Speras EST UV Flashlight Review

The Speras EST UV flashlight features a single white emitter, a side UV emitter, dual switches, and charging via USB-C. Read on for some testing!

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Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Speras EST UV flashlight product page.

Versions

I believe there’s just one version of the Speras EST UV flashlight, but the EST line is a whole series of lights!

Price

List price for the Speras EST UV flashlight is $109.99, but it’s going for $99.99 right now.

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What’s Included

• Speras EST UV flashlight
• Speras 3100mAh 18650
• Charging cable
• Spare o-rings (2)
• Manual

Package and Manual

Build Quality and Disassembly

The Speras EST UV flashlight is a robust flashlight. It is specifically marketed as “tactical,” and so it does need to be very well built!

There are springs on the head and tail end. They are thick and robust. But do note that the tail switch is an e-switch, so it requires the inner sleeve (seen below) for contact. Because of this, the EST UV may not be suitable for actual weapon mount.

The head end has a thick spring, too.

Size and Comps

Dimensions 136 (Length) x 27 (Head) x 25.4 (Tube) mm
Weight 86.5g (excluding battery)

Here’s the light in hand:

Here’s the test light with the venerable Convoy S2+. This is a brass version, which is a good bit heavier than aluminum, but has the same dimensions: 24mm in diameter by 117.5mm in length.

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

A friction-fit pocket clip is included,

The light is long enough that the clip provides fairly deep carry.

A lanyard is included too.

The lanyard attaches through either of the loops in the tailcap.

Power and Runtime

The Speras EST UV flashlight runs a single 18650 lithium-ion cell. It’s a standard cell.

The cell goes into the EST UV in the usual orientation: positive end toward the head.

Only two white LED modes are available in the Speras EST UV flashlight. I tested the highest level. There’s a dramatic stepdown after around a minute, then the output tapers off until the cell reaches 2.57V. That’s a bit low!

I also made an attempt to test the general output of the UV so that you may be able to get an idea of the duration. I think you can do that here. Basically, the UV light steps down over 30 minutes.

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

USB-C charging is built into the Speras EST UV flashlight. There’s a press-in cover to protect the port.

An A to C charging cable is included.

Charging is fine with both A to C and C to C.

Modes and Currents

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens
High	2300	3.6h	1623 (0s) 1478 (30s)
Low	10	157h	10

Pulse Width Modulation

[data incoming]

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 Speras EST UV flashlight features two e-switches. There’s a tail switch that looks like most mechanical switches, but it is in fact an e-switch.

The action is not as deep as mechanical switches.

And there’s the indicating e-switch on the head.

Below you can see the switch indicating in an orange color.

Here’s a user interface table!

State	Action	Result
Off	Click tail switch	High
Off	Tap tail switch	Momentary High
Off	Hold side switch and click tail switch	Low
On	Click tail switch	Off
Off	Hold side switch and tap tail switch	Momentary Low
Off	Tap then hold tail switch	Momentary Strobe
Off	Tap then click tail switch	Strobe
Any	Click side switch	UV
UV	Click side switch	Previous state

LED and Beam

Speras doesn’t say that this emitter is, but it looks like one of the Luminus emitters that is popular. There’s a reflector, so the throw is impressive for a light this size.

The side UV emitter has a filter and is very floody UV.

LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)

The white LED is very cool white and very low CRI. Neither great, but again, this light is marketed as tactical.

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

This is just a two-mode (with UV added) light, but the user interface seems very feature-rich. I’m surprised there’s no second group for non-tactical users, since many people will love the addition of UV on a light like this. And this UV is quite good – the filter is built in by default, and it seems quite powerful. The price is a bit high, at $100, but the build quality is good!

The Big Table

Speras EST UV flashlight
Emitter:	Unstated white LED
Price in USD at publication time:	$99.99
Cell:	1×18650
Runtime Graphs
LVP?	Yes, or “questionable”
Switch Type:	E-switch
Quiescent Current (mA):	?
On-Board Charging?	Yes
Charge Port Type:	USB-C
Charge Graph
Power off Charge Port	“with or without cell: all modes without tailcap: UV only “
Claimed Lumens (lm)	2300
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	1478 (64.3% of claim)^
Candela per Lumen	32.9
Claimed Throw (m)	480
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	1444lux @ 5.802m = 48610cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	441.0 (91.9% of claim)^
Claimed CCT	–
Measured CCT Range (K)	6800-7000 Kelvin
Item provided for review by:	Speras
All my Speras 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

• Great build quality
• UV has the filter already
• Access to all modes from off
• Indicating e-switch
• Includes cell

What I don’t like

• No EDC mode
• Price is creeping up there

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Notes

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