Thrunite has released something I’ve wanted for a long time now. This is a pocket friendly 18350 light, with an e-switch. It’s a good production version counterpoint to many of the “custom” triples out there, most of which have mechanical tail clickies.

Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the official product page.

Versions

Just one body is available, but that body can be had in CW or NW versions. What I have is the cool white.

Short Review

I like this little light a lot. I’m super happy that it takes 18350 cells (and even comes with one)! I think it could be made shorter, because the included (protected) cell is quite long. But overall, I’m very happy with this light, and I’m taking into consideration the price. At the price, it’s a great light.

Long Review

The Big Table

* Measurement disclaimer: I am an amateur flashlight reviewer. I don’t have $10,000 or even $1,000 worth of testing equipment. I test output and such in PVC tubes!! Please consider claims within 10% of what I measure to be perfectly reasonable (accurate, even).

What’s Included

Thrunite T1 Flashlight

Thrunite 1100mAh 18350 (protected, button top) (not pictured here)

Charge cable (USB to micro-USB)

Spare o-rings (2)

Pocket clip

Lanyard

Spare charge port cover

Manual and papers

Package and Manual

Standard Thrunite package. The end of the box includes CW/NW checkboxes.

The manual is brief, and in 4 languages (only English shown here).

Build Quality and Disassembly

This tiny light has a quality bit of heft to it. The anodizing is great. I can’t measure the thickness of it but it feels as high quality as almost any light like this. The alternate take on knurling is a nice feature, and doesn’t sacrifice grip.

The outside of the tailcap is not exciting. The inside of the tailcap/cell tube has a big coated spring, and a magnet, too.

The head, on the other hand, has a brass button. The button isn’t shrouded, nor is it springy, but the light does work just fine with any 18350 (including those that are actually sized according their name – 35mm long cells).

There’s a lot going on with this mcpcb! Sort of neat to see all this stuff exposed.

The threads are anodized and square cut, and the body tube has a 2mm unanodized, unthreaded section. As far as I can tell, electrical contact is made only on the rim and not on the sides, so I’m not sure what the point of this section is. It’s not an inner sleeve, either.

Size and Comps

Weight: 71.5g with battery

Dimensions: 69.5mm*26.5mm*22mm. I confirm these measurements.

No doubt there could be shorter 18350 lights, but this is quite short indeed. And I think could go even shorter, but that’d require a non-Thrunite cell, and no protection.

Retention and Carry

First let’s mention the magnet in the tailcap again. The magnet is quite strong and holds the light easily. I think it’d be possible to pull the spring and take the magnet out, but I did not try.

Next is the pocket clip. It’s a friction fit clip, and lives only on the tail end of the light. It’s a double direction clip, though the mouth doesn’t allow too great access for bezel up carry. In fact the shoulder doesn’t offer great ease of access either – I had to fiddle with the clip (ie two handed operation) every time I put the light on my pocket. Not a huge deal, but just another reason I don’t care for these type clips.

There’s also a lanyard, which should be connected through the hole in the tailcap.

Power and Runtime

Thrunite includes the cell intended for powering the T1. It’s an 18350 cell, with Thrunite added protection, and a button top. Those two things make it quite long to be sure, but of course it fits in this light easily. I measure the cell at 39.7mm long.

As you can see, the Thrunite 18350 is much longer than an unprotected flat top 18350.

The Thrunite cell protrudes around 3mm out of the light, while the unprotected 18350 is around 1mm below the lip.

Both of those cells work just fine in this light.

Two runtimes follow. Turbo holds out for a couple of minutes around 1500 lumens (as claimed) with reasonable strength, then steps down heavily to around 700 lumens (“High”) (as claimed, but the claim is actually “408 lumens” on stepdown). Once the cell voltage drops off, so does the light, and then shuts off with the cell around 2.8V. The indicating switch starts warning at around 3.2V with a blue indication, then turns red at 2.9V. (It’ll also flash red, but that’s at ~2.8V, and fairly dim.)

High looks just like Turbo, but without the Turbo. Note that “High” is the highest mode in ramping. Turbo is a double click from anything, so not within the ramp.

The light also sports on-board charging, via a micro-USB port in the head, opposite the switch. The port has a big rubber press-in cover, and seems well protected.

A cable is included.

Both charge tests proceeded at around 0.57A, and also confirm that the cell is indeed around 1100mAh (remember, this test is recorded from the USB source at 5V, not 4.2V like the cell). Charging takes just over 2 hours. During charge, the indicating switch is red. After the cell is charged, the switch is blue.

Modes and Currents

Mode Mode Claimed Output (lm) Claimed Runtime Measured Lumens Tailcap Amps Turbo 1500/408 3m/80m 1533 2.94 Infinity High 685 80m 711 1.02 Infinity Low 15 36h – 0.02 Firefly 1 14d – ~

PWM

No PWM is noted. Modes tested (though “infinite”) are the same as in the table above, Firefly leftmost.

For reference, here’s a baseline shot, with all the room lights off and almost nothing hitting the sensor. And here’s the worst PWM light I have ever owned. Also one of the very first lights I ordered directly from China!

User Interface and Operation

There’s a single switch on the T1. It’s an indicating e-switch on the head. The button has a black look, but really seems to be an opaque gray – of course, since it’s also an indicating switch. The feel of the switch and charge port are different but similar enough that it’s a bit difficult to differentiate them without looking.

Here’s a UI table!

State Action Result Off Click On (Mode Memory except Firefly, Turbo, Strobe) Off Hold 1s Firefly Firefly Hold 3s Lockout Lockout Click No Output (switch indicates red) Lockout Hold 3s Firefly On Click Off On (Except Firefly) Hold Ramp up to “Infinity High” (not Turbo) then back down to “Infinity Low” (not Firefly) Any Double Click Turbo Any Triple Click Strobe

LED and Beam

The emitter of choice in the T1 is a Cree XHP50. There’s a reflector, albeit a shallow one with orange peel, so the beam profile is unsurprisingly floody. There’s quite a spot though, so it does make a useful beam.

These beamshots are always with the following settings: f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure.

That’s Firefly, then Infinity Low and some intermediates, then Infinity High and Turbo.

Tint vs BLF-348 (Killzone 219b version)

I compare everything to the Killzone 219b BLF-348, because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!

Random Comparisons and Competitive Options….

Here’s a link to a relevantly filtered page on parametrek.com. I use that site a lot!

The comparison shows that there’s not much else in this size format with these features – the next closest is probably the Astrolux S41/S42/S43 series of lights, but those are mechanical switch lights.

Conclusion

What I like

Complete package

NW and CW availability

Size

Finally a good E-Switch 18350 light

Included cell has good capacity

What I don’t like

I think it could be even shorter!

Included cell is quite long

I don’t like these double direction clips

Notes

This light was provided by Thrunite for review. I was not paid to write this review. Buy this one at Amazon (referral link) or Thrunite directly, with coupon “20%” for 20% off!!

This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!

Whether or not I have a coupon for this light, I do have a bunch of coupons!! Have a look at my spreadsheet for BangGood and GearBest coupons. Please subscribe and get notifications when the sheet is edited!!