Zebralight SC600 (1x18650, XM-L) Review: RUNTIME, BEAMSHOTS, comparisons & more!

[selfbuilt]

Warning: pic heavy, as usual.



The SC600 is the long-anticipated 1x18650-only light from Zebralight. Let’s see how it performs …

Manufacturer Specifications:

• LED: Cree XM-L Cool White (Norminal CCT 6300K)
• User Selectable Levels: 3 main level (High, Medium and Low). Each main level can be configured to one of its two sub-levels. The second sub-level of the High (H2) can be further configured to different brightness levels or strobes.
• Light Output:
• High: H1 500Lm with 750Lm turbo in the first 5 min (2hrs) or H2 200Lm (5.9hrs) / 330Lm (3hrs) / 500Lm (2.1hrs) / 4Hz Strobe
• Medium: M1 65Lm (18hrs) or M2 21Lm (50hrs)
• Low: L1 2.8Lm (280hrs) or L2 0.1Lm (80days)
• Runtimes are tested using Panasonic NCR18650 (2900mAH) batteries. Light output are out the front (OTF) values. All levels are current regulated.
• Operating Voltage Range: 2.7V - 4.2V
• Battery: One 18650 size (up to 67mm long) 3.6/3.7V Li-ion rechargeable battery. Batteries are not included in the package.
• Parasitic Drain: Negligible (equivalent to 6 years)
• Beam Type: 80 degree spill, 10 degree hot spot
• Dimensions: Bezel Diameter: 30mm, Body Diameter: 25.4mm, Length: 107mm
• Weight: 3.2 oz(90.8 g) without battery
• Built-in over-discharging protection with 2.7V cutoff
• Side click electronic soft-touch switch
• Smart user interface provides fast and easy access to all brightness levels
• Precision machined unibody casing from premium grade Alcoa aluminum bar stock
• Proprietary heat sinking design bonds the LED board directly to the unibody aluminum casing, providing unblocked thermal paths to most of the surface area.
• Durable natural hard anodized finish (Type III Class I)
• Ultra clear lens with anti-reflection coatings on both sides
• Orange peel textured reflector
• Battery power can be locked out by slightly unscrewing the tailcap to prevent unwanted activations or parasitic drain
• Waterproof to IPX8 (2 meters, 30 minutes)
• Operations: Light has 3 main levels (High, Medium, and Low). Each main level can be configured to one of its two sub-levels. The second sub-level of the High can be further configured to different brightness levels or strobes.
• Basic Operation: Short click turns on the light to High or turns off the light. Long click (press and hold for about 0.7 seconds) turns on the light to Low.
• Advanced Operation and Configuration
• Short click turns on the light to High. Short click again quickly to cycle from High to Medium, and Low.
• Press and hold to cycle from Low to High, release to set. When press and hold, the light always cycle from Low to High regardless which level you are currently in.
• Double click to toggle and select between the two sub-levels for that main level. Sub-level selections (except the strobe) for the 3 main levels are memorized after the light is turned off and through battery changes.
• The second sub-level of the High can be configured after 6 double clicks. Double click (starting with the 7th) to cycle and select different brightness levels or strobes. Short click to turn off the light when finishing configurations. The selections for the second sub-level of the High are memorized after the light is turned off and through battery changes.
• MSRP: ~$95

Inside the standard eco-friendly Zebralight cardboard box, you fill find the light with clip attached, spare o-rings, and manual.



From left to right: AW Protected 18650, Zebralight SC600, Spark SL6, 4Sevens Quark 123-2, Lumintop ED20, Thrunite 2C

All weights with no batteries.

SC600: Weight 87.2g, Length: 107.8mm, Width (bezel) 29.7mm
Spark SL6: Weight 77.8g, Length: 125.5mm, Width (bezel): 30.9mm
Lumintop ED20: Weight 84.4g, Length 121.6mm, Width (bezel) 25.2mm
Klarus XT10: Weight 121.3g, Length: 144.8, Width (bezel) 34.9mm

The SC600 is quite compact, similar to other petite lights like the Spark SL6 and Lumintop ED20 – but even shorter!





The build of the SC600 is distinctive, with its relatively large head (for such a compact body). Natural anodizing is typical for Zebralight, and is in excellent shape here. There are some faint ridges or longitudinal lines in the anodizing, but this is commonly seen on natural finish lights. There is also some mismatch in the anodizing color at the tailcap (but this is again common).

Labels are fairly minimal and small, and clearly legible against the background.

Knurling is not very aggressive on the body, but does provide good grip to the tailcap. There are also finger wells and other body elements to help with grip. Screw threads are anodized for tailcap lock-out.

As always with Zebralight, the control switch is electronic in nature, and located on the head. Switch feel is slightly stiffer than most lights with this kind of switch, and the button is slightly recessed in the opening.

Light can tailstand.

Clip-on pocket clip looks and feels more substantial than typical in this class. It should hold the light securely. Note the clip is reversible (i.e. can attach near the head, point toward the tail), but you may scratch the anodizing if you try to remove and re-attach.

There is a slightly raised button on the positive contact board in the head, and all my flat-top high capacity cells fit and worked in the light.

Video Overview

NEW: Normally at this point in the review, I like to show the emitter/reflector and beamshots. But I’m trying something new out - video reviews showing both the basic build and user interface. Check it out below - beamshots will follow after the user interface and circuit discussion.



Video was recorded in 480p, but YouTube defaults to 360p. Once the video is running, you can click on the 360p icon in the lower right-hand corner, and select the higher 480p option.

User Interface

The SC600 uses a variant of the standard Zebralight interface. While it may sound a little complex when first described, it is actually quite easy to use.

On/off and mode switching is controlled by the electronic clicky switch. There are 9 possible output modes, arranged in 3 sets of pairs. The main level choices are Lo – Med – Hi. There are two possible outputs at each level, commonly referred to as 1 or 2 (e.g. Lo1/Lo2, Med1/Med2, Hi1/Hi2). The Hi level is where things get interesting – you have the option of 4 possible outputs for H2 (including the strobe mode – more about that in a moment).

Basic Operation

Note that the light has independent mode memory to recall your preference at each of the Lo, Med, Hi levels (i.e. always come back to the choice you last left that level in).

From Off, a quick click turns on the light to your memorized Hi. Click quickly again to cycle from Hi to Med, and Low. You need to perform these clicks rapidly if you want to switch modes this way (i.e. from Off, single-click is Hi, double-click is Med, triple-click is Lo). After about a second or so of being On, a quick click will simply turn the light off.

Alternatively, from Off, a slightly longer press and hold (i.e. >0.5 sec) turns on the light to your preferred Lo mode.

To advance from one mode to the next while the light is On, press and hold the switch to cycle through Lo, Med and Hi, repeatedly (you can do this directly from Off too). Release the switch to select the level. As before, a quick click turns off the light.

Change between output choices for a given level

Double click at any level to toggle between the two sub-levels for that level (i.e. 1 or 2). The light will memorize your choice and return to it next time you cycle or turn on at this level. The memory even lasts through battery changes.

For the Hi level, you can set the Hi2 to one of four outputs. To enter the programming feature from the current Hi2 level, double-click the light 6 times rapidly. Now, every additional double-click will advance you through the four programmable options (200Lm, 330Lm, 500Lm, or 4Hz Strobe). To select the mode you want as H2, simply turn off the light once you have made your choice. When you next turn it on, that last level will have been memorized and returned to automatically.

And that’s it – it is really very simple in practice, once you get used to the timings.

PWM/Strobe

There is no sign of PWM on any of the 9 possible levels. I conclude the light must be current-controlled.



The SC600 “hidden” Hi2 strobe was measured at a fairly low 3.2 Hz frequency in my testing (i.e. more a signalling strobe than a tactical one).

Standby Current Drain

Due to the electronic switch, all Zebralights have a constant parasitic stand-by current drain when the tailcap is connected.

In this case, I am happy to report the standby current is a fairly neglible 69.6uA. For a typical 2600mAh 18650, that would translate into 4.26 years before a battery would be completely discharged.

And as always, this current can be cut by simply unscrewing the tailcap a quarter turn when the light is not in use (which I recommend for all lights with a standby drain).

Beamshots:

And now the part you’ve all been waiting for.




The SC600 reflector has fairly typical dimensions (perhaps a little shallower than some), with a medium OP coating. This suggests the light will not be a great thrower. XM-L emitter was well centered on my sample.

For white-wall beamshots, all lights are on AW protected 18650, about ~0.75 meter from the wall (with the camera ~1.25 meters back from the wall). Automatic white balance on the camera, to minimize tint differences. All beamshots taken immediately upon activation.













As expected, the beam profile is fairly floody on the SC600.

Here is a 100-yard outdoor beamshot comparison to the Spark SL6, in the style of my earlier 100-yard round-up reviews:



See that thread above for more info on the terrain, on how best to interpret these images.

Testing Method:

All my output numbers are relative for my home-made light box setup, a la Quickbeam's flashlightreviews.com method. You can directly compare all my relative output values from different reviews - i.e. an output value of "10" in one graph is the same as "10" in another. All runtimes are done under a cooling fan, except for any extended run Lo/Min modes (i.e. >12 hours) which are done without cooling.

I have recently devised a method for converting my lightbox relative output values (ROV) to estimated Lumens. See my How to convert Selfbuilt's Lighbox values to Lumens thread for more info.

Throw/Output Summary Chart:

Effective November 2010, I have revised my summary tables to match with the current ANSI FL-1 standard for flashlight testing. Please see http://www.sliderule.ca/FL1.htm for a description of the terms used in these tables.



Well, this is impressive – the SC600 is the highest output 1x18650 in my collection at the moment. Output closely rivals the 1x26650 4Sevens X10.

As you can also see, throw is relatively low for the class and output, but still reasonable.

As an aside, Zebralight’s lumen estimate seems bang-on for the Hi1 mode.

Output/Runtime Comparison:









As with many high-output lights, the SC600 steps down in output at 5 mins into the Max Hi1 run. This can be overcome by simply clicking the light off-on again at this point (i.e. it is a simple timer mechanism). Note that like other highly-driven lights, the quality of cells is critical here – cheaper/heavily-used 18650 cells may not be able to provide a sustained current at these levels for 5mins.

The SC600 is fully regulated and remarkably efficient at all levels tested. Both of these aspects are likely due to the restricted voltage range (i.e. only 1x18650 accepted), allowing for a better optimized circuit. According to Zebralight, the larger head also allows them more room on the circuit for a larger and more efficient inductor.

End of the day, if you don’t mind the 1x18650 limitation, you get the most efficient circuit that I’ve seen to date on 18650.

Potential Issues

The SC600 doesn't take 2xCR123A or 3.7V Li-ion sources, only 1x18650.

As with other heavily-driven lights, some 18650s may not be able to handle the sustained discharge rate. I recommend you stick with high-quality cells (my AW and Redilast cells all worked fine).

Switch timing takes a little getting used, if you aren’t already familiar with Zebralight.

Preliminary Observations

The SC600 packs a lot of punch – more than any other 1x18650 I’ve tested to date, including both the Thrunite Scorpion V2 and Spark SL6. It also has the most efficient and well-regulated circuit I’ve seen in this class. Oh, and have I mentioned it’s incredibly tiny too?

That’s an awful lot to distinguish this light. Of course, as with all things, there are some trade-offs here. The high efficiency and full regulation comes at the expense of a wider voltage range, preventing you from running 2xCR123A or 2xRCR. And the compact size means you can’t get a greatly focused beam – the SC600 is more of a floody light.

The overall build, switch feel, UI and circuit functioning will seem very familiar to Zebralight owners. But as always, there are a few innovations here – like the extra selectable levels for the Hi2, additional grip elements (knurling and finger wells), and a newly designed clip. All of these are welcomed in my books, and I like that Zebralight constantly updates and expands the build/UI of their lights with each new release/model.

With all the levels and options, I find there’s something here for everyone. Well, except maybe you tactical strobe folks – but for once, I’m glad to see a maker provide a more generally useful slow signaling strobe. And no, it isn’t a great thrower, but there are other (larger) lights in this class to consider, if that is what you are looking for.

End of the day, if you want an incredibly bright, relatively floody, efficient and tiny 1x18650 light, then I think you should give the SC600 a close, hard look.

----

SC600 provided by Zebralight for review.

[turboBB]

Excellent review as usual! + I really dig the new video section as well!

Cheers,
Tim

[samgab]

Excellent review, as always thanks selfbuilt.
This just supports my opinion of this as a fantastic light. And I was interested to see your lightbox output result.
As for the tradeoff of not being able to take 123s... Well, that's only a tradeoff for those who want to use 123s - which I don't - so it's not even a tradeoff at all for me. This is one of the best lights I own.

[Changchung]

I like it... thanks for share all this info, great review...

[bondr006]

Thanks for the excellent review selfbuilt. I really like the addition of the video review. The SC600 is one very nice light. Just got mine today and I'm already enamored with it.

[tre]

One thing worth mentioning is the revised switch. It takes more pressure to turn it on compared to prior zebralights and it is also more recessed than prior zebralights. This one will never accidently activate in your pocket. I've been carrying mine around without the clip since it came out and I did not have one accidental activation.

Great review (as always). I also like the video. The SC600 is currently one of my favorite lights.

[selfbuilt]

Excellent review as usual! + I really dig the new video section as well!

Thanks for the excellent review selfbuilt. I really like the addition of the video review.

Thanks, I figured these would be popular. I plan to keep doing these on upcoming lights. Most will be about this length, but some of the more complicated lights may be longer. I kept the build and UI description fairly lengthy in text in this review, but I will likely shorten the text in future ones (as it is often easier to explain by showing in the video instead).

One thing worth mentioning is the revised switch. It takes more pressure to turn it on compared to prior zebralights and it is also more recessed than prior zebralights. This one will never accidently activate in your pocket. I've been carrying mine around without the clip since it came out and I did not have one accidental activation.

Yes, I notice that as well - both the feel and recessed nature (and mentioned it in the review, but it is somewhat lost in all the text). I like it, as it gives the switch a more substantial feel. And as you say, it should limit accidental activations.

[varuscelli]

[*]Proprietary heat sinking design bonds the LED board directly to the unibody aluminum casing, providing unblocked thermal paths to most of the surface area.

Any thoughts on using the SC600 in max mode for extended periods of time and how heat buildup in the body affects the actual handling of the light (in hand) in a relative sense compared to other similar flashlights?

I assume most flashlights in this general category exhibit somewhat excessive heat buildup when used in max mode for long periods, but I'm wondering how the SC600 compares given its described "proprietary head sinking design."

[Valmet62]

How difficult would it be to modify this light to accept a 3000K XML emitter ?

Valmet62

[jeffkruse]

Is there a place to attach a lanyard? I'll need a lanyard when I use it for caving.

[funkychateau]

You mentioned that some cells might not be able to sustain the high current for the full 5 minutes. What was the current on Max? Also, did you check the current draw on any of the other modes?

When using the 4-Hz strobe, was is actually like a "strobe"? In other words, short flashes? Or was it just an on/off blinking with approximately 50% duty?

thanks!

[samgab]

@jeffkruse: No there isn't, unless you were to make something by tying paracord around the indented part by the tail cap. But there is no lanyard mount.

[selfbuilt]

Any thoughts on using the SC600 in max mode for extended periods of time and how heat buildup in the body affects the actual handling of the light (in hand) in a relative sense compared to other similar flashlights?

Can't say I noticed anything unusual during regular handling, but all extended runtimes are done under a cooling fan. Zebralights claims to have efficient thermal management, and I haven't seen anything to make me think there's a problem.

Is there a place to attach a lanyard? I'll need a lanyard when I use it for caving.

No, unless you try to jury-rig something around the clip (not a good idea, as it could come off).

You mentioned that some cells might not be able to sustain the high current for the full 5 minutes. What was the current on Max? Also, did you check the current draw on any of the other modes?
When using the 4-Hz strobe, was is actually like a "strobe"? In other words, short flashes? Or was it just an on/off blinking with approximately 50% duty?

I wasn't able to measure the current on Max (can be hard with electronic switches). That statement is based on the experience others have had on similarly heavily-driven lights.

As for the strobe, it seems to be ~50% duty cycle. You can see on (upward) spike and off (downward) spike on the oscilloscope traces.

[silat]

Encore. Oscar.
The video is a great addition to your already outstanding reviews.

[varuscelli]

Is there a place to attach a lanyard? I'll need a lanyard when I use it for caving.

Interestingly enough, the SureFire Model Z33 lanyard ring would be nearly perfect. It's got the right diameter (almost perfectly so) but it's too thick for the tailcap to be tightened down enough for the light to be turned on.

Of course, on the SureFires it fits there's extra space designed into the bodies to accommodate the lanyard ring. If there were a 23 mm inner diameter "flat" lanyard ring to be had somewhere, maybe it would work, as long as it could be slipped into the very narrow space on the opposite side of the o-ring from the tailcap -- and there is a tiny bit of space available to work with just past the o-ring.

Maybe one of these SureFire rings could even be ground down flat enough to work as long as it could be placed on the opposite side of the o-ring, which should enable the tailcap to maintain its ability to keep water out.

Use of the lanyard ring as I have it placed in this photo would make the flashlight no longer waterproof (unless it could perhaps be sandwiched between two o-rings with plenty of lube) and maybe used with some kind of spacer inside the body tube (probably an inadvisable thing).

Just for grins, here's a pic of the fit with the Z33 lanyard kit ring (again, too thick to work).




I think it can be seen in the following shot that if a thin enough lanyard ring could be found -- or made -- something very flat at possiby .5 mm thick and over 22 mm inner diameter, probably 23 to 24 mm inner diameter, there should be room for it with the tailcap tightened fully down as it is in the photo. Such placement shouldn't compromise the waterproofing.

Then again, there are probably much easier solutions...

[brightnorm]

Selfbuilt,

Your review inspired my purchase of this light.

Here are two simple quick fixes for the lanyard problem.

I cut a long 1/4" wide strip from 3/4"black plastic tape and wrapped it once completely around the clip groove. Then I laid the loop of a small lanyard in the tape path and wound another four revolutions of tape around that. Then I fixed the lanyard within its own loop. It is very secure and easily resisted a hard pull though it doesn't look particularly elegant.

As I describe in a later post, using strong gray nylon thread instead of tape is a better-looking fix. An elegant solution really depends on the clever folks at Zebralight. Perhaps this thread will help in that direction.

Brightnorm

[Zenbaas]

Thanks for the review, i still cant believe that this light is brighter (ceiling bounce test) than the Jetbeam BC40, lighter, smaller, AND has twice the runtime on 1 18650 battery (3100mah redilasts). Zebralight has done a great job on the driver!

Sorry but how exactly does it have twice the runtime...? What brightness are you referring to..? You do know that the 750 lumens only lasts for 5 minutes and then it steps down to 500 for the rest of the time on high.

[yifu]

Ok, i have done some math that might show it better. The BC40 goes for about 800 lumen hours (its not 820 ANSI lumens) on 2 18650s, the SC600 goes for about 738.3 lumen hours on 1 18650 factoring in the output drop. That is NEARLY double the efficiency on just a standar capacity 2200, not a higher capacity flattop. Added on to that aside from the beam profile differences l, 500 lumens vs the 700ish OTF lumens of the BC40 is a very tiny difference to the human eye. Thats a really good job done by Zebralight!

[Zenbaas]

Ok, i have done some math that might show it better. The BC40 goes for about 800 lumen hours (its not 820 ANSI lumens) on 2 18650s, the SC600 goes for about 738.3 lumen hours on 1 18650 factoring in the output drop. That is NEARLY double the efficiency on just a standar capacity 2200, not a higher capacity flattop. Added on to that aside from the beam profile differences l, 500 lumens vs the 700ish OTF lumens of the BC40 is a very tiny difference to the human eye. Thats a really good job done by Zebralight!

Hmmm. Well whichever way you look at it the BC40 is at least 200 lumens brighter than the SC 600 on the extended runtime. The ZL has excellent runtimes but the ZL is more of a flooder and the BC40 a thrower. The jetbeam is brighter and runs for the longer on the max mode. The extra 18650 is immaterial to the comparison.

[Zenbaas]

For What It's Worth: I was playing around with cutting out a film canister cap to make a diffuser for smaller flashlight and discovered that the film canister itself fits over the end of the SC600 perfectly as a diffuser wand.

Great find...!

[Zenbaas]

just curious. are buyers of the first versions entitled to get a free copy of the current version shipped? is there a clear "no!" from part of the ZL company? (With software PC programs, the user is entitled to download all forth-coming updates 3.97, 3.98, etc. for free!)

Wishful thinking

[saad]

Hey,

Excelent review selfbuilt! But, I'm still confused which to buy, the Zebralight SC600 or the EagleTac D25LC2. Could you suggest one please?

Thanks,
Saad.

[selfbuilt]

Excelent review selfbuilt! But, I'm still confused which to buy, the Zebralight SC600 or the EagleTac D25LC2. Could you suggest one please?.

Both are good lights. I would choose based on preferred user interface.


Sent from my handheld device

[rexet]

Hello all,

I am more of a lurker but I really enjoy ths incredible forum.
It actually made me buy a Sunwayman V20C that I really like.

I would be interested in this little SC600 and I have only one question: how can I differentiate the version of the SC600? I would be interested in buying on ebay but the version is not mentionned (MKI, MKII, etc.).

[selfbuilt]

I would be interested in this little SC600 and I have only one question: how can I differentiate the version of the SC600? I would be interested in buying on ebay but the version is not mentionned (MKI, MKII, etc.).

I haven't seen the design of the MKII yet, so I don't know how it will be differentiated from the original SC600. Zebralight plans to send me one for review, when its ready.

[blackFFM]

I would be interested in this little SC600 and I have only one question: how can I differentiate the version of the SC600? I would be interested in buying on ebay but the version is not mentionned (MKI, MKII, etc.).

MKII isn't available yet, that's the reason why it's not mentioned on ebay. So everything you see at the moment is MKI. MKI has 750 lm output and the new version around 900 lm. I'm pretty sure when MKII hits the market it's easy to see which is which.

[TEEJ]

Hello all,

I am more of a lurker but I really enjoy ths incredible forum.
It actually made me buy a Sunwayman V20C that I really like.

I would be interested in this little SC600 and I have only one question: how can I differentiate the version of the SC600? I would be interested in buying on ebay but the version is not mentionned (MKI, MKII, etc.).

Go to the CPF Marketplace, and follow the threads on it there from the sellers. There's an excellent chance that it will be offered at an introductory discount over there.