Sofirn ST10 Clip-on Mini Flashlight
The Sofirn ST10 clip-on mini flashlight has many features! Two white LEDs (one floody, one not floody), one red LED, a magnet tailcap, and a clip option! Read on!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the Sofirn ST10 clip-on mini flashlight product page.
Versions
I see just one version of the Sofirn ST10 clip-on mini flashlight.
Price
The Sofirn ST10 clip-on mini flashlight sells for $40 with a sale price of $30, which looks to be the real street price. But the item appears out of stock at the moment!
What’s Included
- Sofirn ST10 clip-on mini flashlight
- Sofirn 14500 cell
- Lanyard (2 parts)
- Charging cable
- Spare o-rings (2)
- Manual
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
“Yet another clip light” you might say (and I would agree, generally). I don’t love the style, but this one has a bonus feature – it runs a single 14500 cell, which is user-replaceable! That’s a huge win! Build quality is fine; nothing exceptionally good or bad, and about what you’d expect out of a $30 light (provided you’re ok with the hinged clip thing sticking off the back).
The tailcap is fairly easy to remove, and it has a spring. You can see into the cell tube below – no spring, just a button.
Size and Comps
Size: Length: 69.3 × 33.8 × 20.4 mm (≈ 2.73″ × 1.33″ × 0.80″)
Weight: 49g (1.73 oz) without battery
If the flashlight can headstand, I’ll show it here. If it can tailstand, I’ll also show that here!
Here’s the test light with the venerable Convoy S2+. The version below is a custom laser-engraved Convoy S2+ host by GadgetConnections.com. I did a full post on an engraved orange host right here! Or go straight to GadgetConnections.com to buy your Convoy S2+ now!
Also in the photo above, my Standard Reference Material (SRM) flashlight is the Hanko Machine Works Trident, an 18350 light. While I have not reviewed or tested the Gunner Grip version seen here, I have tested a Hanko Machine Works Trident Total Tesseract in brass. I love the Trident, and it’s a striking contrast to the inexpensive Convoy S2+, another great SRM.
Retention and Carry
Again, there are many ways to carry or use the Sofirn ST10 clip-on mini flashlight. Primarily, I suppose, is this clip attached to the back of the Sofirn ST10 clip-on mini flashlight. The clip area has grippy parts and is secure.
Also included is a lanyard, which comes in two parts.
There’s also a magnet in the tailcap, which is perfectly strong for holding the Sofirn ST10 clip-on mini flashlight. Not pictured, but there is even a magnet in the clip part of this light, too!
And of course, the clip part of the light works fine, as I said above.
Power and Runtime
The Sofirn ST10 clip-on mini flashlight uses a single lithium-ion cell – in this case, a 14500.
Sofirn includes a 900mAh standard button-top 14500, which goes into the light in the standard way – positive end toward the head.
Below are a number of runtimes. I didn’t see the light hit the output claims for either white emitter (1000 or 500 lumens).
The Sofirn ST10 clip-on mini flashlight does shut off with low voltage protection.
The temperature lines in these charts are included as general context, not precise measurements. The values represent the range (min to max) during testing, but should not be taken as exact readings. Temperature sensors are attached however feasible and not always on the bezel or hottest spot (assuming that can even be clearly defined). Even with ideal placement, too many variables affect temperature to definitively state a specific max value.
Charging
While the Sofirn ST10 clip-on mini flashlight itself does not have charging, the included cell does. There’s a USB-C charging port on the positive end.
Sofirn includes a USB-C to USB-C charging cable.
Charging is fine with both A to C and C to C, and takes around 2.5 hours with both methods.
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front – Turbo | 1000 | 1h20m | 768 (0s) 716 (30s) |
2.32 |
| Front – High | 330 | 1.5h | 277 (0s) 270(30s) |
0.68 |
| Front – Medium | 100 | 4.5h | 83 | 0.24 |
| Front – Low | 10 | 35h | 11.2 | 0.03 |
| Front – Moon | 1 | 150h | 1.3 | [low] |
| Side white – Turbo | 500 | 1h20m | 432 (0s) 418 (30s) |
1.58 |
| Side white – High | 300 | 1.5h | 255 | 0.85 |
| Side white – Medium | 75 | 4h | 61 | 0.22 |
| Side white – Low | 7 | 45h | 3.9 | 0.01 |
| Red – High | 100 | 1h | [100 – relative] | 1.85 |
| Red – Medium | 45 | 1h15m | [43 – relative] | 0.76 |
| Red – Low | 3 | 27h | [1.9 – relative] | 0.03 |
Pulse Width Modulation
Every mode with any emitter uses PWM. That’s not fantastic, but it’s pretty fast PWM and unless you’re sensitive, you might not notice it.
Click here to 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
Two e-switches are used for controlling the Sofirn ST10 clip-on mini flashlight. The front-most switch (they call this the Main Light Switch) is for the front LED, and the other switch (they call it the Side Light Switch) controls the side white and red emitters.
There’s an indicator between the switches. It can be red or green (seen below).
Here’s a user interface table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Front off, side any state | Click the main light switch | Front on – memory |
| Front off, side any state | Hold the main light switch | Front moon |
| Any | Double-click click main light switch | Front turbo |
| Front turbo | Double-click click main light switch | Front beacon |
| Front on | Click the main light switch | Front off (except from Turbo) |
| Front on | Hold the main light switch | Front mode advance (LMH only) |
| Front turbo | Click the main light switch | Previous main mode (LMH only) (If you accessed turbo from moon, clicking out of turbo turns the light off, not back to moon.)^ |
| Side off, front any state | Click the side light switch | Side white on – memory |
| Side off, front any state | Hold the side light switch | Side red – memory |
| Side white on | Hold the side light switch | Side white advance (LMH) |
| Side white on | Double-click the side light switch | Side white turbo |
| Side white turbo | Click the side light switch | Previous side white mode |
| Side off, front any state | Hold the side light switch | Red on – memory |
| Red on | Click the side light switch | Red advance (LMH)^^ |
| Any | Double-click the side light switch | Red flash (sort of double flash beacon) |
| Off | Triple-click either switch | Lockout |
| Lockout | Triple-click either switch | Light comes on in memory respectively to which switch is used for unlocking. |
^ This is a ridiculous inconsistency.
^^ This is a separate ridiculous inconsistency. For both white LEDs, holding the switch advances the level. For red, clicking the switch advances the level, but holding turns the LED off.
LED and Beam
Both white LEDs on the Sofirn ST10 clip-on mini flashlight appear to be TN-3535. The front has a more throwy optic, while the side is very floody.
Red is very floody too, of course.
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
The claim for these TN-3535’s is “6500K-7000K,” and that seems to be approximately the case for both the front and side (with the front being a good bit cooler than the claim, and the side emitter too). CRI for both emitter options is low.
CCT (Correlated Color Temperature) refers to the measurement of the color appearance of light, expressed in Kelvins (K), which indicates whether the light is warm (yellowish) or cool (bluish). A lower CCT (below 3000K) is considered warm light, while a higher CCT (above 5000K) gives cooler, bluish light.
CRI (Color Rendering Index) is a measure of how accurately a light source renders colors in comparison to natural sunlight. Scored on a scale from 0 to 100, higher CRI values indicate that colors appear more true to life and vibrant, similar to how they would look under the sun.
Beamshots
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. These photos are taken around 18 inches from the door.
I compare everything to the KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!
Summary and Conclusion
The Big Table
| Sofirn ST10 clip-on mini flashlight | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | TN-3535 |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $29.99 |
| Cell: | 1×14500 |
| Runtime Graphs | |
| LVP? | Yes |
| Switch Type: | E-switch |
| Quiescent Current (mA): | ? |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | USB-C (on cell) |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | No |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | Front: 1000 Side: 500 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | Front: 716 (71.6% of claim)^ Side: 418 (83.6% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | Front: 4 Side: 1.9 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | Front: 144 Side: 54 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | Front: 160lux @ 4.076m = 2658cd Side: 54 90lux @ 2.96m = 789cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | Front: 103.1 (71.6% of claim)^ Side: 56.2 (104.1% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | Both: 6500-7000 |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | Front: 6800-7400 Kelvin Side: 6900-7000 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 I like
- Uses a standard 14500 cell
- Cell is included
- Useful magnets (2)
- Red is bright!
- Can pass and be used as a “regular” (not clip-style) flashlight
What I don’t like
- Doesn’t hit output specifications
- Low CRI
- Very cool white
- Annoying user interface inconsistencies
Notes
- This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
- Please use my Amazon.com referral link to help support zeroair.org!
- Please support me on Patreon! I deeply appreciate your support!