Manker MK41 HI & HD (XHP35 HI / HD | 4 x AA / 14500) In-depth Review

Apologies all, having probs with my internet connection but didn't want to lose what I've posted so far thus putting it up as is. Will wrap this up by tomorrow.

Looks good so far. Looking forward to reading the rest.

Interesting you put a picture of the MK41 next to a U11. I asked you for the parasitic drain value of the MK41 and it was in the order of 200 uA. According to post #34 Review: Manker U11. Built in charger, compact 18650 Eswitch Light. 3.6A on Turbo, Beamshots added. the parasitic drain value of the U11 is 0.2 uA (2000 years!). That is quite a difference… :slight_smile:

I haven’t read much about this one. Certainly looks very cool. Almost looks too small to fit 4AA.

Looking forward to seeing the rest.

Thx guys, review is pretty much complete. I have some commentary on the Runtime that I need to add but any questions, please ask.

@Hikari - re: the U11, I measured .29uA w/Fluke 289, yup that is indeed very impressive, definitely the best of any light w/electronic side switch that I've measured. My only speculation is that perhaps the standby drain of buck/boost drivers is just inherently higher but happy to hear others weigh in on this.

In my world this would come in a MT-G2 also.

very nice review!

Nice review, thanks
Love this format.

Good review! I bought one based on your review because I like lights that have that versatility of cells, and it’ll be a very usable light and Manker makes decent stuff. I’m almost married to my E11.

Edit: I got my HD version today. Yes, again I’m reminded as I hold this solid light that Manker makes nice lights. I have yet to test it outside tonight. :slight_smile: It can’t get dark soon enough. I have 14500s in it right now, but I suspect that I’m going to run Eneloops in it. Moonlight mode is valuable to me.

The light is small enough for a “finger lanyard” so I assembled one and it’s wearing it as I write. It’s also small enough to drop into a jacket pocket if one doesn’t want to use the case.

So I tested the MK 41 further tonight. Even with eneloop pros this light is a powerhouse of light. I have the HD version and it easily brightly illuminates things out to 100 yards. I have my moonlight mode set to 6 and that’s plenty bright enough even for these old unaided eyes in the house with other lights off. What would setting #1 be good for? Night vision. I didn’t test it but I have no doubt that if one adjusts the gain of the NV unit it would work fine at this light level. But an active emitter would be my last choice for NV as an aggressor; it would be a “shoot here” target if one uses emissive NV for targeting. But it would be OK for use in a trench, foxhole, or under a poncho as long as it was shut off if one was above the cover. Exceedingly dim white light is also perfectly OK with dark adapted eyes; that’s why red light works for pre night ops. But I’m no longer discussing moonlight mode now.

Sure, it’s more impressive with 14500s in it, but I can’t see me ever putting those in this light again. It just begs for eneloop pro cells with little meaningful performance lost but huge runtime gained.

thanks for turboBB 's great review.

I’m impressed…going to look into this light.

Anyone happen to know the best/cheapest place to buy it?

Great review, Thanks!

Do a ’net search for it. I saw it for $55.95 or more everywhere the search turned up sellers. I ordered directly from Manker to give them the profit from their design, but if you want it sooner there are Ebay sellers. It took 2 weeks for mine to arrive.

Fantastic review and photography TurboBB!

Nice review. Thanks. Esp’ for the hidden turbo engineering mode.

I like the little light and particularly it’s ability to use any AA that I can put into it. In keeping with that my 2nd, and last, mk41 arrived today and the packaging is more for the mass market. It arrived not in a brown cardboard box, but in cutesy packaging designed for display and 4x bigger than what is required. Too, my first light wasn’t serial numbered, this one is. Otherwise it appears to be the same light.

Nice light! Thanks for the review. I had not heard of this light before. It’s great to see 1500 lumen output in a 4xAA light. All the others I’ve seen cap out in the 900-1100 lumen range, so this is a big improvement.

Yeah, 4xAA lights certainly are not EDC, but I don’t find 18650 lights small enough for EDC either. So once you put a large reflector on an 18650 light to give it some throw (like a C8), it’s almost as big as a 4xAA light anyway.

Running this on 4x14500 unprotected sounds kinda worrisome, though. Do the extra length of protected 14500’s fit?

Maybe a

- Emisar D4 or

  • FW3A
    are OK, both are under 10cm

Fantastic, very informative review.

Thank you :slight_smile:

Awesome