Spark SL6-800CW Review

I purchased the Spark SL6-800CW (Cool White) through a thread from CPFMP from SB Flashlights.

SB Flashlights offered a special. Receive a free battery. My light came with a Protected Solarforce 3.7V 2400mAh Li-ion Rechargeable Battery. Also a Frosted Lens was included.





The SL6-800CW uses a XML-T6 2B cool white.

A Neutral White (NW) is another option.

SL6 is driven by 3.0A.

Drops off to a lower level after 5 minutes from Super to Max.

Can use 1 18650 Li-on battery or 2 CR123 with reverse polarity protection, range from 2.7V~7.6V.

From the CPFMP thread.

Outputs and Runtime
SL6-800CW
Super:800lm/0.7 hours
Max: 500lm/1.4 hours
Med2: 220lm/3.5 hours
Med1: 70lm/10 hours
Low: 20lm/36 hours


Slight Orange Peel (OP) Reflector.







Rear view of the "Head".



There is a side switch and tail switch. Both switches are electronic. To change levels and hold the button down. Double click to get into Super mode. The SL6 will memorize it's last setting when shut off.

If you want to change levels from any level. The SL6 drops to low, Med 1, Med 2, then Max.



Inside view of the rear clickie.











A well made holster is included.








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I took lux readings with the supplied Solarforce 3.7V 2400mAh Li-Ion Battery fully charged with my Meterman LM631 Light Meter.


Spark SL6-800CW, Super - 5550 lux @ 1 meter

Spark SL6-800CW, *Max - 3400 lux @ 1 meter

Spark SL6-800CW, Med 2 - 550 lux @ 1 meter

Spark SL6-800CW, Med 1 - 510 lux @ 1 meter

Spark SL6-800CW, Low - 160 lux @ 1 meter


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Spark SL6-800CW @ 96"



Spark SL6-800CW, Med 1 @ 32'



Spark SL6-800CW, Med 2 @ 32'



Spark SL6-800CW, Max @ 32'



Spark SL6-800CW, Super @ 32'




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The Spark SL6-800CW is a nice made light. The Type III Hard Anodize is excellent. The threads are smooth.

Comes with a very nice holster. Thick material is used. Should take some abuse. It's a tail down holster.

A Frosted Lens is included but I haven't used it yet.

There was some issues with the batteries not fitting or cutting out early. I had no problems. I tried AW's Black 3.7V 2200mAh *Li-Ion Battery and the supplied Solarforce 3.7V 2400mAh Li-Ion Battery. Both batteries cut off to lower level from Super to Max in the prescribed 5 minutes. It's a heat protection that's why it goes to the lower level. Both batteries fit with no issues.

I wish Spark would have used Max, High, Medium, Low, Super Low instead of Super, Max, Med 2, Med 1, Low. Gets confusing to me at times explaining the Users Interface (UI) in reviews. If you want to change levels from any level. The SL6 drops to low, Med 1, Med 2, then Max. I wish it would go to to the next higher level but it doesn't. Only it low it goes to the higher level.

In low it could be a little lower. Seems a little too bright to read something in the dark.

The XML-T6 2B cool white has the typical characteristics to my lights beam profile, white hot spot then around the hot spot a very slight green color tint.

A nice small light with the "Wall of Light" beam. *It's a flood beam so don't expect the Spark SL6-800CW to have some "throw" it's beam.

That reminds me of a ZebraLight kind of (electronic switches, side clickie). I like the looks of that a lot more though.

Nice review as always Read a decent amount of yours on CPF.

That's a cool looking flashlight.

I'm not really up on flashlights though, so I'm curious, why is this one so expensive ($100+) with just an XML emitter when you can get SST-50 and SST-90s for less than that?

Is it like the "Apple-tax", paying for the looks? Or does this come with a bunch of accessories, etc? Or, heaven forbid, is it the Wicked Lasers brand-awareness / marketing effect ?

Definitely overpriced. Just looked it up, 110 dollars retail...why? lol

A lot of flashlights are like that though (thrunite, solarforce, nitecore, SureFire, etc.)

Lotus_Darkrose said:

Definitely overpriced. Just looked it up, 110 dollars retail...why? lol

A lot of flashlights are like that though (thrunite, solarforce, nitecore, SureFire, etc.)

Click to expand...

I guess it's you got to pay if you want to play! lol!

Lotus_Darkrose said:

Definitely overpriced. Just looked it up, 110 dollars retail...why? lol

A lot of flashlights are like that though (thrunite, solarforce, nitecore, SureFire, etc.)

Click to expand...

I really don't get it. It's not a quality thing. I've still got the WF501B that I bought (5? 6?) years ago for $25 on eBay. It's an R2, which was top of the line at the time. It has been through a half dozen camping trips, and tagged along to 4 or 5 strange cities. It climbed a volcano with me. I used it as a bike headlight through a thunderstorm on a 300 km bike ride from Nova Scotia to PEI. I've dropped it a few dozen times onto rocks and concrete. It's been submerged in water and left in freezing Canadian car trunks for months on end.

In other words, I don't get the $100 price tag on this.... can someone school me? I'm admittedly a flashlight amateur.

erns said:

I guess it's you got to pay if you want to play! lol!

Click to expand...

That's an empty response. I don't think laser enthusiasts have any sort of general aversion to paying for things... I believe the question here was why would someone pay $100 for a light that has similar specs (or worse) in comparison with a $40 alternative.

In fact, my question really was a question, and not a challenge. I legitimately don't understand flashlights, and would be lost if you asked me to have a conversation over at CPF. There may be good reasons to spend $100 on a light with lesser specs than a $40 alternative - I just don't know enough to know what those reasons are That's why I'm curious - is this just the "Arctic of flashlights", or is there some other benefit?

That, and I find it hard to imagine that you could have put my $25 eBay R2 through much more abuse than I have in the past 5 years. It's still kicking

Lotus_Darkrose said:

Definitely overpriced. Just looked it up, 110 dollars retail...why? lol

A lot of flashlights are like that though (thrunite, solarforce, nitecore, SureFire, etc.)

Click to expand...

I paid $99.01 with a discount.

SpiderFire SSC P7 SSC P7-C 2-Mode 900-Lumen LED Flashlight with Strap (1*18650)
UltraFire WF-501B 3W UV 395~400nm LED Flashlight with Clip (1*18650/2*CR123A)
UltraFire A1 Cree Q5-WC 5-Mode 230-Lumen LED Flashlight - Grey (1*CR123A)
X2000 Flood-to-Throw Zooming Glass Optics Cree P4-WC LED Flashlight (1*18650)

All cheap flashlights, all still work, all at least a year old, All have been camping. X2000 has been dropped on concrete once. The p7 was the most expensive at 33 bucks.

My 2 "name brand" lights are:
Quark MiNi AA, R5 Edition
LumaPower IncenDio V3+ LED Flashlight w. Cree R5 350 lumens - 1 x CR123A

I've come to the conclusion that while there are some really good lights out there, I will never spend 100 dollars on a flashlight. Can't justify it personally. And yes that is just an opinion

BTW erns:
+1 rep for a great review. I'm not criticizing your post - that was a very well done and nicely laid out thread. I don't understand the flashlight's price, but you did a great job reviewing it. Cheers.

@rhd -

I haven't been very involved with flashlights, but I do have a few lying around, and went through some of the standard stuff that Lotus mentioned.

The biggest premium you end up paying is for quality control, and stricter manufacturing standards. The fact is you can get this drop in, and put it into a $10 host, and will have similar results for less than half the price.

The big difference is in the quality of the switches, the orings, and in the threads. Also in the lens that protects the emitter, and the reflector.

I'm actually looking for a decent light in the same size as a surefire 6p... that was my all time favorite light until I lost it. Unbelievable how much torture it sustained... it was run over on a camping trip once, dropped more times than I can count. Used in all kinds of weather, was dropped in puddles, actually fell 4 stories onto asphalt(idiot friend couldn't catch it for some reason), and despite looking like crap worked perfectly.

Yes, +1 as well. Maybe if I was loaded I'd buy more expensive stuff

rhd said:

That's an empty response. I don't think laser enthusiasts have any sort of general aversion to paying for things... I believe the question here was why would someone pay $100 for a light that has similar specs (or worse) in comparison with a $40 alternative.

In fact, my question really was a question, and not a challenge. I legitimately don't understand flashlights, and would be lost if you asked me to have a conversation over at CPF. There may be good reasons to spend $100 on a light with lesser specs than a $40 alternative - I just don't know enough to know what those reasons are That's why I'm curious - is this just the "Arctic of flashlights", or is there some other benefit?

That, and I find it hard to imagine that you could have put my $25 eBay R2 through much more abuse than I have in the past 5 years. It's still kicking

Click to expand...

My empty response is a joke.

I think you're paying for the build quality and the electronics, just because it's harder to come by drivers that do that. Sure, if you know how to program PICs you can make one that does all that, but some people'd rather just buy one pre-made.

Plus, XML T6, second highest output bin last I checked. Lux levels will be about the same as xpg and xr-e, but lux doesn't say anything about lumens out the front without more information.

I need to get a new flashlight that doesn't use drop-ins. Drop-ins don't provide adequate heatsinking, unlike solid machined heads. Copper foil helps a lot, but hard to find w/o adhesive, and not as good as direct mount or even star mounted directly.

I had an x1000 too, only the edge of the star is in contact with the head. Good lens, though, for a plastic. My first flashlight, wish I still had it.

Keep in mind, erns is a flashaholic who dabbles in lasers, unlike most people here who like lasers and dabble in flashlights.

good review, erns.

Its probobly like laserpointers.
You can buy a 5mw green on ebay for under 10$, and you can buy an almost identical performing 5mw green from cni for 5x the price.
They both work, they both are build nice, but still people would buy the more expensive one to.
The reason for that... I dont know...perhaps the host...perhaps just to have something different then the others...

And with the cheap flashlights you usually dont get all the lumens stated, and you do get that with the more expensive ones....based on what i have seen so far....

Btw nice review and awesome light Erns!

I used a full charged Solarforce 3.7V 2400mAh Li-Ion Battery.

Spark SL6-800CW, Super @ 138'



Spark SL6-800CW, Super @ 158'