Sofirn SP36 Pro Anduril2

The SP36 is a quad emitter light, and like the previous model, the Anduril2 Pro comes with the Luminus SST40 and that’s fine because I really like the SST40. It has a low forward voltage, good efficiency, and when driven smartly can produce 2000+ Lumens. This is a 5050-footprint 3 volt LED, and is available in 5000K or 6500K CCT. My sample features the 6500K variety. Not my favorite tint, but it should get pretty bright.

The LEDs are perfectly centered in their respective reflector cups in the flawless quad SMO (smooth) reflector array. It’s topped with a decently thick toughened mineral glass lens with AR coating. It’s set a few millimeters behind the non-crenulated bezel for protection from drops. 

The beam is about what I expected, with the typical quad reflector “flower petal” shape, but it’s not at all obtrusive and only noticeable up close on white walls. For this light, Sofirn must have tweaked something in the reflector because the bright ring artifact present in the last SP36 Pro I tested is nowhere to be found in this model. I ran it against the older light on a piece of white paper with both lights the same distance away, and you can easily see the much cleaner beam of the Anduril2 version. The beam still features a defined hotspot and decent throw with generous side illumination. Overall this is an extremely useful beam. The 6500K emitters aren’t high CRI by any means and aren’t my favorite tint, but that’s not what this light is about, right?

The Opple Lightmaster 3 showed the CCT at 6600K and 67 CRI on stepped mode 6. The duv value is 0.0059. Compared to the 5000K version’s 5100K and 68 CRI with a duv value of 0.0009.

• Head diameter: 5.0 cm / 1.96 inches
• Overall length: 12.67 cm / 4.98 inches

Weight: 

• Without batteries: 298.3 grams / 10.52 oz. 
• With three 3000 mAh 18650 cells: 435.5  grams / 15.38 oz.

Aside from being heavier by 1.25 grams, the Anduril2 version is identical in size to the original Pro.

Flashlight comparison

Group 1 left to right: Skyray King, Sofirn SP36 Pro Anduril2, SP36 Pro, Thrunite TN50, can of chili (who doesn’t like chili?)

Group 2 left to right: WildTrail WT3M, Astrolux MF01 Mini, Imalent R30C, FireFlies E07 2021, Sofirn SP36 Pro Anduril2, Astrolux FT02S, Nightwatch NI03 Valkyrie

I suspect the SP36 Pro Anduril2 uses the same FET+7135 driver design, but there’s probably a brand-new driver in this light, evidenced by new traces and flashing pads on the back. This makes sense because Sofirn says they added PD to this version on both the charging and power bank (of course I’ll test that). Since it’s a FET driver, performance is largely dependent on the battery you’re using. High drain batteries will give much higher output, but it will only be noticeable once the FET kicks in in the higher modes (ramping or stepped). 

The main feature of this light is of course the addition of Anduril2 UI. My first exposure to Anduril2 was with the Lumintop FWAA, and to be honest, I am not a huge fan of this UI because it took the already-complex Anduril and made it, well, more complicated. I didn’t think that was possible, but here we are.

Thankfully, Sofirn includes a very thorough manual, and of course, YouTube and Google are your friends.

Anduril 2 User Interface

Here is another Anduril 2 image.

And by default, it uses the Simple UI… and here is the UI diagram:

Anduril2 has two UI’s available: Simple and Advanced. The light came with the Simple UI enabled, and I think it’s kind of a misnomer because it’s still a little complicated for a first-time user. However, those familiar with the original will pick it up pretty quickly. Simple UI is missing some of the familiar features present in the original, namely the special blinky modes, temp check, and thermal configuration (those are present in the Advanced UI), and there’s no “muggle” mode either. You still get access to smooth ramping (stepped is, you guessed it, only available in Advanced UI), lockout, momentary high, battery check, and some useful lock/unlock modes.

The Advanced UI is appropriately named because it’s, well, advanced and there’s a plethora of options and configurations available. There’s probably way more features than the average user would ever dip into, but it’s nice to know you can tweak things like the voltage sensor calibration for batt check, AUX LED settings, and even configure the auto-lock. I found this to be a pretty useful feature that enables the light to automatically turn off after a certain amount of time if the light is accidentally activated.

Modes: Simple and Advanced UI both have many standard and blinky modes available, but the main modes are stepped and smooth ramping, but stepped ramping is only available in Advanced UI, and smooth is enabled in both Simple and Advanced.

Switch to Advanced UI from Simple: 10 clicks, but hold on the 10th click

From OFF:

• Press and hold: Turns on in either smooth or stepped ramp (depending on which mode is enabled)
• Single click: Turn on in last mode (step or ramp state-again depends on which mode)
• Double click: Ramp ceiling/turbo
• Triple click: Battery check (in Simple and Advanced UI)
• Triple click and hold: Special strobe modes-remembers last used (in Advanced UI)
• Quad click: Lockout mode. In lockout mode you have different options available:
  • 1 click: momentary moon (bottom of ramp)
  • 2 clicks: momentary (higher floor)
  • 4 clicks: turns on in ramp mode
  • 4 clicks with a hold: on in ramp mode, lowest/floor
  • 5 clicks with a hold: on in ramp mode, highest/ceiling
  • 10 clicks with a hold: configure the lock timeout threshold (in Advanced UI only). This is a new feature for Anduril2, it allows you to set a timeout to the lock, where the light will lock after a pre-set elapsed time. 

From ON:

• Press and hold: Ramp up (depending on the mode)
• Single click: Turn off
• Double click: Ramp ceiling/turbo
• Double click and hold: Ramp down
• Triple click: Toggle between smooth and stepped ramping (in Advanced UI only)
• Quad click: Lockout mode (see above for the lockout options)

Mode memory:

• Yes, memorizes last on state setting either smooth or stepped ramping, but does not remember blinkies

Low voltage warning:

• Yes, when in operation, the light steps down brightness gradually until turning off when the cell is  around 2.9 volts.

Strobe/blinkies

• Yes, many! The blinkies are accessible from off with 3H (click click click-hold) in ADVANCED UI only. You switch between strobe modes with 2 clicks:
  • Candle mode
  • Bike flasher
  • Party strobe
  • Tactical strobe
  • Lightning storm

Lock-out mode: 

• Yes. In Simple or Advanced UI, lockout is accessed by 4 clicks from on or off. 4 clicks to unlock. The lockout enables momentary operation in the moon mode, however, 2H (click click-hold) enables low mode. There are other lockout modes available (see the diagram). 

Temp check and thermal calibration mode

• In the first version, you could do both the ambient temperature sensor calibration and thermal ceiling at the same time, but in Anduril2, it’s a little different. When in temp check, click 7 times and hold on the 7th to enter the thermal configuration. To configure the ambient temp, wait for the first flash and then set the ambient, but once you’ve done that, you need to go back to the temp check and click 7 times, hold on the 7th, this time, don’t let off the button. Wait for the 2nd blink, and then you can set the thermal ceiling. 

The battery configuration consists of three 18650 size batteries in parallel. The design of the driver is generally conducive to button top cells, and no surprise that Sofirn recommends them. The kit came with some of Sofirn’s button top 3000 mAh 18650s, and these have proven to be pretty decent cells for about 10 amps. I tried some solder-blobbed Sony VTC6  flat top 18650s and they fit fine. Note that protected cells or ones with integrated charging probably won’t work here due to the length, but you wouldn’t need to use protected cells anyway because Anduril2 has LVP built into the firmware. For yucks, I tried a protected button top Acebeam 18650 with USB charging and at 71 mm long, it was too long.

This light, like the original, features USB type C charging, but Sofirn once again flexed their postulative muscles and gave this light USB PD (power delivery) charging and power bank functionality. This is huge because one of my gripes with the prior light was the slow charging. The last light managed 1.8 amps max, but this one does 2.7 to 2.8 amps at 5 volts with mostly charged batteries, so considering losses in the buck charging circuit, let’s call it 5V 3A. Even though all 3 cells have to share that current, it’s theoretically 1 amp per cell, which cuts the charge time from 5+ hours to under 4. Hey, I’ll take it, and it saves you from buying a charger. I tested the power bank and it managed 5 volts and about 1.88 amps, which is awesome, and with about 8.5 Ah of available juice onboard, you should be able to charge a cell phone a couple times, and yes, I couldn’t resist and charged the old SP36 Pro with the SP36 Pro. I also charged my Galaxy Tab, phone, and some flashlights with no issues. USB C to C and A to C cables both work fine.

Lumen measurements

Although this light is sporting a new driver, it’s still the same design, so I doubt that will translate into any meaningful performance gains, but here we go. Lumens were measured using my home made 30 cm integrating sphere that’s been calibrated with several lights of known output including a Makkua-calibrated Convoy S2+. I use a Digi-Sense 20250-00 datalogging luxmeter.

I used the included fully-charged 3000 mAh Sofirn batteries for the tests. It’s no secret that measuring amps on this type of light is tough (and sparky). I ended up gluing a single battery into position against the driver’s positive contact with hot glue to hold it steady and used a loop of 12 gauge wire between the battery negative and ground contact ring on the back of the driver. I used my clamp meter and measured Simple mode’s default 5 stepped modes. 

Like other lights running Anduril, there aren’t any Lumen specs for the SP36 Pro Anduril2, other than a maximum brightness of 8,000 Lumens. No surprise that my numbers are way off. The last SP36 Pro I tested didn’t meet the factory specs either, even with Sony VTC6s on board. This light? Even on fully charged VTC6s I got 6142 Lumens at turn-on. Chalk it up to variations in batteries, FET quality, etc.

Parasitic drain:

• 2.1  µA

Runtime graph

I tested the light in my 30 cm integrating sphere calibrated using several lights including a Makkua S2+ with the Digi-Sense 20250-00 datalogging luxmeter with the included fully-charged 3000 mAh batteries. I tested stepped modes L3 to L5/Turbo in Simple mode. I set the thermal ceiling to 70 C (max) and calibrated the thermal sensor to an ambient of 23 C. 

L5 (or Turbo) started at a hair under 5400 Lumens, way down from the factor spec 8000. The output was pretty stable for the first 60 seconds, with good sustained output, managing 5000 Lumens or better until the 55 second mark. From there, it held 4000+ Lumens for over 3 minutes, with gradual step downs as the UI throttled the output when the 70 C thermal ceiling was reached at around the 2 minute 50 second mark. From about 3 minutes 30 seconds on, we see typical FET driver behavior, with the output decreasing as the cells drain, but it still managed better than 1000 Lumens for over 10 minutes. However, it’s too hot to handle after 5 minutes, with the body reaching 61 C. For the next 2 hours, the output stays around 830 to 990 Lumens, until the 2 hour 28 minute mark when in typical Anduril fashion, LVP drops the output way down. I ended the test at 2 hours, 29 minutes.

L4 was a facsimile of L5, not surprising since it’s running off the FET as well starting at 2400 Lumens, and holding better than 2000 Lumens for over 9 minutes, and better than 1000 Lumens for over 13 minutes. For the next 2 hours, the output throttled with temperature changes between 774 and 913 Lumens, until 2 hours 39 minutes when LVP pulls the output down to near zero and I ended the test. L4 ran about 11 minutes longer than L5. Heat was of course more manageable, but only until about 4 minutes in when the heat hits 60 C, and by 5 minutes it cannot be held with bare hands at 68 C. 

L3 was still getting into the FET, but not nearly as much as L4 and 5. This mode ran about 1.5 amps, so the runtime was pretty long and stable mainly due to the fact it didn’t heat up! L3 started at 506 Lumens and held that for about 2 minutes, with imperceptible drops in output over the next 6 and a half hours. It’s wasn’t until 6 hours 40 minutes that the output drop was noticeable at 250 Lumens, and from there it still held better than 200 Lumens for the next hour and 15 minutes. By 8 hours 33 minutes, the output steps to 166 Lumens, then at 9 hours 20 minutes, it’s down to 16 Lumens. I ended the test when the output dropped off the luxmeter at 9 hours 37 minutes. Heat was never an issue, evidenced by a 10 C increase over ambient temperature, peaking 25 minutes into the test. 

Overall, performance is pretty much identical to the outgoing Pro, and that’s fine with me. No surprise since the driver is essentially unchanged aside from Anduril2 and tweaks to the charging circuit. No complaints with the thermal management here. Anduril does its job seamlessly, and the LVP works perfectly as well, with the test always ending with the batteries around 2.9 volts. The light was always usable after each test, albeit with considerably reduced output. I test lights with Anduril at the highest thermal ceiling to eliminate throttling as a variable, so your mileage for sustainability will vary based on the thermal ceiling setting. 

Throw numbers: 

I measured the throw with the Uni-T UT383S luxmeter indoors at 5 meters. I used the included fully charged batteries and tested the 5 stepped modes in Simple UI.

Sofirn doesn’t list any candela specs for this light other than “450 meters range” on the product page. I got a bit more than that, and I believe it since it’s properly bright and throws pretty good! I have no doubt this would be a pretty stout thrower with some SFT40s in there (hint, hint Sofirn).

I compared the TSP36 Pro Anduril2 with some very high power lights, including the original SP36 Pro (which had the 5000K emitters). I measured these lights for output, so the Lumens figures are mine: Modded Skyray King with 4x 5000K SST40s (5000 Lumens), Astrolux FT02S 4x XHP50.2 (12,000+ Lumens), Astrolux MF01 Mini 7x SST20 (7200 Lumens), Astrolux EC03 3x SST40 (5200 Lumens), Imalent R30C 3xSST70 (8000 Lumens), Thrunite TN50 4x XHP70.2 (18,000+ Lumens), Wurkkos DL70 4xXHP50.2 (11,000 Lumens). 

Outdoor pictures: The fence is about 40 meters away.