Review of Manker Quinlan U11 - Pics, Beamshot and Runtime

I received the Manker Quinlan U11 from GearBest for the review.

*Box & Light
*The U11 comes in a nice cardboard box, well protected with pre-cut foam. Inside the box you’ll find the light, the manual, clip, spare o-ring and a lanyard.



The version I got is CW.

The U11 is a linear flashlight with an electronic switch on the head. It is powered by 1x18650 or 2xCR123 cells. It weights 80 grams and its dimentions are: 106x31 mm (25 mm is the diameter of the body)

The U11 uses an XP-L in a light orange peel reflector

On the rubber cover of the switch is present manker’s logo.

Under the rubber cover there is a blu led.

On the other side you have the micro USB port for charging the 18650. The port is protected by a rubber cover. When closed, it lays flat and stays in position because it has a ledge that stays in the port and another for the external surface.


Tailcap is not flat, it is hollow in the center and allows tailstand. There is a lanyard hole.

The clip makes the U11 ride very low. I like the deep clips: the lights is not sticking out, stays protected and doesn’t attract unwanted attentions.
I’ve seen people mount the clip on the outer surface of the light, I prefere to mount it so that it stays in the hollow part of the light

On the hollow parts of the body there are written brand and model, on one side, battery orientation, ROHS and CE symbols on the other.

Untwist the tailcap, you have well made and anodized threads. Physical lockout is possible.

On the light there is some knurling, but it’s very light. The hollow parts of the body help giving more grip to the light.

Untwisting the metal ring the AR treated glass comes out

Under you have the aluminium reflector, with the space for the o-ring. with this construction it’s very easy to mount the light without messing the position of the o-ring.

Under the reflector there is the pill with the XP-L hi baseplate. The cables have good size.

At the positive pole there is a spring: flat top cells will work. However keep in mind that the body of the light is a bit short: the Keeppower 3200mAh are a close fit and I have to twist the tailcap with a bit more of force for closing the light. Anything bigger, may be too much and won’t make the tailcap close.

*UI
*The U11 has 2 kind of modes: regular and pro. To switch from one to the other, turn the light off and keep pressed the switch for 10 seconds. The light will blink once for the regular mode, twice for the pro mode.

Regular mode
The regular mode has 5 levels (moonlight – low – medium – high – turbo) and 3 blink levels (strobo, dragon breath and sos).
Dragon breath is a locator mode, that uses the blue led with a dimming cycle (as seen at the beginning at the review).
When the light is off, a shortclick will turn the u11 on at moonlight level.Da spenta un singolo click accende la torcia la moonlight.
When the light is off, a long click will turn the u11 on at the last used constant light level (no memory for blinking levels).
When the light is on, a ll switch to the next level (ie in cycle moonlight low medium high turbo moonlight…), a double click will activate the blinking mode, each further short click will give you the next blinking level.

Pro mode

The pro mode has the same ui as above.
After the 3 blinking levels of the blinking mode (strobe, dragon breath, sos), you have more levels:

- beacon

- “constant current” turbo

- battery indicator (one blink for every 25% of remaining charge)

  • level programming

The level programming allows you to choose for each level (low - medium - high - turbo) one of the 3 intensity. The light will turn on for 2 seconds at 40 lumens, 2 seconds at 60 lumens, 2 seconds at 80 lumens, 2 seconds at 40 lumens… in cycle. Once you are on the desired intensity, click and the light will memorize your choice. Next you have the medium levels: 2 secons for each intensity, and the same for high and turbo.
The levels remain programmed also for the regular mode.

Recharge
When the battery is low, the blue led will turn on in dragon breath mode.
The U11 can recharge the 18650 with micro USB cable. when you connect the cable, the charging starts and the light turns off. When the battery is full, the blu led will stay on.
The opening for the micro USB cable is a bit narrow, and some of my cables won’t go in all the way. However the light will still recharge the battery.
Once you remove the cable, the light will turn on at the last used mode, even if the light was off when you started the charging.

*Beamshot
*1 meter, T3 level.
The tint is neutral leading to CW. the warmest part of the beamshot is the crown around the spot.

The XP-L emitter will give a clean beam with a defined spot. This is more visible in the underesposed pics.

Due to light pollution I can’t shot you how wide is the spill on the ground, however you can see it on the wall. Very wide.

Output & runtime
Let’s compare the brightness of each level with the specs. I used a Keppower 3200mAh for the test. My results are consistent with the specs.

I like a lot the level spacing. there is only a hole between the firefly mode, less than 1 lumen, and the lowest low mode, 40 lumens. I couldn’t measure the brightness of the firefly, this is why it’s not in the graph above.

I test the runtime of the U11 with Keeppower 3200mAh, at the 4 turbo levels, and at the 3 hi levels.
In the graph below, I have still put the intensity of the 3 medium and 3 low levels.

Let’s focus on the 3 programmable turbo: T1, T2 and T3.
T2 and T3 are different for the initial output. After the only stepdown, at 2’, they both decreas at around T1 brightness.

The constant current turbo, only available in the pro mode passing throught a lot of blinking modes, starts at T3 brightness, but decreases slower.

H1, 2 and 3 are well regulated.

*My thoughts
*
The U11 is a very well built light, fit and finish is perfect and the overall efficiency and regulation it’s great.
I uses almost only the constant levels, so I like a lot the 4 prgrammable modes: very well spaced and without absurd stepdowns (Ithere is a stepdown ONLY where it’s needed).
I like to be able to turn the light on at the lowest level, but It lacks the direct access to turbo mode. Strobe mode it’s easy to activate.

At the beginning I was a bit worried about the level and the ui. after a night of use, I could use the light as I wanted.
I started in regular mode, and now I plan to remain in pro mode.
I had to get used to the switch, noisier and with a longer run than other lights.
Compared to the MH20, I have to pay attention not to make 2 single click too close, otherwise the U11 “will receive” a double click (so, insted of advancing of 2 levels, I go into strobe mode). At the beginning this happened a lot. Now I have a trick: each time I click the switch, I lift my thumb a bit from the surface. The extra time it needs to travel to make the next click, it’s enough to ot make it a double click.
However, on this light IMHO there are too many modes to go through for just one single stage switch. If I want to re-program a level, I have to go through strobo/dragon breath/beacon/Turbocont… and also set the other 3 levels, since you have to program them all.
It’s still easy to do and I can get it done i a few seconds, but I’d rather have direct access to mode programming without all that.
The dragon breath locator, and the battery indicator are IMHO the most useful blinking modes, but in order to get them I have to go through strobe levels…
For the EDC average needs, maybe you want to set your U11 in pro-mode, and then go back to the regular mode, with just 3 strobe modes.

Giving the price, I am more than willing to accept these “sins” and the U11 it’s still a great light. Without these interface “issues”, the U11 would be a perfect light.

Many thanks to AntoLed for lending me the instrumentation (luxmeter and camera).
Thanks for reading.

Nice review, I like your runtime graphs.

Shouldn’t there be a spare USB cover as stated in the manual?

Thanks for the review. lt looks like a nice light.

For you BLF 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.

I hope yours lasts longer than mine did. Mine lasted about a month then went crazy and died. Just lodged a complaint with Banggood. We will see what happens?

Mine has been working fine since I got it, probably was from the first run, so far I replaced the stock XPL with a XPL-HI with a better tint, now is perfect.

I Got the klarus silicone cone diffuser for it, fits good and makes for a nice area light.

I fixed the link to the video.

gorb507 sorry to hear this. Mine still rocks.

Yup, I did the same. Whacked in an XP-L HI. The U11 has superseded my Thrunite TN4A HI as my favourite flashlight.