Pros: Super bright and compact. Massive versatility in light output and functions. Extremely lightweight and portable for a light this powerful. Great battery life. USB C in body charging for the included 21700 Lithium Ion battery.
Cons: Heats up quickly at highest output level (built in thermoregulation safety feature kicks in). “Anduril” user interface a bit complicated if you want to access more advanced modes/features.
The Sofirn IF25a is an almost ridiculously bright torch for its size, pumping out an astonishing 3,800 lumens in turbo mode. It’s also versatile, allowing you to dynamically ramp light output from the 1 lumen moonlight mode, right up to full brightness.
The IF25a offers a wide range of functions too through it’s single side-button Anduril user interface. While the basics are simple, Anduril does take a bit of getting used to — and not everyone wants that level of complexity in a torch.
That said, if you’re looking for maximum light output in a small, pocketable rechargeable torch at a reasonable price, you’d be hard-pressed to beat the Sofirn IF25A.
Check out the IF25A on Sofirn’s website
Pick up a Sofirn IF25A on Amazon.
First Impressions
The first thing that strikes you when you take the Sofirn IF25A out of the box is just how small this thing is. For a light that pumps out 3,800 lumens, it’s unfeasibly compact. It fits nicely in the hand, and despite being a bit chunkier than the 18650 torch I normally carry, still slips easily into a fleece or jacket pocket, or even jeans pocket, without any issue.
Build Quality and Handling
Like the SP40 headlamp from Sofirn I reviewed recently, the IF25 A is a well-built flashlight. It’s constructed from aircraft-grade aluminium that’s both lightweight and strong. The quality of the machining on the body seems very good. There are a few unchamfered edges, that feel a little “sharp” when you run your thumb over them (most notably the cooling fins on the head). While that is never an issue in use, it makes the finish feel a little less polished than some other lights.
In the hand the IF25A is very comfortable. It’s extremely compact (just over 100mm long) and weighs in at only 99g without the battery. While it’s significantly shorter than my usual 18650 flashlight, it is a little broader to accommodate the four high-power LED emitters in the head and the larger high-capacity 21700 cell in the body.
Despite the increased girth, I never found the IF25A overly bulky, and could slip it into a pocket and forget about it. In fact, the shorter length made it a more comfortable pocket carry than my 18650 alternatives. One thing many lights include, but the IF25A lacks, is a belt/pocket clip. However, while these are handy in some situations, it wasn’t something I missed whilst using the IF25A.
The IF25A has O-ring seals on all the openings, and a well-fitting rubber grommet covering the USB C charging port, but it doesn’t seem to have a specified IPX rating. So while it should be fine in all kinds of weather, I’d probably stop short of immersing it (I’ll ask Sofirn for clarification and will update the review if I get any more info).
Update: Sofirn has confirmed that the IF25A has an IPX8 rating and can be submerged at up to 2m for up to half-an-hour.
Performance and User Interface
The performance of the IF25A is just insane.
3,800 Lumens of light from a torch just over 100mm long that sits in the palm of your hand is frankly incredible. The downside of all that light from such a small body is that on full turbo mode the IF25A heats up quickly, to the point where it can become uncomfortably hot.
Turbo mode is designed for short bursts of light when you need it, not for extended use… and at mid- to high-brightness levels, where you’d use the light for most tasks, overheating never became an issue. If you do use turbo for longer bursts, the IF25A has built in thermoregulation that will gradually and seamlessly reduce the brightness level to keep the temperature withing safe limits (thermal limits are user configurable through the Anduril user interface… but the default values worked fine for me)
The beam from the four Luminus SST-20 LED emitters is clean and wide, providing more flood than throw, although it does still throw light an impressive (300+m by my estimate). It’s a fantastic torch when you want a lot (or a little) light over a wide area, so perfect for camping, hiking and general outdoor use. If you’re looking for a narrow-focus spotlight, this probably isn’t the light for you, but for general use across a wide range of applications the beam pattern of the IF25A is ideal.
Basic use is straightforward: the IF25A has a single switch on the side that controls all of its functions. Click once to turn the light on, click again to turn it off. Once the light is on, clicking and holding the switch ramps up the brightness, clicking and holding it again ramps it down. The IF25A remembers the last brightness level when you switch it off, and will switch back on at that level when you next use it. Double clicking the switch when the light is on takes you to the maximum 3,800 lumen turbo mode.
The IF25A offers a host of other lighting modes — some useful, some perhaps a little gimmicky. They include a handy lockout mode that prevents the light activating accidentally in a bag or pocket, a restricted “muggle” mode that limits the brightness and functionality (handy if lending the light to someone, or letting children use it) and a variety of flashing and strobe effects. All of these more advanced functions are accessed using an open-source flashlight user interface called Anduril.
At first glance Anduril seems unrealistically complicated for what is, when all said and done, just a torch. However, once you familiarise yourself with it Anduril gives you tonnes of versatility to set up your light the way you want it.
It allows you to configure upper and lower limits for the continuous ramping mode, different upper and lower limits and the number of steps for stepped ramping mode, flashing intervals for the Beacon mode and even allows you to configure temperature limits for the built in thermoregulation.
Battery life seems excellent in normal use. I’d use the torch for a week at a time at various brightness levels in a variety of situations without thinking about recharging it, then I’d just top it up via the convenient USB C charging port.
I was never in a position during the review period where the 21700 battery showed any sign of running out of juice, although in a pinch you can use the included plastic adapter sleeve to make use of more common 18650 rechargeable cells. They work well, although depending on the cell you use you may not see the same level of performance as you would with the 21700.
Conclusion
I’ve been genuinely impressed by both the performance and versatility of this little light. It’s compact, portable, does everything you could possibly ask of a torch and more, and should you ever feel the need to light up a football pitch, well, with the IF25A that’s only a double-click away.
