Thrunite Lynx Flashlight Review
The Thrunite Lynx flashlight has a cool white Luminus SFT70 and a dual switch interface. It’s good for tactical use, but also has USB-C charging and powerbank!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the Thrunite Lynx flashlight product page.
Versions
There’s just one version of the Thrunite Lynx flashlight.
Price
The cool white Thrunite Lynx flashlight lists for $99.95, but you should definitely head over to Amazon (via this referral link) because the Thrunite Lynx flashlight is just $59.95 there!!
What’s Included
- Thrunite Lynx flashlight
- Thrunite 5000mAh 21700
- Charging cable
- Pocket clip
- Lanyard
- Holster
- Spare o-rings (2)
- Manual
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
Build quality on the Thrunite Lynx flashlight is just fine. As a $100 light (MSRP), I’d say it’s a bit overpriced. But the Amazon price of $60 feels about right.
Only the tailcap comes off the Thrunite Lynx flashlight (with good reason, which you’ll see later). The threads here are anodized and very smooth. There’s a beefy spring in the tailcap.
The head end of the Thrunite Lynx flashlight doesn’t exactly have a spring, but there’s a springy collar. The positive contact is just the button in the center, but the negative contact is the collar. More on that later, to.
Size and Comps
144.5mm x 29m x 27.7mm and 108g.
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
The Thrunite Lynx flashlight ships with an unattached friction-fit pocket clip.
This clip can go only on the tail end, but it’s a two-way clip, which still gives you carry options.
The tailcap has four holes, all of which can be used to attach the included lanyard.
A nylon holster is included, too.
Power and Runtime
As stated above, the Thrunite Lynx flashlight is powered by a single lithium-ion cell. The required cell is included. It’s this 5000mAh Thrunite-branded customized and proprietary 21700 cell.
The first bit of customization is that both positive and negative terminals are exposed on the positive end. This is a requirement (full stop), because as you’ve seen above, the head end has the contacts for both, and both are required there for this light to operate. (Period.) (I state this specifically because the Thrunite T2 uses the same cell but doesn’t have both contacts on the head end, and regular 21700 cells will work.)
The cell fits into the light in the normal direction – positive terminal toward the head. 
Here are a few runtimes. Turbo steps down quickly, but boy does it toast some lumens. After the initial turbo burst, the stepdown is dramatic, to around 700 lumens.
Interestingly, for Turbo (and High), there’s a little blip of increased output after the stepdown. I presume this is the light attempting to respond to thermals and increase output if possible (and heat dissipates). As you can see by the temperature line, heat stays just about steady, and eventually so does the output.
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.
An indicator above the charging port will tell when the cell is getting low, but the manual does not describe this. The indicator activates for a few seconds when the light is turned on, too.
Charging
The Thrunite Lynx flashlight has a built-in USB-C charging port on the head. It’s covered and protected by a new screw-down collar.
This collar-style cover isn’t completely new, but this one most reminds me of a light I tested nearly 10 years ago – the Zanflare F1. The collar is fine and useful, but I find it a bit hard to open and close, particularly with the pocket clip installed.
Here’s a charge graph of a few cycles. Charging is very consistent and peaks at around 2.8A. A full charge takes just over 2 hours.
When charging, the indicator mentioned above blinks red. When charging is complete, the indicator turns green.
The cell can be charged via USB-C directly, as well. I didn’t test that, but previous posts demonstrate that capability. Testing of the Thrunite TT20 Outsider is one such post.
Powerbank
The Thrunite Lynx flashlight can be used as a powerbank, too! Here’s a quick test. The Thrunite Lynx flashlight seems to output up to nearly 4A, but well out of USB specification. If you keep the current in the range of USB spec (let’s say, 4.8V), then the output is still very good and high, at around 2.2A. First, as usual, a bit of “stress testing” on the output.
The second chart is the same data, but it’s after I settled on a current to test at.
Modes
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 3100-1200 | 2h10m | 2969 (0s) 2447 (30s) |
| High | 1200 | 2h25m | 1170 (0s) 1151 (30s) |
| Medium | 250 | 9h54m | 249 |
| Low | 35 | 69h | 35 |
| Firefly | 1 | 22d | .23 |
Pulse Width Modulation
None of the five steady modes uses PWM.
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
The Thrunite Lynx flashlight has a dual-switch interface, but both switches (one mechanical and one e-switch) are on the tailcap. That’s a very traditional tactical setup, but I don’t think the Thrunite Lynx flashlight is billed as tactical, exactly.
The taller, bigger switch is mechanical.
Here’s a user interface table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Click the mechanical switch | On – mode memory |
| Off | Any e-switch action (hold, click) | Momentary strobe |
| On | Click the mechanical switch | Off |
| On | Click the e-switch | Mode advance |
| Off | Tap the mechanical switch | Momentary – mode memory |
| On | Hold the e-switch | Momentary strobe |
LED and Beam
The Thrunite Lynx flashlight uses a cool white Luminus SFT70 emitter. It also has a broad, smooth reflector.
Below you can see the indicator that I mentioned above. It’s green here.
The bezel is toothy (which I love), so light escapes when headstanding.
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
The emitter is billed as cool white, and that’s a fact – it’s over 6000K on all modes. CRI 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 Thrunite Lynx flashlight, at around $60, is a very feature-rich light. The dual switch interface is intuitive, and no modes are left out for some special click actions. It’s very direct! Output is good, and once the stepdowns happen, output is very steady. Charging of the 5000mAh proprietary battery is quick via the built-in USB-C port. If you can get over the proprietary cell requirement, then the Thrunite Lynx flashlight is a great contender!
The Big Table
| Thrunite Lynx flashlight | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Luminus SFT70 (Cool White) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $99.95 |
| Cell: | 1×21700 |
| Runtime Graphs | |
| LVP? | Yes |
| Switch Type: | Both |
| Quiescent Current (mA): | – |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | USB-C |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | with cell installed: all modes anything else: no |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 3100 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 2447 (78.9% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 22.2 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 417 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 1463lux @ 5.754m = 48438cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 440.2 (105.6% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | – |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 6100-6400 Kelvin |
| Item provided for review by: | Thrunite |
| All my Thrunite 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
- Build quality
- Collar USB-C port cover – (better than a press-in cover, but can be hard to twist)
- Simple user interface
- Powerbank capability
- Charging quickly
- Doesn’t have that horrible infinite ramping user interface that plagued Thrunite for so long
What I don’t like
- The collar-style charging port cover can be tough to twist
- Low CRI and high CCT
- Proprietary cell requirement
Notes
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