My Comprehensive Neewer Q4 Review for 2024
400 Watt Neewer Q4 review
The Neewer Q4 is a fantastic addition to the world of flash photography, offering professional-grade lighting and portability at an affordable price point. In this comprehensive Neewer Q4 review, we will delve into its standout features that make it perfect for both seasoned professionals and amateur enthusiast photographers.
First impressions of this strobe and its shape might be misleading and yes it does look very different to all other high-powered battery strobes out there but I think this could very well be the future of all strobes now. Everything else just crazily looks old-fashioned to me now and trust me I didn’t see that coming before I opened the box and had a good play with it.
What’s in the box with the Neewer Q4?
Before I talk about the Neewer Q4 specs and features let’s have a look at what’s actually coming in the box, the first thing you will see when you open the Neewer Q4 box is the actual carrying case for the strobe itself.
- The carrying case is a nice robust case and really does help you comfortably carry the Q4 from shoot to shoot with no fear of damaging it along the way, so that’s a serious positive and a bit of piece of mind also.
- Mounting Bracket which also double as the carrying handle, this handle a has a recessed in the base for mounting on a traditional lighting stand.
- Battery Pack The high powered rechargeable battery pack is inside the carrying case.
- Charger A mains charger is also supplied with the Q4.
- Bowens Reflector A standard Bowens mount reflector
- Instruction book
Before we start talking about specifications and features we better talk about the Neewer Q4 price first.
Neewer Q4 Price
When Neewer sent out the Neewer Q4 strobe to me for this review, funnily enough, I was already considering buying one of three high-powered battery strobes at the time and the three models on my short list were… Godox AD400Pro, Godox AD600Pro and the Neewer Q4.
I was already half sold on the Neewer Q4 after unboxing it, switching it on, setting it up and using it for the first time but wait for the best part….
At the time of writing this Neewer Q4 review it was retailing at just €519.- on the Neewer website but wait we are not finished yet, it’s already amazing value for money but the even better news here is Neewer has also given me a 21% off Discount code HAYES21 for you to use worldwide on the Neewer website all year round, knocking over €100.- off the price of the Q4.
So that’s a big wow for price and performance (I will get into performance soon) already.
Incidentally my Neewer Discount code works on all the products on the Neewer website so if you want to grab the flash trigger or a softbox with it then you can save 21% off them too.
So the Q4 is €519.- and the remote flash trigger is €72.99 which makes a total of €592.98 then take off the 21% via the discount code above and it’s just €474.39
Looking at its near rival the Godox AD 400 pro which is practically the same spec is €684.- and the remote flash trigger is €100.- costing you a total of €784.-
The Q4 has practically the same specifications and it’s over €300.- cheaper!!! Which makes it an absolute steal.
Please note my website has affiliate links and discount codes which I may make a slight commission from them but it costs you nothing to use them in fact you generally save money…
You can find the Neewer Q4 on the Neewer website here.
Or on Amazon worldwide here.
Before I tell you any more about my experiences with this strobe it’s probably only fair to have a proper look at its main features as I have already started to mention some of them. The feature list is again very impressive, especially given the strobes price point.
Neewer Q4 Technical Specifications.
- 400-watt max output power makes it ideal for outdoor portrait sessions.
- Refresh time of 0.01-1.2 seconds depending on the power setting used. Using lower output power settings gives you faster recycling times here of course. I personally found that at 1/4 to 1/8th power it’s very fast.
- 400 full power flashes on a single charge, when you use a lower output like 1/4 or 1/8th power this flash will go all day for you easily.
- Bowens Mount so your existing modifiers will work straight away on the Q4.
- 30-watt modeling light built-in with 3 power modes 1.- proportional output 2.- 10% output 3.- Switched off.
- High-speed sync at up to 1/8,000 of a second which gives you the power to completely overpower daylight even with light modifiers installed.
- Compatible with the Neewer wireless Q system, I use it with the Neewer Q Pro Trigger and it’s incredible, being able to even switch on and off the modeling light remotely is great.
- You can also use this system while you are charging it via the supplied mains adaptor, which is super handy for studio work. The one thing I have found here is if you are using the modeling light and firing off flashes close to full output power it will still drain your battery.
- 5600k +-200k colour temperature.
- 1/209-1/10989s flash duration depends on the output power used and it’s also shown on the rear LCD screen which is a very nice touch.
- TTL compatible with Nikon i TTL, Canon E TTL and Sony TTL automatic flash systems.
- Full support for flash exposure compensation.
- Manual Output user selected power, First/second curtain synchronization, Supports S1, S2 mode, C.Fn custom settings, etc.
Thoughts on the Neewer Q4.
Crazily, the first thing that hits you when you lift the Neewer Q4 out of its carrying case is its build quality, this strobe is truly punching well about its weight here. The case feels solid but strangely still light enough and you immediately get the impression this strobe means business. More about Build Quality later on.
The buttons are well spaced out and they all feel solid with a nice confident action with each press, the dial rotates fluidly and has nice solid rotational clicks when you spin it around, this gives you a very nice tactile feel and again gives you confidence when you are quickly spinning the dial to change the output power while in manual mode.
It was at this stage I put down the Q4 and had a quick Google again just to confirm I had the right price for it and crazily yes it really is that reasonably priced for such an impressive well-built unit.
A point to note here is the Q4 also works with Canon, Nikon and Sony TTL systems, I personally prefer to shoot in manual mode a lot of the time as it just gives you greater control over the look you can achieve.
This brings us to the battery and again the build quality is impressive here, it’s not a light unit though which in fairness you would have to expect, as it has to power a 400-watt strobe that’s capable of delivering over 400 shots on a single charge, so it needs to be a bit heavy.
In saying that, the Q4 is not heavy at 2.3kgs when it’s all assembled and weighs roughly around the same as any strobe in this power output range. The battery slides neatly into the compartment with a nice confirming click when it reaches home.
After a quick charge we were ready to switch on the Q4 and straight away you are greeted by a bright sharp large display, that’s clearly laid out and incredibly easy to navigate.
My first thoughts were all incredibly positive, I was already starting to look for the problems with this strobe and crazily I am still looking for them and in all honesty I can’t really find any even after nearly four months of using it.
If you prefer you can watch my Neewer Q4 review video below where I talk you through its features and some of the shots you can easily achieve with it.
For this entire Neewer Q4 review I used it with my Nikon Z8 and Nikon Z7ii, with the Neewer Q Pro wireless trigger and the Neewer the Q4 worked faultlessly on HSS in very challenging conditions as you will see further down the page but before we get to that let’s have a look at the full feature list first.
Neewer Q4 Design
I would bet whoever designed the Neewer Q4 has probably spent countless hours holding one of those older more traditional strobe designs and thinking how can we make this better? I can tell you now this is the way forward for high-powered strobes and it makes all the other lights out there look old-fashioned now, just wait for the rest to slowly follow suit.
Did I mention the lower light stand mounting bracket has a really nice soft rubber effect on it. I just loved that, it’s also quite thick so it just naturally feels like a camera grip in your hand rather than a tough thin sharp bit of plastic like most other strobes.
I should also mention that the Q4 comes with its own well protected carrying bag and while the model I was sent has polystyrene foam packaging around it I am told by Neewer that there is new upgraded packaging coming out for the new units so that’s a positive. The foam works well and does its job but you would just wonder how it would last if used daily.
Neewer Q4 Build Quality
The overall build quality is really good and above what I was expecting especially at this price point. I had to constantly remind myself of the price and that it wasn’t an aluminium body, in all honesty, I had to google what the body was made of just to be sure it wasn’t aluminium, it’s made from ABS plastic and seemed really solid.
I have a good few different lights here from different companies and the Q4 could proudly stand alongside any of them build quality-wise. The Q4 weighs just over 2.3kg with the reflector and lamp fitted so it’s not light but still around the weight you would expect it to be.
The LCD screen is bright and easy to read even in bright lighting conditions and has a wide viewing angle also which is handy if the light is overhead you can still read it then.
Any of the Bowens mount modifiers I have slipped on and off with the greatest of ease and the big release button was very positive and easy enough to find even in low light situations.
Funnily it felt like using the lens release button on my Z8. The one point I will mention here is the modifier can still wiggle a bit when it’s mounted so it’s not a tight fit. It’s no issue but just thought it’s only fair to mention it. I have found the same thing in the Godox lights so no difference there.
First Photoshoot with the Neewer Q4
Being well built and having a low price is about as much use as a waterproof teabag if it doesn’t work well so I grabbed the Q4 and my model and went to the beach at sunset with my Nikon Z8 to fire off some shots in challenging light with the 65cm Softbox attached to the Q4.
To test a modern high-powered strobe you need to test it in very bright challenging light conditions to see if can compete with the sun and even overpower it.
So I went out and shot straight into the sun at sunset to give you an idea of how powerful this light is. While the shots below might make you think the sun wasn’t very bright a shutter speed of 1/4000th of a second at F2.8 on ISO64 was needed to control it so I can assure you it was still very bright.
As you can see in the shot below the model was clearly properly exposed while the sun was darker in the background. It’s not a beautiful photograph but it does effectively highlight the power of this strobe.
Crazily the Q4 was only on half power with the 64cm softbox attached and it was positioned over 2.5 metres away from the model. The shot was taken at 1/4000th of a second, F2.8, 70mm, and ISO 64 on a Nikon Z8.
Even in incredibly bright sunlight, the Q4 could clearly go closer to the model, the output power could be doubled and the shutter speed could also be doubled. Never mind using either a smaller softbox or even better again just the supplied reflector to add even more power to the shot.
I really like using parabolic softboxes though and this 65cm Neewer softbox for me is the sweet spot between portability and diffusion. You can easily collapse it via the pressure mount clips on the back and just clip them all into place again when you want to use it. It also comes with its own carrying bag which is a nice touch.
So in short this strobe has more than enough power to battle sunlight and totally dominate it if you want to. For me, I know my fashion shoots are in safe hands going forward now and bright sunlight issues are a thing of the past.
The behind the scenes shot below demonstrates just how well this light performs as you can see my assistant holding the Q4 with the 65cm softbox attached (showing up as a black silhouette to the right of the model) and my model being perfectly exposed even though this was shot straight into the sun at sunset at 1/4000th of a second with the Q4 on half power.
How to set up the Neewer Q4 for the first time.
Setting up the Q4 was super easy and after years of working with strobes I didn’t even need to look at a single book and I had it working exactly the way I wanted in seconds.
The Neewer Q4 arrives without the bulb fitted, so the first thing you need to do is to pop the bulb into position, in my case, I just lined up the dots and slowly walked or slid it into position.
To charge the battery you simply plug the adaptor into the AC wall outlet and then plug it into the battery pack and it starts charging automatically.
Turning the unit on is again very straight forward you just press the power button and then a prompt comes up on the screen asking you to rotate the dial to switch it on or unlock it. Now this is very handy as it prevents you from accidentally switching it on by pressing a button if you are on a shoot or simply while transporting the Q4.
After that, you can select what group you want the strobe to be in A B C D or E so you can have multiple lights on the same shot and there are also 32 channels to choose from on the 2.4Ghz remote system that’s built into the Q4. It’s set to group A as default so you can leave it on that and move onto the next step.
On the remote trigger you can select what output you want for each group by pressing the group you want to change in our case here it’s group “A” and then pressing the “Mode” button to cycle between off, TTL and Manual mode.
In Manual Mode, you can vary the output power anywhere from 1/256 to 1/1 and in TTL you also have exposure compensation control on the remote trigger, so you can increase or decrease the power in TTL mode also.
You can switch HSS on and off by simply pressing the Sync button on the remote also to toggle between having HSS on and off.
For the modeling lamp, you have three options “off”, “10%” and “proportional” you can select the one you want by simply toggling between the options by pressing the modeling lamp button on the back of the Q4 or by hitting the “Mod” button on the remote trigger.
The audible beep is loud enough to hear from a reasonable distance so even if you are shooting at full power you can still hear it clearly a good distance away.
Neewer Q4 Review Conclusion
The Q4 is a cracking light, that’s well built, very portable, powerful, looks great and is loads of fun to use. It’s also incredible value for money so in short the Q4 has found a new home with me and I can see a very bright future for my fashion and commercial photography with this light on my side at my future shoots.
I no longer need to worry about controlling or suppressing daylight or direct sunlight on my photoshoots as this strobe is a beast.
I now love the design and boy is this strobe powerful if you want to send a message in Morse Code to a distant galaxy then look no further than the Neewer Q4…
I am genuinely struggling to find a negative for this strobe if I find one I will update this review.
Thanks again for taking the time to read my Neewer Q4 review and if you have any questions please do feel free to ask them.
I also have a Neewer Z2 review here, it’s the smaller brother of the Q4.
If you are a Nikon Z8 user then why not check out my Best Nikon Z8 cage review here.
If you ever thought about buying yourself a teleprompter then do check out my Neewer X17 ii Teleprompter Review here. I also have a a Neewer F500 field monitor review here.
As always if you want to learn more about photography then please do checkout my Photography workshops here.
See you out there,
Kieran.
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