plugs anyway.
While charging, the switch blinks green. When charging is complete, the switch turns solid green.
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 1000 | 5m+2h40m | 906 | 2.64 |
| High | 600 | 3h | 554 | 1.45 |
| Med | 300 | 6h30m | 275 | 0.66 |
| Low | 100 | 20h | 93 | 0.21 |
| Eco | 10 | 6d | 9.1 | 0.02 |
Pulse Width Modulation
I don’t observe PWM on any of the steady modes.
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
A single switch is used to control the Lumintop Apollo flashlight. This switch had an indicating feature, as well as the Lumintop rabbit logo.
The switch is proud and easy to find.
Here’s a user interface table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Click | On (Mode Memory, LMH only) |
| Off | Hold | Eco |
| On (Except turbo) | Click | Off |
| On | Hold | Mode advance (LMH) |
| Any | Double Click | Turbo |
| Turbo or Strobe or SOS |
Click | Previous state |
| Any | Triple click | Strobe |
| Strobe | Triple click | SOS |
| Off | Click 4x | Lockout |
| Lockout | Click | Momentary Low |
| Lockout | Click 4x | Unlock |
| Off | Click 5x | Iterate switch backlight |
LED and Beam
The Lumintop Apollo flashlight is a quad – four emitters. These are Osram GW Pusta1.PM emitters and features High CRI. It’s a floody output, though, so be aware. 
The bezel (probably stainless steel) has teeth, and light can escape while headstanding.
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
CRI is in fact high – it’s around 92. CCT is also great for me personally, at around 4700K. That’s neutral to warm and is my personal preference. Duv is positive, despite being slight, and you could pick this up as “yellow” in the beam (but not really green).
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.
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 CRI (92+)
- Easy user interface
- USB-C charging works very well
- Cell can be included for a low total-cost package
- Holds turbo for a reasonable time
- Stainless bezel
What I don’t like
- Very floody output. (It’s fine if you want that, but I don’t often)
- Output has slightly positive Duv
- No pocket clip
Notes
- This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
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