Tank007 E09 the famous budget light review - for submission in the Reviews forum

njet212

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Tank007 E09 is quite famous around flashlight enthusiasts because it's so cheap, good anodized and build like a tank?? :sssh:
I really like single AAA flashlight because it is relatively small, compact and easy to carry. Even i have much more powerful lights such as single CR123 or single 18650 ( which i don't carry often because of the size ) i could say single AAA light is always with me 24/7 because i attached it on my keychain and you can forgot that you have it with you. Let start the fun shall we ?



SPECIFICATION

Taken from Tank007 Website
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PACKAGING AND CONTENT

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Comes in tin box / gift box style, packaging is really easy to open ( compared with blister packaging which i really hate because it's quite messy to open ). Inside the packaging you got 1 x E09, Spare O-Ring, Split Ring. No battery and manual included.


BUILD QUALITY AND DESIGN

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Because the Tank007 E09 ( E09 ) is keychain light, i will highlight the stock split because it's really important on key chain light set-up. I think stock split ring is way too fragile and thin. As you can see above left one is stock E09 split ring and on the right side US made split ring which looks more thick and strong.

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Above is stock split ring on Picollo Titanium, even that thick split ring begin to broke, I would not recommend to use stock split ring if you don't have lost your E09.

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Even E09 is budget light, but i'm really amazed how good the finishing and feel on my hand. Also has thick body compared with similar lights, i feel also the anodized is quite good and feel strong. It is not feel that slippery even with out knurling on the battery tube area, it has knurling on the head. Mostly with twisty light, i will only hold at the head area so this is really good design for me. Knurling i would say medium traction.

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There is anti-roll design on head area, on the tail there is 2 holes for split ring.

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The problem with twisty head which has UI loosened to off is the head will loosened it self time to time, in fact i had lost my Preon Revo head few years ago. Tank solve this problem by designing much more deeper thread on E09 ( as you can see on above picture from left to right: Sunway R02A - Olight i3S - Tank007 E09 ). Thread also feel really smooth and comes with pre-lubed thread :thumbsup:

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E09 use Cree XPE R3 with light orange peel reflector. On my sample LED is nicely centered. There is also TANK007 clear marking on the positive pole.

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Because it has flat tail, it could easily tail stand even on non-flat surface :thumbsup:



BATTERY

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It's support Alkaline, Nimh and Li-Ion 10440. One of idea behind single AAA light design is easy to get battery, so AAA light which stated with 10440 is only for wow factor and for fun only ( to impress the other ). I would not recommend using 10440 because it has shorter run time, too much heat compared with Alkaline and Nimh.


SIZE

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Left to Right: Eneloop AAA - Maratac AAA Q5 (1st Gen) - Picollo Titanium - Olight i3S - Tank007 E09 - Sunwayman R02A - Inova XS - Preon 1 Titanium XPG

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Size is quite standard for single AAA light, it is not the shortest or longest one. Feels quite good on hand ( thanks to good matte anodized ). Thing to consider for you which has big hand, it might not feel comfortable on your hand because of it's size.


USER INTERFACE, BEAM SHOT & RUNTIME

E09 has 3 mode, the arrangement is High - Medium - Low no Strobe or SOS mode. It has last use memory mode, which means it always on at last mode do you use. For me i don't like this memory mode feature, quite annoying. I would prefer without memory mode because i will always know at which mode my light will on.

From off position, to turn on the flashlight just rotate the head clock wise till it's on. Sometimes i need to loosened - tightened the head because it's just won't on.

From on position, to change the mode loosed-tightened the head till you get your desired mode.

To turn off the flashlight, rotate the head counter clockwise.

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On wall shot we could see that E09 and Inova XS has tight hot spot compared with the Sunwayman R02A and Olight i3S ( both using XP-G2 ). Beam on E09 is not perfectly round, beams has flower pattern alike. But I'm sorry i can't capture it with my camera.

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*) there is mistake on Sunwayman R02 distance, should be 4 meters instead of 175 meters
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Beam shot is done with fresh sanyo Eneloop 800 mAh. The beam for Inova XS on 4 meters beam shot looks brighter, more focus and less side spill compared with E09 ( even it has less lumen than E09 ). E09 producing same lumen both on Nimh and Alkaline.

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Run time performance on high mode both alkaline and Nimh is quite similiar, Nimh has 1 min more runtime. On medium mode, is quite interesting. Alkaline has better runtime compared with Nimh and it's also producing higher lumen.

The idea of AAA light design is easy to get power source ( alkaline ) it's make sense that this light is optimized for alkaline and generally the most use mode is medium, Tank007 optimized the regulation on medium mode.

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*) ABC Biru Putih means Blue and White ABC it's local brand of Alkaline battery

Compared with similar lights ( on Max mode and use Nimh ) E09 has the shortest runtime and Inova XS has the longest runtime on Nimh. On Alkaline ( max mode ) Tank007 also has the shortest runtime and Inova XS has the longet runtime.

It's very interesting to compare sunwayman R02 Max mode and Tank007 E09 Medium mode ( alkaline ). E09 producing 30-ish lumen and has 1 hour 30 mins runtime to 10% and Sunwayman R02A producing 70-ish lumen and has 1 hours 33 mins runtime. The lumen on R02A almost double compared with E09 but the runtime is almost the same
:rolleyes:



SUMMARY

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Looking at the price point, it's quite surprising how the E09 build. Finishing and anodizing are good, even it's cheap light they don't go cheap on finishing ( compared with similar budget lights such as ultrafire etc ). But tehere is several things that they should improve on E09 such as driver efficiency, reflector design, quality of split ring and the contact on battery poles ( some times it just won't turn on ).

There are also few things that quite annoying for me such as mode arrangement High - Medium - Low ( they should make it Low - Medium - High instead ) and memory mode ( they should get rid of this memory mode ). E09 also has the shortest run time among it's competitor, but if you are tight in budget i think you can still consider this light.
 
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njet212

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Does the E09 use PWM?

As StorminMatt said it does use PWM, you can also google TANK007 E09 review there is several reviews with PWM detail on other forum that confirmed that. It's pretty fast PWM i could not detect it with my eyes.
 

yoyoman

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Good review and nice pictures. You highlight why many consider this a good value light. The detail about the threads was very nice. My E09 is branded (NKON.NL) and it was even cheaper than the standard model and it is a great value.

The E09 does have PWM and it is pretty fast. But I wish it was faster. This is one point that generates strong feelings. It is OK for me.

I also find that the E09 has relatively more throw than other AAA lights. You can see this in the beam shots. I'm not sure if this is an advantage or not. Generally, I prefer floody lights for EDC. But the small size, cheap price and robust build of this light mean I can throw it in a bag or pocket and have it when I need it and not worry about it.
 

njet212

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@yoyoman: E09 is quote throw but my Inova XS has much better throw because it's use Cree XP-C which has smaller LED compared with XP-E
For me i would prefer flood AAA light rather than focus AAA light, i think it's designed for short distance use such as finding key hole, navigating dark path etc. For that kind of purposes having too intense hot spot is making my eyes tired.
 

TweakMDS

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I love this light a lot. It's way too throwy (but that's also a good thing), with a bad beam full of artefacts, but at the same time it's built well (at least from the outside), has proven itself to take a beating (falling out of the car, being thrown into some water etc), and perhaps most importantly, it's dirt cheap and afaik the brightest to run on AAA eneloops.

Only thing I could wish for is this light but with a momentary clicky.
 

can'townenough

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Nice review I know its not a aaa light but the xtar wk21 rcr123 light is another descent small light. I have a energizer 1aa which I've been using a 14500 in instead of what's recommended for over a year now with surprisingly no issues... yet atleast. The energizer was $9.99 at checker auto.
 

Maltytasker

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I have had one of these on my keychain for a couple of months, same color as the one in this review, and have found that the finish is wearing off on all of the edges on and around the light, revealing the bare aluminum. The material used in this finish seems very weak. I like the brightness, despite the irregularity of the center beam, but have decided to go to the Klarus MiX6 because I want the strobe feature in case I have a traffic emergency at night. The beam on that light isn't nearly as bright, but I really like the SS finish.
 

Ray F.

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Thanks for this review! I just bought one of these today for the collection. Hasn't arrived yet. I noticed specification is 120 lumens. I guess you have to use 10440 for that?
 

kreisl

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noticed specification is 120 lumens. I guess you have to use 10440 for that?

Our _UPz had measured up to 100 Fenix lumens 1sec after activation on Eneloop AAA in his most recently acquired sample, he's got several E09 samples. On 10440 the E09 hardly reaches 140 Fenix lumens. On the other hand, efficiency/runtime isn't too bad then.
My Spanish-lingo cousin kreisler :poof:confirms these measurements. The "120 lumens" spec is so to speak the pseudo-average :crazy: between 100lm (Enepoop 1.49V) and 140lm (10440 4.20V), measured 1sec after activation on full cells.

With confirmed measured 100 Fenix lumens, the E09 is no doubt one of the brightest Eneloop AAA lights on the market (has some throw too!) and one of the safest lights to be operated on 10440. Attention, overly long protected 10440's do not fit.

Also check out his review of the similar models (same driver/UI/LED!!):
Tank007 ES12
Tank007 E10
 
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Ray F.

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With confirmed measured 100 Fenix lumens, the E09 is no doubt one of the brightest Eneloop AAA lights on the market (has some throw too!) and one of the safest lights to be operated on 10440. Attention, overly long protected 10440's do not fit.

@kreisl
Thanks for the additional info. This will make a great edition to my growing collection.
 

Albinoni1967

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Hi is it possible to buy this online and if so where, also can you buy off their website.

Thanks
 

Albinoni1967

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I've seen one or two on Ebay for around $18 including free shipping too which is very good. I've been considering a AAA LED torch and might look into this. Also do they only come with one type of Cree emitter or is there different LEDs for this torch. Also is it a white light as in a cool white.
 

Ray F.

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I've seen it for between $10 and $13 on eBay "auction".

The E19 AA is closer to $18.

I've only seen one emitter and I'm waiting to get mine, so I cannot yet comment on beam quality, color, tint, etc.
 

andygold

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Unsure what the difference is between the "standard" lumen and "Fenix" lumens. Also, am I understanding it correctly that if I put a 10440 in my E09 I'd only get about 20 lumens more output (on high?)? What about on the other levels? what other differences would a 10440 provide? What about runtimes and heat. Does the light have a built-in automatic step down feature after a certain time period when running 10440?

I'm running an EBL LSD NiMH AAA 1100 mAh (possibly a better alternative than Eneloop XX), and it's performing quite well. Much brighter than my Lummi WEE 100 lumen light.

Lastly, can anyone list which 10440 fit and work with this light, and/or which ones don't?
 

yoyoman

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Don't have mine with me. I would say there is significantly more output on a 10440. I use AW unprotected blue 10440 - no longer available, unfortunately. The light does not have an automatic step down. It gets hot and so it has a manual step down.
 
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