Utorch UT02 vs Manker U21, group buy review for UT02

The Manker U21’s “dragon eye”

SOOC

With the lights on, I see some unclean issues inside… Any guesses which one is worse?

The Utorch has a film on the inside of the lens but the reflector is incredible. The Manker has a finger touch/smudge on the reflector, one major and one minor. :frowning:

Maybe a Manker light with Utorch pcb? :smiley:

Is it possible to swap the Utorch with Manker’s switch cover? The dragon eye looks cooler, imo.

I have even installed a rubber boot from L6 in mine :smiley:

The finger smudges on the reflector of the U21…

Both lights reflectors are like large versions of the Manker X6, threaded and with the ramped o-ring shelf on top, the bezel pushes the lens against the o-ring which in turn seals against the reflector and flares against the sides of the bezel. I like this design.

The above 3 pics are from the Utorch, below are from the Manker…

On both lights, the bezel text lines up with the switch, very nice, the Manker battery tube flat with the name on it also lines up.

Very odd but I am unable to unscrew Manker battery tube from head. No matter how much force I use it won’t let…
Looks like some epoxy from driver catch the threads and it’s stacked?

On UT02 driver is just pressed to fit no glue at all.

If manker bumped down the current because of problems, it makes me question the driver in general. I was going to resistor mod the ut02 but maybe I shouldn’t just yet.

I could just give it a go and see how it lasts but I like the UI and would hate to ruin it. But then again… Can you sense my inner termoil? :cry: …The output is just too low for this form factor. My U11 at half the size puts out as much light. But the beam on the ut02 is pretty nice. See… here we go :person_facepalming:

Has anyone posted any beam shots with an XPL in one of these lights?

Thanks for the comparison dale!

I have the same question about the driver.
Can it be beefed up?
I mean only 1 Ampere means it’s only about 11 Watts, doesn’t it?
Then why bother with a XHP35? An XP-L can do 11 Watts too, and without the losses of a boost driver (but with the losses of a linear driver burning off excess voltage).
And can the driver handle 8.4 Volts?

^
But XP-L can’t do 1,000+ lm with just 2.3A current draw!

Aha!
Good point.
:slight_smile:

Well, technically, the XHP-35 won’t do 1000 lumens at 2.3A current draw either. As the cell dies the current will go up, increasingly more until the cell is stomped on. So in the end it’ll balance out something like a normal emitter with higher current draw. I don’t know exactly how it’ll pan out, probably some here that can figure that.

I personally would rather see the new XP-L W2 2B doing 2000 lumens in this light, pulling some 6.7A, with a tighter hot spot. That’s just me though.

Actually w2 bin is very close and xp-l2 can reach 1000 with less watts

A beginners question. What does the pcb board in the tailcap the spring is on do?

thanks for the comparision, the uto2 is surely the way to go if you ask me. i would have one already if it wasnt because of the ui. can’t remember off the top of my head, but it probably has to do with holding the switch to turn on or off light……i hate that.
are you planning to mod the light in any way? i know the lux can be greatly improved with an xpg2.
vinh actually sells his model of the manker 21, i think with his driver and xpg2, it more than doubled stock.
with still 1000 lumens.

Would a flat top 26650 protected Keeppower cell work in the UT02 and give max rated lumens?

I wish it would of have a tactical switch in the bottom , and the one in the head forma changing mods;

You answered your own question, least 50%. Only purpose of the PCB is to mount the spring to it, and give a point of contact to the body tube to complete the ground circuit. When the tail is tightened, the top edge of the tube makes contact to the ground ring on the PCB. This is why it does tail lockout so well - with quality anodized threads, slightly loosening the tail breaks electrically contact at that point of the outer ring on the PCB.

+1

The XHP35 and boost driver introduce all sorts of losses in a single cell light.

If someone does XPL W2 with shaved domo in this form factor of light I will buy it

Putting the 12V XHP-35 into a single cell smallish light with a large enough reflector for good throw was obviously a design goal. You can’t count losses when the goal is achieved. If the goal had been maximum lumens, or maximum lux, or minimum voltage, well you get the drift. They wanted the light to have this new popular emitter and they made it happen. That’s success.

Somewhat similar to how Chevrolet sells thousands upon thousands of Camaro’s that DON’T have the high performance engine. All those people driving a 6 cyl Mustang, an underpowered Camaro or even Corvette, they got what they wanted at the price level they were willing to pay, that’s not losses that’s a win win.

The complaining is usually because an individual wanted a different parameter considered for the design, like a multi-tool that never has the right combination of components. But it’s an impossible task. The manufacturer would have to offer up a special order with ten’s of thousands of options available to be able to please everyone, then assemble the product to the desire of the customer…and even then some would have issue. And the price would soar, so more would have issue.

I think Manker did a nice job on this U21. I think the Utorch UT02 is also a very nice light. When you look at what they do, how they’re made, the fit in hand and overall performance (including the charging performance) they’re a win at the price point. Remember that the base price has a narrower margin of difference, base price is $50 vs $65, between the two. The gap comes in with Manker’s refusal to do a group buy for us here at BLF.

FWIW, Vinh’s driver is Richards driver. :wink: In other words, Vinh mods a light in much the same way as you and I. He’s OCD about the emitter choice, he’s willing to buy a lot of emitters and cherry pick what he wishes to use, other than that and his attention to detail in focusing, he’s just like the rest of us. The high prices come with all the non-cherry emitters and time spent. Trust me, if you put in the effort and time on a build like Vinh does, you too would charge the premium.

Lexel, I recommend that you purchase the Utorch UT02 in this group buy. Play with it, get a feel for it, and if it doesn’t satisfy your needs then do what BLF is known for… modify it. :smiley: