Fenix E18R V2.0

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Fenix E18R V2.0 specifications

Brand & Model	Fenix E18R V2.0
LED	Luminus SST40
Lumens	1,200 Lumens
Beam intensity	5,397 cd
Battery config.	1*16340 / 1*CR123A
Onboard charging	USB-C
Modes	5
Blinkies	Strobe
Reflector	TIR optics
Waterproof	IP68
Review publication date	Aug 2022

Fenix makes a huge array of lights. In fact, they have an actual PDF catalog on their website (I imagine it’s probably also distributed in paper form as well) that is 48 pages long and chock-full of products ranging from tiny EDC lights all the way up to a couple really big boys that I’ve been fortunate enough to check out: the Fenix LR50R 12,000 lumen monstrosity and the Fenix HT30R 1500m throw LEP. If you need a light, chances are that Fenix will have a nice offering to fill that need.

By and large, I really like Fenix – my first “real” flashlight was a Fenix (the 187 lumen E25 model, if you’re curious). From my experience, Fenix lights are really well designed, they use quality materials and finishes, have great constant-current drivers, and publish truthful ANSI specs. I’m also a sucker for small EDC lights – they’re just so handy and portable. The best flashlight is the one you have with you! So while the LR50R and HT30R were massively fun to review, the new Fenix E18R V2.0 is much more practical from an EDC perspective. Did Fenix put as much attention to detail into this little 16340 light as they did with those larger and pricier models? Let’s find out!

Package quality.

The packaging for the Fenix E18R V2.0 is instantly recognizable as having come off the same line as the HT30R I just reviewed. They used the exact same design language and materials: a showy black and orange carton with a heavy duty plastic tray inside. Arranged in the tray was:

• Fenix E18R V2.0
• Battery
• Charging cable
• Spare o-ring
• Pocket clip (pre-installed)
• Lanyard
• Manual and other literature

Let’s cut to the chase – the Fenix E18R V2.0 feels tiny. I mean, that’s fitting. It is a 16340-based light.  But it surprises me sometimes when I expect a light to be small because of the battery size and things don’t turn out that way (like the Rovyvon S3 or Wuben X-0). While I don’t currently own one, the E18R V2.0 reminds me very much of the Olight Baton 3, and they happen to be very similar in terms of size and output. The E18R V2.0 is small enough that it disappears in your hands and pocket, it’s easy to carry without worrying about the bulk of some lights.

There is a single switch button located on the side of the head. The switch is very flat and sits just proud of a little raised area on the head. This raised area can help you locate the button when you’re not looking at it. The button could be prone to accidental activation in your pocket, which is probably why Fenix made the lockout mode so accessible (a double click) and then went and silkscreened the lockout instructions right below the switch. Yup – there are lock and unlock symbols along with the text “Double click” right there on the head. You’ll never forget how to lock the light.

There’s a two-way pocket clip that comes with the flashlight. This allows you to easily clip it to your pocket or your hat. It’s not quite deep carry, but it’s not too bad. The included lanyard feels pretty cheap. I personally never use lanyards, so that doesn’t bother me. What I do make use of, however, is the magnetic tailcap. Those are very handy around the house and in the garage. It does look like the magnet could be removed if that’s not your cup of tea. The tailcap is very flat and it can tailstand easily.

Being a small EDC light, this is great for short-run activities like finding your way to the car, looking for that item you dropped on the floor, or perhaps short walks around the neighborhood. The battery size of course limits the runtime of the E18R V2.0 so I wouldn’t make this my sole light on a nighttime hike or something like that.

Fenix used A6061-T6 aluminum in the construction of the E18R V2.0, then coated it in premium type III hard anodizing. The fit and finish look absolutely great, as I’ve come to expect from Fenix.

There’s no knurling to speak of. There are tiny grooves machined into the battery tube but they don’t provide much grip. Likewise, there are some light grooves in the tailcap that assist slightly when removing and installing the tailcap.

Warranty:

• 15 days from date of purchase: replacement from Fenix for manufacturing defects
• 5 year from date of purchase: free repairs
• Lifetime maintenance, with customer covering the cost of parts
• Extra 6 month warranty period for products registered on Fenix’s website

The Fenix E18R V2.0 uses a Luminus SST40 cool whie LED. It sits in the center of what appears to be a very shallow TIR lens, with the SST40 being readily visible through the top. I don’t think there is any glass on top of the TIR, in case that is a concern for you. The lens is held in place by a copper-colored smooth bezel that matches the color of the button. I’m not entirely sure what metal the bezel is made of, but I think stainless steel would be a fair guess.

Because of the TIR lens, the beam has a very defined hotspot with a faint spill. The hotspot is a bit on the green side of things with the spill being bluish. I got the following measurements of the center of the beam with my Opple Light Master at 1 meter with the Fenix being on Turbo:

• CCT: 5491K
• CRI:  63.0 Ra
• DUV: +0.0113

Dimensions: 

Dimension	Millimeters	Inches
Length	67	2.64
Head diameter	22	0.87
Body diameter	22	0.87

Weight: 

Weight	Grams	Oz.
Without battery:	36	1.27
With battery	56	1.98

Flashlight size comparison with its competition

Group 1 (16340 lights):  Fenix E18R V2.0, Rovyvon S3, Fenix PD25R

Group 2 (small EDCs):  Wuben X-0, ThruNite T1S, Fenix E18R V2.0, Wurkkos TS10, Sofirn SP10 Pro

The UI that Fenix uses on their single-switch E-series lights isn’t my personal favorite, but at least I think it’s pretty consistent. In short, it’s a short-hold for On and Off. I think that’s because it should be more difficult to accidentally activate in your pocket that way. That makes sense, but I think that accidentally holding the button down for a moment in your pocket is also a likely scenario, so I’m not sure it really helps that much. Making the electronic lockout easy to activate was a good move though.

Available modes: Moonlight, Low, Medium, High, Turbo

Available blinky modes: Strobe

User interface:

From OFF:

• Press and Hold 0.5 sec: turn on (last used mode)
• Press and Hold 1.2 sec: Strobe
• Double click: lockout

From ON:

• Press and Hold 0.5 sec: turn off
• Press and Hold 1.2 sec: Strobe
• 1 click: change brightness

Mode memory:

• Yes, it has mode memory
• Turbo and Strobe will not be memorized
• When turning the light off in Turbo mode, it will revert to High mode

Shortcuts:

• To Strobe: hold the switch 1.2 sec from either On or Off

Low voltage warning:

• When the battery voltage gets low, output will step down until it reaches Moonlight (at which point the indicator LED will start flashing red)
• There is a battery indicator LED in the middle of the switch that activates for 3 seconds when you turn the light on:
  • Green solid: 100-85%
  • Green flashing: 85-50%
  • Red solid: 50-25%
  • Red flashing: 25-1%

Strobe/blinkies

• There is a Strobe mode that can be access with a long hold (1.2 seconds) from either On or Off

Lock-out mode: 

• Yes, double click from Off to activate electronic lockout.  Double click again to exit.

PWM

• There is no PWM

Additional info on the UI: 

• Like I said in the intro to the UI section, the Fenix e-switch UI isn’t my favorite, but if you’re used to the UI from other Fenix lights (like my trusty E25), you’ll feel right at home.

The Fenix E18R V2.0 arrived with a 16340 battery pre-installed, isolated by disc. The battery is a Fenix model ARB-L16-700P which is a 700 mAh cell with a protection circuit. The provided battery is of course the recommended model, but Fenix says that other batteries in their ARB-L16 series are compatible and that CR123A cells are also usable – but of course, do not use the charging feature with these non-rechargeable batteries. I tried a Vapcell T6 battery that I had on hand and it worked just fine.

The flashlight has USB-C charging built-in and comes with a USB-A to USB-C cable. Fenix says it should take around 1 hour and 20 minutes to fully charge a depleted 700 mAh battery. I pulled the cord in through my USB meter and saw a 0.73 amp charge rate (3.8 watts). The charge cycle took right at 1 hour and 20 minutes to complete with the final battery voltage being 4.15 volts.

Lux was measured by a UNI-T UT383 BT at 5 meters. Lumens were measured in a homemade lumen tube using a TSL2591 sensor, calibrated with a Maukka calibration light. The temperature was monitored with a MLX90614 IR temperature sensor. The included Fenix battery was used for testing.

Lumen measurements

Mode	Amps at start	Specs	@turn on	@30 sec	@10 minutes
Moonlight	7	1 lm	1.4 lm	1.4 lm
Low	48	30 lm	30 lm	30 lm	29 lm
Medium	253	150 lm	147 lm	146 lm	143 lm
High	670	350 lm	337 lm	330 lm	323 lm
Turbo	3.4	1200 lm	1256 lm	1101 lm	378 lm
Turbo at 3.6V	–	–	943 lm	848 lm	389 lm

Parasitic drain:

• 13 µA

Fenix E18R v2 Battery Life: Runtime graphs

Mode	Specified runtime	Measured runtime (ANSI)	Time till end of test
Moonlight	200 hr
Low	15 hr	13 hr 20 min	13 hr 22 min+
Medium	2 hr 30 min	2 hr 38 min	2 hr 52 min+
High	1 hr 20 min	1 hr 23 min	1 hr 40 min+
Turbo	30 min	45 min	1 hr 7 min+

The E18R V2.0 continued to run for a while, my tests stopped when the light level got below 3 lumens for 3+ minutes.

ANSI FL1 standards: The runtime is measured until the light drops to 10% of its initial output (30 seconds after turning on). This does not mean that the flashlight is not usable anymore. The last column shows how long the light actually works till it shuts off. If there is a + symbol, it means that the test was stopped at that particular point, but the light was actually still running. This happens on certain occasions, with certain drivers, firmware, or batteries.

Peak beam intensity and beam distance measurements

Measured at 5 meters after 30 seconds with my UNI-T UT383 BT

Mode	Specs	Candela measured	Meters	Yards
Moonlight	4 cd	–	–	–
Low	137 cd	–	–	–
Medium	714 cd	–	–	–
High	1661 cd	1525	78	85
Turbo	5397 cd	5000	141	154

Extra info: Peak beam distance according to ANSI FL1 standards: The calculated value of distance in meters at which the flashlight produces a light intensity of 0.25 lux. (0.25 lux is about the brightness of a full moon shining on an object).

Beam shots of the building are taken at 15 m (16 yd) using a Pixel 6 set to ISO 200 with 1/10 second exposure time.

Beamshots compared to the following EDC flashlights:

• Fenix E18R V2.0
• Fenix PD25R
• Olight Arkfeld
• Wuben X-0
• ThruNite T1S

Disclaimer: This flashlight was sent to me for review at no cost by Fenix Lighting US. I have not been paid to review, nor have I been holding back on problems or defects.