I was kinda raised like Leave it to Beaver. I had a Mom, a Dad, and a sister. We were middle class, and lived in a nice neighborhood that abutted a state-run fish hatchery and natural area. I had almost no experience with drugs or drug addicts growing up. The closest I got was a friend whose parents were divorced and whose Dad was probably an alcoholic, though I only recognize that now looking back. In 2004, when I became a public defender that changed. To this day I still remember meeting my first client that was in the throes of meth. She was desperate, I met her in the tank at a jail, and it was brutally sad, almost like watching someone be tortured, except we also had to talk about bail. Over the years, I got more than my fair share of experience helping drug addicts. Over time the drugs change. There was real variety. Even the terms for drug addiction changed. First, it was drug addiction, then substance abuse, then substance use disorder.

Then came fentanyl. It is not a Schedule I drug, which makes it comparatively widely available (non-Schedule I drugs can be prescribed). It is chemically simpler than heroin and vastly more powerful. And, unlike with weed or coke, it is simple to make and easy to consume.

22 years later, fentanyl has crushed them all, except for weed. I haven’t had a drug case with something other than fentanyl in years. While weed is non-criminal in the state where I practice, and thus a little different, fentanyl is so powerful, so easy, and so cheap nothing else can compete. Drugs, like all things, exist in a market and when the best thing is also the cheapest thing, market forces are incredibly powerful. Fentanyl has wiped the floor with other drugs and with our society as a whole. Folks that were on the “drug ladder” going from weed to coke to heroin don’t even bother. There is no ladder anymore, just one step—non-user to ravaged addict. Because of fentanyl. If you want to know why we cannot criminalize our way out of the drug epidemic or why fentanyl dominates all other drugs, its because of market forces. Nothing except natural disasters can stop the power of market forces.

So what happens if the cheapest light is also one of the best (sorry to compare this light to fentanyl, but nothing explains market forces quite as powerfully as using fentanyl as an example)? Yikes. This is going to be a crazy review. Buckle up, dear reader, this is the story of the Convoy S2+. Its what would happen if the Ozark Grail was actually as good as an enthusiast knife, but still cost $10.

Here is the product page. The Convoy S2+ costs $18.95, as configured with the 18350 body tube, battery, and pocket clip it came to something like $25 shipped. Here is a written review. Here is a video review.

Finally, here is my review sample:

TDLR: When a light this good is also among the cheapest, it wrecks the market.

Design: 1

Dead simple and unassuming design—a tube with an emitter at one end and a switch at the other. It can be a long tube for an 18650 or a shorter one for an 18350. There are no light escapes (this is a sub-$20 light) nor is there a “tapered waist” for better grip (again, under 20 bucks). Its basic but functional. Even in the 18350 tube it is not particularly space efficient. Here it next to the excellent Zebralight SC65:

And here it is using the same cell, an 18650:

If there is a perfectly average design for a flashlight this is it. It is neither good nor bad. It is not particularly attractive or great in the hand, but it is also not an obstacle to daily use. A comparison to the SC65 is a bit telling—this is a big light in the stock configuration, hence me paying a bit more for the 18350 body tube.

Fit and Finish: 2

I’ll mention a small issue I have with the clip below because it is really isolated to that one component. The rest of the light—the threads, the emitter, the click, and the body tube’s machined elements—are excellent. This is the time in which we live—stuff made in China, regardless of cost is essentially perfect in terms of machining.

Grip: 2

As a corollary to the straightforward body tube design, the grip here is good but not spectacular. I’d love a little more shape in the body tube, but that adds steps in machining which, in turn, adds cost. And increased cost is not the name of the game for the S2+. Hey, there are little thumb scoops on the tailcap to allow access to the switch.

Carry: 0

Even in the 18350 configuration, the S2+ is a bit portly. There was no ingenuity applied to shrinking the size of the light. Add to that a sloppy and loose pocket clip and you have the only place where the S2+ is pretty not great. But even here, its not like it is atrocious. I would give it a .5 in a more refined scale.

Output: 1

The lumens count is fine and the tint is nice, but this is a light with serious flicker and I don’t mean PWM. For whatever reason, every once in a while, like one in a hundred start ups, the Convoy S2+ just starts to glitch like the lady in a red dress in the Matrix. It will flicker and pulse and then a quick cycle through on and off and it is fine again. I have never had to outright fail and most of the time it is on and running without problem. It kind of a reminds me a hard start from a fountain pen, like it wants to go but just can’t quite make the physics work. The same thing is true here and while it is an annoyance and probably a concession to the price, it is not, in the end, a real problem.

Runtime: 2

With a ton of different emitter options and two different battery options, this is kind of hard to measure, but as configured, it does very, very well on low. The high is good, holding bright for a while, once, of course, the light cuts off after the 90 second turbo.

If the ANSI standard is going to continue, I would strongly suggest that it require light manufacturers to display the non-turbo high next to the turbo output, as the turbo number is essentially meaningless. I doubt that will happen as ANSI is an industry standard and not a government regulation. It is unlikely they will change it to better inform consumers if such a change comes at the cost of profit. This is a small example of why the libertarian philosophy of governance doesn’t really work and is to the Right today what communism was to the Left in the 60s—an impractical political idea that has captured thought leaders despite its obvious shortcomings.

Beam Type: 2

This is an actually a great general purpose beam type with enough punch, especially in the 18650 configuration, to do everything you need. It has a tight hotspot with good spill and if you were doing a sequential taste test you might not be able to tell the difference between this light and a Surefire.

Beam Quality: 2

While the body tube is simple the reflector is actually pretty darn good. I am shocked that a light this cheap has an reflector this nice. For all of the places where the price shows, this is not one of them and, of course, if I were to pick where to spend design and production pennies, this would be it. Like with the Ozark Grail, where the steel and blade were the place where pennies were spent, this makes a huge difference in making the light feel way, way better than its price would indicate.

UI: 2

Basic, simple UI. Clicky with mode memory. No tricks or problems.

Hands Free: 2

It still tailstands. It doesn’t roll away. In the 18350 configuration it can still be operated hands free. Its good.

Other Considerations

Fidget Factor: Low

Not much hear unless you count wiggling the not quite snug pocket clip.

Fett Effect: Low

Ano and a metal switch won’t show wear for a few years.

Value: Peak

So, only the Ozark Grail is in the same league. In terms of value, nothing is better.

Overall Score: 16 of 20

If you just had the S2+ stock it would be great, one of the best values in the entire gear world. But if you have even a smidge of DIY instincts, the S2+ becomes one of the best modding platforms in the entire flashlight world. That kind of feature is exceptionally hard to both measure and capture in the scoring system. But in this case, the S2+ is so universally beloved by the modding community it is worth mentioning and I thought this would be the appropriate place to do it. Consider this a 16 with huge upside. And like in an infomerical, there is more. The sheer range of options available on the S2+, from the switch boot to the body tube color to the emitter, make this light more like a custom than a production light. You can mix and match as much as you want and the end result is a light that is very different from a light someone else might order. That degree of choice is really staggering on a sub-$30 torch and is another thing that is hard to capture in the scoring system.

Simply put, nothing offers this combination of quality, customizability, and modding. The S2+ is a unique light in the market today which is probably why it is still around, still being made, and still beloved by the fickle flashlight community even though it is ::gasp:: many years old. The S2+ is a great EDC option for folks just starting out, a person with lots of torches that needs one to drop in a pack, a glovebox, a toolbox, and forget about, or a gift for someone that needs a torch better than a plastic body tube. The S2+ is an incredible value, but it is also just a really good light. While the Ozark Grail is good for the money, the S2+ is pretty much just good.

Competition

There are dozens of lights from dozens of companies that are two or three times the price that might offer 5% better performance, maybe. That’s tough to work out on a rational level and why I think this light wrecks the market. Pretty much every EDC torch from Olight, Fenix, Thrunight, Klarus, Skilhunt, Imalent, Acebeam, Wuben, Lumintop, or any other brand you want to mention in this price bracket is in this position—they might be better than the S2+ but they aren’t that much better. You are paying for a a bunch of “features” you don’t need with equal build quality, fewer options for customization, and not better performance. If you want something obviously better you are going to have to spend a lot more money. There is not much in this price range that is even close to being as good as the Convoy S2+. The lack of true competition is always a good sign—nothing does what this does.