Review: Manker E05 (1xAA-14500, Osram KW Emitter, EDC)

LED Flashlights – General Info 1 x AA / 1 x 14500 Flashlights
1

I received the Manker E05 from manker for the review

The E05 is a compact EDC, it features an OSRAM KW CSLNM1.TG emitter powered by an AA/14500 battery.

The E05 comes in this nice metal box.

Inside: the E05, clip, spare o-rings, lanyard.

The E05 has a cylindrical design, with some knurling on the tailcap and the body. The light measures 93 mm in length, by 20 mm in diameter. The weight is 37 grams, without battery.


The very small OSRAM emitter, in a OP reflector

The tailcap is U shaped, and allows for a very wobbly tailstand (since the switch rubber cover protrudes quite a bit) and easy access to the mechanical forward switch.

The only part you can take apart in the E05 is the tailcap, with anodised square cut threads.

The contact points inside the E05. At the positive pole there is a physical polarity inversion protection mechanism, that allows only button top cells to operate.

UI
The only point of control of the light is the mechanical forward switch, that allows momentary activation.
The light has 4 modes: low, medium, high, and strobe; in loop. So press slightly the switch, let it go and press it again slightly to cycle through the modes, when you reach the one desired, press fully the switch.
The light has memory for the last used mode.

Beamshots at 0.5 meters




Despite having such a small Orange Peel reflector, the E05 manages to achieve a good amount of focalisation of the beam, thanks to the very small OSRAM emitter.



Output and runtime
I tried with some of the protected 14500 cells that I own, but they are too long and do not allow the tailcap to be screwed down fully, and so the light doesn’t work. So I could only test it with some Nimh batteries: AmazonBasics AA 2000mAh (close enough to be considered a regular Eneloop) and Eneloop PRO AA 2500mAh.



The difference in output between the 2 batteries are within the error of the testing, so they might be identical values in reality.

My thoughts
The light is well built and finished.
I like the box it comes in it, makes a good impression for a gift.
I do not like the interface with the strobe mode I have to cycle through almost every time when changing brightness to a lower one.
The regulation is flat on the tested levels.
I always like very dim low modes… but on a light with only 3 modes, the low mode is too dim. When I turn it on at low mode during the day, I have a very hard time understanding if it is on or the battery is empty and the light hasn’t turned on. I would have rather have a 5-10 lumen mode, instead of the 0.5 one.

Thanks to: AntoLed, Won, Zampa.

2

Thanks for the review. Are you going to perform the output and runtime test for a 14500?
Also what’s the maximum range? Will there be any comparative photos?

3

Hello. I will have to fetch some compatible 14500 batteries before.
These last days the weather has been not too kind and I couldn’t take outdoor pictures. I’ll do them hopefully with the 14500 comparison.

4

Thanks for the review. It’s perplexing why Manker decided to include strobe in the main cycle.

5

Thanks for your review.

6

Thanks for the review - I am enjoying my E05.

Just waiting for delivery of my E05 Ti. Like the form factor and am interested to see the difference in beam.

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8

Which 14500 did you try that ended up too long?

9

Is manker going to offer a different UI? I dont know for what people you made this light but most dont like the low mid high strobe…

10

^ THIS MANKER!!!

Please change your User Interfaces and I believe you will have more customers because your lights, overall (and not considering the UIs) are very good!

11

I don’t really see the issue with L>M>H>Strobe on a forward clicky. It’s not like you can easily go from high back to low once you’re clicked in. I also can’t think of a great way to “hide” it with a forward-clicky switch.

Hmm. I see that Manker’s website lists different beam intensities for the two (E05 vs E05 Ti), but the same lumen numbers, and the same diameter. I suppose it’s entirely up to the different reflectors, which looks to be just a difference of OP vs smooth.
It looks nice in Ti, but the Osram, driver, and forward-clicky aren’t my style. Wonder how it mods?

12

I guess the problem is as shown on this video! :wink:
After seeing all the video, on minute 3m28s you’ll notice what happens:

So, the man half clicked to cycle through the 4 modes (L-M-H-Strobe). Then, he didn’t half clicked or clicked again until that minute 3.28.
What happened? Strobe happened!!

The light memorized it. As stated here: Manker E05 Pocket Ultra-Throw LED Flashlight - Mankerlight Official

In a light like this, I guess it would be interesting to have the 3 regular modes, FC switch, no memory (or eventually configurable memory), like the old Sofirn SF14 had (I’m mentioning it due to the similar shape of both) and that many other lights have.

This is of course a personal preference. But that strobe, being memorized or not…I’m not sure how useful it can be! :+1:

13

It seems like Vinh is already offering this light on his site so maybe good for modding?

14

I would have bought so many Manker lights if it weren’t for the UI. They should use the same Olight, Acebeam, Thrunite, Nitecore, UI

15

Olight uses almost all E-switches, so that’s not possible. Nitecore uses a lot of them too. Not as familiar with Thrunite’s offerings.

Oh, I didn’t catch the mode memory. I’m not a fan of memory at all.

16

I did a few comparison beamshots of the Manker E05 with some popular (budget-level) flashlights several months ago.

(in the comparison beamshots, 14500 or 18650 batteries are used, depending on the flashlight compared to)

Manker E05 vs Sofirn SP10B (XP-G2, 550lm, 14500/AA)

Manker E05 vs Sofirn SP31v2.0 (XPL-Hi, 1200 lumens, 18650)

Manker E05 vs GT Micro (XPL-Hi, 1000 lumens, 14500)

Manker E05 vs Lumintop Tool AA 2.0 (XPL-HD, 650lm, 14500/AA)

Manker E05 (Osram NM1) vs Sofirn SP10B (XP-G2)

Manker E05 vs Tool AA 2.0 (XPL-HD)

Manker E05 vs Sofirn SP31v2.0 (XPL-Hi, 18650)

(SP31v2.0 is a bigger flashlight, but I think it would be interesting to compare the E05 with a slightly bigger EDC flashlight, since it has a tight beam;

it seems like the E05 and SP31v2.0 have a similar hotspot, except there's no light outside the hotspot for the E05, while the surrounding area of the SP31v2.0 beam still has light)

Manker E05 vs GT Micro (XPL-Hi)

(comment: it's not really fair to compare the GT Micro with the E05 since the GT Micro has a flashlight head size that is twice as big as the E05, but since both use 14500 batteries, I decided to compare their beamshots) anyway..