Mateminco LT40

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There seems to be a trend for pushing the envelope: Bigger, better, faster, more powerful, etc. and this is evident in the flashlight hobby as well. All one has to do to illustrate this is check out the progeny and evolution of the Lumintop GT series, from the huge GT98 to the tiny GT Nano. Mateminco has long been known for producing flashlights like this, and today I’ll be taking a look at one of those. This isn’t a new flashlight. It’s a progeny of the Mateminco TK01 (also sold as the Astrolux EA01), which was a TIR-based pocket light with decent throw and nice output. I reviewed that light back in 2021, and while it didn’t perform like I thought, it was still a handy light. The EA01 was upgraded shortly after to a quad LED version, the EA01S (also known as the MT04), built on the same host as the EA01 with roughly 3 times the output when appropriately spec’d with XHP50.2 LEDs.

The Mateminco MT04 served as the base host of the Astrolux light, but there’s another model, the LT40 and that will be the star of our show today. Flashlightbrand.com sent this one over, so a big thanks to them. The LT40 is a newcomer to the Mateminco catalog, and I’ve had trouble finding information on it, but it’s a quad LED light with a direct drive FET driver, XHP50.2 LEDs, and good for 12,600 Lumens (on paper) in a very pocketable host. Fast stepdowns? Check. Lots of fun? Check. Sounds like good stuff, so let’s get to it.

Package quality.

The LT40 came in an unassuming package. It’s not meant for retail store shelves, so it’s not fancy, but is functional. Here’s what you get:

• Mateminco LT40 flashlight
• Lanyard
• 26350 battery tube*
• Standard 26650 tube
• 2 spare o-rings
• 21700/18650 battery adapter

This is a nice assortment of accessories, only missing a USB charging cable and a battery to be plug and play, and it’s what I expect from brands like Mateminco. *My sample’s package was missing the 26350 battery tube, so kind of a bummer, but not the end of the world, but it did include a Mateminco branded 5000 mAh 26650 battery

The LT40 is a high output general purpose flashlight that can be called upon for a variety of tasks, good for up close work, or distances out to about 200 meters. Make no mistake: It’s a lot of light in a small package. This would be a light mostly geared towards enthusiasts who know about high powered flashlights, but I think a novice could appreciate all this firepower also. I’ve reviewed the Astrolux EA01, which is the single LED, TIR-sporting counterpart of this light, and it shares the same 26650-size tube and head size as the LT40/Astrolux EA01S (the Astrolux-branded version of this light), so if you’ve owned one of those, it’s more of the same.

The light is compact, and the 26650 tube has more girth than a  21700 size tube, but not overly so, and the polygonal texture on the tube aids in excellent grip. Switching to the shorty 26350 tube (that I borrowed it from the Astrolux EA01) makes it short and stubby and upsets the handling a bit, but does make it more maneuverable and a bit more pocketable. There’s a lanyard hole on the tailcap, and it’s unfortunately a bit small, so once again, unless you’ve got fingers like Tinkerbell, you’ll be using a tool to thread it.

There’s no pocket clip to be found, but.I think that’s okay since this isn’t a light I’d pocket carry anyway since it’s a bit too portly and bulky. There’s a single side e-switch for switching duties. It has a silicone boot that’s pretty grippy and has LEDs underneath for on state and charge state. They do not stay lit on standby, but do light up during operation (green or red based on battery state) and charging. The switch action is snappy and has good feel and feedback, identical to the Astrolux EA01. It’s easy to find by feel as well, and the aux LED backlight helps with finding it in the dark. Opposite the switch is the USB type C charging interface, covered with a silicone rubber plug. Tail standing is no problemo, but it will roll off an inclined surface.

I’ve reviewed a few Astrolux lights before, and they’re usually of perfectly acceptable quality, fit, and finish. I’d say about what you expect in this price bracket, which is around $65. 

It passes the maracas test fine, there’s no anomalous gaps or misaligned parts, everything lines up nicely, and the machining is free of defects or tool marks. The bezel is stainless steel and very finely machined and finished. I really like stainless bezels since they add style and protect the lens if dropped. Mateminco says it’s milled from aluminum alloy, so probably 6061-T6. The finish is advertised as type III HA, and it’s nicely done, with no defects, thin spots, or off-colors.

The Astrolux version of this light came in a bunch of colors, but the LT40 comes in one color, a muted camo green shade. The anodizing is marketed as type III HA, and it’s decently matte, but not very chalky. It has even coverage with no blemishes or mismatched colors. All the edges are knocked down and smoothed as well, with the exception of the lanyard cutout, which had a bit of an abrupt edge. If you fancy to do so, the bezel can be unscrewed by hand and you can liberate the lens, reflector, and an o-ring. The DTP MCBCP is secured with . The solder joints look good, and there’s no flux residue.

The driver is held in with a retaining ring, and swaps a spring for a brass pad for the positive contact. The battery tube cap has a double spring for a low-resistance current path, and it’s the same design from every other Astrolux light I’ve tested: A long outer spring and thinner inner spring. The longer spring helps with 18650 battery compatibility, and that’s fine, but when using longer batteries, the spring gets compressed, so be careful unscrewing the tailcap with a 21700 in there.

The threads on the tailcap side of the tube are fully anodized, rectangular cut and pretty smooth, but the head end are much shorter, bare, and triangular cut with finer pitch threads. Both ends are o-ring sealed, and if you’ve got an Astrolux FT02S, EA01, or EA01S, you can Lego this thing to your heart’s content since the tubes and tailcaps are interchangeable. For ingress protection, Mateminco gives it an IPX6 rating, and the X can be any number you want, but I think this light would be okay for temporary immersion or heavy rain since the charge port cover makes a tight seal. 

For the warranty, it’s doled out by Flashlightbrand, so I’ll let them break it down: 1. 30 days free replacement. Flashlightbrand will replace or repair products with manufacturing defects within 30 days of purchase. 

2. 5 years free repair: Flashlightbrand will repair the products free of charge within 5 years (accessories 1 year, products with built-in battery 2 years)of purchase if problems develop with normal use.

3. Lifetime warranty: If repair is required after guaranty period, we’ll charge for parts accordingly.

The LT40 is a quad LED light, and while the Astrolux/Mateminco MT04 version could be had with the Luminus SST40 or Cree XHP50.2 LEDs, the LT40 only comes with the Cree emitters, and it’s how this thing can make 12,000 Lumens. The XHP50.2 is a high output, quad die LED in the typical 5050 footprint (5 mm x 5mm).

It’s a CSP type LED (no visible bond wires), and typical of the gen 2 Cree XHP and gen 3 XP LEDs, the entirety of the die, along with the LES, is coated in phosphor. It’s capable of very high output, up to 4000 Lumens when direct driven, but the beam quality suffers a bit due to the phosphor coating. The XHP50.2

in this configuration is a 3 volt LED, but it’s also available in 6 or 12 volts. The lower vF of this version means huge amounts of current draw, but can be run off a single li-ion battery. You can choose between the 5700K or 6500K tint. My sample has the 6500K option.

The bezel is stainless steel and extends a bit above the lens for some protection, but not much. “The reflector is a quad SMO unit arranged a bit like a shrunk-down FT02S reflector, with somewhat deep cups. The LEDs are nicely centered, and the reflector is topped with an AR coated tempered glass lens. The beam is mostly flood, with tons of side illumination, and a big focused hotspot surrounded by pee-yellow corona, which I expected since it’s common with these domed XHP LEDs.

For tint, on Turbo at 1 meter from the sensor, the Opple lightmaster Pro has it at 6923K and 73.4 CRI Ra. The duv is -0.0009, so below the BBL and more purple than blue or green.

Dimensions: 

	Millimeters	Inches
Length (26650 tube)	116 mm	4.5 in
Length (26350 tube)	81 mm	3.2 in
Head diameter	41 mm	1.6 in
Body diameter	34 mm	1.3 in

Dimensions are rounded to the nearest millimeter, and to the nearest tenth of an Inch.

Weight: 

	Weight in grams	Weight in oz
Without battery 26650 tube:	169 g	5 oz
Without battery 26350 tube:	120 g	4 oz
With Mateminco 26650 battery	244 g	9 oz
With Samsung 50G 21700 battery	234 g	8 oz

Weight is rounded to the nearest gram, and to the nearest tenth of an Oz.

Flashlight size comparison with its competition:

Group 1 top to bottom: Astrolux EA01, Mateminco LT40, Astrolux FT02S

Group 2 left to right: Astrolux MF01 Mini, Fireflies E07 2021, Mateminco LT40, WildTrail WT3M

Group 3 left to right: Amutorch XT45 NB90.16, Mateminco LT40, Imalent R30C, Nitecore TM12K, Sofirn SP36 Pro

Group 3 reflectors left to right: Amutorch XT45 NB90.16, Mateminco LT40, Imalent R30C, Nitecore TM12K, Sofirn SP36 Pro

The driver is going to be a direct drive FET driver. There may be a 7135 regulator in there, but maybe not. It’s a bit of a different design than the Astrolux EA01 driver, missing the familiar flashing pads we see on enthusiast-oriented Astrolux products with Anduril. I doubt it’s a redesigned driver though, but the runtimes will tell. This is typical of these types of lights and helps them crank out the thousands and thousands of Lumens companies like to advertise.

The downside is the output isn’t regulated so it decreases as the battery drains unlike boost or buck drivers. The UI is unique, and a bit surprising since the Astrolux and even the Mateminco MT40 came with Anduril. This one comes with a more user-friendly UI that’s a bit like an extremely abbreviated version of Anduril. It’s a delightfully simple smooth ramping UI, but that’s all it does. No stepped ramping. 

Available modes: 

• Smooth ramping with Turbo.

Available blinky modes:

• Strobe
  

From OFF:

• Single click switch: Turns on in last memorized brightness setting
• Double click switch: Turbo
• Triple click switch: Strobe

From ON:

• Press and hold switch: Ramps up. Release and press and hold again to ramp down
• Single click switch: Turns off
• Double click switch: Turbo
• Triple click switch: Strobe

Mode memory:

• It remembers the last used brightness setting. Turbo and Strobe are not memorized

Shortcuts:

• Double click for Turbo
• Triple click for Strobe

Low voltage warning:

• The LED indicator shows battery state during operation, but no voltage association is listed for the color states, so here’s my best guess: Solid green 100% to 40%, solid red LED 40% – 15%, flashing red LED 15% – 1%. The light shuts off shortly after the switch starts blinking red. The battery read 2.8 to 2.84 volts after shut down.

Strobe/blinkies

• Strobe

Lock-out mode: 

• None. Unscrew the tailcap ¼ turn to lock out manually

PWM

• Fast PWM not visible with the naked eye

Additional/summary info on the UI: 

• This is a nice, simple and straightforward UI, a bit like the one on the Fireflies PL09MU I tested, which had a chopped down version of Anduril. While that’s fine for most users, this light is directed towards enthusiasts, and some might find it lacking as it’s missing some really useful features like electronic lockout, stepped ramping, and batt check. No Anduril also means no calibrating the thermal sensor or adjusting the thermal limit either, something we all take for granted with Anduril. There’s no mention of temperature regulation in the instructions, and I’m sure it probably has it, but we’ll see how it gets along.

The LT40, like its MT04 sibling, was designed around a 26650 size battery, so it uses a 26650 size battery by default. The 26650 size battery, while still somewhat relevant in 2023, have really been overshadowed by 21700 size batteries, which are smaller, lighter, and can have much higher current handling. Since the 26650 has mostly gone the way of the Dodo and My Little Pony, Mateminco includes a Delin plastic adapter so it can use 21700s and 18650 size batteries for added versatility.

The adapter is basically a plastic tube with a second removable adapter that fits into the first tube to reduce the inner diameter down to 18 mm. I tried it with a protected 26650 Thrunite cell, and flat top 21700, and long button top 18650, and it handily digested every cell I stuffed in the tube. Button top protected 21700s with integrated charging were a bit too long though and I couldn’t seat the tailcap, not a huge deal since you’re better off with standard cells since higher modes would trip protection circuits.

For the USB type C charging, it’s good for up to 2 amps, and I’m seeing around 1.8 amps on USB A to C, and about the same on C to C, so not super fast charging, but should charge a big 26650 in around 3 hours.

Lumen measurements (for each mode)

Lumens are measured in my 50 cm integrating sphere with a Digi-Sense 20250-00 data logging luxmeter. The sphere has been calibrated with a Convoy S2+ measured to 260 Lumens and the figures are within 10% of actual. I measured current with my Thinside B18B+ multimeter with 14 gauge wires directly in the meter on banana plugs, and my FY219 clamp meter with a 12 gauge wire in a loop. Measurements were taken using a fully charged Samsung 50S battery. I tested the bottom of the ramp, what looked like mid (50%) ramp, top ramp, and Turbo.

Mode	Amps	Specs	Lumens @turn on	Lumens @30 sec	Lumens @10 minutes
Bottom of ramp	8.30 mA	?	1.2	1.2	–
Mid ramp	1.6 A	?	337	332.1	322.2
Top of ramp	18 A	?	6150	2337	1230
Turbo	30.2 A (at start)	12,600	9225	5043	1230

Specs for this light are nonexistent except for Turbo at 12,600. I tested a bit lower than that on the 50S, which is a great high current cell, but I knew there’s more. I tested output and current draw with a few other batteries, including the included 26650, a Samsung 40T, Samsung 30T, Molicel P42A, and the baddest 21700s for high current out there, one of the special Lishen 21700s I borrowed from the Nightwatch NS59V1. I also tested a Molicel P28A 18650. The results (at start) suggest there’s hard limit with the FET at around 32-33 amps:

• Mateminco 5000 mAh 26650: 6888 Lumens, 24.8 A
• Samsung 40T: 9594 Lumens, 32 A
• Samsung 30T: 9594 Lumens 32.5 A
• Lishen 21700 HP: 9830 Lumens, 32.5 A
• Molicel P28A 18650: 7380 Lumens, 26.5 A

No surprise the special Lishen 3000 mAh 21700 gave the best figure, with the 30T not far behind. When you get into the 9000 Lumens space, +/- 800 Lumens isn’t much of a difference, but is a difference nonetheless. There is however, a big difference between the lower current 26650 and the Molicel P28A. I was surprised to see the P28A beat the 26650 here, but the larger cell will give higher performance for longer. 

Parasitic drain:

• 0.12 mA 

Battery Life: Runtime graphs

Lumens are measured in my 50 cm integrating sphere with a Digi-Sense 20250-00 data logging luxmeter. The sphere has been calibrated with a Convoy S2+ measured to 260 Lumens and the figures are within 10% of actual. I used a Samsung 50S battery and tested 50% (or what looked like 50%), top of ramp, and Turbo.

Mode	Specified runtime	Measured runtime ANSI	Time till shut off
Mid ramp	?	7h 12m	7h 12m
Top ramp	?	1h 17m	1h 47m
Turbo	?	46m	1h 42m

Some interesting observations with the runtime tests. First of all, this is definitely a direct driver with full FET controlled by PWM. The light heats up very fast, as expected. From 21 ambient, on Turbo it’s 28 C by 5 seconds, and 45 C by 20 seconds with the output dropping fast by 30 seconds. Top of the ramp was a similar story, with the output dropping from 6000 Lumens to 1100 in 30 seconds, but heating a little slower. Still, the show’s over by 50 seconds in, with the output slowly ramping down, eventually stabilizing by the 100 seconds mark to around 1100 Lumens for Turbo and top of ramp.

I had thought that the thermal regulation would have kept the light around 50 C, but nope. By 5 minutes it was 60 C, and by 25 minutes it was 74 C on Turbo and hit 77 C with top of the ramp! As the battery dumps, it cools off significantly though, and by 60 minutes into the test, the temps were down to 40 C.

LVP worked fine. Instead of running at very low output for ages like Anduril, the output shuts off abruptly, but the light is still usable at lower outputs, which is nice. The cell read 2.8 to 2.84 volts after each test. While the output isn’t regulated, it’s still decently stable and isn’t interrupted by brightness changes as the light throttles the output for thermal regulation. Still, I think I’d prefer that over the unfettered thermal regulation. 

About ANSI FL1 standards: The runtime is measured until the light drops to 10% of its initial output (30 seconds after turning on). This does not mean that the flashlight is not usable anymore. The last column shows how long the light actually works till it shuts off. If there is a + symbol, it means that the test was stopped at that particular point, but the light was actually still running. This happens on certain occasions, with certain drivers, firmware, or batteries.

Peak beam intensity and beam distance measurements

Beam distances are measured using a Uni-T UT383S luxmeter measured indoors at 5 meters using the included fully charged Samsung 50S battery. Measurements taken at 30 seconds.

Mode	Specs	Candela measured	Meters
Bottom ramp	?	N/A	N/A
50% mid ramp	?	5200	144
Top ramp	?	7075	168
Turbo	36,481 cd	18,500 cd	272 m

There’s not much in the way of specifications for the LT40, and Mateminco doesn’t list it on their product page, and Flashlightbrand only lists s single throw figure of 36,481 cd and 382 meters. On the Samsung 50S battery, I got 30,800 cd at startup for 351 meters, so a bit under the advertised, but pretty close. 

About peak beam intensity: Peak beam distance according to ANSI FL1 standards: The calculated value of distance in meters at which the flashlight produces a light intensity of 0.25 lux. (0.25 lux is about the brightness of a full moon shining on an object). The columns ‘Meters’ and ‘Yards’ use rounded numbers.

I compared the Mateminco LT40 to some other multi-LED high output flashlights. Photos taken with my Samsung Note 8. The 40 meter shots with the camera set to 0.3s ISO 200 and 5000K WB. 

Beamshots of the following flashlights compared:

• Astrolux FT02S (4 x XHP50.2)
• Sofirn SP36 Pro (4x SST40 Anduril 2 version)
• Nitecore TM12K
• Imalent R30C (3x SST70)
• Astrolux EC03 (with 3x SST40)
• Fireflies E07 2021
• Astrolux MF01 Mini
• WildTrail WT3M (3x XHP50.2)

Disclaimer: This flashlight was sent to me for review at no cost by Flashlightbrand. I have not been paid to review, nor have I been holding back on problems or defects.