Review : Manker E14 II , pocket rocket flashlight (+teardown w/ interesting driver !)

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Manker E14 II Review

Overview/Specifications :

Specification:
Emitter: Cree XP-G3 LED or Nichia 219C LED
Maximum 2200 lumens output
Maximum beam intensity: 6000cd
Maximum beam distance: 155meters
Waterproof standard: IPX-8, 2M
Impact resistance: 2meters
Working voltage: 2.7 - 4.2v
Driver: Most efficiency constant current circuit
Micro USB interface rechargeable function
Material: Aircraft-grade aluminum body
Surface treatment: Premium type III hard-anodized anti-abrasive finish
Lens: Toughened ultra-clear glass lens with anti-reflective coating
Dimensions: 78mm length x 27mm head diameter
Weight: 94gram (without battery)
Accessories: O-ring *1, Extension tube *1, Lanyard *1, Holster *1, pocket clicp *1, USB charging cable *1, high drain 2600mAh 18650 battery *1

Brightness Levels & runtime:
Moonlight 0.1-5lm >240hrs,
Low 22lm 38hrs
Medium 140lm 10hrs
High 850lm 3.5hrs
Turbo 2200 - 850lm 40s –1hrs (Max 2200lm output, after 40s stepdown to 850lm)
Strobe 2200lm

First Look :

Flashlight in it’s box , a nice brown box :

Package Contains :

  • Flashlight
  • Lanyard
  • O-ring
  • Pocket clip

A closer look :

You can see the front side of the flashlight , with the e-switch visible .

Notice the nice copper head :

Comes with 2 different tubes , one for 18350 and one for 18650 :

A comparison of the light with 2 batteries :

Button top 18650 batteries are a tight fit in length :

Manker E14 II and Astrolux K01 :

Astrolux S41 with some patina and Manker E14 II with 18350 tube :

The led’s on the front , 4*xp-g3 with a TIR optic :

Body has knurling that makes the surface grippy :

Tailcap , it has a nice design :

Threads are square and anodized :

Coming soon…

Here is the clip that comes with the light , it can be installed in both ways :

Inside the tailcap , a pcb with a double spring :

If you unscrew the head , there is a micro-usb charging port on the tube , to charge the battery inside :

And inside the tube :

When charging , top side lights red or blue , red when battery is charging and blue when it’s full :

Here is the driver side , with the little brass button :

How it works (&modes) :

When the flashlight is off, click one time to access the moonlight mode , with at least another click circle: moonlight - low - high. Long press to turn it off.

Shortcuts , from off :

  • Long press the button to access to the mode your last use
  • Double click access to Turbo

Engineering mode (Chose output level for moonlight mode):
Quick click for 4 times from any mode to get access to engineering mode. Once click to check different levels and long press to make your final choice.

Here is a diagram from Manker :

Measurements :

Samsung INR18650-30Q

Lumens :

  • Moonlight - 1 lumen
  • Low - 15 lumens
  • Medium - 152 lumens
  • High - 695 lumens
  • Turbo - 2803 lumens

Current draw , in standby mode (parasitic drain while flashlight is off) : Coming soon…

Intensity : Coming soon…

My test , with thermal data :

Turbo mode :

Teardown :

Bezel is not glued , and by removing the optic we can see the leds :

MCPCB is copper dtp . As you can see , driver wires are connected the other way around , because leds are reflowed the other way too . Basically this was done intentionally to prevent short circuit if something goes wrong .

And here is the interesting part !! Driver is a fet+1 driver , in 2 stacked pcb’s . Bigger pcb is 20mm …

Bottom board . We can see the fet , the 7135 and a capacitor :

And here is the top (second) board with the rest of the parts , the diode , the attiny13a , another cap and the e-switch :

I’ll be probably post a ramping firmware here , for those who want to mod their lights :wink:

Beamshots :

Wall @ 12m :

Control shot :

Turbo :

High :

Conclusion :

An awesome pocket rocket , well designed / materialized flashlight which can provide a great amount of light if needed (= not for super long time) , with an interesting interface and different moonlight levels to choose from !

Comment if you want me to check something on the flashlight , or tell your opinion . Thanks !

Flashlight was provided for review by Manker . Check out the light here : Manker E14 II .

Reserved for updates

Nice, thanks :+1:

Thanks for the review.

I prefer the charging port to be accessible from the outside of the light. I know, less water resistance. But I rather not have to unscrew the light every time I need to charge it.

The Astrolux version has the charging port accessible without unscrewing the head. Rumor has it a version with an aluminum body and copper heatsink like the S41 and this Manker is coming soon.

Thanks for review!!
For me this type of charging port have the advantage of better water proof than the external ports covered by perhaps not reliable rubber pieces.

( I am using my unit with 18350 IMR Aw and IMR Nitecore 18350 most of the time)

Thanks for a great review. I am glad to see that they have stopped using the glue.

Bob

Thank you giorgoskok! :+1:

Do you see signs of the clear coat in any way, on the copper head?

This is most certainly on my ‘soon to-get’ list. I LOVE that it has two pocket clip grooves also.

I am thinking about tearing mine apart, and removing the (reported) clear coat. So I can get a tad better cooling, but more importantly. That all so wonderful patina, later on down the road. :sunglasses:

Thanks for your kind words !

I was excited with the driver , now that it is a fet+1 and charging is in a different circuit someone can have a ramping firmware without a stepdown for the cost of 1-2 resistors (for the lvp) :stuck_out_tongue:

Yes it has a very thin layer of clear coat or something similar .

I polished my S41 and created a patina , the one in one of the pics , it has a cool uneven patina … (i will try to get a better pic )

Yes, I saw that. It really is getting a nice look to it.

Did you take that coating off with some MEK solvent, or did you just buff it off with a wheel polisher?

Just polished it :slight_smile:

Thanks for the review (in progress). I see the great performance of this light but can not get over the looks, it is plain ugly to me :innocent: .

I see that the head does not have the rim that the opic can sit on (the fix that Astrolux had for the S41S) and that prevents twisting the optic when closing the bezel. So a modder’s question: are the dimensions in this light such that the optic is the correct height above the leds without damaging the domes, and that the bezel can be closed without chance of shearing off the led domes?

If i remember correctly , optic sits better than S41 , sits all the way down …

I’ll be disassembling the light to flash another firmware , so i’ll post pics for that matter Djozz , just to be sure .

That stepdown is ridiculous. It’s reasonable enough for a FET quad to have a significant stepdown, but to less than 10%? Good thing it isn’t too hard to get to the MCU and flash a different firmware.

I completely agree. It is ridiculous. I mentioned it in the Manker thread, and haven’t gotten a response back.

Outstanding light! Nice review!!

I think you should have a look again. In the description is says goes to high mode after 40 secs of turbo. They even replied saying in the final version that’s how it’s gonna be.

:+1:

Ah that sounds much more reasonable. Slightly lower peak turbo coupled with a much more reasonable stepdown.

I have one on order set to arrive end of next week! :sunglasses:

Lucky you. I got the s42 instead because of price. I think the manker version is so much better looking.
Did you get the XPG3 Or Nichia?