Review: Manker U12 (EDC, 20700, Rechargeable, XHP50 II)

is possible to buy somewhere or is it still just a sample? any issues now? looks interesting really

Just putting in my 2 cents worth. It’s 20700, I get it’s not 21700. But it’s a very small for the battery light with a built in charging port. 4000 mah instead of 4800 but still beats the 18650 3500 with the current needed for full LED potential. How often have you run a battery dead walking the dog at night. It is what it is and It’s smallish EDC. My complaint is their poorly designed bezels and NO warranty if you bought from anyone but them on their site.

Are there any other lights similar in size that have USB-C? If not I might have to get this one (once reviews confirm the sample issues are resolved).

I haven’t heard of ANY lights using USB-C. This is the first. Then again, I’m not really checking out all the latest flashlight designs. Micro usb can do 2A, so I’m not sure why they are switching. Maybe because newer phones use it?

I think Wuben uses USB-C as well.

For me there are 2 reasons to prefer type-C:

  • my phone uses it
  • it’s symmetric, so no time wasted trying to plug it the wrong side

Has anyone seen it for sale? I see it on ebay for $69.95, but I would hope there is a coupon price somewhere.

The extra battery length makes me wonder if it has a protection circuit added.

manker official sell it already…but…i would also waiting for any coupon…its almost emisar price…

AliExpress has them, on CW and NW! They stopped being on sale for a while, but they are back!

As far as I can tell, no coupons around for this one! :frowning:

soo,i never had a flashlight with this led…i am not able to compare it with my second choice Emisar…
but as i know,Emisar is extremly bright only for a few seconds?? so maybe this is more usable…or?runtimes are also important…who is able to confirm it?

well…if anyone is interested ….video on youtube shows,that this model is not brighter than the previous one with xpl…sadly…

What are you talking about?
Surely the xhp50 is going to outperform an xpl.
Do you have a video link?

i mean this:

i would like to be mistaken:) but …still is it too expensive…

I think your getting turned around by the person who made a comment on the video, not the video itself. Blackbolt2099 does not know what he is talking about.

The U11 has 1,050 lumen and the U12 has 2,000 lumen. So the brightness is double.

The U11 has a throw distance of 252 meters.
The U12 has a throw distance of 164 meters.

I think this is where the confusion is.

The U11 has a small hot spot that goes further, but does not light up a big area.

The U12 has a bigger hot spot that lights up a bigger area, but doesn’t go as far.

I tried to find hot spot sizes of both lights and the U12 looks about double the diameter (over 4 times the surface area) of the U11. Hopefully we will get some side by side reviews to see the difference in hot spot sizes.

Have you ever seen a zooming light? You’ll notice that the bigger spot does not go as far as a smaller spot. You can make the hot spot tiny and go really far, but you only see a small area. So you have to decide for yourself what is important to you. If you want maximum distance in a small light you can get a Convoy C8 for about 450 meters throw, but the hot spot is small and not practical for close up use.

I would say the big hot spot on the U12 is great for close up use. I would prefer it for walking around at night as opposed to the U11 which is weaker in brightness.

thank you Jason:)
hm…iam more into floody ones.they are bright enough…who need to see every night 300 meters?
i will see.thanks:) yes,the guy confused me:)anyway,its possible to buy it in Europe from local sellers…interesting:)

Got my U12 a few days ago. Some more info:

- Moonlight mode is customizable anywhere from 0 lm to around 50 lm in 21 steps.

- Finally, Manker is putting true NW led instead of WW, unlike the U11.

- Measured standby current is 240 uA (indicator off) and 2.8 mA (indicator on).

  • Serial number, better feel of the button (not stiff like U11).

Do you have anymore comments or updates on this light?

Any QC issues with your light?

Like mentioned earlier; I’m also guessing the battery has an added Protection Circuit added to it because otherwise I don’t think the OP would have had a problem fitting it in a modern charger. Have you been able to fit the battery into an external charger?

Have you tested to see if a bare 21700 flat-top cell will fit in the light?

My u22 came with moonlight set to 0, did your u12 come that way?

I’m wondering if they will start selling this with an updated tube for the 21700, they are using the 21700 in the u22. I have the u22, but bought it without battery since I have several 21700, but I don’t know if I can trust the built-in charger with an unprotected battery so I always charge it externally. I can’t find a place to buy the u12 without the battery or I would probably do that.

I think these lights (u12, and u22) remain expensive because they know with these batteries they will likely not sell a lot of them right now, and they may have trouble sourcing enough bare cells for their batteries also. The 20700 may be getting harder to get, not sure about the 21700, but based on price of these batteries I can see many people just sticking with the tried, true, and beautiful 18650.

well i want also this light…dont know why,i like it much more than Emisar…but waiting for neutral version.Definitely.But as i know,the mcpcb is not fixed to the body…So it rotate.And the heatransfer is because of it not very good.I wrote them,they said,the problem is just the sample version.But people already bought it and its still not repaired.So i am not sure,when i will buy it…Mixed feelings now…

The inner diameter of the battery chamber is 20.7mm. So there’s no possibility to fit in a 21700 battery, with or without tube.
The supplied Manker 4250mAh battery has an overcharge/discharge protection circuit and is 74.4mm long, I can’t physically fit it in my Keeppower L1 charger (only takes up to 65mm cells).
Charging current in the flashlight is around 0.7A (same as U11).

I don’t remember what the Moonlight mode was set to when I first got the light, but thats very easy to change, the Engineering mode on the U11/T01/E11 was very convoluted and is now gone.

Other than that, I hate the fact that the LED mcpcb isn’t held down with screws to the internal copper heatsink. I thought it was only in the prototype model shown here by Budda, until I opened the light head to see that the mcpcb was actually rotated almost 90deg as they tightened the bezel. It rotated together with the mirror on the paste underneath. Both the mcpcb and the heatsink underneath are D shaped, so with the mcpcb rotated the actual heat transfer area was reduced by almost half. Pretty silly design from Manker. The way I solved this was to grease the o-ring that’s between the glass and the mirror, so that it slides easily on the glass when I tightened the bezel so that the mirror and mcpcb does not rotate. Worth noting that the mirror has an o-ring on its outside rim to help not rotate, but it was not enough. I also have the U11 and have had the E11. Both of those have mcpcb screws.
But maybe they figured the U12 doesn’t need screws, as both the mcpcb and heatsink underneath are solid copper. After all, the CPU in your PC isn’t held down with screws to the heatsink, yet the heat transfer is very good. Still, the rotation problem remains.

But besides that, I would say that the U12 is a better light than the U11 (if you are into floody lights that is), once you make sure the thermal contact is good. It runs cooler than U11 at the same lumen output, runtime is also twice longer, not only because the larger battery, but because the XHP50.2 is more efficient than the XP-L.

What’s with this 18650\26650 in MOUTH.

I carry the little AA ones in mouth when neded.
But ALL others. I just tuck under armpit.
Much easier.
My Imalent DN35 runs a 26650 and will run forever at 1500
with turbo at 2200. Not that “I” Can see much difference t’ween the two (1500\2200)
20\450\900\1500\turbo 2200. in a small comfortable torch IN hand.
Personally, I can’t see the practicality of anything between the 18650\
26650. Lots of stocks. lots of chargers.

It’s just the same old. Same old. “something different”.
I always carry a spare 18650\14500 in pocket anyway.
the 26650 torches I have are only used intermittently for short periods. longer\wider coverage.
It’s getting to the stage anything more than a Sofurn C8T,
you looking at a searchlight.
Something like the Imalent DX80 I’m saving for.
Just to have it. NOT that I’d ever neet to use it.
I can’t see that far. Chuckle.