For submission in the Reviews forum. I didn't see a much better review by maukka before I posted mine; I definitely recommend reading this one: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...am-EC65-review-(21700-4x-XHP35-HI-cool-white). Up to the mods: I can re-post this as a reply to maukka's review if that is more appropriate than 2 review threads.
Here is a quick review of the EC65 based on my first impressions. I received the Nichia 219C version with the orange peel TIR; my first time using Andrew and Amanda, very satisfied with them (arrived 3 business days after order). See the Acebeam manufacturer's thread here: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?444484-ACEBEAM-New-Product-EC65
Why did I get it? My wife and I both commute on bicycles year-round in Denver, CO, but I'm the only flashaholic in the family. I use flashlights as bike lights, and run a flood light on my handlebar. The wide flood of a SC600Fc Mk IV Plus 18650 XHP50 Floody 4000K allows me to see the area for the 15' or so in front of my bike for about 80-90 minutes on "H2a" level (about 1000 lumens). I like the wide flood because there is no tunnel vision effect, and the wide flood allows me to be seen from many angles. (I pair a flood handlebar light with a flood/throw SC64c on my helmet.) My non-flashaholic wife uses a $20 Chinese rechargeable unit with an atrocious purplish-colored, artifact-strewn beam. She wants something that never requires her to take batteries out of lights, something with a dead-simple UI, and something with a predictable runtime of 2.5 hours minimum. So, I thought that the EC65 might be a way to feed my addiction, using her "need" for a new handlebar flood light.
EC65 (Nichia 219C) first impressions:
- Not too big, but probably just a bit too big (specifically, fat and long) for me to EDC in a front pocket using the removeable pocket clip (cargo pocket, holster, or other carry method is probably required).
- Wow, that beam is pure flood. With the optics out, as a mule, it looks about the same.
- Where is the button? Hard to find by feel.
- Wow, that beam is white (looks pretty close to my 5700K HDS High Noon; pic for comparison
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UI: single click on/off, hold down to cycle between L/M/H, double-click to turbo, triple-click to strobe. Last mode memory for low/med/high (no memory for turbo or strobe). Easy to hand to anyone.
First ride: I fully charged it via USB, clicked it on "high" (Acebeam spec. "1400 - 700 lms, 4 mins + 149 mins"), then rode home from work. No problems on the way home in the sun on a warm afternoon (around 92F, 33C, direct sun). Ended at about 3.7V after 50 minutes or so. I didn't charge it, and put it back on high going in to work the next morning (about 60F, 15.5C, no sun). It started blinking at about 83 minutes of total runtime; cell was at about 3.1V. I guess the moving air cooled it off, and it didn't ramp down much through my morning ride. Recharging is easy via USB; the LED turns from red to green when charging is complete--nice and intuitive/simple.
Note on efficiency. As a cyclist, I can't help myself: I value efficiency as defined (just my me) as lumen-hours per oz when producing "enough" brightness. My benchmark are my ZL (no affiliation, but I've bought enough of them that I cannot deny being a fan). My ZL handlebar floodlight produces about 1035 lumens for 80 minutes, and weighs 3.84 oz with the cell, making the efficiency 359 lumen-hours per oz for a 4000K flood beam at over 90 CRI. The larger EC 65 weighs 5.36 oz, and produces what I'll estimate to be an average of 1300 cool white lumens (not very much ramp-down from 1400 with air moving on my bike) for about 83 minutes, making it about 336 lumen-hours per oz. These are rough estimates, specific to my particular use case; and, they are using two different cells, with different specific energy, at different power levels; and, the EC65 has some heavy accessories that reduce efficiency (the USB charging and indicator LED have additional circiutry and take up space, making the host larger/heavier). But, given how famous ZL is for efficiency, the pretty close efficiency numbers seems very promising for this cell, and means to me that Acebeam at least isn't squandering the cell's efficiency by using grossly inefficient driver, LED, host, etc. So yes, the ZL is more efficient for my use case; but, it is close enough that I might be able to use the additional features of the EC65 to rationalize the difference.
Summary
Pros:
+ If you love flood, high CRI, and pure white, you'll love this beam
+ USB-C charging is fast and convenient
+ UI is dead-simple
+ Multi-fuel is nice: 21700, 18650, or 2xCR123 (you know, for the apocalypse)
+ On "medium", 500 lumens of high-CRI light for over 3 hours is a pretty awesome runtime (for example, 29% more lumen-hours than the SC600Fd Mk III Plus at 429 lumens)
Cons:
- I'd love to choose a ~1000-lumen output, but I can't (only 2500, 1400, 500, 250, or 20 lumens). If I cared about moonlight modes, I'd be crying like a baby about the 20-lumen "low" level as well.
- I'd love to set the light to always turn on to a chosen mode, not the last mode used.
- The 500-lumen "medium" is not quite bright enough for my application; the 1400-lumen "high" gives me a too-short of a runtime on my bike handlebar (at most 83 minutes in warm weather, less in cold weather)
- Acebeam doesn't advertise the CCT of the LED, and my personal preference is much warmer (I probably wouldn't have purchased if I knew the actual CCT)
- The side button is pretty hard to find without looking; if I were keeping this light, I'd epoxy an o-ring to the button to help
Bottom line: a $120 light is priced for flashaholics, and should have premium features: ramping and programmable UI, user-defined temperature for regulation, multiple UI groups, and a side button you can find by feel. I'd start to call it a "good value" if they priced it as-is below $100 including a great cell; or, if they kept the price the same but added flashaholic features (programmability, more mode choices).
Is it useful to me? Unfortunately, no. I hate sending such a nice, high CRI light with some well-thought-out features (USB-C charging, the latest cell, beautiful beam) back to a vendor that treated me really well, but I just don't have a use for an expensive cool white light with no programmability that makes me choose between ~80 minutes of 1400 lumens (not enough runtime) and 500 lumens for 3.2 hours (too dim).
Here is a quick review of the EC65 based on my first impressions. I received the Nichia 219C version with the orange peel TIR; my first time using Andrew and Amanda, very satisfied with them (arrived 3 business days after order). See the Acebeam manufacturer's thread here: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?444484-ACEBEAM-New-Product-EC65
Why did I get it? My wife and I both commute on bicycles year-round in Denver, CO, but I'm the only flashaholic in the family. I use flashlights as bike lights, and run a flood light on my handlebar. The wide flood of a SC600Fc Mk IV Plus 18650 XHP50 Floody 4000K allows me to see the area for the 15' or so in front of my bike for about 80-90 minutes on "H2a" level (about 1000 lumens). I like the wide flood because there is no tunnel vision effect, and the wide flood allows me to be seen from many angles. (I pair a flood handlebar light with a flood/throw SC64c on my helmet.) My non-flashaholic wife uses a $20 Chinese rechargeable unit with an atrocious purplish-colored, artifact-strewn beam. She wants something that never requires her to take batteries out of lights, something with a dead-simple UI, and something with a predictable runtime of 2.5 hours minimum. So, I thought that the EC65 might be a way to feed my addiction, using her "need" for a new handlebar flood light.
EC65 (Nichia 219C) first impressions:
- Not too big, but probably just a bit too big (specifically, fat and long) for me to EDC in a front pocket using the removeable pocket clip (cargo pocket, holster, or other carry method is probably required).
- Wow, that beam is pure flood. With the optics out, as a mule, it looks about the same.
- Where is the button? Hard to find by feel.
- Wow, that beam is white (looks pretty close to my 5700K HDS High Noon; pic for comparison
UI: single click on/off, hold down to cycle between L/M/H, double-click to turbo, triple-click to strobe. Last mode memory for low/med/high (no memory for turbo or strobe). Easy to hand to anyone.
First ride: I fully charged it via USB, clicked it on "high" (Acebeam spec. "1400 - 700 lms, 4 mins + 149 mins"), then rode home from work. No problems on the way home in the sun on a warm afternoon (around 92F, 33C, direct sun). Ended at about 3.7V after 50 minutes or so. I didn't charge it, and put it back on high going in to work the next morning (about 60F, 15.5C, no sun). It started blinking at about 83 minutes of total runtime; cell was at about 3.1V. I guess the moving air cooled it off, and it didn't ramp down much through my morning ride. Recharging is easy via USB; the LED turns from red to green when charging is complete--nice and intuitive/simple.
Note on efficiency. As a cyclist, I can't help myself: I value efficiency as defined (just my me) as lumen-hours per oz when producing "enough" brightness. My benchmark are my ZL (no affiliation, but I've bought enough of them that I cannot deny being a fan). My ZL handlebar floodlight produces about 1035 lumens for 80 minutes, and weighs 3.84 oz with the cell, making the efficiency 359 lumen-hours per oz for a 4000K flood beam at over 90 CRI. The larger EC 65 weighs 5.36 oz, and produces what I'll estimate to be an average of 1300 cool white lumens (not very much ramp-down from 1400 with air moving on my bike) for about 83 minutes, making it about 336 lumen-hours per oz. These are rough estimates, specific to my particular use case; and, they are using two different cells, with different specific energy, at different power levels; and, the EC65 has some heavy accessories that reduce efficiency (the USB charging and indicator LED have additional circiutry and take up space, making the host larger/heavier). But, given how famous ZL is for efficiency, the pretty close efficiency numbers seems very promising for this cell, and means to me that Acebeam at least isn't squandering the cell's efficiency by using grossly inefficient driver, LED, host, etc. So yes, the ZL is more efficient for my use case; but, it is close enough that I might be able to use the additional features of the EC65 to rationalize the difference.
Summary
Pros:
+ If you love flood, high CRI, and pure white, you'll love this beam
+ USB-C charging is fast and convenient
+ UI is dead-simple
+ Multi-fuel is nice: 21700, 18650, or 2xCR123 (you know, for the apocalypse)
+ On "medium", 500 lumens of high-CRI light for over 3 hours is a pretty awesome runtime (for example, 29% more lumen-hours than the SC600Fd Mk III Plus at 429 lumens)
Cons:
- I'd love to choose a ~1000-lumen output, but I can't (only 2500, 1400, 500, 250, or 20 lumens). If I cared about moonlight modes, I'd be crying like a baby about the 20-lumen "low" level as well.
- I'd love to set the light to always turn on to a chosen mode, not the last mode used.
- The 500-lumen "medium" is not quite bright enough for my application; the 1400-lumen "high" gives me a too-short of a runtime on my bike handlebar (at most 83 minutes in warm weather, less in cold weather)
- Acebeam doesn't advertise the CCT of the LED, and my personal preference is much warmer (I probably wouldn't have purchased if I knew the actual CCT)
- The side button is pretty hard to find without looking; if I were keeping this light, I'd epoxy an o-ring to the button to help
Bottom line: a $120 light is priced for flashaholics, and should have premium features: ramping and programmable UI, user-defined temperature for regulation, multiple UI groups, and a side button you can find by feel. I'd start to call it a "good value" if they priced it as-is below $100 including a great cell; or, if they kept the price the same but added flashaholic features (programmability, more mode choices).
Is it useful to me? Unfortunately, no. I hate sending such a nice, high CRI light with some well-thought-out features (USB-C charging, the latest cell, beautiful beam) back to a vendor that treated me really well, but I just don't have a use for an expensive cool white light with no programmability that makes me choose between ~80 minutes of 1400 lumens (not enough runtime) and 500 lumens for 3.2 hours (too dim).
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