It’s been over five years since the original Godox AD600 Pro was released and we finally have a second version. Let’s see what’s new.
While Godox AD600 Pro II comes with a bunch of new features and upgrades, but at its core, it’s still a 600Ws battery-powered flash. It has features like high-speed sync, TTL, multiple flashes, and basically every other feature that has become standard across the entire Godox professional-grade lineup. Instead of going into everything this light has and how it works, I’ll just explain all the features that set it apart from the original. Godox AD600 professional.
First is the new wireless sync feature. Previously, you always had to put your flash and wireless trigger on the same channel for them to communicate with each other. This could become annoying in situations where there were other photographers on the same channel or in areas where there were multiple wireless systems that could cause interference. This meant that you would likely have to change channels to mitigate the problem, and each time you changed channels, you had to do it on all your devices. Now, you can simply use the wireless sync feature to pair your trigger with your flash. Once you do it once, you’ll never have to worry about it again. This eliminates one more thing you have to think about when setting up your lights for a new shoot. The only caveat here is that this feature is only available on the newer Godox X3 triggers, as that’s the only one released that can incorporate the new technology. I assume all future trigger releases will incorporate the new feature.
Next up is a feature that I really like. The Godox AD600 Pro II has new LEDs on both sides of the flash. These change color depending on which group you have assigned to the flash. So if you have the flash set to Group A, it will be red. If the flash is set to Group E, the LEDs will be purple. This gives you a visual representation of which group the flash is assigned to without having to lower the flash to a height where you can see the display on the flash. There’s also no problem with multiple groups as this feature supports up to 16 groups/colors in total. The best part is that when you pair the flash with the new Godox X3 trigger, the trigger will also display the color associated with each group. So you don’t have to remember which group is associated with which color. Unfortunately, if you have an older trigger that doesn’t have a color display, you’ll obviously have to remember which color is associated with which group. But even that’s a better option than having to turn off the lights when you need to verify.
From here we can talk about the new physical upgrades on the AD600 Pro II. With the new flash, you will see an upgraded TFT color display. In terms of brightness, I can easily see the display in full daylight and I only have the brightness set to around 75%. So display visibility will never be an issue. I have never really felt like I needed a color display on my flash, but now with the new color group recognition feature, it is definitely nice to have.
On the outside, the light still has all the same ports, such as the charging port, sync cable port, and USB-C port. However, this USB-C port is only used to upgrade the light’s firmware. Here, I wish I had the ability to charge the light via USB-C. I know this might increase charging time compared to a dedicated charger, but it would make traveling a lot less cumbersome.
The flash also has upgraded buttons and dials, all of which are sturdy and have a nice clicky feel to them. Some of the buttons also do double duty, such as the modeling light button. Here, you can press the button to access all the modeling light settings, but if you press and hold the button, you can quickly turn the modeling light on and off. Speaking of modeling lights, this is another area where the light is getting improvements. Instead of the 38W daylight temperature light found on the original AD600 Pro, we now have a 40W dual-color modeling light. So not only do we get a little more light, but we can also go from 2800K to 6000K. This new modeling light will give you a little more flexibility in low-light situations, when you just want to use a constant light as your main source instead of having to pop in a flash and mess around with gels. 
For those situations where you may need to work in low light situations but also need the ability to freeze motion, the AD600 Pro II can now reduce power to a full stop. This means that instead of being limited to 1/256th power, you can now go as low as 1/512th. This lower power also unlocks access to faster flash durations with a t.1 time of 1/12,340th of a second. So this added versatility is great if you find yourself in a low light environment where a modeling light won’t work for your situation, or if you’re photographing something in motion and need the freezing power of a faster flash duration.
What I like
- New dual color model light
- New color display
- New color LED group identification
What I don’t like
- No USB-C charging
- Although more powerful than the original, I wish the model light was more powerful
Example images
Conclusion
When used as a flash, this light performs very similarly to the original AD600 Pro. You’ll still get 600W of power and 360 full power flashes on a full battery. The light also has a recycle time as low as 0.01 seconds at lowest power and 0.9 seconds at maximum power. At maximum power, you can expect a flash duration of 1/220th of a second, and at lowest power, you’ll see 1/12,340th of a second. So there’s not much of a change here to necessarily warrant an upgrade if you already have an AD600 Pro. But what would warrant an upgrade is if you could see yourself benefiting from a better overall experience and more user-friendliness when using the light on a daily basis. The upgraded dual-color modeling lamp and wider power range of the flash might also be the flexibility you need for your specific needs. Also, if you are just starting out with the system or just adding 600Ws to your kit, I think the newer product Godox AD600 Pro II worth more than the initial cost.
