Sanwu SILVER SERIES 3W Laser Review w/ 3X BE!

After quite a while, Sanwu and I have finally come to ends with the silver series and I have my full order.

----------Story Begin----------

My experience with Sanwu was, well, long. It was long because I had originally ordered this laser first week of January, but when it arrived 2 weeks later(very nice shipping) it was DOA. I had informed Podo of the issue, and he said he would send back a replacement module, I was pleased!

After waiting quite a while for the module (2 weeks of CNY + 1 week of manufacturing time + ~1.5 weeks shipping), it was here. Excited to open my working replacement module, I noticed it didn't weigh quite as much as I thought. Anyway, I had ripped open the package, and saw that he sent me the actual diode module, rather than the whole top laser module. So, I had a bit of work to do.

First step, unscrew dead module. OK, sounds good. There are two notches that I can turn and if I put a screwdriver in one of those notches, I could turn it in a crank type fashion to get it out. Except, I couldn't.

When Podo advertises as waterproof, HE MEANS IT.

I went full force at this module, nothing. I even tried a small drill bit to help me turn it with the torque of the drill, nothing. I had my colleague go at it who's a bit bigger than me, and he couldn't get it either. So now I have this dead module stuck in the laser, and this new module which after testing works flawlessly. I tell myself I am SOL if I can't find a way to get this thing out without damaging the laser housing, (because I could easily just go at it with a sharp dremel attachment) so I message Podo, asked him hey man - how the hell do I get this thing out? Is there something I can't see that's blocking it?

His response?

"It should just unscrew"

...

So eventually we made up a plan to just send everything back to Sanwu. The new module, housing w/dead module. I sent him the lens housing too him too, which was probably not a good idea. Here's why;

Since I ordered w/ a G7 lens, when it got to Podo he was out of stock of G7 lenses. Oh, forgot to mention: He's just going to give me a whole new laser module. Which is why he needed stock for the G7 lens, because I had sent him the old lens housing, even though there wasn't anything wrong with the lens - from what I remember anyway.

So after about a month the G7 lens is back in stock, and sent to me. So, now I have the full laser, and in the end, I'm very happy and satisfied that Podo helped me out!


----------Story End----------

TL;DR The laser I got was DOA, Podo then sent me a working module but I couldn't replace it, so I sent everything back to him and he sent me a brand new working laser.


Now for the review!!

Specifications listed from Sanwu's advertisement:

Diode: NDB7875
Output power: 3W
Host material: Nickel Copper Alloy
Lens: G7/3E
Battery requirements: 2*18350/2*18650
Duty cycle: Unlimited
Driver: Single mode

This information can be found at: https://www.sanwulasers.com/product/silver

I do not have the proper equipment to accurately and exactly test these specifications myself.

Design: 8/10

I love the Silver Series' design. It's extremely simplistic, and for me that's a huge plus. It's thread seams are virtually invisible from the outside and the laser is constructed with a Copper-Brass alloy (IIRC) with excellent machine work. The button is nice and firm, but is pretty strong so you'll need a firm grip on the laser to push the button. The unit comes in three pieces; Diode, extender/battery tube, and tailcap. Pics:





Durability: 7/10

Being comprised of copper, this thing will scratch like no tomorrow if you're not careful. I usually "test" my lasers in a dark environment, so when I put this laser down if the surface was rough it would usually scratch. I only noticed this after the lights shined down on it, the scratches are only visible in a well lit environment. Other than easy scratching, this thing is heavy and could probably resist song drops and bangs, but copper is pretty soft.


Beam Shots and 3X BE 9/10

The beam expander is also as simple as you think. A screw-in device that works with the focusing lens. The laser itself was LPM'd by Podo at 2.9W.

3X BE:



W/o BE:




800mW 520nm VS Silver Series 445nm 3W

I was genuinely surprised at the brightness vs the two. I found the 3W of 445 the same if not brighter than green. I would've never thought, or maybe I'm just getting used to it.


My camera didn't like all the light at once. Kinda came out weird:


I ordered the laser saber attachment and boy am I glad I did! Look at all the light that this thing puts out!




No fog or after effects were used on any of the images posted.

Overall: 8/10​

Thanks Sanwu! :thanks:
-E.P.

Very nice. Gotta love those beam expander sky shots. Looks like the beam just goes on forever.

Love how professional the host looks! Congrats on your laser!

I'm glad to hear this, helps me when time to decide to order from podo. I will eventually after I finally order all the stuff to build my own. I told myself I wasn't gonna buy any more lasers till I build my first one great review and pics.

Nice review!

That host is nice - like a big version of the pocket series. I was impressed with the lack of seams too - the machining is top notch.

I was just going to say I like how it's practically seamless. +REP for something that is actually laser related

Thanks for the detailed review, the beam shot looks amazing! +REP

About the DoA, we think the static killed the diode in the first shipping so we send you a new unit instead.

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone! Podo, you did a great job helping me out with that. I appreciate it! :beer:

I would have repped you but I couldn't lol.

:gj:
Nice pics.

Were you able to measure anything quantitative? beam power, beam divergence, beam diameter, beam wavelength, input current, input voltage window required for current regulation, temperature rise to name a few.

Numbers are concrete and verifiable. Adjectives are generally subjective and therefore nearly meaningless to me in this context.

Cyparagon said:

Were you able to measure anything quantitative? beam power, beam divergence, beam diameter, beam wavelength, input current, input voltage window required for current regulation, temperature rise to name a few.

Numbers are concrete and verifiable. Adjectives are generally subjective and therefore nearly meaningless to me in this context.

Click to expand...

Those specifications are available on Sanwu's website, or you can ask Podo himself. I won't take the time to measure those qualities as they are available from the sources I mentioned.

In a product review, I attempt to describe the product from a consumer level and POV, and tend to stray away from numerical values as that has potential to be viewed as a specification breakdown rather than a review.

If you are interested in these mentioned specifications, you can PM me and I will happily test what I can for you.

ElectricPlasma said:

I won't take the time to measure those qualities as they are available from the sources I mentioned.

Click to expand...

Independent verification of the seller's claims is the whole point of a review. "Taking their word for it" is why so many sellers list bogus specs. You don't want to measure anything? Then it's not a review.

Cyparagon said:

Independent verification of the seller's claims is the whole point of a review.

Click to expand...

Not true at all. A point of a review can also be but is not limited to personal opinion of a product, features of the product, and various other categories.

Cyparagon said:

"Taking their word for it" is why so many sellers list bogus specs.

Click to expand...

I mentioned that the laser was LPM'd by Podo. He sent me a video of the laser being LPM'd. If this does not look like 445nm to you, then I don't know what to tell you, as I don't have a spectrometer.

Sanwu has a remarkable reputation, hence the reason it is gaining popularity. Previous reviews have established that his listed specifications are indeed accurate.

Cyparagon said:

You don't want to measure anything? Then it's not a review.

Click to expand...

Measurements do not define a review, clearly as the feedback from this thread was all positive, excluding your questioning which could be viewed as neutral.

If you would like Cyp, since you seem very interested in the measurements of this product, I can even link you the video that Podo sent me, and again, test what I can. Just ask.

At first I thought you had a 405nm laser judging by the pictures Nice review though :yh:

-Alex

Opinions are not verifiable. Numbers are. you say others have measured things, so you don't have to. By that logic, since others have done reviews, you don't have to.


"Amazing build quality" - what does this even mean? What are your standards for quality? How are you evaluating quality?

"Flawless light output" - what does this even mean? what are your standards for light output?

"BE has perfect optics" - what does this even mean? What are your standards for optics?

"Simplistic" - I guess I understand. Power button, and nothing else. But isn't this the case for virtually all pointers?

"Heavy, feels good in hand" - this is totally subjective. This evaluation would depend on your strength, your size, and your experience with similar objects. Mass in grams for example is not subjective.

"With the thin host, gets warm quickly" - so it's thin and heavy at the same time? What does this even mean? How thin? How warm? How quickly? How do each of these compare with other pointers?

All of these things could be said of a 4-figure "Hercules" model. All of these things could be said of most $5 chinese pointers as well. How descriptive can it be, if it describes almost all pointers there are?