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. 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. In fact, the output can go up to 4A if you discount the voltage drop – at 4A the voltage (output) drops to around 4V. That’s “out of spec” for USB, so let’s only consider what the output can be while around 5V. At 5V, the Q8 Pro can steadily output 3A. And not just a small bit of 3A output. It’ll output 3A until the powerbank shuts off with low voltage protection. In my case, that was around 3.11V. This is actually completely perfect, and the ideal scenario. The tailcap is removable, but there’s no point; it’s a dumb tailcap. I don’t believe it even carries any current. So while it’s removable (maybe in case you want to do maintenance on the inside or something), there’s no need to do so. Tailstanding works great. The tail is wide and perfectly flat. That combined with the long runtime makes this light an excellent choice for ceiling-bouncing to light a room for awhile. I do wish the tailcap included a milled cavity inside for the user to install a strong magnet if they wish. Unfortunately Sofirn made no such allowance. Batteries & ChargingThe ANSI runtimes were only as good as they were due to the fact that there is a ton of immediate drop in output before that 30 second mark. If it were based off of the initial output, the higher mode runtimes would be SIGNIFICANTLY shorter, like, in the 5 minute range. On a surprising note, this is the first time I have seen a set of runtimes with over half of the modes running over 24 hours. Yes, this meant it took a while to get these runtime tests completed, but not having any specified information directly from Sofirn meant I didn’t know exactly what to expect, ergo, the TESTS MUST CONTINUE!! (Sorry, I am a dork) While the link above shows there’s just one version available – there are clearly two. All other things are the same, but the listed version is 6500K, while my review copy is 5000K. That’s a great difference (as I’d say 5000K is much better!) The beam has wide, bright spill with six large flower petals on the edges. The hotspot is narrower than I expected and provides decent throw. Thermal regulation: works really well. Anduril 2 has some of the best thermal regulation available. It actively raises/lowers the brightness of the light in response to temperature fluctuations to ensure you get as much brightness as possible without overheating.

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.All measurements were taken using a purpose built integrating sphere and an ExTech SDL400 datalogging lux meter. The known output from a light source (273lm Convoy S2+) was then taken into account when getting my figures calibrated for accuracy purposes. Temperature settings in Anduril 2 were verified to be accurate within 1 degree Celsius. Lumen measurements (for each mode) Mode This flashlight has an AR coated lens. This Anti-Reflective coating is a thin optical coating applied to the surface of the lens to minimize reflections and improve light transmission. The Q8 Plus utilizes electronic switch. Electronic switches on flashlights provide a range of advantages and additional features compared to mechanical switches. Performance Flux 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. Note: Normally before testing Anduril lights, I have to calibrate the thermal sensor. Fortunately, this light comes pre-calibrated from the factory! All tests were run with the thermal ceiling at the default 45C. Usually I like the default 45C, but during my testing I found the light got warm but not hot, so you could increase the thermal limit a bit and still be able to hold the light if you want.

Charging is facilitated by a USB-C port on the side of the light. It’s covered by Sofirn’s excellent port cover they use on many of their lights. It’s the best rubber port cover design I’ve come across. USB C-to-C charging cables work fine and it can also function as a powerbank. Charging from empty took six hours from a 5V 3A source which is pretty slow, but supporting USB-PD charging protocol for faster speeds would increase the price so I can live with the slow charging. The light can’t be powered by the USB port alone. The batteries must be installed for it to work, but it can be used while charging which is nice. Competition The Q8 Plus flashlight with 24000 lm is an extremely high lumen output and offers an incredibly bright and powerful beam of light. 76729 cd represents an extremely high level of brightness for a flashlight. The throw is the calculated distance in meters at which the flashlight produces a light intensity of 0.25 lux. The cd/lm factor (candela-to-lumen ratio) provides information about how concentrated or focused the light output of a light source is. A higher cd/lm ratio indicates that the light is more concentrated in a specific direction, while a lower ratio indicates a more diffused or spread-out light output. Software Firmware The performance of the Sofirn Q8 Plus flashlight is measured according to the ANSI / NEMA FL1 Standard 30 seconds after switching the light on. The ANSI/NEMA FL1 2009 Standard is a set of flashlight performance guidelines. 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!The switch is configurable, according to the manual. You will need to be in Advanced UI to configure the switch! Sofirn Q8 Pro: predecessor to Q8 Plus, four LED’s instead of six, four 18650 batteries instead of three 21700 batteries, I measured about half the output of Q8 Plus from Q8 Pro, stainless steel bezel Unlike the Sofirn Q8 which has NarsilM, but like the Q8 Pro, this Q8 Plus has the Andúril2 user interface. Disclaimer: All of my measurements are taken at turn-on. Lumen measurements were taken on a Texas Ace 3.5″ Lumen Tube. A candela measurement was taken at 10 meters with an Opple Light Master III on the highest brightness, and other candela figures were calculated relative to that. CRI, CCT, & DUV data was taken for each mode from a few feet away at the center of the hotspot with the Opple Light Master and Waveform DUV Calculator. Runtime tests were performed with the Ceilingbounce app on my smartphone. All of these tests were performed with fully charged included batteries unless otherwise specified. I cannot measure moonlight directly, so moonlight readings are calculated based on the brightness relative to the next-lowest mode. None of this is professional equipment, so take all of these measurements with a grain of salt. The Q8 driver easily powers four emitters of any kind, in fact it easily powers 17 emitters in my Ham’r build. No need for three FET’s or 3 pairs of wires. I have a spare Q8 driver even now. Have used them in BLF GT’s to drive the SBT90.2.