Performance: Turbo is very very bright for a few seconds after turn-on and it gets hot very very fast. High mode lasts a respectable 3 minutes at 4000 lumens before stepping down. Medium runtime is a very impressive 14+ hours. For the Turbo Cooled test I raised the thermal limit to 70C (the max allowed in the firmware) and directed a desk fan straight at the light on its highest setting. Sustained output: was around 1000 lumens in my testing conditions, which are near worst-case-scenario. I test in an air-conditioned room with no other airflow. In real-world use you will likely be holding the light (which helps cool it and increase sustained output) or there will be a breeze (which helps cool it and increase sustained output). You can also raise the thermal limit as you see fit to increase sustained output. The light ships with Andúril2! I love it, I think it’s an improvement over the first iteration(s). There are some things some users might not love about it, but I think overall it’s much more approachable. I will note though that the nomenclature might be a bit confusing – the light (all lights with Andúril2) ships in Simple UI. This is not Muggle Mode. You may think “well duh” and by now you’ve already seen the blistering runtime on turbo of Simple, so you get it. But just be aware, don’t hand this light to the uninitiated thinking they won’t set their hand on fire while using Simple UI. Here is where I’d tell you how to switch to muggle mode. There is no muggle mode.

This flashlight covers SO MUCH distance! It’s truly amazing, especially for how small it is (it is small for how much light it produces, but it’s on the heavier side). I didn’t test this feature too much but I can say a few things. First, and seen most easily on the second graph below, is that the USB-C port can output well over 3A. This is where the Q8 Pro really shines (pun intended). With 4, count ‘em 4, XHP50.2 emitters, this thing can really pump out the lumens! 11,000 of them to be exact. Each of these LEDs sits in its own centering ring, shining through a rather orange peeled reflector that helps soften the beam for flood use. All four reflectors converge low so the beams can join and these are all protected by a glass lens under a long, but not deeply crenulated stainless steel bezel. This will help protect the light if it were to drop (don’t bring it up, it’s too soon).Well, the output from the Sofirn Q8 Plus flashlight is quite fantastic, first of all. I don’t just love 6500K but that’s what Sofirn sent, and I do appreciate the high output numbers. The user interface is great, of course, because Anduril 2 is great! The e-switch is very nice, and USB-C charging works well, too. I’m disappointed we lost the powerbank feature that the Q8 Pro had, though. Long Review The Big Table Sofirn Q8 Plus flashlight Q8 Plus comes with a firmware called Anduril (version 202202080614 to be specific). It’s a highly-configurable and feature-rich UI that’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s a joyto use if you know it well. I’m not remotely prepared to do a whole UI breakdown, so I’ll just direct you to the official Anduril 2 Manualwhich has a UI table at the bottom. With that said, here are a few of my favorite features. Most of these are highly configurable or optional, so if you don’t like one, you can probably disable or change it! It’s an odd driver design because I think it uses three FETs in parallel and three 7135’s in parallel. A single FET plus a single 7135 chip is very common but having three of each is unique. As stated above, they’re in a parallel configuration. That means the driver is expecting 4.2V maximum. Parallel means that the voltage input is the same voltage as one cell (4.2V max) but the capacity adds together from the for cells. The included cells are 5000mAh, so when full, the “battery” (cell holder) is really a 15,000mAh battery. No carry methods are included. You could put this in a belt holster but it’s a little big for that and I don’t know of any that would work well. If you need a lanyard, you’ll have to make one and tie it around the body tube in the milled slots. There’s no lanyard included nor are there any lanyard attachment points.

Multi-color Indicator: It features a multi-color battery level indicator, providing information regarding charging, discharge, and remaining power. Yes, when in operation, the light steps down brightness gradually until turning off when the cell is around 2.9 volts. Yes, memorizes last on state setting either smooth or stepped ramping, but does not remember blinkies You may have read into what I wrote above and already considered this, but one cell will also work just fine in the Q8 Plus (as seen above)! You’ll be driving a single cell quite hard doing this, and maybe I’d recommend avoiding Turbo, but the light will certainly work absolutely fine on lower modes this way. (Any number of cells will work fine, too!)Behind the switch are three sets of LED’s: blue, orange, and green. The green LED’s are controlled through the Anduril firmware and their brightness/behavior can be changed to suit your preferences. The blue and orange LED’s are controlled via the USB controller, which is completely separate from the Anduril firmware and cannot be controlled by the user at all. The blue LED’s indicate charging status (blinking blue is charging, constant blue is fully charged) and the orange indicate the powerbank function has been activated. The Q8 Plus is tactical strobe ready. The strobe light is disorienting to the person it is aimed at which makes it difficult for them to concentrate. It has the SOS beacon function for an emergency situation. The SOS flashes Morse code so you can signal for help when needed. The SOS signal is recognized as an international distress call and is used to indicate an urgent need for assistance. Features Battery The Sofirn Q8 Pro flashlight uses four 18650 cells and has four Cree XHP50.2 emitters. The e-switch has an indicating feature, too! Read on! The included Sofirn 18650 cells were charged until the charging circuit completed and then each mode was tested. Each runtime test was done until the lights shut off unless they were to take over 24 hours. Mode It’s worth noting that I am not sure what the highest regulated level is for this light. The button LED switches from low to high mode when going from level 65 to 66, which usually indicates that’s where the highest regulated output is. However, my testing showed level 67 to be perfectly regulated so the highest regulated level must be 67 or higher.