Flashpoint XPLOR 400 Pro II: The Location Strobe Gets a Meaningful Upgrade

For $649, the Flashpoint XPLOR 400 Pro II delivers 400 watt-seconds of battery-powered output with over 450 full-power flashes per charge, high-speed sync to 1/8000s, and a bi-color LED modeling lamp. The generation-one XPLOR 400 Pro built a following among location photographers who wanted studio-grade power without AC dependency — the Pro II adds meaningful refinements without changing what made the original worth buying.

What Makes It Different

The Pro II gains four notable improvements over its predecessor. Power steps increase from 9 to 10, giving finer control across the full output range. The old dot-matrix display is replaced with a color LCD panel that’s meaningfully easier to read in bright outdoor conditions. The bi-color LED modeling lamp now covers a wide color temperature range (2800K–6000K), making it genuinely useful for evaluating light quality before shooting rather than just estimating. And one-touch sync with compatible remote triggers replaces the manual pairing process.

At approximately 4.4 lbs, the unit is roughly 5% lighter than its predecessor — a modest but real win when you’re carrying it all day. The Phoblographer’s full review describes field results as “exceptional” and notes the client-facing output held up across a range of location conditions. As part of the Godox ecosystem, it integrates with the full Godox trigger and modifier library — a meaningful benefit given how wide that ecosystem has become. Stack Archive covered the $100 Godox entry-level kit for comparison context at the other end of the power range.

The Catch / Who It’s For

The Nikon-specific HSS behavior is the most important thing to know before buying. Using modes other than “Fill flash” on Nikon mirrorless bodies produces visible banding at the base HSS speed (1/250s). This is undocumented and requires knowing to switch modes before your first high-speed shoot — the kind of thing that ruins a session if you don’t know it in advance. Canon and Sony bodies don’t share this issue.

Mount-swapping is cumbersome by design. The lens ships with a Bowens adapter included, but transitioning between the native Godox mount and Bowens requires removing stored Allen key screws — a process the reviewer estimates at ten minutes and notes can’t be done with the adapter already attached. If you regularly change modifiers between mount systems, factor this into your kit workflow.

The overall verdict is 4 out of 5 stars: evolutionary rather than revolutionary, but a well-executed evolution that earns a recommended buy for location photographers.

Source: The Phoblographer

Content created with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy.