With the awful Convoy firmware, you get "4 modes" and the dreaded blink.
With the Biscotti "12 group" firmware and group 2 selected, you get 5 modes.
A BLF-A6 will give you 7 modes.
When I compare the Biscotti "moonlight" mode to the BLF-A6 moonlight, I can't really tell any difference. Note that the Convoy firmware does not offer a moonlight mode.
As for the low brightness, 5 percent is about 47 lumens.
Biscotti gives us a 0.1 percent "moonlight" that is maybe 0.5 lumens.
Lastly, I generally find the 40 percent setting (or the Biscotti 35 percent) to be plenty bright. Using the 100 percent setting is in general just a mistake, wastes battery capacity, and makes the light get hot. I often use it by mistake with the Convoy firmware -- I guess I just impatiently bump the light two times. With the Biscotti firmware, my 2 bump bad habit puts me at 10 percent and I bump that up to 35.
You don't need to order from AliExpress though, here they are on Amazon for $16. I just ordered one of these from Amazon. It also says SST20, 7135*8, 3040 mA, 12 Groups. Color of the light is grey, not coyote tan. The "3040" number indicates that this uses selected 7135 chips. The normal chips give 350 mA, and 8 of them will give 2800 mA. If you bin your 7135 and select those that give 380 mA, 8 of them give 3040 mA. I think all of this is silly and am equally happy with 2800 or 3040.
Even though being sold by Amazon, it shows a 2 week shipping time, so it is probably shipping from China. It will be interesting to see which order arrives first, AliExpress or Amazon.
The results are in. The order from Amazon arrived 9-25-2024 and the order from Aliexpress arrived 9-30-2024. These were ordered 9-15-2024, so 10 days for one and 15 days for the other.
Some new "lingo" is now being used. This listing has it, and names "12 groups", which is the same as what used to be called the Biscotti firmware. This is what you want. Avoid lights that have "4 modes" as this is the terrible Convoy firmware that has the dreaded "blink" a few seconds after you turn the light on. This listing also offer 4000K as well as 6500K. I dislike a blue light and always pick the 4000K, being fully aware this sacrifices a bit of peak brightness (which absolutely does not matter).The Amazon light arrived first (9-25-2024). It is grey in color. I can distinguish it from my older lights because the switch/button is a big rubber pad-like thing. Seems to work fine. It has the usual annoying blink and strobe modes I hate. I'll need to reconfigure it ASAP.
The Amazon light came 5 days later (9-30-2024). It is tan in color. The package shows it shipped from New Jersey, which might account for part of the delay.
This light advertises an SST20 emitter. I see other listings with an SST40. What is this all about?
The SST20 is a smaller emitter (2mm square) and yields a more focused and "throwy" beam.
The SST40 is a bigger emitter (4mm square) and yields a more "floody" beam.
Also they say the SST40 can be driven harder (up to 5A) and is often sold in
combination with a more efficient driver.
However: The SST40 is only available in 6500K (it was once also available in 5000K, but not any more). This is a deal breaker for me. I insist on 4000K. The SST20 is available in 4000K and that color bin is rated for high CRI (90 or better).
When you choose 4000K versus 6500K for the SST20, you are also choosing a CRI of 95 for the 4000K versus a CRI of 70 for the 6500K/5000K. This is all that I need to know.
Tom's Light Info / [email protected]