[review] Anekim E6+ AA multifuel light

“A well thought-out light from start to finish.”

Pretty good summary of the light. :laughing:

[Pix have to come later, after Amazon “publishes” them in my review, so I’m cheating and putting up a stock pic of the light]

[rightclick for fullsize pic]

The E6+ is the latest AA/14500 entry from Anekim, whose UC20s (white and green) were new to me and seriously impressed me. :slight_smile:

I know someone who could use a purse-light where a full-size 18650 light would be too big and too heavy. The E6+ seemed to be a nice light to try.

The light came in a generic “TWCB” (thin white cardboard box), which was sufficient, as it was very well mummified in bubble-wrap inside. The delivery man may have wanted to put that to the test, as the package and box looked as if someone played street hockey with the package as the puck. Yet the light inside was in flawless condition. :laughing:

And that’s pretty much what’s in the box, the well-protected light itself. It’s not a kit, so does not come with a 14500 cell, so you can use your own or drop in an alkaleak cell. I used a LFP cell (3.2V vs 4.2V) and it was hella bright, and worked flawlessly.

First impressions at seeing the box were horror, and I was picturing the light looking like bobofett’s helmet, but as mentioned, it was in flawless condition. Anodisation is a very nicely textured semigloss black. Not a single void or nick or anything, not even on the knurling. I’m used to that with other high-quality lights, and it’s nice to see Anekim is following the quality trend.

I did see what looked like a gap on the edge of the body-tube near the clip, but it was a piece of fuzz from a tissue. :person_facepalming:

One very nice touch is the Anekim logo and “E6+” is very clear and crisp. And one bigger bonus is no “crap” printed anywhere else. No CE logo, no bacon-in-a-triangle symbol, no “hot!” warning, nothing, just a nice clean design. Yay!

The pocket clip is a nice design, a clean gloss-black finish, nice and springy with enough clearance for thick material, and possibly on a cap’s visor. There are two cutout rings where the clip can clip onto, one in front and one in back, so it seems reversible, and the clip can be mounted in either direction, so it looks like 4 possibilities. My only grex is that it’s not a deep-carry clip, and almost a third of the light would stick out from a typical pants-pocket. A deep-carry clip would make it ideal.

Behind the front glass is a GITD (glow in the dark) O-ring that’s there and quite subtle. Nothing glaring, just a hint of light.

I vaguely recall there was mention of a 6500K color-temperature somewhere, which I can’t seem to find anywhere in the descriptions now, but the actual CT is more neutral and very nice and balanced. If I had to guess, I’d say mine is about 5500K or so, not cool at all, but wonderfully neutral, and not a hint of green or any other untoward color. I lucked out in the tint-lottery. :smiley:

All the light’s functions are controlled by the rear mechanical tailswitch. It’s most definitely firm to the touch and nicely recessed from the rear “saddle”, so no accidental activations here! There’s no sponginess, no “dead zone” when pressing… again, a very nice setup.

The UI is a simple low/medium/high cycle, with strobe being available with a doubleclick. Thankfully, the timing has to be fast to activate strobe, so unless you make a determined effort to do so, you’ll likely just be going through 2 normal modes instead. Suits me just fine! :laughing:

There is mode-memory, so it “remembers” the mode when switching, but has the dreaded next-mode-memory (NMM). Ie, if you flick to high, use it a while, and then turn it off and let it sit, the next time you power it up, it’ll be in low. Repeat, and next time it’ll be in medium. Etc. This can be a dealbreaker to many people, or blissfully ignored and just clicked to the “right” mode when turned on, it’s up to you.

At least for my LFP cell (3.2V), the l/m/h levels are nicely spaced. Popping in an eneloop (1.2V) also gives nicely spaced modes, albeit at modest brightness. Tossing in a Li-ion 14500 of course gives the brightest light levels, and maintains the same nice even spacing. So it is truly a multi-fuel light, everything from 1.2V NiMH up to 4.2V Li-ion.

So aside from the next-mode memory, everything about this light seems very nicely done, and well thought-out. Color me impressed. :wink:

Great review thank you

Hey… any visible PWM in the modes? I am on a dual fuel light kick right now, but most of them have horrible PWM. I have been installing the Convoy dual fuel 4 mode driver in several lights and dropins lately. Thanks for your comments and thoughts.

Amazon description implies that maybe memory can be turned off…

“Features four lighting modes with mode memory plus strobe, All these functions can be turned on by tapping the tail (mute), and turned off by pressing the switch.1–10–100%, double-click to flash, power off memory;Use 14500 batteries up to 1000 lumens, AA batteries up to 320 lumens. ”

No worries, enjoy!

Wish I could use The Pencil Trick™ on it, though. :laughing:

Didn’t notice any at all when on, but I just stuck a 14500 in it (brightest levels) and kicked it into low (most dramatic), and when swinging it around and looking at the front glass, yeah, you see “afterimages”, so it’s definitely PWM and not CC.

Ain’t “visible” to me in actual use, so I can’t say if anyone else would be bugged by it.

Y’mean “power off memory”? Just means that it remembers the mode when turned off, not the mode when being on undisturbed for N seconds like some lights.

Goggle “off-time memory” and probably “on-time memory”, as I get those terms confoozed.

I was afraid that was the real meaning… I am very familiar with this memory method. Thanks for the PWM check, I am very sensitive to PWM… it is a bummer.

Thanks for the review LB!

This is another Convoy T2 clone, that can be joined to the Manta Ray and Seeknite versions of that light!
Fortunately Simon will have some 12 modes AA/14500 drivers soon for you to replace that “dreaded NMM” for something more usable :wink:

I bought another T2 host because these are “built to last” lights :wink: Enjoy yours :+1:

Link to Amazon.

While only 4 mode, Simon’s last batch of drivers are current mode memory, not next. And yes, no PWM.

Yup, I was referring more to the “host” than the driver, although what Lightbringer described seems simila to the first batch of T2. And that PWM…not good :zipper_mouth_face:
I don’t have the new version with driver, only host, but it seems better and I think it will improve :wink:

Not familiar with those, but yeah, this looks like a tough little critter.

Hmm, tried to unscrew the head, but got the bezel instead. Cute little LED, definitely small. Reflector is about 17½mm(d) × 12½mm(h), so a right-size TIR lens might fit. The beam’s pretty nice as-is, so it might not even “need” one.

But the head does come off, and there’s a nice Au-plated spring, and the driver itself looks fanciful, with a nice retaining-ring, too. Everything’s nice, what can I say? :laughing:

That really is a clone isn't it, other than the driver. Does it have brass rings or the cheaper alu setup? Decent switch? Same clip even. If you could remove the reflector for a photo I'd love to see if it's the same mcpcb, which is sorta unique (for Convoy).

The next-mode is a deal killer but otherwise this could be a quick-and-safe option to recommend to others in a hurry or who need amazon protections. T2 is about $4 less with the shipping wait time but your choice of many emitters (incl 219B presently), or about $ 2.50 less if you want a 14500 included. And the decent/normal driver with lvp. Personally I'd never recommend a li-ion light that does not have lvp unless I know the person is aware and approaching enthusiast interest level or at least able and willing to not treat the light like lower voltage cells.