Review: Astro 65SL

[CobraRed]

Review: Astro 65SL 650 Lumen Slimlight

Skin's thread prompted me to do a little review on this light because I haven't seen anything about this one yet.

I picked this light up a few weeks ago for $58 as I was already looking for an additional 40SLMAX which I paid around $60 for.

Below is a comparison between one of my 40SLMAX's and the 65SL since Astro mentioned it was the successor. But I also own lights from Saber, Streamlight and EZ-Red. I find myself using the 65SL most these past few weeks.


Pros:

• The brightness is obviously very high @ 650 lumens. I attached a 40SLMAX comparison in a pitch black room using the same camera shutter speed and aperture to compare. While I use my SLMAX at max nearly all the time, i find myself turning the 65SL up to 80-90% more often, also because it's easier to leave the dial setting there. The light quality seems better as well, although it may be me.

• Speaking of dial adjustment which is sort of Astro's calling card on these lights, the 65SL's is much improved. Its more difficult to accidently bump as it's been moved to the back of the light, the dial's been made smaller and is recessed into the body.

• The charge level indicator that shows charge level in 20% increments during use and charging is awesome. I think I charge the thing more often as I'm more cognizant of it's level which lead me to believe it takes longer to charge or doesn't last as long. But after comparing it does charge faster (USB adapter put out more amps) and if I don't charge it lasts around 1-1.5 days of use which is about how far my SLMAX goes.

• The top light is more of a game changer than I assumed. I much prefer to use my Streamlight for standard flashlight needs in the engine bay when trying to find a leak or a socket I've dropped or whatever, however since I already have my 65SL set up when doing work it's nice to have something in arm's reach to use as a flashlight instead of going back to the toolbox. It's bright enough, but nothing insane.

• It has put up with a lot of solvents and oils recently and came out fine, the lens and body still look great after a clean-up. The tensioned swivel base doesn't seem to get loose with use and grime so far.

• If feels less clumsy than my 40SLAMX even though I was surprised to find it's around 1/4-1/2" longer. It may be because the head is 20% narrower and I'm often fishing this thing in between panels and engine assessors.

• The magnet is about the same stupid high level as the 40SLMAX, not more than even though it appears bigger. The hanging hook while sort of a cool design that ratchets with detents out of the base I don't use much, but is a big improvment over the SLMAX's which i lost a couple months in.

Cons:

• The flap cover over the micro USB port gets in the way in a hurry, I trimmed the rubber part that sticks up and its much better

• Even though it's 3,200mAh which could be near the limitations for an 18650 cell and something more might mean a much bigger handle, I wish it was last even longer. But I guess that comes with higher and higher lumen levels, I could just use it more often at the 400 lumen range and extend it.

• It would be nice if the dial adjuster was EVEN harder to move. Or even use detents for each 20% so that I'm more likely to keep it at 80% power.

• A charging base would be nice so I don't have to untangle a free USB cord, but that may be a differently priced tool.

• The swivel base tension is not adjustable. It still feels nice, but having the adjustment on the 40 has always been a plus even if I rarely change it.

Altogether completely worth the purchase price. Both of my 40's are still ticking over a year in and I rely on a functioning light for the type of work I do - so I need it to be straight forward and functional.

 

[Wamsutta]

Do you ever wish for it to be bendable; like the HF Braun is?

 

[CobraRed]

I suppose it wouldn't hurt, but i don't often find myself needing light all the way 90 degrees from the mounting spot. The swivel base does most of what I need it for.

 

[Tuc04]

I've been using one a lot the last week while I've been parting out a junk car. I'm very happy with how versatile it is. The long thin light area lets me stick it into small areas to make seeing the back side of things possible. I highly recommend!

I even used the flashlight feature when I took the kids trick or treating the other night.

 

[WhataTool]

This guy has a hilarious review of this light

 

[sweet victory]

So close to being perfect! I wish they would've spent the additional $0.01 to have a USB C charger instead of the micro USB. Thanks for the thorough review!

 

[Spacey_G]

Does anyone have any info on the color temperature or color rendering index of the light this puts out? I find that both characteristics have a noticeable effect on a light's usability. The typical cool white LEDs don't render colors well or give great depth perception.

It's the sort of thing where one might ask, "who cares?" until trying something quality and seeing the difference.

 

[FigureItOut]

So close to being perfect! I wish they would've spent the additional $0.01 to have a USB C charger instead of the micro USB. Thanks for the thorough review!

I would guess that the decision to go with micro USB over USB C had nothing to do with the extra expense.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930AZ using Tapatalk

 

[Skin]

USB C is going to take years to become common. Its been out awhile and the only thing that im aware of that uses it are the newer Android phones. Actually makes keeping track of the charger annoying.

 

[Spacey_G]

Micro-USB is more ubiquitous than C. I think they made the right choice there.

The real improvement would have been a removable battery. Kind of a bummer to have to stop working to charge your light. With every other power tool, you just swap the battery and keep going.

 

[Astro_Pneumatic_Tools]

Does anyone have any info on the color temperature or color rendering index of the light this puts out?

6000-6500K

Micro-USB is more ubiquitous than C. I think they made the right choice there.

Correct, the choice in favor of Micro USB is never because it's best. The 5V architecture of USB in general is pretty limiting. The #1 reason to choose Micro USB is how common it is. Next would be how safe it is, if you make a tool users will try to plug whatever fits in it to power/charge it. With USB being all DC 5V, this mitigates damage.

The real improvement would have been a removable battery. Kind of a bummer to have to stop working to charge your light. With every other power tool, you just swap the battery and keep going.

We were the first ones to come out with a work light with removable battery (31SL) and we're glad so many people like it, they just mostly get it from the brand that came out with that design later for cheaper. We continue to design, tool up for and manufacture removable battery inspection lights - just not under Astro at this time. When you take the time to design and make tooling for an all new light concept, it can attract the attention of our private brand relationships who then can negotiate exclusives.

Rest assured we're always working on new stuff.

 

[454ragtop]

I've been using one of these for the past month or so, really like it. I like the thin shape and strong magnet, able to fit it into a lot of tight spots. Battery life is very good, and while I'm not crazy about micro USB, I became more of a fan the other day when I needed to charge it away from the shop and used my phone charger in my truck. Switch feels a lot more substantial than the HF light, didn't have much confidence that one was going to last.

 

[M6erfan]

Great comparo, thanks. I have a 40SL and like it a lot.

 

[danielbuck]

USB C is going to take years to become common. Its been out awhile and the only thing that im aware of that uses it are the newer Android phones. Actually makes keeping track of the charger annoying.

I hope USB C catches on, it's nice not having to think about which direction the plug goes. I've had alot less problems with broken/worn ends on USB C cables and devices too. Though maybe the ones I have are just higher quality than my older style USB cables.

 

[6PTsocket]

I think AP offers "sun lights" that are made or color matching. For general work the eye sees around 5000K as the brightest light and while high CRI leds are available, I doubt that they bothered. For repairs, color rendition is not critical

Does anyone have any info on the color temperature or color rendering index of the light this puts out? I find that both characteristics have a noticeable effect on a light's usability. The typical cool white LEDs don't render colors well or give great depth perception.

It's the sort of thing where one might ask, "who cares?" until trying something quality and seeing the difference.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Wamsutta]

Re: Review: Astro 65SL 650 Lumen Slimlight

• The swivel base tension is not adjustable. It still feels nice, but having the adjustment on the 40 has always been a plus even if I rarely change it.

I'm wondering why they deleted the adjustable tension for the 65SL. It seems like the adjustment would be good for taking up slack from wear.

 

[L.Cheapo]

USB C is going to take years to become common. Its been out awhile and the only thing that im aware of that uses it are the newer Android phones. Actually makes keeping track of the charger annoying.

My MacBook Pro only has USB C as does one of my Snap On lights. Wife and I have been car shopping for her lately, and a surprising number of new vehicles have USB C in them as well.

 

[Spacey_G]

I think AP offers "sun lights" that are made or color matching. For general work the eye sees around 5000K as the brightest light and while high CRI leds are available, I doubt that they bothered. For repairs, color rendition is not critical

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Color rendition is not critical, per se, but color temperature does make a difference. Cool white light in the 6000K+ range, ime, makes subjects look noticeably more flat and less three-dimensional, which is detrimental whether you're working on a car, driving down a dark road, or out for a walk at night.

It's a difficult choice from a marketing perspective, because warm white light has the "old-fashioned" incandescent bulb stigma. I suspect that if Astro were to use warmer LEDs, for every one person who says, "hey, this actually does help me see better!" there would be ten who would complain that the light seems dim, yellow, and not modern.

Of course having lots of light helps regardless of its characteristics, but warmer would, imo, be a technical improvement.

 

[Astro_Pneumatic_Tools]

In general, the lights we come out with use COB arrays that are the latest and greatest, literally up to the month we first manufacture the product. This means small size and high lumen output vs wattage/power consumption and heat generation. This often comes with the downside of labs like OSRAM, Nichia, Cree ect not providing too many options in working with them when it comes to color temperature. Being that LEDs seem more native to the 6000k range you see advancements there first.

In other categories like our 50SL and new 50SLMAX the priority is color temperature and CRI, so we're looking for advancements there instead of other features, and the designs of these lights take into account any downsides like thermal inefficiencies and array thickness.

 

[Spacey_G]

Thanks for the background, Chris. I can understand why COB arrays may be available with fewer temperature and CRI options. And yes, the white phosphor type of LED leans towards the cool end of the spectrum by nature. They're actually blue LEDs coated with a yellow phosphor layer that results in white light. Both color temperature and efficiency vary with the amount of phosphor, so it's natural that white LEDs closer to the original blue source will be the ones on the bleeding edge of light output per power input.

The 50SL looks like a nice light for special applications, and for a more general use light like the 65SL, I don't think color temp and CRI are a big deal. I might pick one up so that I don't need to prop flashlights up anymore.

 

[Skin]

My MacBook Pro only has USB C as does one of my Snap On lights. Wife and I have been car shopping for her lately, and a surprising number of new vehicles have USB C in them as well.

What cars? Did some perusing at the start of the year and everything is usb-a. Putting a female usb-c in the car locks out about 98.999 percent of electronics on the market so I'm curious who the fools are.

 

[L.Cheapo]

What cars? Did some perusing at the start of the year and everything is usb-a. Putting a female usb-c in the car locks out about 98.999 percent of electronics on the market so I'm curious who the fools are.

Something at the GM store, Terrain?, the Pathfinder, and a few others. We went to 6 different marques, they all blend together. Everything that had a USB C also had USB A too.

Pretty sure the 2019 Rams and Silverados have them also.

None of those made her short list, however.

 

[anndel]

I have the 40SL, 45SL and the 65SL and prefer the 65SL due to the addition of the flashlight. The on/off/dimmer dial in the back is a great step above the previous models as I hardly accidentally turn it off while holding it in critical spots.