My Sterops 4-in-1 3W kit arrived on Tuesday, but I couldn't pick it up until Friday evening. I bought it from Waion who's products are always high quality and service it great. His sale link is here:
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=158810
So, a quick review.
The kit is packaged in a nice black box. There are no markings on the box.
Inside the box, contents are well packaged and separated by a removable foam. It comes with a lanyard, 1x123A cell, and 2xAA cells.
Parts removed from the box:
All parts are very well made. Machining is very good, anodizing is smooth and consistent. The AA extension tube is slightly lighter than the rest of the parts, but the 1x123A setup is all perfectly match HA. Ah, everything's HAIII, which is nice. Knurling it grippy, but not overly aggressive. The lantern head is smaller than I expected, but goes on well and works great. It provides a very smooth beam due to the frosted dome. Threads are well cut and well spaced (good pitch), unlike many chinese lights that have very fine pitch threads that are harder to get started and have a higher chance of cross-threading. The threads are cut deep also. Threads were dry when I got it though, so it could use a bit of lube. The clicky has a momentary on function, but flickers off as you continue to press to full click. From it's operation, it seems to be the same switch as used in the later Nuwai Q3s which offered momentary on as well as momentary off. The switch is not recessed so it cannot tailstand. The headlamp is made of plastic, which concerns me for durability, but it is lightweight and comfortable. Placing the head of the light onto the headband does not increase it's weight much and wearing the headlamp doesn't cause it to drag down. All parts mate together well. Securing all parts in place was well thought out as all parts are either threaded into place or held in place by a threaded retainers, so nothing will fall out. The light comes apart into 4pcs, the front bezel which contains the optic, the rear portion of the head which houses the LED module and a sprung copper contact, the battery tube, and the tailcap.
The AA extension tube is extremely thick as seen here:
The light uses an optic which is threaded into the front bezel. Here's some pictures of first the back of the optic (front bezel removed) and then the view of the front of the light.
What's this?...a SSC P4?...wow, what a surprise when I opened the head an found it! Waion must've mistakenly sent me a newer unit which uses the new SSC P4s. Ok Ok, just kidding, it came with a LuxIII which was actually quite bright. But, I had purchased this with the intent to change out the Lux for a Seoul. The operation is very simple; remove the black plastic retainer via the 2 recessed dimples, nothing is sealed with glue, push from the bottom to get the LED module out, and you can have fun. The module is similar to many of the modules in most of the chinese LED lights today from Hunglight, Lumapower, etc. I used some AA on the contact pad on the emitter PCB, placed a 30mil Cu spacer, more AA on top of the spacer, then the emitter and let it set. I used a USWOH as I like this tint the most.
Removing the front bezel as shown above to expose the LED allows you to attach the lantern head. The awkward thing is that the bezel is reverse threaded so lefty-tighty, righty-loosey. This makes tightening the lantern head a bit difficult because as you tighten the lantern head, you're loosening the rear portion of the head that holds the LED module from the body. What I do is just tighten till snug and stop.
Lantern on with -2 stop underexposed:
Ok, beamshots. The optic creates a slightly squared beam, but there is decent spill. There's a ring around the spill that's not noticeable in real world use. I also took some underexposed pics to compare to a couple of other lights I have. Sterops running on R123A.
Normal exposure:
-2 stop underexposed:
Left = Jet1 MKI 14500 (~75-80lumens), Right = Sterops SSC P4 (-2 underexposed)
Left = Streamlight Scorpion SSC P4, Right = Sterops SSC P4 (-2 stops underexposed)
The Sterops SSC P4 is considerably brighter than the Jet1 MKI on 14500. Hotspot is both brighter and bigger. Compared to my seouled Scorpion, it is still brighter overall (confirmed via bounce test), but the Scorpion has a much tighter hotspot as shown in the -2 underexposed beamshot. The Scorpion has crazy throw.
Pros:
- Very good machining with good HAIII anodizing and good threads
- All parts are well made, even the tri-pod which is surprisingly nice
- Well thought out retention of parts
- Momentary switch (even tho it flickers between momentary and full click)
- Versatile with battery options and head options (lantern, headlamp)
- Extremely bright (estimate over 120 lumens) with R123A, still really bright on primary 123A and 2AAs
Observations and Welcomed Improvements:
- Threads on bezel are reverse threaded, making tightening of lantern difficult as it simultaneously loosens the head from the body once the lantern head fully seats
- Headlamp assembly is plastic, which makes me wonder about durability. the whole head of the light (bezel and head) screws into the headlamp assembly and is the only metal part. The 2AA battery compartment at the rear of the headlamp assembly is plastic and doesn't seem to close as secure as it could if it were aluminum.
- I guess most people would have liked this to come with a Cree or SSC already, but really, swapping a SSC in there is so easy as long as you isolate the slug. I'd recommend Arctic Alumina over Arctic Silver as I've had some shorting problems with Arctic Silver before since it is slightly capacitive (which does have a current path).
Ok, I'll shut up now.
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=158810
So, a quick review.
The kit is packaged in a nice black box. There are no markings on the box.
Inside the box, contents are well packaged and separated by a removable foam. It comes with a lanyard, 1x123A cell, and 2xAA cells.
Parts removed from the box:
All parts are very well made. Machining is very good, anodizing is smooth and consistent. The AA extension tube is slightly lighter than the rest of the parts, but the 1x123A setup is all perfectly match HA. Ah, everything's HAIII, which is nice. Knurling it grippy, but not overly aggressive. The lantern head is smaller than I expected, but goes on well and works great. It provides a very smooth beam due to the frosted dome. Threads are well cut and well spaced (good pitch), unlike many chinese lights that have very fine pitch threads that are harder to get started and have a higher chance of cross-threading. The threads are cut deep also. Threads were dry when I got it though, so it could use a bit of lube. The clicky has a momentary on function, but flickers off as you continue to press to full click. From it's operation, it seems to be the same switch as used in the later Nuwai Q3s which offered momentary on as well as momentary off. The switch is not recessed so it cannot tailstand. The headlamp is made of plastic, which concerns me for durability, but it is lightweight and comfortable. Placing the head of the light onto the headband does not increase it's weight much and wearing the headlamp doesn't cause it to drag down. All parts mate together well. Securing all parts in place was well thought out as all parts are either threaded into place or held in place by a threaded retainers, so nothing will fall out. The light comes apart into 4pcs, the front bezel which contains the optic, the rear portion of the head which houses the LED module and a sprung copper contact, the battery tube, and the tailcap.
The AA extension tube is extremely thick as seen here:
The light uses an optic which is threaded into the front bezel. Here's some pictures of first the back of the optic (front bezel removed) and then the view of the front of the light.
What's this?...a SSC P4?...wow, what a surprise when I opened the head an found it! Waion must've mistakenly sent me a newer unit which uses the new SSC P4s. Ok Ok, just kidding, it came with a LuxIII which was actually quite bright. But, I had purchased this with the intent to change out the Lux for a Seoul. The operation is very simple; remove the black plastic retainer via the 2 recessed dimples, nothing is sealed with glue, push from the bottom to get the LED module out, and you can have fun. The module is similar to many of the modules in most of the chinese LED lights today from Hunglight, Lumapower, etc. I used some AA on the contact pad on the emitter PCB, placed a 30mil Cu spacer, more AA on top of the spacer, then the emitter and let it set. I used a USWOH as I like this tint the most.
Removing the front bezel as shown above to expose the LED allows you to attach the lantern head. The awkward thing is that the bezel is reverse threaded so lefty-tighty, righty-loosey. This makes tightening the lantern head a bit difficult because as you tighten the lantern head, you're loosening the rear portion of the head that holds the LED module from the body. What I do is just tighten till snug and stop.
Lantern on with -2 stop underexposed:
Ok, beamshots. The optic creates a slightly squared beam, but there is decent spill. There's a ring around the spill that's not noticeable in real world use. I also took some underexposed pics to compare to a couple of other lights I have. Sterops running on R123A.
Normal exposure:
-2 stop underexposed:
Left = Jet1 MKI 14500 (~75-80lumens), Right = Sterops SSC P4 (-2 underexposed)
Left = Streamlight Scorpion SSC P4, Right = Sterops SSC P4 (-2 stops underexposed)
The Sterops SSC P4 is considerably brighter than the Jet1 MKI on 14500. Hotspot is both brighter and bigger. Compared to my seouled Scorpion, it is still brighter overall (confirmed via bounce test), but the Scorpion has a much tighter hotspot as shown in the -2 underexposed beamshot. The Scorpion has crazy throw.
Pros:
- Very good machining with good HAIII anodizing and good threads
- All parts are well made, even the tri-pod which is surprisingly nice
- Well thought out retention of parts
- Momentary switch (even tho it flickers between momentary and full click)
- Versatile with battery options and head options (lantern, headlamp)
- Extremely bright (estimate over 120 lumens) with R123A, still really bright on primary 123A and 2AAs
Observations and Welcomed Improvements:
- Threads on bezel are reverse threaded, making tightening of lantern difficult as it simultaneously loosens the head from the body once the lantern head fully seats
- Headlamp assembly is plastic, which makes me wonder about durability. the whole head of the light (bezel and head) screws into the headlamp assembly and is the only metal part. The 2AA battery compartment at the rear of the headlamp assembly is plastic and doesn't seem to close as secure as it could if it were aluminum.
- I guess most people would have liked this to come with a Cree or SSC already, but really, swapping a SSC in there is so easy as long as you isolate the slug. I'd recommend Arctic Alumina over Arctic Silver as I've had some shorting problems with Arctic Silver before since it is slightly capacitive (which does have a current path).
Ok, I'll shut up now.
