unknown001
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2013
- Messages
- 30
SingFire SF-720
Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Summary:
Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Summary:
| Battery: | 2 x 18650 |
| Switch: | Tailcap, Reverse clicky |
| Modes: | 5: High, Medium, Low, strobe, SOS |
| LED Type: | 1 x XM-L T6 (Cool White) |
| Lens: | Glass |
| Tailstands: | Yes |
| Price: | $28.99 Shipped |
Pros:
Zoom function provides a decent, smooth flood as well as a decent, focused throw.
Smooth zoom
Clip and lanyard included
Battery Tube has enough length for longer protected cells
All threads and O-rings lubed properly
Cons:
Overall quality is sub-par.
- Rough edges under the annodization
- Rear threads are thin and a little rough
- Dirt/Grime/Shavings in threads
- LED dome damaged
- Scratches on the lens
Single hole lanyard inhibits tailstand
Artifacts in the beam
Next Mode Memory
Undershoots the stated 800lm and 2.5A. Max current I was able to achieve was 1.60A to the emitter which equates to roughly 550lm before losses.
Included Charger and Singfire 18650 are sub-par quality.
Pictures:
Arrived amply protected in a bubble mailer.
Inside the solid box is a 2x 18650 wall charger stated 650mA output, 2x 18650 Singfire BRC 2400mAh, SF-720 flashlight, Manual.
The batteries show 3.88v so I'll be testing these in the next few days along with the charger.
Out of the box.
The included 2× 18650 'Travel Charger' states a 650mAh output. The 2x SingFire BRC18650 2400mAh cells claim a short circuit and overcurrent protection.
The charger charges at 350mA with a single cell and 175mA with 2 cells. This isn't a huge issue, it just takes a very long time to charge 2× 18650 cells. It seems to terminate fine around 4.19v with the included cells.
The batteries claim to have protection circuitry, but have none of the sort. I would most definitely not use these unprotected cells in series.
Single Hole lanyard
The head up close.
Zoom function is 18mm of travel.
Simple clip, slides over the battery tube threads. Acceptable quality on the clip, slightly on the flimsy side.
Threads are very thin, quite difficult to get a proper seating with batteries inserted. After the pictures were taken I cleaned and re-lubricated everything, seems like a slight improvement.
Inside of the tailcap.
Size comparison:
From Left to Right: NCR18650B 3400mAh, SK68, Convoy C8, Baked Ultrafire SG, SingFire SF-720
(The last 2 are practically identical in almost every way. A few small differences.)
Breakdown:
Fully broken down -
From Left to right...
Bezel with lens - Lens is slightly crimped into the underside of the bezel.
Outer head piece - Pill slides into this piece and then the 2 pieces together slip over the 4th piece in line. Pretty standard for zoomable budget lights.
Pill assembly - XML, more pics/information later.
Pill housing with heat fins - Threads are much better here, pill threads in very easily. This piece has a lot of chips/defects under the anno (These can be seen in the first picture in this review).
Battery Tube - Barely passable, threads are just too thin.
Tailcap pieces : Pill retaining ring, plastic housing, brass plunger, free floating spring on the underside of a noname switch, empty tailcap, orange boot.
This is a close up of the driver, 24 awg wires.
Underside of the pill, hollow underneath the star.
Indoor Beams:
Zoomed in - Spot/Throw
You can see the major artifact here (This is caused by the reflection off the pill).
Zoomed out - Flood
Quick Comparison:
Left to right: ZY-C10 (XRE), SK68 (XRE), SF-720 (XML)
Conclusion:
I really wanted to like this light. It's almost identical to my first personal Li-Ion flashlight purchase, but unfortunately it doesn't have the quality or performance that should be apparent in a $29 flashlight.
A few of the issues can be fixed rather easily, like the next mode memory and the beam artifact. A simple pencil line across the capacitors and next mode memory is gone. Permanent marker on the top of the aluminum pill essentially eliminates the artifact in the beam.
However, a plethora of issues still remain and will continue to remain unless quite a bit of work is put into modifying it. I rate the flashlight itself a 3 out of 5.
The included batteries put the nail in the coffin. After monitoring the charge to 4.19v I noticed a pretty severe nick in the wrapper and figured I would rewrap it. After removing the wrapper I noticed this "Short circuit and overcurrent protection" battery has no protection circuitry. I wouldn't use unprotected cells in series, and I definitely wouldn't use a cell that falsifies very important information on the label.
Overall the entire bundle I rate 2 out of 5.
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