I was asked by Thorfire if I'd like to review one of their lights and I thought it'd be rude of me to say no - a few days later I received a VG15S in the post.
First off the packaging. Nothing too fancy just your standard brown box with the flashlight securely located inside. They throw in some spare o-rings and a spare tail cap. and when you take the light out of the packaging it looks identical to the VG15. I looked for a while and the only visual difference is the S on the body.
Physically the lights feel the same. I put them on the scales and the VG15 weighs 70g and the VG15S weighs 66g. I thought, heh I might aswell take them both apart and check each part to see if they really are the same. Please note whilst the head is the same length between models it seems that the reflector is actually shallower meaning you'll get a bit more flood. You can see that in the pictures.
In the hand they feel exactly the same until you try and turn one on. The VG15S has a much softer rubber boot to the tailcap. The rubber feels of a higher quality than the VG15 rubber but at the same time the difference feels a bit "odd". I think I like it but you certainly notice it.
The VG15 has 4 modes whilst the VG15S has 5 modes. I checked the current draw with the battery out of my Klarus XT12GT as it seems to enjoy high drain devices and on previous tests it seems to give me good results. I fortunately had two batteries and both were sitting at 4.25v at the start of the test.
So the VG15S draws more current, time to check LUX.... I don't have a fancy set up for checking LUX I just have a place that I always use in my bathroom to check ceiling bounces. All lights get put in the same spot and the meter in the same spot so whilst my numbers might be meaningless they are actually okay to compare the light to other lights. As both the VG15 and VG15S get hot when on "full pelt". I put both lights on the side and measured the temperature with a IR thermometer along with the LUX at different intervals.
Temp
Ceiling bounce lux
There is definitely a timer controlling the step down. It happens at exactly 3 minutes. I took the results just after the 3 minute mark to indicate stepdown.
Going from a partially depleted battery and putting it in the xt12gt I got a ceiling bounce of 199.4 for comparison sake
There is obviously a different driver being used in the VG15S because there is a bit of a delay when you're changing modes. I'm not quite sure why this is but it is a bit odd. Honestly, I dont like it but it's definitely not a show stopper. The delay isn't huge it is just not instant. I've got LED lights at home that have what I can only describe as a soft start, this is no way near as bad as that but it's not a instant mode change.
The best thing I noticed about the VG15S was the tint. The light is much warmer which I like. A couple of shots for comparison:
I might get a night time garden shot but I've pushed myself to get the review of this out quickly so haven't had a chance. Sorry.
I could spend ages explaining the quality of the components and the feel of the item but everyone has read reviews on previous Thorfire products and they know that the quality is great for a budget item. The VG15(s) both feel much better in the hand than the VG10 and the lights stand up to a fair bit of abuse. The VG15S is only a day old but the VG15 has had a fair bit of abuse. I've used it under the car and dropped it on the concrete a number of times. I've given it quite a hard life but the finish on the light shows not many blemishes so the anodizing on the body seems decent.
The VG15S is a nice upgrade the the VG15 in my mind. The tint is a real winner and the extra output seems like it could be useful. Honestly, you wont notice the difference by eye. I tried by overlapping the hotspots and one always looks brighter than the other until you swap around then the other seems brighter.
This light is great. It's a nice change to the original and if buying new I'd buy the VG15S over the VG15 but if you've got the VG15 already unless you need a different tint you wont suddenly get a heap of extra light out of the front to make it worth buying it as a replacement. I would say that this light would be a perfect emergency light to keep charged and ready as it's got a lot of different brightness modes - some of which you could use for a couple of days if needed!
First off the packaging. Nothing too fancy just your standard brown box with the flashlight securely located inside. They throw in some spare o-rings and a spare tail cap. and when you take the light out of the packaging it looks identical to the VG15. I looked for a while and the only visual difference is the S on the body.
Physically the lights feel the same. I put them on the scales and the VG15 weighs 70g and the VG15S weighs 66g. I thought, heh I might aswell take them both apart and check each part to see if they really are the same. Please note whilst the head is the same length between models it seems that the reflector is actually shallower meaning you'll get a bit more flood. You can see that in the pictures.
In the hand they feel exactly the same until you try and turn one on. The VG15S has a much softer rubber boot to the tailcap. The rubber feels of a higher quality than the VG15 rubber but at the same time the difference feels a bit "odd". I think I like it but you certainly notice it.
The VG15 has 4 modes whilst the VG15S has 5 modes. I checked the current draw with the battery out of my Klarus XT12GT as it seems to enjoy high drain devices and on previous tests it seems to give me good results. I fortunately had two batteries and both were sitting at 4.25v at the start of the test.
So the VG15S draws more current, time to check LUX.... I don't have a fancy set up for checking LUX I just have a place that I always use in my bathroom to check ceiling bounces. All lights get put in the same spot and the meter in the same spot so whilst my numbers might be meaningless they are actually okay to compare the light to other lights. As both the VG15 and VG15S get hot when on "full pelt". I put both lights on the side and measured the temperature with a IR thermometer along with the LUX at different intervals.
Temp
Ceiling bounce lux
There is definitely a timer controlling the step down. It happens at exactly 3 minutes. I took the results just after the 3 minute mark to indicate stepdown.
Going from a partially depleted battery and putting it in the xt12gt I got a ceiling bounce of 199.4 for comparison sake
There is obviously a different driver being used in the VG15S because there is a bit of a delay when you're changing modes. I'm not quite sure why this is but it is a bit odd. Honestly, I dont like it but it's definitely not a show stopper. The delay isn't huge it is just not instant. I've got LED lights at home that have what I can only describe as a soft start, this is no way near as bad as that but it's not a instant mode change.
The best thing I noticed about the VG15S was the tint. The light is much warmer which I like. A couple of shots for comparison:
I might get a night time garden shot but I've pushed myself to get the review of this out quickly so haven't had a chance. Sorry.
I could spend ages explaining the quality of the components and the feel of the item but everyone has read reviews on previous Thorfire products and they know that the quality is great for a budget item. The VG15(s) both feel much better in the hand than the VG10 and the lights stand up to a fair bit of abuse. The VG15S is only a day old but the VG15 has had a fair bit of abuse. I've used it under the car and dropped it on the concrete a number of times. I've given it quite a hard life but the finish on the light shows not many blemishes so the anodizing on the body seems decent.
The VG15S is a nice upgrade the the VG15 in my mind. The tint is a real winner and the extra output seems like it could be useful. Honestly, you wont notice the difference by eye. I tried by overlapping the hotspots and one always looks brighter than the other until you swap around then the other seems brighter.
This light is great. It's a nice change to the original and if buying new I'd buy the VG15S over the VG15 but if you've got the VG15 already unless you need a different tint you wont suddenly get a heap of extra light out of the front to make it worth buying it as a replacement. I would say that this light would be a perfect emergency light to keep charged and ready as it's got a lot of different brightness modes - some of which you could use for a couple of days if needed!
