If you’re shooting with a smartphone, you know how terrible its built-in flash is. Those who want to experiment with external light sources in their smartphone photography have a fairly wide range of LED powered lights to choose from.
But if you want a powerful off-camera flash for your smartphone?

The same people who brought us the Lumu light meter are now planning to change this, by launching a crowdfunding project for the LIT smartphone flash on Kickstarter. The LIT is a xenon flash with 40W power output and a built-in 2800 mAh Li-Ion battery that is good for 200 full-power flashes. It is capable of High Speed Sync (HSS) and works with smartphone shutter speeds from a few seconds to 1/10,000 of a second. In addition, there are some creative modes that you can use, such as portrait, product, night, light painting, or bokeh.

This isn’t the first time an external flash has been made available for smartphone photographers. Godox also did it, but with a flash trigger connected to an app. The LIT Flash lets you control the flash unit through the app directly.

If you want to sync several LIT Flash units together, you can do it via Bluetooth connection. It allows you to synchronize up to four units, for even more creative options. As for the physical features, the LIT Flash is a handy, compact little xenon flash which practically fits in your pocket. It features a remote capture button, bayonet mount and a 1/4” tripod thread.

The flash is controlled through a dedicated mobile app, and the team notes that it will be available both for iOS and Android. When it comes to iPhones, it’s compatible with models from iPhone 7 and up. As for Android, there’s a working app, but it’s still being developed. The team notes that they still need to work to cover the whole range of supported models, and you can even help them by taking a survey and letting them know which phone you use.

Here are the full specs of the LIT Flash:

XENON

• Flash Power output: 40Ws at full power (equivalent to Guide No. ~32)
• Flash Power settings:  1/1 to 1/256 (100-0.4%)
• Flash Duration: 1/350 to 1/30,000 Second
• Modes: Classical, HSS
• Recycle time: 0.1-2.5 Seconds
• Flash-Ready Indicator:  Yes
• Light beam angle and shape:  90°, cone shape, even light distribution (no hot spots)

BATTERY

• Type: Built-in Li-Ion, 2800 mAh, 3.7V
• Charging: USB-C
• Life on a single charge: 200 full-power flashes, 400 flashes in real life usage (as tested)

OTHER

• Photo capture triggering: with app or with Flash (remote capture button)
• Exposure control: Auto (TTL), Creative modes, Manual
• Mounting options: 1/4” tripod thread and bayonet accessories mount
• Dimensions: 4.1 x 2.4 x 1.5″ / 105.0 x 65.0 x 38.0 mm
• Weight: Approx. 8.8 oz / 250 g

BLUETOOTH

• Wireless Sync: Bluetooth 5.0 (works with lower versions as well)
• Wireless Range: approx. 130 foots (40 meters)
• Multi-flash Sync: Yes, up to 4 units, controlled separately from the app
• My precious: With this (optional) setting, LIT Camera app notifies you (even if closed) if your LIT Flash gets out of reach + shows you the “last seen” location of it. Alternatively, triple pressing the LIT Flash button will make your misplaced phone ring even if it’s on silent.
• Lost & found network: In case you actually do lose your Flash, you’ll be able to mark it as lost in the anonymous Lost & Found network, powered by our friends Chipolo and increase the chance of getting it back.

The LIT Flash just launched through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign in which a pledge of $179 and up will get you one of the first units at a hefty discount.

LIT expects to ship the Kickstarter units to backers in January 2020 and the flash will be sold with a retail price of $329 afterward.