Review : Utorch UT01 Flashlight (XP-L V6 / AA & 14500 / e-switch)

LOL…never owned an Olight…why don’t ya send me one… :stuck_out_tongue:

Well, that’s weird…
I have my battery tube reversed on my UT01 because i damaged the tail end a little when experimenting with a pocket clip.

Yeh, now after thinkin real hard, I’m sure the tailcap was loose (locked out). Today, I had even forgot it had a threaded tailcap coz hadn’t used it in couple months. :person_facepalming: I had only tightened the bezel, not remembering the tailcap was locked out. :person_facepalming:

That’s what happens when you have too many lights…you forget how it operates and become an idiot posting about it not working… :laughing: :person_facepalming:

The UT01 is working perfectly…either way the tube is attatched… :+1:

[See updated comment below in post 255]

Another member was PM’ing me about this light and mine still works great after almost 11 months of regular EDC and pack carry usage.

I use both the UT01 and Manker E11. I use them both inter-changeably since the parts are compatible. I bounce back and forth between the two. FWIW I am a flashlight user first… not a hoarder or collector. Once I find a light that works, I keep it till’ it dies or gets out-dated enough to justify an upgrade. As a boy scout troop coordinator I use my lights 1-2 weekends every month, rain or shine. So reliability is important. FWIW these lights have replaced two very capable lights… a 4Sevens QuarkAA-T that I modded with an XPG3, and a Fenix E35UE.

On scout treks I belt carry one light, and backpack only the head of the other as a backup. That way I am not carrying an entire second light. The body tube and tailcap surely aren’t going to fail. I prefer the UT01 head in rain/fog because its colder tint I think cuts through better. I prefer the E11 head in nice weather where the warm tint works just fine.

I got lucky on the switch lotto for both lights… no issues there at all.

To enter programming mode just double tap from either on or off state.

The light will strobe, but just click past all the extra modes and you will reach what appears to be the low-firefly mode. This is the programming mode however. The light will automatically cycle through:

Firefly – L/M/H (tap the output level you want for firefly)
Low – L/M/H (tap the output level you want for Low)
Med – L/M/H (tap the output level you want for Med)
Hi – L/M/H (tap the output level you want for your Hi, the brightest setting in this bank is Turbo)

It will go back to strobe, just double tap to get back out. Now you can cycle through the output modes you just programmed.
This works for the Manker E11 as well. AFIAK this is the only AA/14500 light with this kind of user programmability.

Awesome EDC setup with a leatherman belt pack. I also pack carry the Olight magnetic charger and a sony battery bank, although I don’t usually use them.

What is the factory default output level for each mode? Is it M?

I am not sure, I suspect its not Turbo at the brightest though.

I got one of these last Friday. It was briefly my favorite flashlight, but it’s developed an issue. When I load up a battery and close up the light, the first time I turn on the light with a short press, it works great. Once I turn it off though, I have trouble turning it on again, either I can’t turn it on at all, or I have to get the timing just right — too short, no light, too long, it comes up in the last mode used. If I power-cycle the light by unscrew the head or tailcap enough to break the circuit though, and then screw it down again, it works properly again, once.

At this point I’m pretty sure it’s not mechanical or thermal. I thought it might be a flakey switch, as others have experienced, but the problem only happens after the light has been turned on and off once. If I power cycle the light it always turns on first click. When it is on, it responds to short, long and double clicks properly.

I’m going to ask Gearbest for a replacement, but I thought I’d share my experience to see if anyone else has had similar issues.

I got mine yesterday, cool light. I like the whole package a lot, UI and size particularly, though it could be a lighter.

Mine (neutral) has a surprisingly warm tint, quite orange. It looks orange next to my Emisar D4 3D and even my BLF A6 5A.

eas
I have pretty much the same issues.
plus:

- it doesn’t works if I take the UT01 from the drawer.

  • if I put the lamp in my pocket for 10 minutes it works.

so I took it apart and no errors without the casing. If I assemble it’s dead.

A repair advice would be really nice.

WHOA!!

My UT-01 kind of does the same thing as eas. I can only turn it back on after interrupting the power by unscrewing the tail cap once. So I can’t power cycle it ON-OFF-ON-OFF, without doing this…. ON-OFF-Loosen/tighten tailcap-ON-OFF-Loosen/tighten tailcap-ON-OFF-Loosen/tighten tailcap

I never noticed it before because I always unscrew the tailcap…ALWAYS, to eliminate parasitic drain and accidental turn on in my carry scenarios noted above. Strangely it only does this with a 14500 cell. Eneloops work fine. I am not sure if the UT01 has always been this way from the start. I have no way to tell since I always unscrew the tailcap from day-1.

The Manker E11 does not exhibit this condition at all.

I may replace the UT01 with another, I don’t think I really need to though.

I only used my UT01 with Eneloops (and will keep doing that) so I did not notice it.

My newest UT01 in NW came yesterday and is having the same issues as have been described above with the whacko non re starting after battery removal.
Also this one would not go into programming like the old one by double clicking and selecting from strobe group.
The non drop down turbo was not in the strobe group.

However after using a Eneloop and giorgoskok’s method described here (in the OP from a thread back in Dec2016 Review : Utorch UT01 Flashlight (XP-L V6 / AA & 14500 / e-switch) ) to get into programming, now the flashlight seems to behave normally and the programming option is now added to the strobe group.
Here is his method;

Light has programmable output levels for every mode . Here is a how-to :

1) Turn on the flashlight , navigate on the highest mode , and turn off the light
2) Press the button until it blinks two times (it will turn on in highest mode , and flash 2 times after 7-8 seconds)
3) After it blinks twice , release the switch and double click again (It will enter strobe , beacon etc and a constant current output level & regular modes )
4) Now navigate with single (short) click to the lowest mode
5) It will ramp through 3 different output levels . Single click confirms selected output level of mode and goes to the next one
6) Do the same for all the modes , and when you are in strobe turn off the light with a “long” click .

Now the light will accept battery changes in both 4.2 and 1.2 volt batteries.
HTH and thanks giorgoskok!
Later,

Keith
P.S. I also now just unthread the head to change batteries, seems easier threading than the small tailcap.

Very interesting. Thank you all for your reports.

Hmm. I first used the light with an eneloop. I think I noticed this problem after trying 14500 cells, though now I have it with Eneloops as well.

After looking more closely, it seems like something bit in to the wrapping at the top of the 14500 I tried. I’m pretty sure that was is the three leads poking through the PCB. Mine look to be quite a bit (~1mm or so) longer than what I’ve seen in photos of other people’s lights. It looked like one of them was bent towards the middle one and may be making contact. I tried straightening it out and trimming the leads. Unfortunately, the problem persists.

Joeinchina, it is interesting that the problem goes away if you run the light without the casing. That makes me think that your problem, and perhaps mine, has a mechanical aspect, like a short or open circuit contact when under pressure. Either way, my operating hypothesis is that whatever it is, it leaves either the MCU in some sort of “wedged” state, or the main mosfet and/or its driving circuitry isn’t able to fire more than once.

I’m thinking on using this driver in another host. Is the switch mainly to blame for many of the troubles or are there problems with the driver as well? I’m tryinf to decide if it is generally reliable enough to repurpose. Any out there had a reliable UT01 for a good amount of time?

I don’t believe the problem is with the switch. Its an e-switch though… so who knows. My light works perfectly fine in every other aspect.

So this light just regain popoularity recentlt, i see
For 10$, im sure this light is one of the best bang for buck
I am having one, for half a yeah i guess, is there any changes in new batch, if not, i am considering getting another one

I wonder if perhaps they’re more ‘14500’ sensitive than we think.

I’ve been using my two at every opportunity since they arrived, using only Energizer Ultimate lithium primaries, and so far I can’t even coax an error from either. I’ve tried loosening the tail cap (even when lit), cycling modes rapidly, and using them for long periods as candles. So far, not a flicker of misbehaviour. I’m amazed at the runtimes; while I haven’t been keeping track or doing any formal runtime tests and using all modes indiscriminately, these things act like they’re never going to die!

Alternately, since these are being offered at what feels like a ‘clear out’ price, I wonder if there might be a high incidence of problems and Utorch simply wants to empty the shelves. I’m reminded of the Thrunite Neutron 2-AA of a couple of years back. IF you got a good one, you had a wonderfully efficient and truly outstanding flashlight. The trouble was, there was a high incidence of problems, so the model was dropped in favour of the not-quite-so-efficient Archer.

I have two more inbound that I intended for gifts. I’ll put them through their paces as well when they arrive (I don’t want to gift ‘problems’), but so far I’m really impressed. At $10 apiece, even if I get two good ones out of the four, I’ll still feel I got a bargain.

My two get only eneloobs. Both have the same symptoms.

Hmm? Anyone know which component to change to lower the max output a bit? I need it a bit lower anyway, to run a low vf, low current led.

Use an Ultrafire battery :slight_smile:
Sorry, couldn’t resist.