Just got one of these for my wife. Played with it for a few minutes and was completely impressed and then dismayed. Have given away many Ti3s and carried the V1 for several years and now the V2. Great lights! Really like Thrunite in general and the NW in particular. Then came the Manker.
It sure looks like it is at minimum the equal to the Thrunite in terms of quality. Quite possibly superior. (Given the price I guess it ought to be.)
Moonlight is a big deal to me and the Manker has it nailed! Actually the lowest are probably too low — something I did not think I would ever say! Very happy with the UI for this light! Instant access to the moonlight of my choice. Instant access to the light level I prefer for normal use and instant access to turbo. Good spacing of the modes.
There is one thing that completely surprised and dismayed me. When I put it side by side with my wonderful Ti3 V2, the wonderful beam that I like on the Thrunite looked awful in comparison. The 4000k SST-20 with the TIR is simply spectacular. I didn’t think I was a tint snob or particularly sensitive to CRI. When looking at them side by side the difference is stunning. The SC31Pro with the SST-40 at 6500 high CRI is OK but this thing is beautiful! The SP40 with the 4000k Cree is very nice but this is just plain nicer. Perhaps it is a combination of CRI and tint but whatever it is the Manker E02 II Neutral White is the nicest beam profile and color of anything I have. After many years of faithful service I think the Ti3 has been relegated to backup duty.
The MANKER E02 II may just be the ideal flashlight for me. I will be willing to swap batteries daily if necessary. The beam is that nice and the output pretty much covers nearly all of my normal use. Add the magnetic tail cap and the nice clip and the light will do nearly everything better than anything else I have. Of course the two limiting factors are runtime and throw. Other lights will make up for that and I will always have an 18650 light available for when I need that. The size and weight that necessitate the downsides of runtime and throw is an advantage that the larger lights can not overcome. Clip this on for handsfree use and you don’t really even know it is there. It can also be clipped in position in ways that the heavier lights simply can not be.
Really thought I was done buying lights again for a while as I really do have my needs more than covered. However, I just couldn’t stop myself and had to pick this up for myself;-)
I have had a Thrunite TiS in my pocket for years but I’ve lost it somehow. So I looked at alternatives and the Manker E02 II was the first I bought. It is indeed a brilliant light and the SST20 4000K CRI95+ is my new favorite led too (got it in another light and it’s exactly the same as in the Manker).
First attraction for me was the choice in low moonlight settings too, but mine is unfortunately not as well made as yours It has a problem as it thinks 1,3v to low so totally shuts down to save the battery but 1,3v is actually a voltage the NiMH battery’s reach very fast so now it has very impractical short runtime per battery. I know I’d ought to return it for warranty but I don’t care for the hassle so I use a 10440 in it that’s working fine but it lost the moonlight’s with this battery.
In my pocket is now a brand new Thrunite Ti3 V2 in NW, it’s even smaller than my old TiS and the E02 II and I’m happy again with it.
Just out of curiosity, have you tried putting a NiMH in, then hold down the switch as you tighten the cap and keep it held for a few seconds? Might do a reset or there may be another way to do a reset. Seems to me that my TH20 did something odd like that when I used to use a 14500 in it and then switch back to the AA. Believe the Armytek Pro’s had something similar. The TH20 does not have LVP for the Li Ion cells but something does change when going back to using NiMH after Li Ion.
Actually: no as I didn’t know this trick. I just did so thou but keeping the button pressed makes it go directly to moonlight and then wander thru the settings so I’d guess holding it longer doesn’t do much after it’s switched on. We’ll see if the light stays on past 1,3v as I’ll leave it on now but when I got the light I was switching between NiMH and 10440 several times just for fun and only later I found the NiMH-problem so might just be as you say, I’ll get back on the result later.
I think it may be possible that there is nothing “wrong” with your flashlight. Hope someone with better understanding of the electronics chimes in. I think it is likely that the problem is that your battery is not up to the task of powering the flashlight. This is the only flashlight I have that behaves this way and I think it is likely a feature not a bug.
The first thing I did with mine was to try a run test to see how far down it would draw the battery. On high, it ran out of regulation at about an hour and twenty minutes with a fresh EBL 1100 battery. Voltage down to 1.17 required 900 mAh charge. I know it is possible to run those batteries down to require over 1000 mAh and likely could have done so if I let it go at the out of regulation dim level.
At about an hour into the test I compared the E02 to my Ti3 on High. Very similar amount of light! This is truly incredible to me. IIRC, runtime on the Ti3 is around :40 and certainly no where near 1:20! How much of that is the difference between the XP-G and the SST-20 and how much is due to the efficiency of the driver? I am not sure but it is the most dramatic difference in similar lights of anything in my collection.
Have a couple of LADA 900s and an eneloop 800 AAA in addition to the EBLs. The LADAs and the eneloop work fine in the Ti3. However, they simply don’t fully work with the E02. The LADAs will come on low but as soon as I try high or turbo they immediately drop out of regulation and will not go above moonlight despite the fact that they have nearly full capacity available. They just can’t put out sufficient amperage to make the light work. On the Ti3 I can tell that it’s not quite as bright as it should be but it is kind of a subtle difference and the light appears to work more or less normally. Different kind of driver and very different results.
With good cells this light is amazing. With less than good cells it becomes about like a Solitare and can only put out something around a lumen. I believe this is tied to the incredible efficiency and the exceptional moonlight modes. Just not sure if that is correct or how to explain it.
I used to have a pair of Eneloop Pro’s but these I’ve lost with lights I’ve lost over time, will get me some new ones soon and try these in this light. I now use a GP Recyko and I thought these pretty good but maybe I’m mistaken. I also have a bunch of cheap 100%Pure battery’s that where bought for remote’s and that kind of stuff, I can imagine these not capable thou they work fine in less demanding lights like the Ti3.
Still think it strange: had it running on - low - and it just blinked and shut off? How much strain would that low setting put on a battery?
Perhaps it is indeed something different with your light. Mine will run on low even with the weaker batteries. However, if it cycles to high it is done as it sets the memory but can’t power the light. Once the high is stored in memory it won’t even go back to low. All it will do is cycle through the moonlight modes.
Bought some Eneloop Pro’s, they cut off at the same “just under 1,3v” as the other batteries did so no more doubt now: it’s really the light that has a problem, it’s a 10440 only light now.