Skilhunt EC500

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Skilhunt EC500 Specifications & measurements

Brand & Model	Skilhunt EC500
Flashlight category	Search/Long Range
Battery config.	1*21700
Switch type	Side
Dimensions:
Length	131 mm
Head diameter	52 mm
Weight with battery	215 g
LED & Beam
LED type	Luminus SFT40, 6500K
High CRI	No
Focusable beam	No
Features
Onboard charging	USB-C
Power bank	No
Specifications and measurements
Specified output	2100 lm
Measured output (30sec)	1540 lm
Max. measured output (turn on)	1650 lm
Specified beam distance	902 m
Measured beam distance (30sec)	930 m
Specified beam intensity	203,600 cd
Measured beam intensity (30sec)	216,091 cd
Overall rating	5 stars
Review publication date	January 2025

Skilhunt has added a new light to their EC-series, the EC500. When you see it, you’ll instantly notice the difference: The EC500 is a large-headed thrower! It comes with the popular Luminus SFT-40 emitter in 3000K, 5000K, and 6500K, the coolest of which has a claimed 200,000+ candela! If it can really produce that much light, that’s nothing to laugh at! Let’s see what it can do!

What’s in the package

Skilhunt’s packaging always looks shelf-ready, and the EC500’s is no different. For the EC500, there’s a clear plastic window in the front which shows off the light. I appreciate that there’s a tab you can use to pull the tray out of the box, and that the light is cradled in a molded plastic insert, while the accessories are kept together in a cardboard tray under that. It looks very professional.

Inside the box, you’ll find:

• Skilhunt EC500 with Skilhunt 21700 (BL-250) battery inside
• Clip
• Lanyard
• Plastic zip-top bag with spare o-rings
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• Instruction manual

All of the EC series share a similar design. The tube has a really nice crisscrossing design in the herringbone circular (perpendicular to the tube) knurling which offers great grip with a channel at the bottom to attach the clip. The threads are short, lubed, and anodized in the color of the light, which are Carbon Black, Gun Metal Gray, and Coyote Brown.

The tail cap is covered with herringbone thin knurling parallel to the tube, making it easy to grip and twist. There’s also a cutout for the included lanyard. Skilhunt impresses me with their lanyard; it has a cinch strap and they go so far as to wrap an incredibly thin wire around the end so you can easily slide it through the tiny hole to attach it! They don’t include a magnet in the tail cap of this larger 21700-sized light, though.

The head is glued to the tube, so it’s not easily removable. That helps with the IPX8 rating, though. Looking down the tube, you’ll see a sticker indicating the direction in which the battery should be inserted, which is the standard way, positive terminal first. At the other end, there is a plastic ring covering the driver, likely for isolation. Springs at both ends keep the battery connected.

These EC-series lights have thick cooling fins on either side of the head, though on the EC500, they’re much larger. The head also has flattened sections for the switch and USB-C port. Unlike the M-series lights, the EC-series uses a rubber button, much like the H-series headlamps, including a red/blue charge status LED underneath. The difference between the rubber button and flat charging port cover make it easier to identify the button by feel!

This is one light that has the “classic” flashlight silhouette of a tube with a larger head and being a 21700, it fits nicely in the hand. Skilhunt used their standard, bi-directional, friction clip for the EC500 and if you decided to pocket it (though it’s really more of a jacket pocket light), it would be fairly deep carry. Only about half an inch would stick out of your pocket.

There’s only one channel on the body where you can put the clip. Now that I think about it, I’d say this would probably be a good light to have a single-direction clip. I guess you could clip it to the brim of a baseball cap, but it might be a bit weighty for that. I think only the H04-series and the H300 have single-direction clips.

As I usually do, I took the EC500 out for an evening flashlight walk. There are sections of housed areas and more secluded roads and let me tell you, this thing can throw! The EC500 lit up the entirety of this one straight stretch of wooded road with ease! The spill was pretty bright, too, doing a pretty good job of allowing me to see what was nearby. There’s one point in my walk which passes a water tower, and I have to say, the EC500 is my first light to be able to reach it from 600m away!

Needless to say, the EC500 probably isn’t going to be your first choice when trying to look at something relatively close up, but if there’s some distance between you and what you’re looking at, this is the way to go!

The EC500 is covered by Skilhunt’s standard warranty. You can read the full text of it on their Service page.

To summarize:

• Free product replacement due to defect within 15 days of purchase
• Free product repair due to defect within 24 months of purchase
• Paid repair available after 24 months
• Warranty may not be honored if purchased from unauthorized dealer
• Warranty does not cover normal wear or non-defect damage

When building a thrower, a domeless emitter works best, and that’s exactly what Skilhunt went with. The Luminus SFT-40 is a 3V, 5050 (5mm²), domeless emitter with a square emitting surface (with little corner indentations for bond wires). The large, smooth reflector also helps focus the light tightly for that long distance throw. This is behind an anti-reflective coated glass lens and held in place by a bezel with low crenulations which will allow light to shine through if it’s placed head down; something you’d want to know with a light this intense!

The beam is what you’d expect from this combination: A very intense hotspot with bright, circular spill, and the 6500K version I tested had a very neutral, white tint. Pretty good for seeing far downrange!

The EC500 can also be had with a 5000K or 3000K SFT-40. You’ll lose output with a lower CCT, but the 3000K version does have high CRI, if you need that in a thrower.

More details: 

• LED Type: Luminus SFT40, 6500K (5000K and 3000K also available)
• High CRI: Only with 3000K
• Focusable beam: No

Spectral measurements: 

I used an Opple Light Master Pro to measure the flashlight at 1 meters distance. 

Mode:	CCT:	CRI Ra:	duv
T1	6310 K	69.0	0.0029
Low	5856 K	65.8	0.0083

Dimensions: 

Skilhunt EC500	Millimeters	Inches
Length	131 mm	5.4 in
Head diameter	52 mm	2.0 in
Body diameter	25 mm	1.0 in

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

Weight: 

Skilhunt EC500	Weight in grams	Weight in oz
Without battery:	149 g	5.0 oz
With battery	215 g	7.6 oz

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

Flashlight size comparison with its competition:

Group 1: Emisar D4v2, Skilhunt EC500, Convoy S2+

The EC500 uses Skilhunt’s standard UI.

Available modes: 

• L2, L1, M2, M1, H2, T2, T1

Available blinky modes:

• Strobe, Blink, SOS, Beacon

From OFF:

• Press and hold: Memorized low level
• Single click: On to memorized main level
• Double click: Memorized turbo level
• 3 fast clicks: Memorized strobe mode
• 4 fast clicks: Lock out

From ON:

• Press and hold: Cycle through levels with the current group
• 1 click: Off
• 1 click and hold: Memorized low level
• Double click: Memorized turbo level
• 3 fast clicks: Memorized strobe mode

Mode memory:

• The last used level in each group is memorized

Shortcuts:

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

Strobe/blinkies

• Accessed with triple clicking from any level.
  • Strobe – Varying frequency
  • Blink – Steady blink
  • SOS – Morse code for SOS
  • Beacon – Quick blink every 2 seconds

Lock-out mode: 

• 4 clicks from off.
  • When in lockout, double-click to toggle the location indicator on or off
  • 4 clicks will unlock to memorized low level.
  • Holding allows for momentary memorized low level.

PWM

• None visible

Additional/summary info on the UI: 

• I appreciate that Skilhunt has a standard UI!

The EC500 came with Skilhunt’s BL-250, a protected, button top, 74.6mm by 21.3mm, 21700 battery, which has 5000mAh capacity and is capable of 8A continuous discharge and 20A burst.

There are springs on both ends of the tube, so you can use any 21700 battery, even unprotected, though a shorter battery may disconnect if the light is bumped while in use.

Skilhunt now uses USB-C charging on the EC series! Gone are the proprietary magnetic chargers of yesterday and in its place is a simple USB-A to USB-C cable. This makes it easier to grab the EC500 and go, since you don’t have to make sure you have a charger with you.

The EC500 has low voltage protection on the driver, and it kicks in at 2.7V. I measured 2.9V after the light turned off, perhaps due to the voltage recovering slightly since it was no longer under load. Charging took on average 2.5 hours, which is pretty good for a 5000mAh battery, and terminated around 4.17V. Incidentally, you can use the light on any mode while charging. Plugged in without the battery, you can use any mode but T1.

When I did a 250mA capacity test with my Vapcell S4+ charger, it finished at 5004mAh. That’s pretty close to the rating!

When the battery is getting low, the indicator light on the switch blinks red, and the emitter will blink twice every two minutes.

Battery level indicator:

• Constant blue: 100%~80% 
• Blinking blue: 80%~50% 
• Constant red: 50%~20% 
• Blinking red: 20%~0% 

Batteries	Details
Compatible batteries	21700
Incompatible batteries	N/A
Low voltage protection/warning	Main emitter blinks 2x every 2 seconds; button light constantly blinks red
Onboard Charging:
Onboard charging	USB-C
Power bank functionality	No
USB-C to USB-C charging	Yes
Max power of USB charger (port)	65 watts
Max power measured	5.2V 2.5A 12.7watts
Final battery voltage (charged)	4.17V
Avg. onboard charge time	2h 30min

Lumen measurements

How Lumens are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards How Lumens are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards: The ANSI FL1 standards specify that output in lumens should be measured 30 seconds after turning on, as this is the standardized time for measuring brightness according to the industry standard. This is why we focus on this part in our measurements. The ANSI FL1 standards require an ambient temperature of 22 ± 3°C. We record the ambient the ambient temperature to identify potential reasons for any observed discrepancies.

To obtain these numbers, I used an integrating sphere and Extech SDL400 data logging lux meter. Measurements have been calibrated using a standardized calibration light provided by 1Lumen.

This is strange. Skilhunt is usually very accurate with their specs, but every level was below, some by quite a bit.

I thought 3.65A was a little on the light side, so I did a T1 test with a Molicel P45B. With that, the EC500 hit 1901 lumens on turn on but was still down to 1662 lumens by 30 seconds. Once T1 finished stepping down, the rest of the runtime was even with T1 and T2 with the Skilhunt battery, so it looks like the Molicel provided a bit more amperage at first before regulation kicked in, then it no longer mattered. Even with that extra boost, it still missed its T1 spec by 500 lumens.

Additionally, in looking at the SFT-40 spec sheet from Luminus, this emitter could put out a lot more light, and could likely sustain a higher output as well. That’s not to say the EC500’s numbers aren’t good; they are good. They could be higher, though.

Mode	Amps at start	Specified output	Turn on	30 sec.	10 min.
L2	4.9mA	1 lm	–	–	–
L1	11.8mA	6 lm	4 lm	4 lm	4 lm
M2	0.14A	92 lm	78 lm	78 lm	78 lm
M1	0.45A	280 lm	228 lm	228 lm	227 lm
H1	1.07A	580 lm	472 lm	471 lm	461 lm
T2	2.25A	1000 lm	744 lm	742 lm	722 lm
T1	3.65A	2100 lm	1650 lm	1540 lm	718 lm
Turbo at 3.6V	–	–	1253 lm	1210 lm	718 lm

*Turn-on and 30 second measurements are done manually, while the 10-minutes readings comes from the runtime graph. This is our standard approach, though some reviewers may choose a different approach.

Ambient temperature during testing:

• 20°C /68°F

Parasitic drain:

• 4.31mA with the button light on
• 45.2µA with the button light off

Battery Life: Runtime graphs

How Runtimes are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards About ANSI FL1 runtime 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.

To obtain these numbers, I used an integrated sphere and Extech SDL400 data logging lux meter. Measurements have been calibrated using a standardized calibration light provided by 1Lumen.

Overall runtime exceeds spec on all levels! I didn’t measure the lower levels due to time, but it makes me wonder how long L2 would last! (I’m guessing 1021 hours, based on the draw measurement above.) I do appreciate Skilhunt’s regulation. Aside from T1’s two minutes of turbo boost and the arc at the end of the runtime, everything else is basically a straight line!

Mode	Specified runtime	Runtime (ANSI FL1)	Time till shut off*
L2	–	–	–
L1	300h	–	–
M2	29h 30min	–	–
M1	9h 30min	9h 59min	9h 59min
H1	4h 10min	4h 19min	4h 19min
T2	1h 25min	2h 21min	2h 21min
T1	1h 22min	2h 25min	2h 25min

*The last column reflects the total runtime until the light turns off. A “+” symbol indicates that the test was stopped at that point, but the light continued to run. This typically occurs with certain drivers, firmware, or battery types.

Peak beam intensity and beam distance measurements

About Peak beam intensity: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards About peak beam intensity 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). This means that the intensity has decreased so much, it becomes difficult to see darker objects, or objects that don’t reflect light. The columns ‘Meters’ and ‘Yards’ use rounded numbers.

The numbers for candela were obtained with an Extech SDL400 data logging lux meter at 1, 5, and 15 meters, then averaged.

There you have it, the lux meter doesn’t lie! By M2, the EC500 is outshining most lights’ most powerful modes and even at 30 seconds, T1 is knocking at the door of 1km! That’s an extremely large amount of throw for a non-LEP light!

Mode	Specified intensity	Specified beam distance	Candela measured	Meters	Yards
L2	–	–	26 cd	10 m	11 yd
L1	–	–	627 cd	50 m	55 yd
M2	–	–	11,745 cd	217 m	237 yd
M1	–	–	34,163 cd	370 m	404 yd
H1	–	–	70,824 cd	532 m	582 yd
T2	–	–	119,168 cd	690 m	755 yd
T1	203,600 cd	902 m	216,091 cd	930 m	1017 yd
T1 at on	–	–	222,837 cd	944 m	1032 yd

Ambient temperature during testing:

• 20°C /68°F

Camera settings and distance: These were taken with a Canon EOS 600D with the following settings: 

• WB 5700K, ISO 1600, Speed 0.5sec, f/4.5, 18mm
• Distance to the other end of the playing field is 100 meters.

Beamshots of the following flashlights compared:

• Skilhunt EC500
• Fenix LD45R
• Nitecore SRT6i

Please note that the following beamshots are mainly intended to showcase the beam pattern and beam quality, rather than overall performance. These images are typically taken directly after activation, and in different seasons or weather conditions, and therefore do not fully represent its overall performance. In few cases the camera settings are even different and therefore not meant for performance comparisons. For accurate performance metrics, such as output, beam distance, and runtimes, you need to look at the performance section of this review.

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

Get 6% discount at Skilhunt by using the following discount code: blf06, or 10off200 if your order is above $200 (stacks the discount).

Buy your Skilhunt EC500 here

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