Review: Manker U11. Built in charger, compact 18650 Eswitch Light. 3.6A on Turbo, Beamshots added.

Thanks a lot! :beer:

I got the U11 in the mail today, I like it! The USB charges the battery to 4.18v checked with 2 different batteries the beam pattern and size is almost identical as the Zebralight SC600. the U11 hotspot is just a very tiny bit smaller, when comparing the 2 lights in their brightest setting the U11 is brighter.

Fit and finish is superb! I might swap the Led for a XP-L HI whenever I have time. But so far I think Manker has a winner with this light. Good Job Manker! :beer:

Not having a ZL to compare to, this is great to hear… What tint XPL-HI are you thinking of replacing the stock emitter? I have been very happy with the warm white I put in…

Thinking between 1C or 2B tint, not a big fan of warm tints. Did you replace the stock MPCB with a copper MPCB?

2B is my favorite cool white… I just used the stock board and reflowed the new one on it. You may have to thin a noctigon down as the stock board is thinner than a noctigon. A 20mm Noctigon will need some filing on the edges, but a 16mm should fit the screw holes already there. Easiest way is to just use the stock board….

Manker U11 standby current (parasitic drain): measured 0,2µA! This is practically zero. It will drain an 18650 in 2000 years, theoretically. Even better than Zebralight (4µA).

Do you know how much current it drains when using the blue beacon feature in the on/off button?

And if that is still too much, you can lock it out by loosening the tailcap 1/2 turn… :stuck_out_tongue:

How did you measure this? I tried with a Fluke multimeter and the uA setting, but did not get a reading….

Excuse my ignorance, but I’m trying to figure out the UI. With all the configuration, is there any way to get less than 5 modes?

No, five regular modes is it, plus the hidden blinky menus. TK has spoiled us… Lol

Well in that case…… :_(

Its really not that bad the UI since a quick click gets you to Moonlight mode and a long click gets you to the last saved mode. my complaint is that sometimes I click too fast to change modes and go to the blinkies. |(

I’m not usually a fan of single button lights, but this one actually works well, a quick press goes to the next level, it’s fast and effective.

It’s not the single button, I just don’t like that many modes.

Has anyone been able to access the driver?

The point I was making is that although there are many modes, it’s quick to use. And it has direct access to moonlight from off.

The light seems to be accessible, IF you can get the switch out. Thing is, there is a charging circuit in there too. It may be a lot of work to just drop a couple of modes.

Moonlight and one other mode of your selection are available from off…

Just received mine today. My first impressions are pretty good, and I was skeptical. I’ve got seven Zebralights and it seems like Manker is trying to imitate them in a lot of ways. Overall, they’ve done a very good job. This is a solid light. Machining and finish are great. Pocket clip is passable but leaves plenty of room for improvement. The switch cover is rotated ever-so-slightly so the Manker logo is a crooked by a couple of degrees, which isn’t a big deal but will bother me a bit. The UI is a bit confusing at first but I’m getting it. By biggest gripe so far, and its not surprising, is the cool white tint. Luckily that seems like a pretty straight-forward thing to fix.

Those are my 2-minute first impressions. Overall, a really nice light for a good price.

EDIT: I lined it up with some of my other “smallish” 1x18650 lights for a size comparison

LOL! less than 24 hours of getting mine, I already replaced the Led for a XP-L HI V3 1C, now the hotspot is about half the size of the original which was about the same size as the hotspot of the SC600, and now looks way brighter, I don’t know why they decided not to go with the XP-L Hi like the T01 since the HI version looks like a better choice, at least to me.

BTW that AS5 looking thermal grease it originally came with sucks! it is very very thin, so I cleaned the surface with alcohol and Q-tips and used real Artic Silver 5 under the original MPCB, now the light gets hot a lot faster which means better heat transfer to the body.

The switch seems very hard to get out, so I decided not to try and disassemble any further, the MPCB seems to not have direct thermal path and is made out of aluminum, I might sand down a Noctigon later on but for now I used the same MPCB.

So far changing the led is a piece of cake on this light, I suggest trying the XP-L HI.

I like it 8)

Hey Emarkd, How does the U11 compare to the MH20? UI, beam profile, hotspot etc.

Presumably they thought most people would prefer the XPL. I do, for what that is worth.