Vastlite i7 10440 Flashlight Review
The Vastlite i7 10440 flashlight features an Osram emitter, sand (or orange or black) body, and a unique tail switch cover. Read on!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a tracking link to the Vastlite i7 10440 flashlight product page.
Versions
At least three body colors are available – black, orange, and sand (seen here). Amazon shows a cool white and neutral white emitter option. The package is available with a number of cell options, too.
Price
The Vastlite i7 10440 flashlight is available at Amazon.com for around $24. That’s a referral link.
What’s Included
- Vastlite i7 10440 flashlight
- Manker 300mAh 10440 (optional)
- Manual
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
The Vastlite i7 10440 flashlight has nice build quality, especially at around $20. There is at least one unusual design choice, which you may love! One is the switch/tailcap. More on that later.
The head doesn’t have a spring, and the threads are anodized.
The tail end (inside the cell tube) does have a spring, though.
Size and Comps
82mm x 15mm and 25g (without battery).
Here’s the light in hand:
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 Vastlite i7 10440 flashlight ships with the friction-fit pocket clip installed. The clip only goes on the tail end, but it’s a two-way clip, so that’s fine.
It’s a fairly robust clip! There’s a lanyard hole in the shoulder (but no lanyard is included).
The switch houses a magnet, too. That’s unusual for a mechanical clicky light like this, so that’s a bonus. It also means the switch end is very flat, so the light will tailstand.
Power and Runtime
FlashlightGo.com sent the package that has the USB-C charging, 300mAh 10440 (made by Manker). There are a couple of other options, such as “no cell” or “AAA.” I would say the 10440 package is the right package!
The cell goes into the Vastlite i7 10440 flashlight the usual way – positive end (button) toward the head.
Below are a few runtimes. The light will keep going at that very low output (a couple of lumens) for a very long time (check the “Duration” area of the charts). The light shuts off with low voltage protection.
I wasn’t provided an AAA cell (and I didn’t have any brand new cells), so I did not do any testing with AAA output. It’s nice to know that this light has the option to run 1.5V cells, though!
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. A temperature sensor is not always attached to the bezel (or even the hottest spot, assuming that could be defined). Even with ideal placement, too many variables affect temperature to definitively state a specific max value.
Charging
The Vastlite i7 10440 flashlight itself doesn’t have built-in charging, but the 10440 packaged with the light does. There’s a USB-C charging port on the positive end of the cell.
Charging is fine, and consistent whether you use A or C. Time to charge is around 1.5 hours.
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 545 | 1m+80m | 454 (0s) 446 (30s) |
1.22A (at 4.2V) |
| High | 150 | 2h | 118 (0s) 118 (30s) |
0.21 (at 4.2V) |
| Medium | 80 | 3h10m | 61 | 0.10 (at 4.2V) |
| Low | 3 | 65h | 2.1 | [low] (at 4.2V) |
Pulse Width Modulation
The very lowest mode (left) has a sawtooth look, but none of the other levels have any of that.
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 Vastlite i7 10440 flashlight uses a mechanical tail switch. The metal cover has a nice ripple pattern.
The switch cover is unusual in design, in that it is totally proud over the body of the light, but still allows tailstanding. There’s a fair bit of wobble in the switch, but pressing it direction down right in the center gives a pleasant experience.
Here’s a user interface table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Click | On (Memory) |
| On | Click | Off |
| On | Tap | Mode advance (LMHT) |
This is a very simple user interface. There’s no strobe! I did find it a bit hard to hit just the right switch depth to advance the modes, and all three modes above Low are honestly not all that different in brightness (meaning it’s often hard to know exactly which mode you’re in, above Low.)
LED and Beam
This version of the Vastlite i7 10440 flashlight uses an Osram GW Pusra1.pm P8 Cool White emitter and a TIR optic.
The beam profile is fairly nice. It’s probably well-suited for keychain use.
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
The emitter is stated as “Cool White,” and that’s absolutely true – it’s cool to very cool white. The Duv is positive too, which is often characterized as a “green” beam. To me, this one is more “stark cold white” than green, though.
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
At around $20, the Vastlite i7 10440 flashlight is a very good light to consider because it will run both 10440 (optional) and 1.5V cells (like AAA, including NiMH AAA). The user interface is very simple, and the neat switch cover design includes a magnet but can also tailstand. Again, for $20, it’s worth looking at!
The Big Table
| Vastlite i7 10440 Flashlight | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Osram GW Pusra1.pm P8 (Cool White) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $15.99 |
| Cell: | 1×10440 |
| Runtime Graphs | |
| LVP? | Yes |
| Switch Type: | |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | USB-C (on cell) |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | – |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 545 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 446 (81.8% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 5.5 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 102 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 178lux @ 3.791m = 2558cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 101.2 (99.2% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | Cool White 6500 |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | Cool White 6800-7200 Kelvin |
| Item provided for review by: | Flashlightgo.com |
| All my Vastlite 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
- Low cost
- Body color options (including Orange!)
- Neutral white is available
- Dead simple user interface
What I don’t like
- Very cool white cool white option
- Can be hard to press the switch to the right depth for mode changes (and not just turning the light off)
Notes
- This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
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