As the designer of the BLF LT1 series for Sofirn, this is a great review, but the LT1S was a venture attempt they tried on their own, but it has several design flaws i am aware of. Lack of run time for one, & heat issues on the battery compartment that degrade the battery life over time. (the same issue that the Zanflare T1 had with cell failures due to over heating from the LEDs) Our most recent LT1M mini 21700 was designed with campers & compactness in mind, while the original LT1 was designed for those who have no space limitations & preferred longer "all-night" run times. Our Sofirn LT1M Mini is the better solution over the LT1S for a more compact single 21700-powered lantern if you don't need the red LED. I have already designed a LT2-Deluz, that uses four 21700 cells, with red third-channel LED, and can run at 850 lumens for over 11 hours, ( and charge other devices like phones, etc. - DBSAR
I don’t think the blf lt1 is a very good camping light. I do 12 night off grid car camping across the south of England ( obviously with jackery power stations etc) . I prefer the LT1s. Lt1 is too heavy for its output. For the same weight as a lt1 you can carry a LT1s with 5 batteries which obviously destroys the LT1 in terms of run time 😂.
LT1 HELLED ME DURING THE TEXAS POWER OUTAGE Just got power back, the lt1 stayed bright all 4 days! THANK YOU FOR THE LONG LASTING BATTERY! BOUGHT 3 MORE big blt LT1 units
I can deal with the LT1S not being as bright, but the biggest downside for me is that there's no special candle mode like there is on the LT1. That's my favorite part about the LT1... Having a nice warm candle mode for camp or even around the house as ambient light is really calming. Thanks for the thoughtful review!
Damn. When you said it didn't have Anduril, I was like "welp, dealbreaker." Then you showed its built in "shade" effect de-activating half the LEDS.... *sighs and unzips wallet*
There may be a LT1S Pro coming, with nice emitters and Anduril. I think Sofirn is checking whether enough people would like this. There's a topic on BLF about it.
It's perfect. The PRO is shit. I regret ordering one. It's pinkish or too white. Duhhhhh.... :( So I re-order two LT1S (not pro). Like yours. Perfect lamp for 50$.
I wanted to try the LT1S because it has a powerful red light, I was hoping it would allow me to keep the window open and attract less bugs. I verified that it is true, I like those three levels of red light, I wish it had an even weaker fourth level (like moonlight) I liked the LT1S a lot, I also bought a second one a few days ago I always use it at 2700 K. Together with the Fenix CL23 and CL26R it is ready to light up my home in the event of a power failure. But I use the LT1S all days before sleeping, the Warm light relaxes me. Thanks for the video, I subscribed to your channel
@@cheule I come to know today that they made a new LT1S Pro version with Anduril and Nichia led. But the red led is now 660nm. Sorry for this because it will be a less bright dark red, I liked the previous red (probably 630 nm)
For me, the LT1s is almost perfect. I keep one in each vehicle for breakdowns (that bright red mode, which also has 1 hz strobe and SOS modes, is great for warning other drivers) in one of the padded hard cases Sofirn sells for these. It's just a great all-around light to keep in the back of my Jeep and my 4x4 pickup. All it really lacks for my purpose is a magnet. I'd love to see some enterprising person, or Sofirn themselves, offer a magnetic tailcap and/or one with a 1/4-20 tripod mount. Maybe both in one.
I've held off on buying this because I already have the LT1 and having 2 lanterns would just feel unnecessary to me (have been on a tear trying to reduce my collection 😂) but if they did a v2.0 with lower lows on the red I would be all over that. If they could also add the candle mode that would be sweet. I don't need the other blinkies from A2 but the candle mode is just wonderful
Candle mode is really cool. I have quite a few Anduril handhelds and I guess I can get candle on those if I want. I agree, it would have been nice on this lamp though.
Do you find the moonlight too bright? Every time I turn mine on I find myself wishing it would go lower. Also, when I turn on the directional mode, the emitters get brighter on the side that stays on, so I can't make it any dimmer using that. Love everything else about this little lantern, though!
Just got one! Had to run it though a couple change cycles to get it fully charged (so the last LED stopped flashing) but I think we're good now. The ramping is outstanding. This is my first Sofirn. After the 30 day Amazon return policy, not sure what recourse there will be. But on sale, the could be the best deal and one of the nicest wide area lights out there.
I have just been reminded by a foreign friend to choose Sofirn LT1S better than Nitecore LR60, but it seems that the LR60 can use 2 21700 batteries compared to 1 21700 5000mah battery of Sofirn LT1S so which one is better? And please recommend the best battery charger for their 21700 battery.
Hmmm. I ordered 3 more of the big version just went through a blackout here in texas... if the big ones last twice as longer still worth it.. but you got me kinda considering the smaller versions but may stick with the larger longer running versions.
If they could pack 4-5 batteries in for longer run times I'd buy one immediately. For me, in a lantern, run time is what I'm looking for the most, past 1-1.5k lumens.
My dream UI would have lowers lows, smooth brightness ramping on the red channel, and mixing between all three channels-perhaps a set the white tint, then ramping between that and the red.
The batteries sofirn supplies are 3000mah for the 18650's unless you were jibbed by a reseller on the lt1 which are still kinda meh but high capacity low drain 18650's are usually 3500-3600 so nearly 3x run time with the lt1 if you supply your own. I love the anduril driver thing on it too, so easy to remember across other flashlights like astrolux etc. I like the battery indicator though on this compact version so no having guess or click click click if your a stickler for topping out recharging around 4v for longevity of batteries , although apparently they stuffed up on the pro version with bright blue indicators. I ordered this one as well on sale recently.
All the bells and whistles in the world don't make up for a much shorter runtime, which is the single most important feature for a lantern that you'll be using in power outages and other emergencies. Four 18650s destroy a single 21700 for capacity. It's 14,400 mAh vs 5600mAh if you use the highest capacity cell for each format (3600 mAh and 5600 mAh respectively.) I also find it weird that anyone finds the LT1 to be too big. It's quite small compared to every other lantern I've ever owned.
