Astrolux S43 Flashlight ( 4 x Nichia 219C, 18650 / 18350 )

The flashlight was sent to me by Banggod.com for review.
Here's the product's link: Astrolux S43 

The S43 comes in a typical Astrolux branded cardboard box.


It's seated inside laser cut foam to protect it during transportation.



The accessories included are the following:
18350 battery tube, pocket clip, hammer (that pointy thing), 2 replacement o-rings and a user manual.



I must admit that Banggood's pictures make the S43 look not that appealing.
Fortunately, I found out that the actual design is way prettier in person!



The body is completely smooth, while a minimal knurling is applied to the tail.



The e-switch is very tactile and (of course) backlit.



The side heatsink grooves are deep.



Following the tradition, the S43 comes with built in charging.
The rubber cap sits firmly onto the port and stays in place ( in contradiction to the S42's design flaw ).
The max current I was able to record was 1.01A



Of course, the quad emitter setup is the main attraction in here.
The optics create a very wide hotspot - this is a close range flashlight.



The S43 comes with two emitter options:
Nichia 219C ~ 5000K (that's what I have gone with)
Cree XP-G3 ~ 6500K



The included pocket clip is actually a deep carry one.
It provides great retention, comes in a glossy black finish and be normal or reverse mounted onto the 18650 tube.



Thanks to the included 18350 tube, the S43 can be turned into a mini burner 



Due to the protruding head, the pocket clip can be only normally mounted on the 18350 tube.



Both the head and tail threads are anodized, so the S43 can be mechanically locked out.



As with its predecessor, the flashlight comes with a threaded tailcap.



The attachable punch can be quite handy in emergency or self defense scenarios, but to be honest I don't see myself using it.



In order to get the extreme current draw, the tail pcb contains double gold plated springs.



The Batt+ contact is utilizing a brass tab to further decrease the system's resistance.



And here's a few size comparison pictures.
From left to right: 16340 cell, Klarus Mi1C, Wuben TO10R, Astrolux S43 with 18350 tube,  Fitorch er16



Same order in vertical.



From left to right:
18650 cell, Skilhunt M200, Convoy S2+, Astrolux S43, Nitecore EC23, Klarus XT2CR



Same order in vertical.




User InterfaceI don't feel the need to go into detail about the UI of the flashlight.
It uses NarsilM, so you probably know what's up:

 - Smooth ramping.
 - Lots of mode groups.
 - Excellent shortcuts.
 - Battery check mode.
 - You can customize the whole UI via the config menu.

Performance
Now that's where things got really interesting for me.
Astrolux advertises the flashlight to be able to achieve 1600 Lumen, but in reality Turbo provides more than double the output.

Here's my measurements using a Samsung 25R cell.


And here's turbo compared to the rest of the crew.


Of course, the 3300 Lumen are measured at startup and aren't sustainable.
The flashlight will get quite hot after 30 seconds and will eventually step down.

I also measured the parasitic drain:
Indicator LED ON: 110uA , Indicator LED OFF: 26uA 
Both readings are impressive - props to the driver's designer!

And some comparison wall beamshots compared to my other multi-emitter lights.

Jaxman E2L ( Triple XP-G2 )


Wuben TO46R ( Triple XP-G3 )


Wuben TO10R (Triple XP-G3) ~ Identical to the TO46R


Astrolux S43 ( Quad 219C)


The E2L seems to have the most compact hotspot (without any visible spill), while the S43 has the widest hotspot + spill combo.

Summary: The S43 is probably the most affordable EDC uber-flashlight.
Its performance is very impressive and its wide optics make it a great daily light.