Speras M4 V3 Compact EDC Flashlight Review

The Speras M4 V3 compact EDC flashlight offers incredible throw. It includes an 18350 and has a 21700 tube, too! Throw is incredible! Read on!

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Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Speras M4 V3 compact EDC flashlight product page.

Versions

This is “V3” and I’ve reviewed the first version. So there are at least two versions. The product page for this V3 doesn’t list any other body colors or emitter options.

Price

As seen in this post, the Speras M4 V3 compact EDC flashlight costs $59.99. That includes the 18350, too! The 21700 extension adds $22.99, and the 21700 cell adds $23.66.

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What’s Included

• Speras M4 V3 compact EDC flashlight
• Speras 1100mAh 18350
• Charging cable
• Lanyard
• Spare O-rings (2)
• Manual
• 21700 body (optional)
• 21700 cell (optional)

Package and Manual

Build Quality and Disassembly

You may recognise this format from other recent lights. It’s been popular! I love tiny little throwers – and really all lights that perform way outside their class. You might not expect this light to have incredible throw, but it absolutely does.

Build quality is great. There aren’t any surprises. In the past, I have not been a fan of these spirals, but I have come around – I love them on this light! They don’t aid or detract from grip, but they look nice.

Unlike in my V1 review, this time I got the extended tube. It’s a nice 21700 body! The design is interestingly different, though! No spirals here!

 

 

The head has a beefy spring for cell contact. Threads are nice and smooth and also short enough.

The tail gets a spring (in both bodies)!

The 21700 and 18350 bodies differ in that the 18350 body is one piece, whereas the tailcap on the 21700 body is removable.

Size and Comps

Dimensions 85.6 (Length) x 40 (Head) x 25.4 (Tube) PWM charts
Weight 91g (exclude battery)

 

Here’s the Speras M4 V3 compact EDC flashlight in hand:

And the Speras M4 V3 less compact 21700 EDC flashlight in the same 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 lanyard is included and attaches only through this hole in the tailcap. It’s a firm connection.

Both bodies also have a magnet in the tailcap. This is an upgrade from the first generation!

Power and Runtime

The Speras M4 V3 compact EDC flashlight runs a single 18350 cell. That cell is included, but it’s a standard button-top. Any 18350 should work fine in the M4 V3.

The cell goes into the light in the usual way – positive end (button) toward the head.

Optional is this 5000mAh 21700. It’s also standard, and also goes into the light in the usual way.

Below are some runtime tests using both cells.

Performance is quite good! When the cell voltage gets low (around 3V or so), the switch indicates as follows.

Green: 100-70% power
Orange: 70-30% power
Red: 30-5% power
Red flashing: 5-1% power

There’s also an indication just after turning the light on, as above.

Charging

The Speras M4 V3 is a Type-C rechargeable flashlight. The charging port is in the head and has a press-in cover.

A USB to USB-C cable is included.

Charging is consistent. For charging the 21700, it’s great. But for charging the much lower-capacity 18350, 2.3A (peak, from the USB source) is probably quite high! Watch your light to be sure it doesn’t get hot while charging the smaller cell at this rate.

Modes and Currents

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
Turbo	2200	1h	1992 (0s) 1848 (30s)	7.15
High	1500	1.2h	1259	3.58
Medium	500	1.5h	330	0.82
Low	200	5.2h	144	0.32
ECO	10	70h	8.8	0.01

Pulse Width Modulation

None of the levels use PWM.

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 indicating e-switch controls the Speras M4 V3 compact EDC flashlight. The user interface is a familiar one from Speras. It’s very similar to others like that of the EST MAX (though that one has a mechanical tail switch too).

Action is good and predictable.

The switch can indicate using various colors. Below it’s orange.

Here’s a user interface table!

State	Action	Result
Off	Click	On (Mode memory)
On	Click (except in strobe or SOS)	Off
Off	Hold	Eco
On	Hold	Mode advance (LMH)
Any	Double click	Turbo
Turbo or Strobe or SOS	Click	Previous Mode
Any	Triple click	Strobe
Strobe	Triple click	SOS

LED and Beam

Speras is using a Luminus SFT42R in the M4 V3. It still uses a TIR, which helps with throw.

LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)

Speras also doesn’t make a CCT or CRI claim for this light, either. But we can see it starts off neutral to cool with low CRI and ventures up into cool white territory, and low CRI.

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.

If you look back at the original M4 review, you’ll note how massive an improvement this emitter is! I’ll leave it to you to find out why!

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!

Summary and Conclusion

As I said above, I love lights like this that perform well outside of what you’d expect. The Speras M4 V3 compact EDC flashlight is a small light but throws incredibly! The build quality is great, and the light looks very nice, too! Type-C charging works great, but is way too fast for the 18350 cell. I appreciate that there’s a 21700 adapter, too, and I think you should buy that. (Probably buy your 21700 cell elsewhere, though, as the price is way too high.) This is a very fun light!

The Big Table

Speras M4 V3 compact EDC flashlight
Emitter:	Luminus SFT42R (Cool white)
Price in USD at publication time:	$59.99
Cell:	1×18350, 21700
Runtime Graphs
LVP?	Yes
Switch Type:	E-switch
Quiescent Current (mA):	?
On-Board Charging?	Yes
Charge Port Type:	USB-C
Charge Graph
Power off Charge Port
Claimed Lumens (lm)	2200
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	1848 (84% of claim)^
Candela per Lumen	70.5
Claimed Throw (m)	700
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	3780lux @ 6.033m = 137581cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	741.8 (106% of claim)^
Claimed CCT	Cool white –
Measured CCT Range (K)	Cool white 6300-6600 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

• Small size thrower
• Charging works great for 21700
• Has an separate body for 21700
• Great beam profile
• Improved user interface

What I don’t like

• Charging way too fast for 18350
• Low CRI

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Notes

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