Specs:
- LED: 7x SST20 4000k 95 CRI
- Battery: 1x 26650 (not included, comes with adapters for 18650's and 21700's)
- Driver: FET+6+1
- UI: Anduril 1
- Reflector Type: TIR
- Thermal Regulation: Yes (configurable with Anduril UI)
First impressions:
The Astrolux MF01mini is very similar to the D4SV2 and I would consider them to be competitors. This is a small, dense, chunky light with lots of output with 7 emitters, and works out of the box with 3 types of batteries.
Build:
I have no complaints about the build quality of this light. Everthing feels smooth and well put together. Instead of bypassed springs, we have a brass stud driver side, and a double spring on the other end. The double spring allows for adequate pressure across multiple battery types without permanently compressing a spring. The driver end is a little dirty, didn't come out wiping with my finger, but doesn't affect the usage of the light. I'll clean with alcohol later.
Usage notes:
26650 lights make great tailstanding flashlights. I find myself using it for this purpose a lot. It sustains a higher brightness compared to most of my other Anduril lights, minus the D4V2 (with the boost driver) and the Fireflies E07 (barely beats it in sustained output). One interesting thing is the AUX lights, if you take the TIR lens off, you can configure the brightness of each of the 3 colors with the little pots, which I turned to max. I also set the AUX lights to high in Anduril when unlocked.
The AUX lights also serve as an indicator of Battery voltage. All 3 colors for "Full", 2 colors for 3.6v-3.9v, 1 color for 3.3v to 3.6, and no AUX lights for lower than 3.3v (voltage numbers may be different due to voltage calibration in Anduril, but is accurate enough to determine how much life a battery can give).
This light also has noticeably more throw than a E07, but not as much as a D4SV2 since that has a much deeper TIR Lens. One thing that make life much easier using this light is the onboard USB-C charging. This light is what made me realize that having onboard USB charging is a game changer. You get the best of both worlds! A removable battery for quick swapping, and if you don't feel like swapping, you don't have the unscrew the flashlight to charge the battery! This is also part of the reason I use my FC11 so much, its easy to top off without having to go to my battery drawer
Battery:
Another big plus that needs to be more prevalent is the inclusion of different battery adapters if the flashlight supports them. Here, Astrolux includes plastic adapters for 18650's AND 21700's, so out of the box, you have the option to use 3 different types of batteries! This is great since 26650's are becoming harder to find and 21700's are much cheaper and easier to get.
Brightness Perf:
- Low (H3): 67 Lumens
- Med (H5): 396 Lumens
- High (H7): 1581 Lumens
- Turbo: 4141 Lumens
- Max Lumens @30s: 3526 Lumens
- Max Sustained Lumens: 354 Lumens
Verdict:
One of the more useful lights in my colletion. Great for tailstanding and ceiling bouncing. Long battery life, and compatible with 3 sizes of batteries. This is much better in my opinion than the D4SV2 in all practical use cases, it just might not look as good to some people or have a vast choice of emitters and LED customizeability.
Pros:
- Support for 3 sizes of batteries out of the box (26650, 21700, 18650)
- USB Charging
- 7x Emitters with High CRI Choices
- Anduril UI
- Inexpensive
- Decent sustained output for 7135 based driver
Cons:
- No magnetic tailcap
- Limited to SST20 LEDs
- Not as pretty as Emisar options
- Driver is 7135 based, so sustained output not as high as lights with boost/buck drivers like the D4V2 with boost driver
This item was purchased by myself
