Skilhunt EC300

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Skilhunt EC300 review

Skilhunt EC300 specifications

Brand & ModelSkilhunt EC300
Flashlight categoryCamping/Household/EDC
LED4x Luminus SST-20 + RGB
Max. output2300 lumens
Max. beam distance158 meters
Max. beam intensity6300 cd 
Battery config.1x 21700
Onboard chargingUSB-C
Modes4 + 3 RGB
BlinkiesStrobe/Blink/SOS
WaterproofIPX8 
Review publication dateNovember 2022

Introduction:

The EC300 is a peculiar light. When I first read about it I was surprised: somehow the idea had never occurred to me to combine a normal quad emitter light with an RGB emitter in the center. The more I thought about it, the more interested I was. What I was most intrigued by was the fact that these were emitters, not aux LEDs. Well, with it in hand, it certainly delivered.

Package quality.

Skilhunt packaged the EC300 quite nicely in a stylized retail box, along with some accessories. The light is held in a little vacuum formed tray, with the accessories and manual stashed underneath. Nice and premium for a premium little light.

  • Skilhunt EC300
  • 5000 MAh Skilhunt 21700
  • Two spare o-rings
  • USB-C cable
  • Lanyard
  • Pocket clip
  • Manual
  • Pouch

Flashlight in use

In a word, it’s excellent. The light feels great, it is a very nice size that stacks up against many of my 18650 lights. The pocket clip permits mostly deep carry, though the lip could be a little bigger. The tailcap has a hole for a lanyard that I opted not to install, and has a little recess, in the end, should you wish to place your thumb in it. For me, it was not very well located, but maybe that’s just my hands.

The EC300 uses a side electronic switch that is nicely situated and easy to press, however a tiny bit mushy. It also has an LED under it to indicate charge status which is easy to read and can be used to locate the light. The light has an internal USB-C charge port which is covered by a rubber cap. Uniquely, the cap is secured by a rubber ring that runs around the head of the light to prevent it from fatiguing where it attaches. Clever! The light can tail stand just fine, and the cooling fins on the head have a flat spot to prevent rolling.

Build Quality, and Warranty

The light is excellently built, barring one issue I’ll come to shortly. The knurling is very nice, grippy enough to stay in your hand but not so aggressive it becomes an issue. Made of aluminum it has a gray matte anodization, with light gray accents around the switch and optic. The threads are square cut and come factory lubed, however, when unscrewing the tailcap the pressure from the spring results in them binding and grinding against each other. 

I did have a fairly significant issue with the unit Skilhunt provided, where a portion of the diffused coating on the optic was missing. Upon opening the lens, there was some sort of liquid or lubricant trapped between it and the optic which had eroded the coating. While not a fatal error, this is certainly something that consumers should be aware of. Skilhunt is providing a replacement at no charge.

Skilhunt offers a free replacement of any defective parts within 15 days, and within two years of purchase free repairs. A limited lifetime warranty is in place where they will charge for parts/shipping and not service for repairs.

LED, Lens, Bezel, Beam, and Reflector

The unique feature of this light is its LED configuration, combining a quad TIR optic with a RGB emitter in the center behind a crenelated bezel. The TIR optic with a diffusion coating on it produces a very nice balanced beam which is extremely floody. There is no defined hotspot and blends very nicely. The tint on the SST-20 LEDs is excellent and makes for a very pleasant beam.

The RGB emitter certainly impressed me. I have to admit I was expecting something more similar to the aux lights that come on some flashlights, however it is a bonafide emitter. You certainly do not get a lot of output or throw from them, however it is certainly usable for most tasks a light like this is suited for. The red light in particular is very useful at night to preserve night vision. The one issue is that due to the placement of the emitter in the center, the red, green, and blue portions are slightly off and result in an almost “square” beam as they interact with the optic.

Opple measurements were taken at 6.3 meters on high.

Dimensions and size comparison

Dimensions: 

DimensionMillimetersInches
Length115mm4.53”
Head diameter29.5mm1.16”
Body diameter28mm1.1”

Dimensions are rounded to the nearest millimeter, and to the nearest tenth of an Inch.

Weight

WeightGramsOz.
Without battery:71.2 g2.5 oz
With battery144 g5.1 oz

Weight is rounded to the nearest gram, and to the nearest tenth of an Oz.

Flashlight size comparison with its competition

Group 1: Speras EST, Skilunt EC300, Acebeam E70

Driver & User Interface:

The light uses its own custom UI built by Skilhunt with multiple main modes and “submodes.” While it has a great deal of complexity and could (and should have on some other lights) be replaced by Anduril, in this particular case with the RGB emitter I think it was the right call to stick with their own. That being said, some consistency between UI’s within Skilhunt’s own lights would be great to see.

Available modes: Low 1, Low 2, Medium 1, Medium 2, High, Turbo 1, Turbo 2, Red, Green, Blue

Available blinky modes: Strobe, Blinky 1, Blinky 2, SOS

User interface:

From OFF:

  • Press and Hold: Low/RGB mode
  • Single click: Main group on
  • Double click: Turbo
  • 3 clicks: Strobe mode
  • 4 clicks: Lockout
  • etc.

From Low/RGB Mode:

  • Press and Hold: Change brightness (L1 → L2, R → G → B)
  • 1 click:  Off
  • Double click: Change low to RGB mode

From On Mode:

  • Press and Hold: Change brightness (M2 → M1 → H)
  • 1 click:  Off
  • Double click: Turbo
  • Triple Click: Strobe

From Turbo Mode:

  • 1 click:  Off
  • Double click: Change strobe mode
  • Triple click: On mode

Mode memory:

  • Mode memory enables for all modes (Low, RGB, On, Strobe, Turbo)

Shortcuts:

  • To Low: Hold from off
  • To Turbo: Double click
  • To Strobe: Triple click

Low voltage warning:

  • Switch glows red

Strobe/blinkies

  • Triple click to enter strobe mode, double click to cycle between four modes (SOS, Strobe, Red blink, RGB blink)

Lock-out mode: 

  • Four clicks to enter, four clicks to disable

PWM

  • No visible PWM

Batteries & Charging

The EC300 is powered by a single 21700 cell, Skilhunt shipped it with their BL-250 5000 mAh battery which was used for these tests. The light has an internal USB-C port for charging which has addressed one of my biggest complaints when lights do this externally, which is the rubber boot. They have designed a rubber ring that runs around the head of the light to prevent the fatigue that happens at the traditional “pin” installation of one of these protectors. While I would prefer it be installed in the threads internally behind an O-ring, it is a very nice solution to the problem. 

The BL-250 battery is a protected cell, however one of my Molicell P42A 21700 cells fit without issue. There is some slight side-to-side rattling that takes place, but never enough to dislodge the contacts. Internal charging takes place at 2A as I measured and was around 3.6 hours to fully charge the 5000 mAh battery. The light can also act as a powerbank with actually compliant USB-C behavior, and discharges at 2A as well.

Performance test

Lumen measurements

 Lux readings were taken with a Triplet LT68 data logging meter, as were candela measurements. Lumens were calculated using an integrating tube I built, calibrated with a Convoy S2+ that had been sent to a calibration lab for a report.

ModeSpecs@turn on@30 sec@10 minutes
Low513.1 lm12.9 lm12.9 lm
Medium15058.9 lm58.8 lm58.3 lm
High420452 lm445 lm440 lm
Turbo23001165 lm1070 lm369.5 lm

Battery Life: Runtime graphs

Runtimes were measured using the BL-250 5000 mAh 21700 from Skilhunt, fully charged before each test

ModeSpecified runtimeMeasured runtime (ANSI)Time till shut off
Low270h16h+16h+
Med16h16h 2min16h 2min
High6h5h 45min5h 45min
Turbo*3h 42min3h 20min3h 39min

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

Lux was measured at six meters using my luxmeter and converted to candela and throw distance using known formulas.

ModeSpecsCandela measured MetersYards
Low90.8 cd19.1m20.9 yd
Medium504 cd44.9m49.1 yd
High1080 cd65.7m71.9 yd
Turbo6300 cd6696 cd163.7m179.0 yd

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). Columns Meters and Yards show rounded numbers

Beamshots

Beamshots were taken with a Canon EOS Rebel at 1/15 seconds, F5.6, ISO 1600

Beamshots of the following flashlights compared:

  • Skilhunt EC300
  • Acebeam E70

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

Final Verdict

Pros

  1. Very nice beam
  2. RGB emitter very usable
  3. USB-C charging and powerbank function
  4. Nice construction barring defect

Cons

  1. Defect in optic
  2. Output is not fantastic
  3. Complicated UI

Explanation on star ratings:

1: Avoid: a match would be a better choice – 2: Poor: significant defect or issues; almost unusable – 3: Average: some defects or issues; but still usable 4: Good: recommended (minor issues) – 5: Great: highly recommended

Reviewer Max
Author: Max

4 stars: ★★★★

The EC300 is a neat little light. It is perfectly suited for camping thanks to the RGB emitter and utility as a powerbank, coupled with a very nice beam and usable output. However, the manufacturing defect in the optic along with a complicated UI are marks against it. All in all, a very good new offering from Skilhunt, perfectly suited for those long trips. 4/5

Skilhunt EC300 discount code

Get 6% discount at Skilhunt by using the following discount code: blf06

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