SP60 Beast II

Sofirn SP60 Beast II rechargeable LED flashlight, 6,800 lumens, 915 ANSI metres. The new benchmark of beams! Customer reviews

When it comes to torch beams your choices are normally long-and-narrow or short-and-fat. However Sofirn's new SP60 is definitely not "normal", pushing the limits of what's possible with the latest technologies to deliver a big fat beam as far as the eye can see.

Sofirn's flagship offering delivers a beautifully proportioned 6,800-lumen neutral white beam over an astonishing 915 ANSI metres which, in the real world, means you should be able to see shapes and movement at a distance of three rugby fields, end-to-end. 

When you're looking at top flashlight brands it's not unusual to see this number of lumens or that kind of beam distance, but it's VERY rare – and five-figure expensive – to find them in one torch!

Just like its predecessor, the SP70, the Beast II is not a... small... torch – it's 259mm long, 70mm across the head and 550g fully loaded – and it's nicely weighted if you need to use it as a weapon of last resort.

But the biggest change is up front, underneath that toughened mineral-glass lens, where you'll find Cree Inc's latest XHP70.3 HI emitter. Together with some clever design by the engineers at Sofirn, this LED allows the Beast II to deliver a 20% increase in brightness and a 25% boost in distance!

And it just gets better.

The new Beast now takes two of the widely available and affordable 21700-sized lithium ion (Li-Ion) batteries, so you won't be blackmailed into buying an overpriced power pack a few years from now. This also makes it easier to buy a spare set of batteries to carry in your pocket.

A pair of 5,000mAh 21700 Li-Ions provide enough juice to power the Beast for an hour and a half on "turbo" (three rugby fields, in bursts of a minute or two at a time), a couple of hours on "high" (two rugby fields, continuously) or three-and-a-half hours on "medium" (well over a rugby field of real-world throw).

And you can now charge these Li-Ions inside your torch wherever you are, including in a vehicle, using the supplied USB-C charging cable. The Beast supports the standard 5V/2A USB output supplied by countless power-strips, adapters, inverters and solar chargers, as well as 5V/3A, 9V/2A and 12V/1.5A for rapid charging with the "smart" chargers that now come with laptops and other high-end devices.

When it comes to operating the Beast, the single-button user interface couldn't be simpler – click to turn on at the last-used brightness level, hold down the button to adjust brightness, double-click for turbo, click to turn off. That's it!

Of course there are many more features – like a defensive strobe, SOS signal and beacon, as well as a choice between "stepped" and "ramping" modes – but they don't force themselves on you, and I provide my own operating guidelines to help you use them... if you want to.

An important innovation is that the SP60 now comes with an automatic 1-minute-lockout feature to guard against accidental activation – which would not be a joke with a torch this powerful. A double click unlocks the torch and turns it on at the last-used level.

As you would expect from Sofirn, the Beast is built to last. It's IP68 waterproof to survive the heaviest storm or an accidental dunking, and it's impact resistant. You also get a battery-status indicator, reverse-polarity protection, low-voltage protection, advanced temperature regulation and more. It can even tail-stand on a flat surface so you can bounce the beam off the ceiling to light up your lounge during loadshedding!

This torch is a workhorse. You'll use it for every kind of security or recreational activity, from a farm-watch or anti-poaching patrol to game drives or 4x4 expeditions. It's a brilliant answer to Eishkom as well as to that annoying guy who claims he has the brightest-beam-at-the-braai. 

I honestly believe you won't find a better beam for search-and-rescue and security operations anywhere. If you're looking for a game-watching and hunting torch, check out my T217 Hunter Mk4, which is the same price and has the ideal beam profile for the bush, with a narrower but more intense hotspot and a paler spill-beam (there's a photo of the two beam profiles above – the Beast is on the left).

In the highly unlikely event someone at the braai has a bigger beam than the Beast or a longer beam than the Hunter, ask them how much they paid for it? When you tell them you paid less than four and a half grand for yours, complete and delivered (if you pay by EFT into our account to avoid the commission we're charged if you check out from here) the drinks will be on them!

Just drop me a line (mark@torchguy.com) to make it happen.