The built-in thermal control automatically adjusts brightness output to prevent overheating. The "6" in the IP68 rating represents the level of protection against solid objects, specifically dust and foreign particles. It indicates that the Q8 Plus flashlight, is fully protected against the entry of dust and other solid objects. The "8" in the IP68 rating indicates the highest level of protection against water ingress. Measurement disclaimer: Testing flashlights is my hobby. I use hobbyist-level equipment for testing, including some I made myself. Try not to get buried in the details of manufacturer specifications versus measurements recorded here; A certain amount of difference (say, 10 or 15%) is perfectly reasonable. What’s Included Yes, when in operation, the light steps down brightness gradually until turning off when the cell is around 2.9 volts. Q8 Plus uses a basic drive that’s held in by two screws. It’s got an Attiny1616 microcontroller which means you don’t have to calibrate the thermal sensor and that’s a big improvement.

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 emitter of Q8 Plus manufactured by Cree, a US-based LED manufacturing company. Cree is a well-regarded LED manufacturer known for its high-quality products and innovation in the lighting industry. Color temperature is a characteristic of light. It is measured in units called Kelvin (K) and is used to quantify the color appearance of light sources, particularly white light. The Q8 Plus has a smooth reflector. The properly focused smooth reflector gives you a more cohesive hotspot and therefore throws better. I am putting this in a table here with ToyKeeper’s permission. Thanks, TK! This is so much better than me writing it because it’s more reliable, and I completely trust its accuracy (at least, if I can paste accurately). I’m breaking it up a little differently than ToyKeeper did, though I certainly understand why it was done her way originally. 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 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 FluxPerformance: Turbo is very very bright for a few seconds after turn-on and it gets hot very very fast. High mode lasts a respectable 3 minutes at 4000 lumens before stepping down. Medium runtime is a very impressive 14+ hours. For the Turbo Cooled test I raised the thermal limit to 70C (the max allowed in the firmware) and directed a desk fan straight at the light on its highest setting.

I find that these fin edges to have anodizing that’s a bit frail. Just a bit of usage and the anno will probably begin to wear off. Below you can also see the stainless bezel. This bezel has a bit of shape, and that’ll allow light to escape when headstanding. The entire light is built differently, no idea why it’s called a Q8 at all as it’s different in virtually every way. Here’s a UI table! This table is directly from ToyKeeper’s Andúril2 manual, which you can view here: The Q8 Pro has dual springs in the tail for current flow to only four XHP-50.2 emitters. (I put 50.2’s in the original Q8 years ago) One wonders why a single spring set up was used in the Q8 Plus under more powerful cells to supply 6 of those power hungry emitters. Potentially 66A of power demanded by these emitters, from 3 small wires? (The 50.2 can do 11A, so times 6…power flow is allowed or denied by the negative wire, essentially) Yeah, ok, ample room for modders to play. Why do you think some call me Dr. Frankendale? Lol Regulation on the settings I used was about what I expected. The higher modes are not regulated and the lower modes are. You just can’t get great regulation on mega flooders like this, regardless of the type of driver they use. They just pump out too many lumens from too few batteries to be able to well regulated.You may have read into what I wrote above and already considered this, but one cell will also work just fine in the Q8 Plus (as seen above)! You’ll be driving a single cell quite hard doing this, and maybe I’d recommend avoiding Turbo, but the light will certainly work absolutely fine on lower modes this way. (Any number of cells will work fine, too!) Built to Last: The Q8 plus is constructed from Aerospace grade 6061 grade aluminum alloy and drop resistant to 1 meter. With an IPX8 waterproof rating, the Q8 Plus can withstand any harsh weather conditions. I did not do detailed CRI, CCT, or DUV testing because this light is about maximum output, not pretty color properties. The light ships with Andúril2! I love it, I think it’s an improvement over the first iteration(s). There are some things some users might not love about it, but I think overall it’s much more approachable. I will note though that the nomenclature might be a bit confusing – the light (all lights with Andúril2) ships in Simple UI. This is not Muggle Mode. You may think “well duh” and by now you’ve already seen the blistering runtime on turbo of Simple, so you get it. But just be aware, don’t hand this light to the uninitiated thinking they won’t set their hand on fire while using Simple UI. Here is where I’d tell you how to switch to muggle mode. There is no muggle mode. USB C CHARGE AND DISCHARGE: Sofirn Q8 plus features a built-in type C port that both supports charging and discharging. The indicator light change from flashing blue to steady blue when fully charged. When charging your devices, the indicator light change from steady orange to flashing orange when battery low.(USB C to C cable NOT included)