# REVIEW: Manker E02 Right Angle AAA Flashlight



## Bdm82 (May 20, 2017)

[Submitted as a REVIEW]


*Introduction*

This light was provided by Manker for review.

The Manker E02 is a right-angle AAA flashlight from Manker featuring a Cree XP-G3 LED. (A Nichia 219C is also available.) It advertises output up to 220 lumens yet has a very low moonlight mode. It has a pocket clip and lanyard for varied carry options as well as a magnetic tail.


 

Here are the key review details in one table for the TL;DR folks:




*Packaging*

The E02 provided for testing is an engineering sample so it arrived in a plain brown box without any retail marking.

 

Opening the box, the E02 is nicely protected by foam.



An envelope contains spare o-rings, lanyard, and pocket clip. No user manual accompanies this sample.



​

 



*Design*

The Manker E02 is a very compact AAA flashlight. One of the most unique aspects of its design is the right-angle head. 






It is 72 mm long with a width of 20 mm at the head, per Manker. Weight without battery is 32 grams. 
It is very compact – shorter than the Lumintop Tool. 
For perspective, here’s a comparison with other lights. 
(L to R: 18650-based Convoy S2+, AA-based Manker E11, RCR123-based Olight S1R, AAA-based Lumintop Tool, AAA-based Orcatorch EA01, AAA-based Manker E02, 10180-based Helius Sigma IX.)

 

The Manker name and E02 model designation are engraved on the side of the right-angle head. 
Note that this is not simple printing/embossing – but actual engraving with the printing therein. It is very clear and high quality.

 

The back side of the E02’s head has 3 fins. While they add a little bit of surface area for cooling, the main benefit is grip. 
(If holding the E02 so that forefinger is on the switch, thumb and middle finger will rest on this area.) 
The flat sides of the head prevent the E02 from rolling (in the absence of pocket clip).




That switch is a simple black rubber circle, as found on other Manker lights like the E14 II. It has no backlight or logos. It is surrounded by a chrome-colored ring.

 

The bezel is a flat chrome-colored ring inset into the head of the light. 
The reflector is a very mild orange peel texture. 
The XP-G3 isn’t absolutely perfectly centered but is close enough that no complaints are warranted. 
The glass is AR-coated.

 

The tail of the E02 is magnetic. The magnet is strong enough to hold the EO2 vertically or horizontally on ferrous surfaces.

 

The battery tube knurling, diamond pattern, is not overly aggressive. Both head and tail end threads are square cut and anodized.



​

 

The head end contact for the battery is a single post. It is surrounded by a black foam disk that appears to add polarity protection but it does NOT. 
(I inserted a battery in backwards, tightened it down, and felt the E02 tube get hot immediately – reverse polarity protection is not present!)

 

The tail cap has a single gold-colored spring.

 

The included pocket clip, being chrome-colored, nicely matches the bezel and switch rings. It can be attached head-up or head-down. It attaches securely but is not too difficult to remove when desired.

 

The included lanyard is good quality and has Manker branding. It can also be cinched down, ensuring the lanyard doesn’t slide off a wrist accidentally. 
However, the attachment hole in the tail of the E02 is not large relative to the lanyard. Threading it by hand is next to impossible; a paperclip or other narrow gauge rigid object is needed to thread the lanyard.

 





*Performance*

The moderately deep, mildly orange peel reflector and small footprint XP-G3 combine to produce a fairly tight but not sharply defined hotspot. The corona is also fairly tight, quickly blending the hotspot to spill. Thanks to the smooth bezel, edges of the spill are clean and even. 
Observe the shape, but not the color, in these photos.



​

 

The E02’s XP-G3 LED is cool white. The hotspot was closer to neutral, but the spill is very cool and has a definite blue tint that is noticeable indoors and on white surfaces.

To demonstrate the color balance, here is the E02 alongside lights with emitters of various tints. 
(L to R: Olight S1R with cool XM-L2, Manker E02 with cool XP-G3, Helius Sigma IX with XP-G2, BLF348 with neutral 219B, and Lumintop Tool with warm 219B.) 
As you can see, the E02 has the bluest spill.

 

Here it is with a decidedly cool XM-L U2 1B Convoy S2+ and the 291b-based BLF348. The picture presents the BLF348 slightly rosier than in reality, but it does show how the E02 has similar tint to the Convoy.

 

Manker rates the E02 at 220 lumens on Turbo. I consistently tested Turbo at 203 lumens – with both Eneloop and Eneloop Pro batteries. The E02 maintained over 200 lumens for exactly 3 minutes. At the 3 minute mark a timed stepdown took effect; the output ramped down to about 66 lumens at the 4 minute mark. 
_[Update 5/28/17: Manker's product documentation reports the stepdown is to 70 lumens at the 3 minute mark -- right on the money!] _
It held about 64 lumens through a full 2 hours and 8 minutes – an extremely well-regulated output. Eventually the output was reduced to about 12 lumens for the final 10 minutes.

 

On high, the E02 also displayed excellent regulation and flat output. Manker rates it at 70 lumens. From turn-on through 120 minutes, output was 64 lumens on my meter. At just over the two hour mark it stepped down to 12 lumens, lasting another 20 minutes before dropping to moonlight mode.

 

Unsurprisingly, Low also displayed flat and regulated output. Manker rates it at 16 lumens. About 12 lumens were measured from turn-on until the battery was out at the 10 hour mark. (Technically speaking, the output did rise to nearly 14 and drop to nearly 11 in the final hour on my meter, but this is not significant and wouldn’t be noticed by human eyes.)

 

Finally, Manker rates the ultralow/moonlight mode at 0.6 lumen. I found about 0.4 lumen in my testing, though I consider this result insignificant. The moonlight mode is programmable from ~0.1 lumen through around 3 lumen – so the setting as delivered doesn’t matter very much.

After all tests, I found the battery to be at or above 0.8V.

Also note that the output performance was consistent between Eneloop and Eneloop Pro on all modes. 
An AmazonBasics Alkaline AAA was also tested and while it produced a lower Turbo output, High and Low mode outputs were the same as with the Eneloops.

 

I tested throw distance at 1.46 meters and the resulting candela was 937 - equivalent to 61 meters of throw. This exceeds Manker’s 55 meter rating slightly.

I did not detect PWM on any modes using the “mirror test”.

The light never got too hot to be comfortable in any mode due to the timed stepdown on Turbo.




*Outdoor Beamshots*

All photos taken with a Canon SD4000IS camera. 1/4" exposure, ISO800, Daylight white balance.
Approximate distances: White deck railing @ 15 ft., white fence in distance @ 75 ft., center of boat @ 100 ft.


Control shot:



Low:



High:



Turbo:






*Interface*

The E02 uses Manker’s traditional yet flexible interface. With a single click, it ramps from moonlight to Low to High and back down with subsequent button presses. A double-click is used to access Turbo and the other special modes. And from off, a long press returns to the last used mode.

Turbo requires a very fast double-press. It is not easy to do accidentally when changing modes. In fact, it often took me multiple tries due to the small size of the E02.

Moonlight/ultralow mode programming can be accessed with 4 fast presses. There are 21 different steps. They offer great adjustability, but they are not linear. The first 8 are extremely low, the last 3 are very bright, so I find modes 9 through 18 to be the “normal” adjustment range.

(This image is from the E02's product page: http://www.mankerlight.com/manker-e...20-lumen-cree-xpg3-nichia-219c-led-flashlight)




*Problems*

No problems were experienced. Manker’s standard warranty is 24 months.




*Commentary*

The compact size, great grey anodization, flexible carry options, flat outputs, and lack of visible PWM make the E02 a great light in my book. I do wish the E02 had less blue in the spill, but really that’s the only negative I found with this light. Given the price point under $20, it represents a good value. 

_[Update 5/28/17: Manker has corrected the specifications that originally reported dimensions of 105 mm x 44 mm in error.]_




_Meter: Dr. Meter LX1330B
Integrating "sphere": Homebuilt tube-style device calibrated on other known lights and test results. Numbers should be considered relative to each other and my other review figures but accuracy is in no way certified or guaranteed._
_Camera: Canon SD4000IS_


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## proceed5 (May 21, 2017)

Thank you BDM82 for the comprehensive review.

Would be good if Manker sells these with headbands.


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## Bdm82 (May 22, 2017)

proceed5 said:


> Thank you BDM82 for the comprehensive review.
> 
> Would be good if Manker sells these with headbands.


Thanks proceed!

I agree; a headband would make this a jack of all trades. With the right angle design, it would be easy....


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## this_is_nascar (May 22, 2017)

Looks huge for a 1xAAA light.


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## proceed5 (May 22, 2017)

This E02 (in Nichia 219C NW version) would compliment my existing Olight H1 NW & H1R NW really well. 
I wonder if we could like modify the H1 headbands to fit this E02. hhmmm ...

Especially likes the runtime on High mode for a flat 120 mins running only one single 1.2v AAA battery !
Especially likes the 'seems like' oversized reflector head size for a typical AAA light ! 

I can at the moment only dream to get hold of this light, the local distributor will take another 1 to 2 months before restocking from Manker. Ouch.


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## ronniepudding (May 22, 2017)

this_is_nascar said:


> Looks huge for a 1xAAA light.



+1

105mm x 44mm is significantly LARGER than a popular AA headlamp that this light resembles. Same weight too (32g) without battery. 

Otherwise, the modes/UI/features look nice, and I'm glad to see that it has a N219C option.


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## proceed5 (May 22, 2017)

hi BDM82,
Are you sure there isn't a typo error ... width 44mm ?? 


hi Ronniepudding,
The pictured width looks slimmer shorter than the Manker E11 (14500 light) 
Slimmer than the Olight S1R (16340 light).
It is only slightly wider than the AAA Lumintop Tool andthe AAA Nitecore EA01


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## Bdm82 (May 22, 2017)

proceed5 said:


> hi BDM82,
> Are you sure there isn't a typo error ... width 44mm ??
> 
> 
> ...


There absolutely is an error. Those are the official product release dimensions but they're not right and I should have replaced those with my own.
It should reflect more like 73 mm long, and a narrower head as well. 
As the comparison pictures show, it is not 104 long (since the Tool is about 81 mm). It is small... very small.

Thanks for finding my error; sorry all.


EDIT/UPDATE: Manker has updated the product specs to read 72 mm x 20 mm.


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## proceed5 (May 22, 2017)

hi BDM82, 
No worries, not your fault. It is Manker's error.

Manker's website has it written 105mm x 44mm ... hehe... perhaps their next launch would be a super compact 18650 U11 with an oversized reflector head ...


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## khaleeq (May 23, 2017)

Thanks for the comprehensive review. I don't think I can resist buying this light after seeing this review.


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## LightObsession (May 24, 2017)

Thanks for the great review.

Somebody finally listened to my request for a 1AAA right angle light! Too bad it's only in cool white, but I'll be ordering one anyway.

Edited to add that I see that the Nichia 219C option is now available at the Manker website and on ebay.


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## Brian.evans (May 25, 2017)

Thank you for the great review. I'm in the market for a small right angle light and this is on my short list. Did you feel like the ui is fairly intuitive?


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## Bdm82 (May 25, 2017)

Brian.evans said:


> Thank you for the great review. I'm in the market for a small right angle light and this is on my short list. Did you feel like the ui is fairly intuitive?


Thanks!

The ui is pretty simple... ramps up, then down, with double click turbo. From off you've got options to start on low or start on last used. 

I like it because most of the time, high gets used for short times only. Being able to ramp back to low without having to cycle through ultralow is handy. 
Similarly, I like that the default from off is ultralow (single press). There's nothing worse than wanting ultralow or low in the middle of the night and having to cycle through blinding high or turbo. 

That all said, it is a bit of a unique ui relative to other brands, and people in general have widely varied reactions to UIs. There's no such thing as the best ui, only the one you like the most, ya know?


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## sbslider (May 27, 2017)

Thanks for the great review of this light. I have read probably all of the reviews for the E02 and they all bring something a little different to the table. I had not seen the shot inside the head showing the foam disk. Interesting to have a spring and foam. Since the foam does not provide reverse polarity protection, what does it do? 

AS to the person who commented they would not be able to get their hands on one for a couple months, that likely depends on where you live. Trevi-lux reviewed this light and bought a second one from ebay, and has already received that the purchased E02. I am still waiting for mine, but it has only been 2 weeks since I ordered. 

This light does everything I think it want in a light. I really like you have access to three of the 4 constant modes from the off position, assuming you remember the last mode used. Just hoping it is reliable . . .


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## Manker (Jun 6, 2017)

Manker E02 get available on US Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0719RVPPB/?tag=cpf0b6-20


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## sbslider (Jun 7, 2017)

Manker said:


> Manker E02 get available on US Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0719RVPPB/?tag=cpf0b6-20


that's crazy, I literally looked 30 minutes prior to your post at the EDC gear store for this light. I still have not received the one I purchased from ebay last month and was looking into a US source for when I get my ebay refund for this light. Are these shipped from the US?


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## sbslider (Jun 7, 2017)

Manker said:


> Manker E02 get available on US Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0719RVPPB/?tag=cpf0b6-20


And now you can not find it on amazon . . .

But the one I put in my cart yesterday is still there. Just can't see the product page.


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## sbslider (Jun 7, 2017)

And now it is back, crazy website. . . .


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## proceed5 (Jun 10, 2017)

Thank you again BDM82 for your review of the E02 Manker. 

Your review of this light have in a big way influenced my acquisition of the Manker E02.
This is a nice light to have. For a AAA niMh powered unit, the brightness and throw is quite good !

Hopes Manker would read this and from an end-user's perspective, I suggest the following:
Manker,
a) please print serial numbers on your lights;
b) would it be possible for your company to make this light accept 3.7 volt Li-Ion battery ?
c) would be even nicer if your company could market this light with an optional headband ! 
d) suggest to make a AA version of the E11 in right-angle light format ! 

Thank you and best regards


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## Manker (Jun 21, 2017)

proceed5 said:


> Thank you again BDM82 for your review of the E02 Manker.
> 
> Your review of this light have in a big way influenced my acquisition of the Manker E02.
> This is a nice light to have. For a AAA niMh powered unit, the brightness and throw is quite good !
> ...




Thanks for your suggestion
a) we will print SN on new models;
b) In fact, you can use 10440 battery with E02, but can only work with one mode;
c) E02H will come soon;
d) E03H will come later.


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## proceed5 (Jun 21, 2017)

Manker said:


> Thanks for your suggestion
> a) we will print SN on new models;
> b) In fact, you can use 10440 battery with E02, but can only work with one mode;
> c) E02H will come soon;
> d) E03H will come later.



Thank you very much Manker for your reply, 
Have been buying some Manker lights recently, E14-1, E11, T01-ii, E14-ii, E02. 
Will be looking forward to your E03 and E02H. 
By the way, would appreciate if Manker would allow the end-users to configure the output levels like the UI used in the T01-ii.
Best regards


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## Bdm82 (Dec 3, 2017)

Trouble in paradise...

Unfortunately, I must report that the E02 stopped working for me after I dropped it from 35 inches (0.89 meters). I had it stuck to the side of a barbeque grill (using the magnet), illuminating a cooler on the ground next to the grill. I caught it with my arm on the way past, it fell down onto the wood deck, and stopped working.

I will contact Manker and see how they wish to handle the situation -- and update this post accordingly.


With the E02 out of commission, I decided to see what was accessible -- in case the problem could be identified easily. 

The reflector is held in place by a small bezel ring. Pressing against my thumb, I could easily unscrew it. The rest of the circuit, board, and etc were accessible by unthreading a small gold-colored retaining ring around the positive post.

Here's what it looks like when deconstructed-








A close-up pic of the circuitry-







There's a sizeable copper heatsink behind the circuitry. A small amount of heatsink compound is present to transfer the heat to the outer body.







While the E02 failed in an unexpected way - a bad thing - I will say that the build quality otherwise seems to be good.


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## BobbyC777 (Jan 12, 2018)

Bdm82 said:


> Trouble in paradise...
> 
> Unfortunately, I must report that the E02 stopped working for me after I dropped it from 35 inches (0.89 meters). I had it stuck to the side of a barbeque grill (using the magnet), illuminating a cooler on the ground next to the grill. I caught it with my arm on the way past, it fell down onto the wood deck, and stopped working.
> 
> I will contact Manker and see how they wish to handle the situation -- and update this post accordingly.



Bdm82 -

I'm brand new here and wanted to say thanks for a great review of the E02 ! I am just in receipt of the E02H (headlamp) and am getting familiar with the UI, etc. So far, so good.

With your own light being broken it may be difficult to answer the following question but perhaps your memory will serve you or others can chime in. It's really a very minor point but I am curious. The light remembers the last mode one was in and will turn on in that mode with a "long press." But I notice that it will only return to LOW or HIGH and not MOONLIGHT. If one desires MOONLIGHT then they would just do a "one short click" so it is not a problem. Is this what others have found?

How is the repair process coming? I bought mine from eBay and it was shipped quite quickly from NJ. But I was told that for repairs the units had to be sent to Hong Kong. That sounds expensive and slow. I hope things work out for you.

Bob


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## LightObsession (Jan 12, 2018)

BobbyC777 said:


> Bdm82 -
> The light remembers the last mode one was in and will turn on in that mode with a "long press." But I notice that it will only return to LOW or HIGH and not MOONLIGHT. If one desires MOONLIGHT then they would just do a "one short click" so it is not a problem. Is this what others have found?
> Bob



Yes, that is what I have found.


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