This is the Manker MC11 Mk III, a 18650 flashlight with 1400 Lumens, SFT25R LED in 6500K, with a USB-C rechargeable battery, color battery indicator, Buck driver and IP68 rating.
• My opinion
The MC11 Mk III is a decent flashlight, the driver is efficient, you can have quick access to Turbo (this is important as this flashlight aim to be a “tacticool” EDC flashlight), has a color battery indicator, uses the throwy and clean white SFT25R LED in 6500K, the USB-C charging is not on the outside of the body. The clip and side button have DLC (Diamong-Like Carbon) coating, which is a type of coating that creates a surface with hardness close to diamonds, with a lot of resistance to scratches.
But the UI is what really makes me don’t like to carry it more frequently, I think it’s a little confusing at first and makes you have to click a lot more times than with other flashlights I own. The bezel could be made of stainless steel for better resistance. Also, a moonlight mode would be welcome on this flashlight - though I’m a little biased as I love moonlight modes.
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Efficient constant current Buck driver | UI is a little confusing at first |
| Turbo can be memorized for easy access | Bezel is made of aluminum |
| Color Battery indicator | No Moonlight mode, the dimmest mode has 5 Lumens |
| IP68 rating without USB-C on the outside of the main body |
• Price
Coupon: LMP - 10% discount (Valid for any item on the Manker website)
The MC11 Mk III is currently priced at $49.95 on Manker Official Website.
• Box contents
- MC11 Mk III
- Protected 18650 cell with USB-C charging
- Lanyard
- USB-C charging cable
- Extra O-ring
- User Manual
• Body and build quality
Anodizing Colors/Material Options: The MC11 Mk III is currently only available in Aluminum alloy (probably 6061 alloy). There are 3 anodizing colors to choose: Black, Army Green and Sand (featured on this review).
Main body/Grip: The main body is almost entirely smooth, with anodizing on specific areas, like around the main button, on the tail cap and a thin line near the flashlight head. This makes it doesn’t have a solid grip for all situations, for normal use it has a nice grip, but when water is in the game it becomes a lot more slippery.
Material: The main body is almost entirely made of Aluminum, with only the clip and side button being made of stainless steel. The anodizing is pretty, it isn’t super resistant as it is type II though.
Accessories: This flashlight doesn’t come with much accessories, mainly the lanyard - which is pretty good, better than most lanyards that come with flashlights. The only problem with it is that it’s a little too small.
Threads: The tail cap threads are trapezoidal and anodized, which means you can easily lock this flashlight mechanically by unscrewing a little the tail cap. The threads came very well greased on my unit - super smooth threads straight from factory.
Buttons: There are 2 buttons on the flashlight: On the tail there’s a mechanical tail switch that only turns the flashlight ON/OFF; and on the main body side, near the head, there is an e-switch that serves to cycle brightness levels and access strobe/turbo. The tail switch has a rubber boot on it, while the e-switch has a stainless steel button with DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon), black coating - which is Super resistant to scratches, as it creates a coating hard like diamond. This is actually pretty cool and shows the quality on components of this flashlight.
Tail stand and rolling: It can tail/head stand, but tail stand is a little instable, as the supports around the button are a little thin and small. It doesn’t roll much, even without the clip, as the head part has shapes to prevent rolling.
Magnet: This flashlight doesn’t feature a magnet.
AUX lights: This flashlight doesn’t feature AUX lights, but it feature a Color battery indicator which I will enter in detail later.
Buttons: There are 2 buttons on the flashlight: On the tail there’s a mechanical tail switch that only turns the flashlight ON/OFF; and on the main body side, near the head, there is an e-switch that serves to cycle brightness levels and access strobe/turbo. The tail switch has a rubber boot on it, while the e-switch has a stainless steel button with DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon), black coating - which is Super resistant to scratches, as it creates a coating hard like diamond. This is actually pretty cool and shows the quality on components of this flashlight.
Battery contact: Contact is made with the battery by two gold-plated springs, one on the driver board and the other on the tail cap.
Bezel: The bezel is slightly aggressive, with 3 trapezoidal shapes on it, but as it’s so small, it’s only for looks, not to actually be used to break glass or something like that.
Water Resistance: It has the IP68 rating, very well sealed with no exposed USB-C on the outside, O-rings on all threads. Sadly the head is glued down - or I’m just not strong enough to unscrew it lol.
Size comparison: On the left is the Sofirn SP31 v3 (18650), on the center the Manker MC11 Mk III (18650) and on the right the Convoy S2+ (18650).
• Weight and size
Weight:
- With battery (Manker 18650 3500mAh): 127.6g
- Without battery: 77.8g
- Battery (Manker 18650 3500mAh): 50,0g
Size: 137.5mm x 24.3mm x 24.4mm - (height x head diamter x tail diameter)
• Battery, runtime, and charging
Battery: This Manker is powered by a single 18650 battery. It comes with a protected Manker 3500mAh Li-ion battery with USB-C charging on the cell, it has a charging indicator on the positive terminal.
Battery Indicator: The light features a 3 color battery indicator on the e-switch. It’s a little dim, but can be easily seen in the dark, it stays on for 10 seconds after the flashlight is turned ON - except when on Red, as the indicator stays ON. The color choices (Blue, Purple and Red) were very unusual, and they might confuse users, but they are cool at least. The battery indicator is a very important feature in my opinion. It works as it follows:
| Battery indicator Color | Battery Voltage |
|---|---|
| Blue | > 3.4V |
| Purple | 3.4V - 3.2V |
| Red | 3.2V - 2.8V |
*When lower than 2.8V the flashlight turns OFF.
Charging: The charging is made directly on the cell on this flashlight, the included battery has an USB-C port for quick recharging, the complete charge takes 2.5h.
• Modes, Runtimes, Throw, Candela
Modes: The flashlight has 5 brightness levels and one Strobe. The levels are well spaced, but the “High” level could be a little brighter in my opinion. All modes can be memorized on the flashlight (including Turbo), except for Strobe. Advertised specs:
| Mode | Brightness (Lumens) | Runtime | Throw (Meters) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 1400 | 1min - 4h | 410m |
| High | 620 | 4h10min | 315m |
| Medium | 200 | 5h50min | 177m |
| Low | 50 | 22h40min | 96m |
| Eco | 5 | 360h | - |
Turbo: The Turbo on this flashlight is decently bright, 1400 Lumens is still a lot of brightness. It can be memorized to be used instantly on the tail switch.
Moonlight: This flashlight doesn’t have a proper Moonlight mode, the lowest mode is “Eco” with 5 Lumens, which is a fairly decent mode, but 1 Lumen or less would also be pretty useful.
Blinkies: A Tactical Strobe is featured on this flashlight, to be activated the e-switch has to be pressed for 0.5 seconds. It can’t be memorized.
Lockout: It doesn’t feature a electronic lockout, but, as the tail threads are anodized, it features mechanical lockout by slightly unscrewing the tail cap.
• Emitter, reflector and CRI
Emitter: The MC11 Mk III uses the well known SFT25R LED, a throw focused emitter, which really throws very good for a compact flashlight like this. No green tint at all, just the slightly blue tint almost all cool white LEDs have. Good choice of LED for a compact thrower.
Lens: AR coated glass lens in front of the reflector.
Reflector/TIR: A smooth reflector of, roughly, 18mm diamter and 17mm of depth is featured on this flashlight.
Beam profile: The beam has a focused and strong hotspot, while having some spill to the sides. A “secondary” diffused hostpot can be seen around the main one, it’s only really visible at close range though.
CRI: The SFT25R in 6500K has standard 70 CRI.
• Beamshots Camera settings
- 18mm lens 1" F8 ISO800
- (The trees at the back are at a distance of around 100m)
Manker MC11 Mk III - Turbo - 1400 Lumens
Manker MC11 Mk III - High - 620 Lumens
Manker MC11 Mk III - Medium - 200 Lumens
I always try to match what my eyes can see on the beamshots, so camera settings may vary.
• Driver and UI
Driver: This Manker has an efficient Buck constant current driver to power the SFT25R LED. The driver has no PWM of flickering on any mode.
UI: I didn’t like much the UI of this flashlight. The tail switch is only for turning it ON/OFF, which is not a problem at all, the confusing part (in my opinion) is in the way the e-switch cycles modes, it doesn’t go back to the lowest mode after pressing the button when on the highest, instead it starts cycling back, like this: Eco → Low → Medium → High → Medium - > Low - > Eco. Turbo and Strobe are outside of the normal cycle and can be accessed at any time at least. Probably as I am used to other types of UI.
This type of UI seems to be this way to avoid hurting your eyes brightness balance too much when cycling between brightness levels, resulting in a more accurate and smooth brightness perception.
Low Voltage Protection/Warning: When the battery is between 3.2V to 2.8V the battery indicator will light up red, if the battery voltage is below 2.8V the flashlight will turn OFF automatically.
Reverse Polarity Protection: The flashlight has built-in reverse polarity protection, so if the battery is inserted with the wrong polarity, current will not pass through the driver and will not damage the components.
Temperature Control: The driver has automatic temperature regulation, as temperature rises, the flashlight will dim down to avoid damage. The step down is by temperature, not timed; seems to be present only on Turbo mode.
A special thanks to Manker for sending this flashlight for me to review!
*I am not being paid to do this review, everything here is my honest opinion.
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Thank you for reading my review