Fireflies E01 Review - First Impressions and Teardown

AnhTran · 2019-05-27T12:44:06.000Z

When I first saw the groupbuy of this flashlight, my thought was: it’s nothing special about this light, a single emitter flashlight but not a big reflector/thrower flashlight?
Then I read a bit more about it:
• it uses 21700, I didn’t have any 21700 flashlight yet.
• it has 15mm thick integrated shelf with 7 deep heat sink fins, ok so its heat dissipation performance must be very good, I always like something thick and heavy duty.
In addition, I did not have any Fireflies flashlight yet, therefore I purchase both the E01 and E07.
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Manufacturer’s description:
• Luminus SST40W N5 5700K emitter with lifespan of 50,000 hours
• Max 2300 Lumens
• Ramping (From 1 Lumens to 1000 Lumens) ; Double click to Turbo 2300 Lumens
• 4 + 1 modes (20lumens>100lumens>500lumens>1000lumens); Double click Turbo 2300 Lumens
• Made of 6063 aluminum alloy
• Body color: Matt Black / Clear anodizing
• Black HAIII Anodising Surface Finish / Clear-ano HAII Anodising
• 1x 21700 / 18650 (excluded)
• 6 degree angle TRI lens
• Toughened ultra-clear glass lens
• Digital current regulation on lower brightness
• IPX6 waterproof
• with Purple switch leds
• Size: 120mm(L )x 34mm(Head) x 26mm(Body)
• Net Weight: 96 gram
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E01 Left and E07 Right

Only the tail side has square thread

20mm star

The driver is very hard to access, cannot pull it out of the head because the thread part is so long

Enough thermal paste

Size compared to other flashlights

Beamshots

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Measurement
• 1514 lux at 5m ~ 37,850 cd ~ 390m throw
• Fireflies advertised that the shelf is 15mm thick, but my measurement shows that it’s only 10mm. Still thick but not as advertised.
• MCPCB star is 20mm edge to edge, corner to corner might be 22mm.
• Tail current: around 8A, with fresh Samsung 21700 48G, using a wire to connect battery to flashlight’s body. It’s lower than I imagined, the contact might not be good enough.
Turbo test:

The flashlight head’s temperature at the end of the test is 70C, too hot to hold. Ambient temp is 23C.
I will do some more test and update here later.

[update] I did a second test, 5 mins, 100% is turbo

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Initial impression:
Overall quality flashlight. The clear version will show more imperfection/machining mark/scratches than the anodized versions. The shelf is not 15mm thick as advertised but 10mm is still very thick, the fins are quite deep so heat dissipation must be good. Driver is very hard to access because the threaded part is very long, it cannot be pulled out of the head completely. My advice is if you don’t absolutely need to access the driver, don’t pull it out. If you break the e-switch wire’s solder joint, it’s very hard to fix.
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About Fireflies: I paid extra for DHL express shipping but ended up received the flashlights later than many people here used free delivery option. Email communication may somtime takes a few day to get a response, this is definitely one of the areas that Fireflies can improve.
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Conclusion: A good but not special 21700 flashlight.

koziy · 2019-05-27T16:25:08.000Z

I noticed this flashlight on the Fireflies site a couple days ago and was hoping the lower advertised output in the E01 might make it more oriented toward prolonged output at lower lumen and cooler heat levels. Can you post a beam shot? What appears to be the intended use for this flashlight? Is it a thrower or more of a general purpose EDC beam?

What are you using as a baseline for 100% brightness? High (1000 lumens) or turbo (2300 lumens)? 70 degrees C seems pretty hot for two minutes at 1000 lumens. I love my E07, but it gets hot too, just not sure the lumen levels.

My experience with FF’s use of DHL shipping, from placing two orders with them, is that it can take about a week or so from ordering to get it in my hands, as opposed to 2-3 days when I order something internationally via DHL from pretty much anywhere else. That has still been faster than waiting 3-4 weeks for an epacket, and their DHL rates are very fair compared to what some other Chinese flashlight sellers ask. I can also confirm that email communication times are variable. Sometimes, a reply would come within a few hours and I’d reply within a minute of it coming with a question, but then have to wait a day or two for a reply to that message.

SKV89 · 2019-05-27T16:36:04.000Z

Thanks for the teardown. Looks like a good host for Virence 4xE21A boards that are 21mm. Will make for a killer ultra HI CRI general purpose light.

AnhTran · 2019-05-27T16:36:14.000Z

The 100% is turbo level ạt freshly charged Samsung 48G cell, I don’t have any equipment to measure lumen but the advertised lumen is 2300 lumen. I think it is good for general purposes. I will add some beam shots soon.

koziy · 2019-05-27T16:53:29.000Z

Oh, OK. That’s good to hear that it’s not getting up to 70 degrees just from 1000 lumens.

AlexGT · 2019-05-27T16:57:44.000Z

Thank you for your review, Please post some beamshots next to a known light for reference.

komeko · 2019-05-27T17:01:03.000Z

AnhTran, will you be doing Teardown E07?
I wonder if Fireflies have improved inside.

AnhTran · 2019-05-28T08:43:54.000Z

Update beamshots and another 5mins turbo test

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Measured 1514 lux at 5m ~ 37,850 cd ~ 390m throw
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komeko:

AnhTran, will you be doing Teardown E07?
I wonder if Fireflies have improved inside.

I may do it later when i have time because the E07 mcpcb seems to be more complicated and requires more soldering skill

ZoomieFan · 2019-05-29T12:21:45.000Z

Does the extra thick shelf also benefit the none turbo mode?

djozz · 2019-05-29T13:59:19.000Z

ZoomieFan:

Does the extra thick shelf also benefit the none turbo mode?

No

AlexGT · 2019-06-04T04:36:06.000Z

Anyone knows what are the dimensions of the optic? Diameter and height please! Thanks!

AnhTran · 2019-06-04T06:35:44.000Z

AlexGT:

Anyone knows what are the dimensions of the optic? Diameter and height please! Thanks!

Top 30mm
Bottom 10mm
Height ~17mm

Using a tape measure so not very accurate

AlexGT · 2019-06-04T12:00:51.000Z

Thanks

Marc_E · 2019-06-04T13:14:05.000Z

AnhTran:

AlexGT:

Anyone knows what are the dimensions of the optic? Diameter and height please! Thanks!

Top 30mm
Bottom 10mm
Height ~17mm

Using a tape measure so not very accurate

I measured 30.1mm top width, 10mm bottom width, and 17.2 height with a micrometer, so quite accurate
Also, the lip is 1.5mm thick and the aperture is just under 5 mm and fits over the dome of an SST-40 and XM-L2 but not over the core board, and fits completely over the board of an XP-G2. It doesn’t fit over the XHP-50.2s dome though which has scuppered one of my plans.

I measured E01s head to be 18mm from top to shelf, the MCPCB as 1.5mm and the SST-40’s board as 0.7mm which i think means that the optic sits about 0.1mm above the board.

AlexGT · 2019-06-04T14:26:11.000Z

Thank you for your accurate measurements Marc E

80T · 2019-07-21T19:54:58.000Z

Does anyone know of a standard AL reflector that one could drop-in instead of the TIR optics in the E01 ?

I've looked up the dimensions of the TIR reflector on the internet, but couldn't find something exactly fitting.

Thing is I like this light, not so much so as I do my E07 and that's just because of the beam pattern.

The E07 has a floody and smooth beam overall and I'm ok with that, it's nice and practical. But the E01..

No matter how much I've tried to align the TIR optic over the emitter (eventually got it nearly perfectly centered.. )

The beam pattern, I.. just can't live with it. It's just ugly to me in all possible ways. It has nothing that I like.

So, I would much like to swap that TIR optic with a regular SMO reflector with a much cleaner beam pattern.

Fruityfrog · 2021-03-25T12:33:05.000Z

I have the E01. I think that it’s a really useful pocket lamp.
The finish on mine is excellent except, one little area, (and this to me is an area that a lot of manufacturers fall down on) that is the lanyard attachment hole. The outside where the heat fins are is beautifully smooth. However, the inside of the lanyard hole is sharp. Mine even had a piece of swarf, still attached inside it.

I know that this is a bit nit picking. However, cutting through the rather thin lanyard attachment thread leads to possibly a damaged flashlight.

Not everyone enjoys a patina encrusted looking torch.

varbos · 2021-05-10T11:51:19.000Z

What is the current draw of the illuminated button ?