Manker was kind enough to supply me a E11 for the review.
Manker’s specs:
– Max lumens output: 400lm (Eneloop Pro Ni-Mh battery), 800lm (IMR 14500 li-ion)
– Circuit: Most efficiency constant current circuit, maximum runtime up to 266 hours
– Material: Aircraft-grade aluminium body
– Surface treatment: Premium Type III hard-anodized anti-abrasive finish
– Clip: Titanium coated stainless steel clip.
– Lens: Toughened ultra-clear glass lens with anti-reflective coating
– Tail stand
– Water proof: IPX-8 (2 meters under water)
– Impact resistance: 2 meters
– Size: length 82mm x diameter 20mm, Weight: 39g(without battery)
– Brightness Levels:
Eneloop PRO: Moonlight 2lm 171hrs, Low 60lm 11hrs, Medium 200lm 2.2hrs, High 400lm 1.2hrs, Strobe 400lm, SOS 200 lm, Beacon 50lm (
IMR 14500: moonlight 10lm 44hrs, Low 100LM 12hrs, Medium 320lm 1.7hrs, High 800lm 0.4hrs, Strobe 800lm, SOS 300lm, Beacon 80lm
Note that this sample will be tested with nimh only. Manker will supply me another sample with up to date driver that fully supports 14500 batteries, I’ll test it and I’ll update the review.
The E11 comes in a small cardboard box.
Inside the box: light, clip, spare o-rings, lanyard and manual.
There is knurling on the light, and the anodization is good.
The E11 has a electronic switch at the head, while the tailcap is flat/recessed, with a lanyard hole. This design is similar to the one of the other Manker Quinlan lights, and allows tailstand.
The clip doubles also as anti-rolling device, and is the same for the T01.
In the small OP reflector there is an XP-L emitter, CW. The reflector is made of aluminium and is threated (it screws in the head).
The battery orientation is indicated under the switch. I find the switch to be a bit lighter, compared to the ones of the U11 and T01. It protrudes a bit.
The body has anodised threads, so you can physically lockout the light by untwisting the tailcap or the head of the light. At the head of the light there is a slightly raised golden positive pole. No physical protection against polarity inversion.
Some pics with other 1xAA lights that I own: the bigger brother T01 and the Thrunite T10, which I stole form my father (it’s one of his bedside light) for the pics.
UI
The E11 in practical terms is a simpler version of the Manker T01, without the program feature and with less modes.
From off, one short click turns the light on at the lowest level.
From off, a long click turns the light on at the last used level (low mode doesn’t count).
When the light is on, a double click gives you strobe mode.
A single click when the light is on advances in the next mode (low medium high turbo if you are in the constant output mode, strobe SOS beacon if you are in the flashing mode).
Output, Beamshots, Runtime.
Powering the E11 with a nimh and a 14500 battery will lead to different output and runtimes.
To get the 800 lumens output you’ll need high quality IMR 14500. Regular 14500 may stop to work in the light because the PCB will kick in when many amps are required.
To get the 400 lumens output you’ll need high quality nimh batteries.
I tested the output using Panasonic Eneloop XX 2500 mAh, at room temperature.
Real world beamshots, around 30 meters at the most distant trees. The light is brighter compared to the pics with 4” exposure, but the next settings on my camera is 8”. With 8” they came overexposed, so here are the pics with 4” exposure.
The XP-L emitter makes a wide and smooth beam. With an AA nimh it illuminates brightly short distances, I’d say not more than 30 meters.
Runtime
Sampling rate is 2” for turbo mode, longer for the other tested levels.
Edit 10 July 2016
Efest 14500 IMR v2 700mAh, charged each time at 0.5A.
My thoughts
The E11 a compact but powerful 1xAA light. The fit and finish are great. Getting more than 400 lumens by a single AA nimh battery is not so common, but for Manker seems a no-brainer.
The regulation is great: only the needed stepdown after 3” of turbo mode, and after that it stay on at 300 lumens. The light will let you know that the battery is running low with short notice, just few minutes.
There are new AA lights being sold right now that have an output of less than 200 lumens on the brightest mode, while the E11 has double output.
I like direct access to low mode and a higher output mode. This light, as all the other Manker I tested, gives you accesso to a low mode and a mode higher than low (the last one you used). I’d like to see quick access to low, real turbo and maybe another level.
While the clip was fine on the T01 (since it rests in a recessed part of the light), here it protrudes too much and has a strange bend on the outside. This one is also too tight all the way to fit on thick clothes, like my jeans. I simply bent it at the end with pliers wrapped in clothes (for not leaving marks), and now it is more comfortable. I’d like that the bended part inside the loop of the clip to be more long, like on the U11.
Accessing to strobe mode is easy, maybe still a bit too much. I would decrease the delay for the light to consider two single click a double click, let’s say a 1/10 or 1/5 of a second. Manker has already done so compared to the U11 and the T01 models (it is more difficult to get into strobe accidentally), but I’ll decrease it even more.
I leave mine on the turbo mode. So, when I need a low level, I turn it on with a short click and get 1 lumen; when I need more light, I turn it on with a long lick and I get the turbo mode.
The MSRP price of the light is very reasonable, 30$ when this review is written.
Thanks to: AntoLed (for lending me the Camera and the Luxmeter), P.P. (Beamshot location), Manker (sponsoring the batteries).
EDIT 28 June 2016
Lot of people worried about the tint.
Mine is not bad at all for a CW (for you cool white lovers this is a bit on the neutral white).
Here’s compared to a Thrunite T10 with an XP-G Led with a CW tint.
The distance at the wall is same for both lights. I set them to a comparable brightness level (can’t do miracles, yet).
I pushed further the camera, and I don’t know why the colour for both lights changes. Use this pics only to see the differences in the beam appareance, not the tint.
The T10 is not known as a thrower. The E11 has a wider beam.
For you Candle guys, nothing really new is said in this video, but you can still admire the light moving in my hands while I delight you with my english.
