[Review] Acebeam E70 Mini

LED Flashlights – General Info 18650 Flashlights
1

Acebeam E70 Mini


At the end there will be a summary for those who like only particulars. In each topic I will bold the key sentences, so it will be easier to notice what's the most important. Enjoy!







Table of Contents:
- General parameters
- Package content
- Appearance, parameters
- UI, runtime and charging
- PWM
- Waterproofness
- Light pattern, tint
- Beamshots
- Usage and my experiences
- Summary




General Parameters

LED: 3 x High CRI Nichia 519A LED with a lifespan of 50,000 hours

------- Modes -------
Ultra-Low: 12 lumens; 100 hours; 20 meters; 104 cd


Low: 60 lumens; 19 hours; 39 meters; 375 cd


Mid1: 170 lumens; 7 hours; 52 meters; 675 cd


Mid2: 380 lumens; 3 hour 15min;71 meters; 1,275 cd


High: 900 lumens~600lumens; 2min + 1 hour 55min; 102 meters; 2,625 cd


Turbo: 2000 lumens~600 lumens; 40s + 2 hours; 153 meters; 5,875 cd


Strobe: 1000 lumens; 2 hours; 112 meters; 3,150 cd


Max. output: 2,000 lumens


Max. beam distance: 153meters (787feet)


Max. runtime: 56 hours


Peak beam intensity: 5,875 cd

Size: 4.37''/111mm (Length) x 1.02''/26mm (Head Dia.) x 0.92''/23.4mm (Body Dia.)


Weight: 72g (2.53oz) without battery, 120g(4.23oz) with battery





Package content



Pretty standard content, a big fat + from me for the silica gel bag!

Appearance, parameters

Flashlight itself is pretty small and compact. It can serve well as an EDC light.

More details:

  • Black stainless steel bezel - I am a big fan of steel bezels in flashlights

  • AR coated glass lens, and clear TIR optics - well done Acebeam, firstly for covering plastic TIR with glass, and secondly for choosing this type of optics instead of e.g. 3x OP reflector. Why? Because this way beam pattern is nicely and evenly distributed, like every EDC light should be.

  • Next we have a very interesting pattern - it makes this flashlight unique

  • Next we have more unique pattern! Yeeeeeey!!!

  • Clip is also very stylish, with interesting screws and shapes

  • I almost forgot... LED. Of course, the LED. It is important, for sure

  • What about the battery tube? We saw what it looks like from the outside, let's see what it looks like from the inside

Because the flashlight has e-switch, it has to have this inner metal tube, well visible on the first picture. Blue finish gives it a nice touch

  • Single, but stiff spring provides enough contact and current flow for a single 18650 cell flashlight

  • All threads are smooooth and so well lubricated, I am impressed

  • E-switch that I mentioned earlier has a nice click - and it is all metal. Even a switch is a piece of art here

  • Last, but not least, the lanyard - standard quality, but better than nothing - and has Acebeam logo

UI, runtime, heat dissipation and charging

UI

Pretty...different. Let's say that. To turn it on, you need to double click the switch. Click and hold to change modes. Single click to turn it off. I mean, if you get used to it it feels normal, but if you have more flashlights, you have to remember to double click for on, not single click.



Runtime

I tested Mid2 brightness, which is 380lm. Why this brightness? Because it is the most common.

200 minutes, which means more than 3 hours of stable output. Very well done, Acebeam!


Charging

The flashlight itself does not have charging port, but included battery does - USB type C, and even has a small indicating LED, so you know then it's charged. You can charge it in external Li-Ion battery charger as well. Battery has discharge protection, so it discharged to 2.725V during my runtime test. Charging took 3h 19min.

Everything great and all, but there is a problem. A big problem: my cell is broken, self discharging really quick, ending up at 0 Volts is a week or two. Luckily, it is possible to charge it using its charging port. It is impossible to charge it with external charger, though.

I don't know if it is just my sample that is broken, or this is more common problem, but as you probably guessed, this cell is not very useful.

Sooo... just take any other cell, right? Wrong. This included one is very long, because it has built in charging and is button top. It is as tall as 21700 cell!

If you want to use another battery, you need to use button top one, or stick a magnet on top of the flat top cell.



PWM

I did not observe any flickering on the lowest mode. Good.



Waterproofness

I will test its waterproofness in the future





Light pattern, tint

3x Nichia 519A 5000K CRI > 90

I was impressed by its tint. It is simply amazing. 5000K looks more like 4500K, it is on the warmer side. Light is evenly distributed thanks to TIR optics. Acebeam did a great job combining this LEDs with this TIR, if you ask me.



Beamshots



ISO200, t2s, f/3.5 sunlight white balance



General picture of what the forest looks like:



Beamshots of Acebeam E70 Mini:

Shining straight ahead:



Shining under my feet:

The same pictures, but bigger:

Shining straight ahead:

Shining under my feet:

The beam is very nice, evenly distributed, without greenish tint, and of course high CRI. Modes spacing could be better, there is too little brightness difference between modes.

What about CRI and great tint? I made a small comparison:

(there is a typo, it is 5000K, not 4500K)

Everything looks so much better, dirt, green grass and brown trees.



Usage and my experiences

I like this flashlight. Why? Because it is small, has a great design, and great tint as well. But why the UI is different than in almost all other flashlights? I need to get used to it. Not a big deal, of course. What bothers me the most is its incompatibility with flat top 18650 batteries. If you want to use it, you need to add a magnet on top to make it longer.



Summary

Acebeam E70 Mini is a very good flashlight. Versatile piece of a great design. Equipped with 3x Nichia 519A 5000K high CRI LEDs, combined with clear TIR optics can output up to 2000 lumens. It can be used as a backup flashlight in a car, you can use it when hiking and in other scenarios - but with that unique design better not scratch it!



Pros:
+ Very good tint, without greenish haze

+ High CRI > 90

+ Outstanding design



Cons:
- Battery is self discharging very quickly, ending up at 0V in a week

- Not compatible with flat top 18650 cells (too short)




If you have any questions, put them below, thanks for sticking for a while :)

1 Thank
2

> - Battery is self discharging very quickly, ending up at 0V in a week

Not a general problem. Mine has no significant self-discharge, but I heard the same complaint on german TLF.

3

Thank you for the review, nice work. Like that you discuss the unique design and features that might give the light enthusiast/collector status. :+1:

4

This is a problem mostly with electronic switches. Nice review. Will I get it? Likely when version II is out. 0v in a week, you sure? That’s extreme.

5

It was 0V when it came to me, then I recharged it, and it was 0V again after some time. I guess it was a week, but I might be wrong, time passes so quick for me. For sure short time, 1-2 weeks.
In fact, the review is lacking the wall beamshot, because the battery was at 0.4V and no other battery was fitting…

6

I like its design so much! It is so good I literally don’t want to use it :smiley:
Design + light’s tint makes it unique for me

7

I have some other protected 18650s that fit. Also button top unprotected work. The only ones that don’t are unprotected flat tops. I imagine some of those 18mm spacer discs from Convoy would fix that.

8

My mistake! I am pretty sure I have tried unprotected button top cell and it rattled…now tried protected button top and it fits. My apologies, review is changed. Thank you.

9

Unprotected button top cells vary in length, some buttons are taller I guess.
I tried a button top Samsung 30q and a black wrapped Sofirn button top and they fit, although the light won’t go into turbo with the Sofirn cell even though the cell is over 4v. It must not provide enough current.

They should just design the light with longer springs to accommodate normal flat top cells though.

I read that this light uses a boost driver, so the emitters would be in series. The driver should be pretty efficient.

Also the optic is a standard Carclo 105xx. The stock clear one is the 10507. A 10511 or 10508 could be swapped in for a floodier beam.

10

I meant to post here before, but my battery is actually doing the same thing.

I noticed the light wouldn’t want to turbo after not using it for a while.

I finally tested it by charging the battery fully, then putting it in a case for 2 weeks. After the 2 weeks it read 3.6v and took 1570mah to fully charge again. So it lost about half it’s capacity just sitting.

I contacted Acebeam and they asked for a picture of the battery and said they’d ship me a new cell.

I sent the the picture and my shipping address but they haven’t replied.

Once I’m sure they won’t want the old cell back I might tear into it and remove all the protection circuit stuff and rewrap it. I bet it’s the protection circuit causing the drain and the cell itself is fine.

11

I do not have any issues with self discharge on mine. I’ve left the cell in the light for months and it’s still charged and runs turbo.

12

So OP and I have the issue, as well as someone on the German forum. I assume there was a small batch of defective cells, rather than a major issue.

1 Thank
13

Let us know when you receive the replacement and if everything is ok with your new battery :slight_smile:

1 Thank
14

I will if they even send it. Did you contact Acebeam about yours?

15

No, I got it for the review so I just…ignored the fact mine is broken

16

So they never replied after I sent them my address and the photo of the battery, but I got a surprise package today.

The new cell is the orange and white wrap rather than the orange and black. I charged it up and it’s good so far, I’ll take it out of the light in a few days and check the voltage.

17

Great news! I’m glad you have new battery.
Now the last thing you have to do is to wait a week or two and tell me if this one is good :stuck_out_tongue:

18

So it’s been a week with the battery inside the light, only used a little bit, and the battery is still at 4.12V. I’d say this one is fine.

2 Thanks
19

Great news. I think I will stick a magnet to my regular cell and use it that way

20

Sooo… just take any other cell, right? Wrong. This included one is very long, because it has built in charging and is button top. It is as tall as 21700 cell!
If you want to use another battery, you need to use button top one, or stick a magnet on top of the flat top cell.

Or use an 18670. Bit more rare, but they fit and have a bit extra capacity.