[Review] Fitorch ER16 (XP-L2, 1x16340) ~ An excellent EDC

Today we will take a look at the Fitorch ER16, the latest addition to the company’s flashlight arsenal.

The light ships inside a regular cardboard box that has some nice graphics and info imprinted to it.
The company tends to keep the same color scheme and packaging style on all of their products.

Here’s a close up shot of the output and runtime figures that the manufacturer provides.
As seen, the ER16 is capable of pushing up to 1000 lumen.

Except from the light, the box contains a carrying pouch, a lanyard, a microUSB cable and a spare o-ring.

I would like to insist in the quality of the pouch.
I have handled lots of pouches in the past, but the ones provided by Fitorch are always excellent.
Of course, the pouch contains a belt loop and is secured with velcro.

Being an 16340 flashlight, the ER16 is very compact.
Its design is on par with the rest of the company’s models.
The light has a matte black finish and features some deep cut heatsink fins, while the tactile, backlit side switch is also present.

The side switch is illuminated.
It shines while the flashlight is charging or during the battery check mode.
We will check out both functions later in the review.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a great EDC light if a pocket clip wasn’t included
The clip is mounted flash with the tail and as result it allows for a deep pocket carry.
It provides great retention force and is matte black coated as well.

On the back side of the ER16, there is the integrated charging port.
By default the port is protected by a rubber flap.
It’s worth noting that the light is rated as IPX-8 water resistant.

The head of the light houses the XP-L2 led that has a cool white tint.
Thanks to the centering ring the alignment of the emitter is perfect.
The reflector is smooth while the head is also crenulated.

The tail side of the light doesn’t have a switch - the light is side switch operated.
Rather, it contains a strong magnet that easily supports the weight of the device.

Here’s the back side of the driver.
As seen, the LED+ contact has a brass pillar that secures in place the positive contact of the battery.

There is nothing fancy on the tail side other than a thick brass spring.

The total weigh of the light without batteries is around 72 grams.
You should be looking at around 100gr with a battery included.
As you might imagine, the ER16 is a great EDC option.

User Interface

The flashlight is operated exclusively by its side switch.
Here’s a list of all the available modes

  • Power on: Short press
  • Power off: Long press on any mode
  • Mode change: Single press ( Turbo > High > Mid > Low)
  • Strobe: Double press on any mode
  • Lockout engage: Long press while off. The light will start blinking after the lockout has been engaged
  • Lockout disengage: Long press. The lockout can only be bypassed by strobe mode (quick double press)
  • Battery check: Triple press while off. The switch will illuminate multiple times in Green or Red (Green blink = 1.0V, Red = 0.1V)

The flashlight is using off time memory, which means that it will stay on the last used mode.

Additionally, it also supports low power warning.
Once the battery drops below 3.4V the side switch will slowly blink in Red.
If the voltage drops below 3.0V the switch will start blinking faster.

Lastly, a great feature of the ER16 is its thermal regulation.
The light won’t stepdown using a timer, but it will slowly drop the output once the temperature of the body rises.

Charging Interface

As I stated previously, the light has an integrated charging interface.
The charging is accomplished via a regular microUSB cable and the charging port is covered by a rubber flap.

Once the charging has been initiated, the switch will shine in green.
During charging, I managed to record up to 0.8A of input current, which means that a normal 16340 cell would take around an hour to get fully charged.
Of course, once the battery voltage rises, the input current drops and the charging stops at around 4.21V

Beamshots

Here are some wall beamshots that should help you identify the output differences between the four modes.

Control Shot

Low

Mid

High

Turbo

To summarize everything, I have liked a lot the form factor of the ER16.
Its quality as always is excellent and its output is more than enough.
Thanks to its minimal dimension and weight, I will be keeping the flashlight in my daily EDC rotation :slight_smile:

Here’s the product’s page: Fitorch ER16, XP-L2 16340 Flashlight

Thanks for the review.

Any idea if 18350 cell would fit? Is the clip reversible?

+ 2 on these questions :+1:

And another one, just to be sure: it starts on Turbo and then goes down in modes like this “Turbo > High > Mid > Low” ?
Wish it was the reverse…

Sorry for not responding back but I hadn’t notice the new messages until some time ago.

Once I got the light, I had the same question so I contacted the manufacturer.
According to what I was told, the host can’t accept an 18350 because the body is slightly concave - the tail side is tighter than front opening.

Unfortunately I don’t have an 18350 to test.

Yes you are correct. It starts on turbo and the mode order is Turbo > High > Mid > Low > Turbo and so on.

For those wondering if the 18350 fits and works, it does on mine. Fits and works with a Nitecore 700 mah IMR 18350 (NI18350A). The tube is slightly larger than the 18350 (maybe a mm) with no rattles once the top is screwed on tight. The Nitecore RCR123A fits pretty loose in the tube (2-3 mm extra space) but once the top is tightened on then there is no rattling

Clip is not reversible on mine. It is hard to put on and even harder to get off. When I was finally able to get the clip off (with a lot of force!) It scratched the light, took off the anodization and actually gouged the battery tube and made 2 sharp edges that I will now have to sand down. The 2 gouges are sharp enough to give me a small cut if i slid my finger across them

If you hold the power button down for 3 seconds and then release it, you will start in low mode and then the next mode is turbo

Thanks for the confirmation on this! It’s a pitty - for me, of course - that lots of these “small” lights start on high modes instead of lowest ones! This seesms a pretty light, though!

Thanks for the inputs on these aspects as well :+1:

Take an 18650, see if it slides into the battery tube, then see if the other end slides into the tailcap. Doesn’t have to close (length), just fit into each (diameter).

You are correct, an 18650 will fit into both ends

what kind of 16340 are you guys running in this light?

Will some 16340 light take an 18350 battery?

If you mean will the Fitorch ER16 take a 16340 and an 18350, then in my case, yes. Both fit and both work (not at the same time) in the ER16. I am using the Nitecore N18350A (IMR 18350 700mah) and a Nitecore RCR123A (NL166 650mah)

Thats awesome! The more Mah i can cram into this the better, from what i gather, the 18350’s have 300-400 more Mah compared to 16340s
Does any 18350 fit in the ER16?

This is what i would like to get for the ER16 if it fits https://liionwholesale.com/products/aspire-18350-battery-10a-15a-1100mah-genuine-and-tested?variant=37706165649

These are the 18350’s that I have. Nitecore IMR18350 700mAh Rechargeable 18350 Battery

Unfortunately I don’t have an accurate way to measure the length and width of the batteries (so I am not sure of the actual size) and I can’t tell you for sure if the batteries that you are linking to will fit in to the ER16.

Thank you. Ok so i checked……the length is the same of both batteries but the Aspire is 18.3mm in diameter while the nitecore is 18mm.
Do you have any play between the tube and batt? 0.3mm certainly isnt much thicker but if you are already rubbing the edges, the aspire might not fit.

I wonder if FITORCH will introduce a 18650 conversion tube - all electronics is in the head, the diameter is about rights, so a simple longer battery tube should accomodate a 18650 battery for this flashlight.

It already does fit 18350, confirmed earlier in this thread by itsme, post #5 above

And it was also confirmed in another thread too.
EDIT: Sorry ace22, thought I read 18350, my eyes were deceiving me, but Pete7874 enlightened me!

But ace22 asked about 18650, not 18350. :slight_smile:

:person_facepalming: :person_facepalming: Thanks Pete.

I noticed I mixed up user names as well, adding to even more confusion. :person_facepalming:

an 18650 will fit (width wise) into the battery tube but since the battery tubes length is 4.5 cm it will not allow the 6.5 cm 18650 to work in this light. Is that what you meant?

I don’t know how to upload pictures to the server or how to link to them from another site, sorry

The question was: would Fitorch be willing to offer a longer tube to accomodate an 18650 cell.