Speras EST Flashlight Review

Speras EST flashlight delivers 1900 lumens and 211m of throw, with dual tail and side switches, 18650 or CR123A battery compatibility, and USB-C charging.

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Official Specs and Features

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

Versions

There’s just one Speras EST flashlight, but the EST line is a whole host of lights!

Price

The Speras EST flashlight is available now for $59.99.

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What’s Included

• Speras EST flashlight
• Speras 18650
• Charging cable (USB to USB-C)
• Lanyard
• Spare O-rings (2)
• Manual

Package and Manual

Build Quality and Disassembly

The Speras EST flashlight has a nice build quality. Solid, at least as good as the $60 price tag.

The Speras EST flashlight is marketed as a tactical light, and so, as you’d expect, there are springs on both the head and tail ends.

Size and Comps

Dimensions 120 (length) x 25.4(head) x 25.4 (tube) mm
Weight 81g/2.85oz (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. It attaches only on the tail end, allowing bezel-down carry (only).

A lanyard is included too. It could attach to the pocket clip (a number of holes on the clip would allow it), but the better place is through the loops in the tailcap.

Power and Runtime

The Speras EST flashlight uses a single 18650 lithium-ion cell. The standard 3100mAh battery below is included.

The cell goes into the light in the usual way: positive terminal toward the head.

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.

The power level indicators on the e-switch are as follows:

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

Charging

There’s a built-in charging option for the Speras EST flashlight: USB-C on the head end of the light.

A charging cable (USB to USB-C) is included.

Charging by C to C or A to C works fine, but neither is great. I am not sure why the light drops in and out of charge like this, but it does seem to make charging wildly inefficient (noted by the accumulated Wh and also the time taken to completion).

Modes and Currents

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
Turbo	1900-600	90s+4h	1737 (0s) 1584 (30s)	4.28
High	400	5h51m	383 (0s) 378 (30s)	0.73
Medium	100	22h30m	107	0.18
Low	10	157h	99	0.04

Pulse Width Modulation

No PWM is seen on the Speras EST flashlight, but there’s a bit of SMS ripple on (looks like) all modes. Nothing to worry about, though.

[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 flashlight is controlled by two switches. First is the mechanical tail switch. This is a standard forward clicky mechanical switch, and shouldn’t give you any surprises.

Next is the indicating e-switch near the head of the EST. It can indicate in red, green, and orange.

Below you can see the switch indicating in green.

Here’s a user interface table!

State	Action	Result
Off	Click tail switch	On (memory)
Off	Tap (shallow press, not click)	Momentary (memory)
On	Click tail switch	Off
Off	Tap then click the tail switch	Strobe
Off	Double tap tail switch (but shallow, and not clicks)	Momentary Strobe
Off	Hold e-switch	No action
On	Double click e-switch	Strobe
Strobe	Click e-switch	Previous state or mode (which can be confusing, surprisingly)
Strobe	Double click e-switch	SOS
On	Click e-switch	Mode advance

LED and Beam

The Speras EST flashlight uses a Luminus SST40 and TIR optic.

The beam has a hotspot, but it’s fairly even all the way across. A bit of spill, too.

LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)

The emitter outputs cool to very cool white light, and it’s low CRI. These are reasonable results for a tactical light, but I’d still love something neutral and higher CRI.

 

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

Just like all the EST series, the Speras EST flashlight is a quality flashlight at a reasonable price. The user interface seems to be improved from some other Speras lights in the EST line, and everything on the light works great. The total output misses the 3000-lumen mark by a bit, but the throw measurement is right on target.

The Big Table

Speras EST Flashlight
Emitter:	Luminus SST40
Price in USD at publication time:	$59.99
Cell:	1×18650
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	No
Claimed Lumens (lm)	1900
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	1584 (83.4% of claim)^
Candela per Lumen	9.3
Claimed Throw (m)	211
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	440lux @ 5.795m = 14776cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	243.1 (115.2% of claim)^
Claimed CCT	–
Measured CCT Range (K)	6100-6900 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

• Throw claim is met
• Great beam profile
• Includes 18650
• Uses a standard 18650
• Simple user interface

What I don’t like

• Cool white
• Low CRI
• No direct access to lowest mode from off
• Charging is a bit werid

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Notes

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