Manker E03H II

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Manker E03H II review: Right-angle flashlight

Manker E03H II specifications

Brand/modelManker E03H II
LEDLuminus SST20
Lumens360/600 lm
Beam intensity990/1760 cd
Battery config.1*AA/14500
MaterialAluminum
Modes4
BlinkiesStrobe
ReflectorTIR optic
WaterproofIPX8
Review dateApril 2021

Introduction:

We’ve reviewed a few Manker flashlights, but not yet one of their right-angle flashlights. The E03H II is obviously the second generation right-angle AA flashlight. The first generation is powered with a single XP-L LED, while the second generation is powered by a single Luminus SST20 LED. It’s available in 2 beam color temperatures, namely CW (cold white) and NW (netraul white). The one I am reviewing here is the NW version.

It is supposed to produce 360 lumens on a single AA battery, and that is quite a claim. Besides accepting AA (rechargeable) batteries, it also accepts button top 14500’s, unlike its predecessor. I doubt it can reach + maintain 360 lumens for more than a few seconds with a single AA battery. I only have flat top 14500’s, so we’ll see if I can find a way to test it without breaking anything.

Package quality.

The packaging is pretty simple and is a display-ready cardboard package with a plastic window. The most important specs are mentioned on the outside with some bold claims. Inside the package you can find the following:

  • The flashlight: Manker E03H II with magnetic tailcap
  • Lanyard
  • Spare o-ring
  • Stainless steel pocket clip
  • Headband
  • Filters (red, green, and ‘white’)
  • Manual (English and Chinese)

Flashlight in use

The Manker E03H II has a single electronic switch located at the top end of the flashlight. It looks like a stainless steel button, and its diameter is tiny. Fortunately, you don’t need to press it hard or anything, and you don’t need any nails because it activates pretty easily. Having said that, it’s probably a good idea to use the lockout mode, because of that.

I like the numerous ways you can carry it. Besides a headband (to use as a headlamp) you have the choice to either use the pocket clip, lanyard, or the installed magnet. That’s 4 ways of carrying the light, and I do appreciate the number of choices, and I wish more manufacturers think this through.

Although the E03H II can be considered a magnetic flashlight, the magnet isn’t very strong. It’s strong enough to keep the flashlight in a horizontal position, attached to something vertical. It’s not too strong, so you can’t attach it to anything vertical that is bumping or moving strongly! Please keep that in mind. On top of that, it seems to be unremovable. When it comes to the pocket clip, it does look pretty beefy, and strong. You can attach it 2 ways, so whatever way you feel comfortable carrying it. This is another nice feature Manker included.

And since there are so many ways of carrying it, you don’t need to worry too much about knurling or grip.

Build Quality, and Warranty

The E03H II looks different from its predecessor in the sense that the filter attachments can be removed sliding down. This is because the former version had to be clipped and removed. That’s probably the most significant change.

The flashlight is made of 3 parts, of which you can separate only two parts, the tailcap from the body. The threads towards the head have some Loctite applied so you can’t remove them by hand.

There’s no classical knurling on the battery tube like its predecessor, but it has reeding instead. Lines that go in full circle around the body. The same goes for the tailcap.

LED, Lens, Bezel, and Reflector

While the first E03H uses a reflector, the 2nd generation uses a TIR optic. This makes the included white diffuser unnecessary ( I thought). But upon testing it, the beam is much wider than with just the TIR optic, but at the cost of reduced output.

Besides this white filter (diffuser), Manker also included a green and a red diffuser. The 2nd generation E03H seems to be a nice improvement in removability. You can slide the diffusor downwards to remove it, while the 1st generation had to be unclipped.

For this review, I bought the Neutral White Luminus SST20 with a High CRI >95. The beam is pretty smooth but a bit on the greenish side. But it still has a good color rendering when pointing it to my hand. In the past, I had some ‘neutral’ white flashlights that made my hand go yellow as well. The skin looks nice and healthy.

Dimensions and size comparison

  • Length: 80.3 mm / 3.16”
  • Head diameter: 20.1  mm / 0.79 ”
  • Body diameter: 19.5 mm / 0.77 ”

Weight without clip or accessories: 

  • Empty: 35.5 g / 1.25 oz
  • With battery: 61.9 g /2.18 oz

Headlamp comparison

Size compared to other well known headlamps

From left to right: Eneloop AA battery, Manker E03H II, Fireflies PL47G2, Armytek Wizard C2 PRO, Acebeam PT40.

Driver & User Interface:

The Manker UI is fairly simple, with a few nice features. The main modes are Medium and High. Low is actually missing, but since Eco mode is programmable, you can choose your own desired output for ‘Eco’ mode, ranging for very very dim till a plenty bright low mode.

Eco mode is programmable. You can select the desired output for ‘Eco’ from 6 different output levels, running from 0.1-15lumens on a single AA battery, and the same setting would result in 10-56 lumens using a 14500 battery.

Available modes:

  • Eco, Medium, High, Turbo
  • Strobe

From OFF:

  • Single-click: to last used mode, mode memory
  • Double click: Turbo
  • Triple-click: Strobe
  • 4-clicks: lockout mode
  • Press and hold: Eco mode

From ON:

  • Single-click: turns the flashlight off
  • Double click: Turbo
  • Triple-click: Strobe
  • Press and hold: switching modes between Med and High

Shortcuts:

  • To Turbo: double click from On and Off
  • To Moon: press and hold from Off
  • To Strobe: triple-click from On and Off

Mode memory:

  • Yes, except Moon (Eco) Turbo and strobe (all 3 can be accessed by a shortcut from off).

Blinky modes menu:

  • Only strobe

PWM:

  • Not visible by eye

Batteries & Charging

The Manker E02H II is a nice mini rechargeable flashlight. You can either use Alkaline, NiMh or Lithium batteries. I just didn’t have much luck using lithium-ions, and I don’t know why. I added a solder blob to one of my 14500’s, but that didn’t seem to work somehow. So it definitely needs a button top, but I it probably needs one that is narrow.

And because of that, I tested this flashlight with Eneloop AA batteries alone.

Oh, and no internal charging is possible. You need a dedicated charger for this.

Performance

Lumen measurements:

All output numbers are relative for my home-made Integrating Sphere. It is set up with an Extech SDL400 Lux Meter for measurements including a Kenko PRO1D ND-16 filter. The base measurement is done with a Convoy S2+ that has been tested at 255 lumens.

All of my readings were taken from a fully-charged Eneloop AA 1900mAH

Keep in mind that I had accidentally changed the Moon/Low mode to a sub-lumen output. The default output is higher at around 5 lumens.

ModeSpec@10min@30sec@start
Moon/Low0.50.510.51
Med50252424
High140868788
Turbo360 lumens82 lumens182 lumens224 lumens

I wasn’t very happy with the results. and I don’t know if I am missing something, but the numbers don’t add up. Med, High and Turbo are hugely underperforming, while I expected much better numbers. I don’t know why Manker claims those numbers, but I can’t seem to get the same numbers even remotely.

In all modes the light continued to glow for many many hours. Although the current is very very low, I don’t know at what Voltage the flashlight will actually turn off completely. If it’s set too low, the batteries could get damaged.

Parasitic drain:

  • Roughly 4uA

Runtime:

The runtime test was done with the 50cm integrating sphere, including the Kenko Pro1D ND-16 filter and Extech SDL400 data logging Lux Meter.

Keep in mind that specs were using a Eneloop PRO 2450mAh battery instead of the Eneloop 1900mAh battery I used.

Turbo started dropping almost immediately and within 3 minutes was down to roughly 82 lumens. It then abruptly dropped to almost 0 lumens (didn’t turn off yet, but a very low output) at 2 hours and 15 minutes.

High was relatively stable at around 86 lumens for 2 hours and 12 minutes when it dropped to a sub-lumen output.

Medium lasted for 9 hours and 29 minutes at roughly the same output. It then continued to have an output of around 1 lumen for several more hours. This output was higher than from the Turbo and High tests I did. So

Throw Measurement

Measurements were taken indoors at 2 or 3 meters with a professional Hagner E4-X Lux Meter.

These were taken before the runtime test, so the lowest output was still around 5 lumens

ModeCandelasMetersYards
Low (5lumen)1002022
Med3753942
High9006066
High @30 sec700 cd5358

Manker claims a beam intensity of up to 990cd with a rechargeable battery, but I wasn’t able to get that, not even at startup.

Beamshots

Flooders:

For the following beamshots I used a Canon EOS 5D Mk2 and a 50mm lens. manual settings: ISO1600, 1/30sec , F4, 5000K

The wall is about 5 meters away. 

Disclaimer: I bought this flashlight with my own money. Nobody paid me to review this flashlight, nor have I been holding back on problems or defects. 

Final Verdict

Pros

  1. Affordable
  2. Nice amount of accessories, including clip, headband, lanyard, filters, etc.
  3. Available in High CRI
  4. Neutral White LED
  5. Interesting UI

Cons

  1. Underperforming
  2. Tiny switch
  3. Couldn’t see if it would shut off at low battery
Reviewer Marco
Author: Marco

4.5 stars: ★★★★⋆

During testing, I got a little discouraged and left the light untouched for a while. It’s not a bad flashlight but it also doesn’t perform as expected. The UI is interesting with an extremely low moon mode (which is programmable) and some nice shortcuts to the most important modes, so that is a good thing.

Just because of its performance (exaggerated claims) it’s not really worth 5 stars, but it still works pretty well and has a nice amount of accessories and features. If you don’t care about the low output, and want to give this to a kid or something, not a bad choice.

Manker E03H II for sale

1lumen selects and reviews products personally. We may earn affiliate commissions through our links, which help support our testing.