Reviews |This Godox C30Bi pocket light is brighter than I expected, and super portable

This Godox C30Bi pocket light is brighter than I expected, and super portable

Compact, accurate bi-colour illumination for creators on the go

Godox Litemon C30Bi review
Review

Price when reviewed

£52

$52
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Our Verdict

The Godox Litemons C30Bi is a compact yet incredibly bright and versatile portable lamp that features its own internal battery, so you can pretty much take it anywhere. One of the great features about lights such as this is that they feature both brightness and temperature control, so you can match them with other light sources. Although through my test I noted that the marked colour temperatures on the light weren’t 100% accurate, it was easy enough to match them with different light sources, both from constant lights from Godox as well as other manufacturers.

Along with the light comes a silicone diffuser, which does a fantastic job of softening the LEDs that can often be harsh. My only issue with it is that it’s just a little bit too flexible, so it is easily knocked out of position, but as long as you’re careful about the positioning, then it should hold in place absolutely fine. To be honest, a light of this size is far more useful than the small issue of the fit of that rubber diffuser. The other point about the diffuser is that it sits on either side of the quarter-inch thread on the base, so if you are mounting this on a standard tripod plate, there is a little bit of an issue with manoeuvring the base plate around so that it will fit nicely and snugly. However, if you’re using a grip or a handle, which is probably more likely for a portable lighting solution like this, or mounting it onto a cold shoe mount that sits on top of your camera, then that’s not so much of an issue, but you still have to remove that silicone out of the way.

When it comes to the operation, it’s simple with two controls on the device itself, and these dial controls have markings showing exactly what power the light is at from 0 to 100% and also the colour temperatures going from 2800 K up to 6500 K, giving you a wide variety of lighting solutions you can match with the small light.

When it comes to charging, there’s a single USB-C port that not only enables you to charge the device but also enables pass-through charging, meaning that you can use the light connected to an external power source, which will both power the light and charge it at the same time.

This light, like others of this type, is perfect for lightweight videography, enabling you to throw a little bit of extra light in when you’re vlogging in locations, and to be used as just a general, straightforward, easy-to-use power source.

For

  • Pocket-sized portability
  • Bi-colour adjustable
  • Simple to use

What is the C30Bi?

The C30Bi is a very simple, easy-to-use portable lighting solution that enables you to throw light into your video or even photography projects and offers a decent 30 W of illumination.

One of the great things about the design is that it is handheld, so if you want to just handhold the lamp to direct the light exactly where you want it, then this is a perfect solution. Likewise, if you’re just wanting to illuminate an object in a scene and space is limited, then a lamp like this is perfect for just popping up onto a shelf behind a laptop or sitting on a chair behind your subject, just to add that little extra illumination. It can also be used as a soft fill light, or if you’re vlogging into the camera, it is powerful enough with that 30 W of power to be used as a really decent fill light.

Simplicity is at the heart of this lamp, and unlike others of its type, Godox has managed to keep the price down by essentially just giving you the raw features that you need, so there isn’t any Bluetooth control or complementary app. All adjustments for this lamp are on-body, and you just have the ability to adjust the brightness and the colour temperature, but there’s flexibility there to match almost any lighting conditions.

Godox Litemon C30Bi review

It is a constant light, so has been designed primarily for use for video, but if you do want to use it for still life or portrait photography, then it’s a good option for just adding a little bit of ambience into the scene.

Simplicity is at the heart of what this light is about, being a simple lighting solution that will add effective illumination to your subjects with minimal fuss or complexity.

Specification

  • Battery: : Built-in 7.4 V, 3350 mAh (24.8 Wh)
  • Power consumption:: 30 W max (30 W)
  • Charging: : USB-C input 5 V/9 V/12 V ⎓ 3 A; 2 h full charge
  • Runtime: : 45 min at 100% brightness; 276 min at 50%
  • Colour temperature: : 2800–6500 K CRI ≥ 94; TLCI ≥ 96
  • Controls: : Two knobs (brightness + CCT)
  • Cooling: : aerospace-grade heat dissipation
  • Dimensions: : 13.31 × 7.8 × 2.59 cm (5.24 × 3.07 × 1.02 in)
  • Weight:: 248 g (0.54 lb)
  • Mounting:: 1/4″-20 threaded hole

Build and Handling

The first thing you notice about the Godox Litemons C30Bi is just how small and compact it is. It has essentially been made to be small and durable so you can take it anywhere. It’s made from high-quality impact-resistant plastic that feels good and solid in the hand, although it doesn’t quite have the premium feel of some of the more expensive lights of this type. All the dials on the lamp are also made of plastic but are of good quality, and what I really like is that they’ve got the value markings actually printed on them, so you know exactly where you are, with two red dots highlighting exactly what setting you’ve rotated the dial to. This might seem like a small feature, but it’s something that’s so often missing from this style of light.

The LED lighting array shows the two colours of LED that enable the colour temperature adjustment, with 128 LEDs in total, 64 of each colour, that enable adjustment from 2800 K to 6500 K and allow you to match this lamp with almost any lighting situation from cool to warm.

When it comes to the size, it measures a very respectable 133 × 78 × 26 mm and weighs 248 g, which means it will easily slip into a side pocket of a backpack without much issue, and if you’ve got large pockets, then it will just about slip into one of those without adding too much bulk or weight.

Godox Litemon C30Bi review

One of the things I really like about the build is just how intuitive and easy it is to use. You don’t have to delve into any menu options or settings or double-push buttons just to fire it up, all you need to do is rotate the power dial and the light instantly starts to illuminate, getting brighter as that is rotated. If you want to change the colour temperature, you simply switch to the colour temperature dial and rotate it to get warmer or cooler light, depending on what you’re after.

Apart from the USB-C port on the base that enables pass-through power, so you can charge or run the light from an external power source as well as the internal battery, there’s also a quarter-inch mount, which is standard, so you can put it on a cold shoe mount to attach to your camera or even a tripod.

Alongside the lamp, the only other accessory in the box is the silicone diffuser, which simply push-fits over the lamp. The silicone diffuses the light exceptionally well, although I would say that it is just a little bit loose, and you do need to accurately position it for it to stay properly in place. Once it’s positioned and you’ve got the light set, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue and, most importantly, it does diffuse the light exceptionally well.

Features

At present, there are a few of these lights on the market, and they offer a really good solution for lighting. If you want to travel light, first and foremost, they’re small and compact, as I’ve mentioned in the Build and Handling section, so they will fit into your backpack or even into a jacket or pocket without too much issue. You would have to remove the diffuser, but the silicone folds away and can be stuffed into a side pocket, and it weighs very little.

With a lot of these lights now offering Bluetooth and small LCD screens enabling plenty of adjustment, it’s nice to actually see a light that strips things back to the basics and essentially just offers you a really good, solid source of illumination with temperature control. The C30Bi offers brightness control from 0 to 100% and colour temperature control from 2800 to 6500 K.

Godox also states that it has really good high fidelity with a CRI of 94 and a TLCI of 96, meaning that if you’ve got other lighting or colour temperature control settings, you should be able to easily match those. While this colour temperature performance is good, it’s not 100%.

Godox Litemon C30Bi review

One of the features I really like is the fact that it has a built-in battery, which will power the light for 45 minutes at full power. During testing, I found that the light is exceptionally bright, so for the most part, I used it at about 25 to 50%, then upped the power outdoors to help balance some lighting conditions and shadows.

As we’ve seen with many of these lights, because they are small and compact, they do need to have a decent cooling system. At the back, you can see a large red fan that does a great job at keeping things cool internally, and it also runs exceptionally quietly. Even when the light has been on for a good length of time at full power with the fan spinning at full rate, it helps keep everything nice and cool while remaining relatively quiet, so if you’re filming, it shouldn’t be an issue.

As mentioned, I’m not a great fan of the silicone diffuser, although it works exceptionally well. I feel the silicone is just a little overly flexible, but it is nice that the basic diffusion is included in the box. This isn’t always done as standard, and the effectiveness of the diffuser is excellent. There are also other accessories you can buy that will enhance its usability, and those are available through the website, showing that this is not just a light in isolation but can be used as part of a larger ecosystem.

Finally, when it comes to features, it has the all-important quarter-inch thread on the base, which means it will fit any standard tripod as well as a whole range of camera accessories. There’s no need for a proprietary mount, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to mount this as and when you want.

Performance

I instantly liked the placement of the controls on the C30Bi. The fact that I could just switch it on using the power dial and then adjust the colour temperature with the CCT dial made it quick and easy to use. Turning the dial round to 100% and leaving it on full blast proved that it had a battery life between 40 and 45 minutes, which isn’t too bad. Dialling that down to 75, 50, or even 25%, which I found was great when doing interview situations, just to throw in a little bit of fill light, greatly extended the battery life.

One of the other things I really liked about the design of this light is that, despite its simplicity, one important feature they have incorporated is the ability to utilise the light when it’s plugged into an external power source.

If you have an external battery and you plug that into the USB-C port on the base, it will not only charge the battery but also supply the power needed to run the light.

Godox Litemon C30Bi review

Taking a look at the power draw, it was interesting to see that at full power, the external battery was able to supply enough to both power the light at full brightness and help charge the battery at the same time.

When I checked the power draw from the external power source, it came in at 30.3 W, striking a good balance between the power being drawn and the power output of the lamp. As the power was reduced to 50%, the draw from the external power source also dropped, and at 50% it was only 8.8 W. So, even if the battery is fully depleted, you can run the lamp directly from external power sources without having to worry too much.

As the light was on for an extended period, the small fan inside did start up, and it is only just audible. In a recording situation, I wouldn’t be too worried about any lavalier mics on my subject picking up the noise from that particular small fan.

Godox Litemon C30Bi review

The other point about this light is that it has really good colour accuracy.
When I tested this out with the Datacolor light meter, it showed that at 2800 K the actual colour temperature was 2650 K, spinning it round to 4800 K produced a colour temperature of 4450 K, and at 6500 K the colour temperature was 5910 K. So, while not 100% accurate, it’s still really good for a lamp of this price.

When it came to brightness, at 100% at 1 m I was getting 1850 lux; at 50% this dropped to 331, with the ambient light in the room being just 17.7. This was quite a marked improvement in illumination when using the C30Bi.

Godox Litemon C30Bi review

Final Thoughts

When it comes to the overall performance, I’m impressed. A small, lightweight, easy-to-use light, with the included diffusion panel, whilst not brilliantly designed, does work exceptionally well when it comes to light diffusion. I also like the fact that it has the ability to utilise pass-through power so that you can power and charge the light from an external battery source, greatly extending its use.

Another thing I really like about this small light is that it’s just so simple to use. It takes away a lot of the complexity we’ve seen with a lot of the Bluetooth and app-controlled lamps and just goes straight to basic illumination. This is, after all, a handheld option, so you’re pretty much always going to have it within arm’s reach to adjust any settings, which is far quicker and easier than delving into an app.

I also like, on that simplicity front, the fact that you can just rotate the dial and it’s on, no double-pushing, no wondering or waiting for the light to kick in. And for the price, you get an awful lot of light for not a great deal of money, giving you the potential to buy several of these to create quite complex lighting scenarios.

Godox Litemon C30Bi review

The final factor I would point out about this light is that it runs nicely and quietly. If you put your ear up to it, you can hear that large fan on the back running away, but to be honest, compared with many others, this fan runs exceptionally quietly. Through my tests, I couldn’t hear it being picked up by my lavalier mic, so in almost any situation, you’re going to have ambient noise of people breathing, which is more likely to get picked up.

At the end of the test, if you are looking for a small, portable fill light, then at 30 W, this is actually exceptionally bright. While I’m not overly keen on the diffuser, it does work exceptionally well. When you put everything together, including the price, it’s very difficult not to recommend this as a great option for videographers and even photographers looking for a simple and effective light source to illuminate their subjects.

Godox Litemon C30Bi review