sofirn C8L Rechargeable Flashlight with 3100 Lumens, Tactical Flashlight Up to 531m, IPX8 Waterproof, for Emergency, Heavy Duty, Search and Outdoor Use

*** Short Review ***Sofirn has reputation for value & innovation. Their new C8L is the best & most fun mid-size (~6" long) flashlight I've ever used and a bargain at $45. As the attached photo taken by a family member shows, the bright & wide beam on "Turbo" is exceptional. In addition, there are 4 other well-spaced settings from 8 to 1300 lumens. I'm not aware of another light for less than $120 that can match it. Highly recommended.Note: it ships with an insulator disc inside, next to the battery and will not turn on until it is removed.*** Long Review ***I've enjoyed researching and collecting flashlights for many years. In the medium-size "Tactical" (rear-button; very bright) category, I was looking for a high performance flashlight with extremely high outputs and instant access to Turbo from a rear button. I compared specs and watched YouTube videos on established "name" brands including Fenix, Klarus, Nitecore, Olight, Sofirn & Thrunite. My goals: well-made, 21700 rechargeable battery, extremely bright, long range throw, wide beam pattern, simple to use, less than $100.My "winner" is the Sofirn C8L introduced on Amazon May 2022. It's only $45 on Prime but has similar specs to the $120 Fenix TK22 TAC and $130 Olight Warrior X3.I've been using it for a month and It's the best & most fun flashlight I've purchased in years. My favorite feature: jumping from 8 lumen "Moonlight" to blinding Turbo with a quick double click of the side button. The result is always amazing, fun & empowering. It's also great for personal defense.*** C8L design features***Sofirn is a relatively new (~4 year) company with a reputation for value, innovation and constantly improving models based on feedback from websites like Budget Light Forum. They seem to move faster than some of the other "name" brands, revising designs more quickly to take advantage of newer LED's and user feedback.The C8L appears to be based on their C8G, but changing like this:-- added on-board, USB-C charging-- increased included battery capacity to 5000 mAh for longer run times-- changed to Cree XHP50.3 HI, a de-domed (flat top) LED with extremely high beam intensity (Sofirn is one of the first to use it)-- changed to orange-peel texture reflector to smooth out the beam pattern and make it wider (this reduces throw slightly, but the tradeoff is worth it for me)*** Beam pattern ***A top reason to buy the C8L is the beam pattern. As the attached photo from a family member shows, it's exceptional, with both long distance "throw" and wider side-spill than most dedicated "throw" lights.-- "Flood" style lights like Sofirn SP33S & Thrunite TC20 light up everything around you nearby … but are not great beyond ~75 yards.-- "Throw" lights like Acebeam L17 & Sofirn IF22A have longer range but narrower beams and dim side-spill, creating "tunnel vision".-- C8L's extremely bright and wide beam provides both long range (more than 200 yards) and wider side spill for better situational awareness. This advantage is shown on several YouTube videos comparing it against Sofirn's C8G and IF22A.*** User Interface ***The UI is very simple, with a fast learning curve:-- press rear button for on-off-- press side button to cycle through the brightness settings-- In the default Group 1 mode, from any setting, a double side-click jumps to Turbo and a triple side click to Strobe. A single side-click returns to the previous setting.-- hold the side button down until the light blinks twice to change between Group 1 and Group 2 modes-- Group 1 is for general use with five well-spaced outputs: Eco (8), 100, 500, 1000 & Turbo.-- 8 lumen Eco aka "Moonlight" is great for walking your dog. If a car comes racing down the street, click up to 1000 lumens or Turbo and point it down so as to not to blind the driver … but definitely their attention!-- Eco is also good for power outages as it lasts 9 days.-- 500 lumens is good for use as a searchlight and lasts 7 hours, making it also a great weekend camping light.-- Group 2 is the "Tactical" emergency mode, cycling only between High and Turbo and always turning on in Turbo (a great feature; see below section "Personal Defense")*** First use - remove the plastic insulator ! ***An Aug 8, 2022 Amazon reviewer says, "Flashlight arrived dead". Key point: it will be "dead" until the user unscrews the light and removes the plastic insulator placed at one end of the battery to prevent accidental turn-on during shipping.*** Lumen spec is overstated ***A July 5, 2022 Amazon reviewer says the C8L's claimed 3100 lumen output is not much brighter than her 2000 lumen Sofirn C8G. Key point: several credible web reviews measure Turbo between 2400~2500 lumens - so Sofirn's 3100 lumen spec seems "optimistic". That being said, the C8L's Turbo is brighter than C8G's and the beam is smoother & wider (watch the YouTube videos)> Note to Sofirn: please consider correcting the C8L lumen specification on your Website, User Manual and Amazon webpage.*** Candela spec is understated ***Lumens measure light output (hose analogy: how much total water is pouring out) while candela (cd) measures center beam intensity …how far distant objects are illuminated by the center of the beam (hose analogy: how far a fire nozzle can shoot the water) Many mid-size, high lumen lights are in the 25,000~30,000 cd range, so the C8L's specified 70,500 cd on Turbo is impressive. But several web reviews measure it even higher, over 80,000 cd.*** Runtimes ***The attached photo shows what Turbo can do. But all high-power LED lights including the C8L automatically step Turbo down in a few minutes to prevent overheating. What is more "real-world" useful are the lower settings: tests on the web show the C8L maintains 1100 lumens for almost 2 hours and 500 lumens for 7 hours. That's really impressive - I'm not aware of another similar price flashlight that can do this.*** Regulated outputs ***Some flashlights in this price range are unregulated - light output fades as battery voltage drops. On the C8L, all levels except Turbo are regulated "flat" and do not change. The only way to know a re-charge is needed is to watch the indicator light in the power button. When it changes from green to red, it's time to re-charge.*** Personal Defense ***For unwanted encounters with animal or human intruders, it's good to have a high lumen + high candela flashlight nearby. Even better if it has a "Tactical" rear button with instant access to Turbo (to illuminate the situation) and Strobe (to disorient the intruder).Lumens (Lm) vs Candela (cd)One reason for my C8L purchase was home defense. Wanting the most blinding, disorienting beam possible, I tested some lights already in my collection looking (just for an instant) at a direct reflection off a glass window-pane. The surprising result: my high lumen / low candela flood light (Sofirn SP33S: 5000 Lm / 17,450 cd) was far less disorienting on Turbo & Strobe than my low lumen / high candela throw light (Thrunite TN32: 1700 Lm / 191,000 cd ). The TN32 was truly blinding, like looking at the sun. What this showed me is, for personal defense, the candela spec is more important than lumens - it shows how tightly focused the light intensity will be into the intruder's eyes.Turbo vs StrobeIn a worst-case situation where the intruder fires a gun, a test on the web showed that a high intensity strobe makes the aim worse than from a steady beam. So, a good home defense light should have fast access to Strobe. To get it with the C8L:-- In Group 1 mode: press rear button > press side button three times-- In Group 2 mode: press rear button > press side button twiceNote: many flashlights have de-rated Strobe specs with outputs as low as half that of Turbo. Two examples: Acebeam L19 and Thrunite TT20.My suggestions: if one of the reasons you're buying a flashlight is for personal defense:-- look for a candela rating greater than ~50,000 cd (the higher the cd spec, the narrower the beamwidth usually is)-- make sure Strobe has the same output as Turbo (like the Sofirn C8L)When not in use, I leave the C8L by the door in Group 2 mode because in a stressful situation, there are no side button menu settings to worry about - just push the rear button for blinding Turbo and, if needed, the side button twice for disorienting Strobe.*** Waterproof ***The C8L has an Ingress Protection rating of IPx8, meaning it can withstand immersion in water down to 1 meter (3 ft 3 in) That's better than lights with an IPx7 or IPx6 rating. Key point: the only thing keeping water from leaking in is a rubber flap covering the USB charging port. On some of my other flashlights, it's too easy to accidentally pop it open by bumping it. Fortunately, on the C8L it's very low profile, has a tight fit and sits in a recessed cavity. It's one of the best port-cover designs I've seen.*** Tint & CRI ***Tint is specified as 6500K (cool white). Several reviewers wish it was 5000K neutral white. While that's better for close-up work, for long range outdoor and personal defense, 6500K is better in my opinion because it looks "brighter" to human eyes.CRI (Color Rendering Index) is not specified and it doesn't seem very high. Reds are one of the hardest colors to render and my High CRI Sofirn SC21 & SP10 pocket lights (highly recommended also) show reds more vibrantly. For example, with the C8L, it's not as easy to tell the difference between dark brown & dark red tanbark. But its main purposes are high intensity, long range illumination and home defense … and for that, CRI is not a concern.*** Side Button ***I wish the side button was bigger. It's difficult for me find in the dark just by feel. I added a tie wrap with the head next to the side button to create a reference point and this works well.> Suggestion to Sofirn: make the side button bigger … or consider going back to the wider textured button used on the C8F & C8G*** Tactical Ring ***Many "Tactical" style (rear button operated) flashlights (for example, my Acebeam L17) have a ring near the tail-cap to allow one-hand operation. But there's another advantage with a ring: it reduces the risk of the light accidentally slipping through your fingers, allowing a more relaxed grip.> Note to Amazon customers: a flashlight reviewer who's also a Computer Aided Design expert created a 3D printed (plastic, not aluminum) tactical ring for the C8L. To see a photo, do a web search for Tactical Grizzly C8L Review. He shipped one to me for a modest price and it fits perfectly. If this is of interest, send an email to the address in the "TFC" section of Tactical Grizzly's website.> Note to Sofirn: consider re-selling the ring made by Tactical Grizzly. Or design your own, fabricated from aluminum and offer it as an optional "Accessory" along with your belt holsters.*** Problems on this Amazon page ***C8L was first made available for sale on Amazon May 6, 2022 and for the first two months, there were two Order buttons to click on; one for this light (C8L-6500K-Kit) and another for the older, shorter-range C8F (C8F-5000K-Kit)Amazon recently removed the C8F order button but left all related reviews & Q&A on C8L page. The result is, when I submitted this review, there were 234 reviews … but only 5 are for the C8L !> Note to Amazon: please move all Q&A & reviews written before May 6, 2022 to your webpage for the C8F, Amazon ASIN # B07GS2F948> Note to Sofirn: Amazon's "ASIN Split" procedure recently removed the option to order C8F-5000K-Kit from ASIN # B09ZP5TGTM but left all the associated reviews and Q&A. To keep selling the C8F on Amazon, please update the listing for ASIN # B07GS2F948 which now shows "Unavailable" and references the original XPL LED, not the new C8F version with the LH351D LED.*** Conclusion ***The Sofirn C8L is the highest performance and most fun medium-size flashlight I've ever used. It's also my best home-defense flashlight, sitting next to the door in Group 2 Tactical mode. And, it's a bargain at $45 (includes battery & charging cable)A top reason to get it is the outstanding beam with a great balance of throw & flood. But the multiple well-spaced settings, long run times and emergency "Group 2" mode are other good reasons to add it to your collection. I'm not aware of another light for less than $120 that can match it.*** Buyer Beware ***As a final comment, there are many flashlights sold by Amazon with hugely exaggerated, obviously false specs. For example, there are many "100,000 lumen" flashlight's in the $40~50 range. That output is only possible from huge, fan-cooled models like the Imalent MS18 (Amazon price $670 !)My recommendation: Amazon is not verifying their flashlight partner's claims, so only buy lights from the "name" brands mentioned at the top of this review.

I bought this light using a coupon code from Sofirn, but the list price is a good value in relation to other lights with comparable output. Manufacturing quality seems excellent with perfectly centered LED emitters and quality machining and anodizing. Output is very high, though I don't have a way to test the actual lumens. Sofirn assured me that each light was being tested in a lumen sphere to ensure it is reaching the specified output before shipment. This brand has worked hard to appease flashlight fanatics and have continually used customer feedback to improve their products, so their lumen ratings are typically much more accurate than most other brands.Even still, Turbo doesn't appear to be much brighter than High, though it's difficult to tell by eye as the light ramps up to Turbo over a second or two. Active thermal regulation means that a lower output will allow the use of Turbo for longer periods of time, so I'm not concerned with the actual specs.Regardless, the light is very bright and offers a floody central beam that reaches at least a hundred yards. At that distance, a large area is lit, making this a good light for finding farm animals at night, which is one of the tasks I need it for. This light has already introduced me to at least three coyotes that tend to stay just out of sight near my house; they've been surprised and curious that I can now find them as this is by far the brightest light I own.Top and bottom springs come with factory-installed bypass wires, which maximizes power to the LED in direct-drive mode. The kit is the best value as it includes a high-drain, 4000mAh, 21700 battery and charger. Body screw threads are square-cut and factory lubricated. The body is slightly larger than most 18650 tube lights and the C8-style head means it won't fit into pants pockets, but it easily fits into most jacket or coat pockets.The C8F 21700 uses both a tail switch and a side switch. Some users don't like this interface, but it's actually quite versatile as the tail switch serves as a manual lock-out even without unscrewing the head or tail. The tail switch is thus used as a master power or momentary switch and the side switch is used for all mode changes. The tail switch can also help locate the side switch in the dark, since turning on the tail switch will always engage the battery test LEDs in the side switch, even in Standby mode.With the battery check LEDs off, the side switch take a few seconds to find. This is true for many flashlights with side switches, but I do wish that more manufacturers would design some sort of keying into their lights so that the side switch is easy for gloved hands to locate by feel alone.The cheapest solution would be to simply light the switch with LEDs that /remain/ lit for at least 5-10 minutes and perhaps indefinitely in a flashlight with tail switch. Not only do these tiny LEDs drain practically nothing from the battery, but a tail switch gives the user the option to cut power completely. On this light, the battery check LEDs go out after 5 seconds, but can always be re-activated via the tail switch.In short, the C8F 21700 is an excellent, bright light from a company that cares about manufacturing quality.