
Today I have in my hands a little light from Acebeam that packs quite a throwy punch! The E10 is a 26350 cell dedicated thrower, and quite a little thrower it is. Read on for some testing and thoughts.
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the official product page.
Versions
There is only one body type available, but three emitters are offered. Osram white (seen here), Osram Green, and Osram Red.
Price
These list for $57.30. Buy yours at KillzoneFlashlights when they’re available! (referral link)
Short Review
For the price of $57, there is a lot of fun to be had with this light. So I have to say, you should definitely buy this light. I don’t often suggest so wholeheartedly, but …. wow is this fun.
Long Review
The Big Table
Acebeam E10 | |
---|---|
Emitter: | Osram (White) |
Price in USD at publication time: | $57.30. Buy yours at KillzoneFlashlights when they’re available! (referral link) |
Cell: | 1×26350 |
Turbo Runtime | High Runtime |
LVP? | Yes |
Switch Type: | E-Switch |
Quiescent Current (A): | ? |
On-Board Charging? | Yes |
Charge Port Type: | Micro-USB (on cell) |
Chargetime | |
Power off Charge Port with no Cell? | ? |
Claimed Lumens (lm) | 760 |
Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 543 (71.4% of claim)* |
Candela per Lumen | 201.6 |
Claimed Throw (m) | 562 |
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 2310lux @ 7.3m = 123100cd |
Throw (Calculated) (m) | 701.7 (124.9% of claim)* |
All my Acebeam reviews! |
- Measurement disclaimer: I am an amateur flashlight reviewer. I don’t have $10,000 or even $1,000 worth of testing equipment. I test output and such in PVC tubes!! Please consider claims within 10% of what I measure to be perfectly reasonable (accurate, even).
What’s Included
- Acebeam E10 Flashlight
- Acebeam 2000mAh 26350 cell
- Spare o-rings (2)
- Charge cable (USB to micro-USB)
- Manual and papers
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
The E10 is a nice sturdy little light.
The knurling is good – This is the type of knurling Acebeam uses almost always, so … it’s good stuff.
The body is a one piece – the tail cap doesn’t come off. The threads are square cut, anodized, nice and thick, and well lubed. The threads are great. They’re kind of long though, so a good bit of twisting is required here.
Both the head and tail have springs, and the tail spring has a good bit of travel. You’ll have to sort of squeeze the body and head together when you’re screwing the light together, or the cell will stick out too far for the threads to grab. No big deal, and it’s not difficult.
The button is just proud and not hard to find.
There’s no traditional reflector. This is an optic of some sort – the kind most often seen with flat whites.
Now if you’re anything like me, you saw these three dots in the product photos and put together that this light has three options: white, green, and red, and thought that this light has them all. It doesn’t; those dots are something else. Each light has only one emitter (red or white or green). I was disappointed when I realized that (only after I had the light in my hand) but for the price I still consider the light a massive win!
Low is very low as far as output goes but even low still has some distance to it.
Size and Comps
Officially the light is 91mm long, 40mm (head) and 31mm (tail) diameter. Weight is 137.4g with cell.
Throwing in this Malkoff flashlight because it has the same emitter and has a similar reflector.
Retention and Carry
Not one single thing is included for carry of the E10. No pocket clip (though there appears to be a place to attach one on the tail end). No pouch, no lanyard (and no lanyard holes). No magnet (and the light is small enough that a magnet would probably work).
Surprisingly the light is more or less pocket friendly. Maybe cargo pockets….
Power and Runtime
The E10 is powered by a single liion cell. In this case, it’s a 26350, a generally “rare” cell, which is included with the light. I’d love to see an 26650 body offered for the head down the road.
The included cell is a 2000mAh “flat top” (flat with just a little bit of bump). It also sports micro-USB charging.
There’s a little red/green indicator dot on the positive end of the cell (seen below left, at around 2 o’clock.)
The cell goes into the light in the usual way – positive terminal toward the head.
Here are a couple of runtimes – Turbo and High. The light exhibits LVP, at around 2.8V. Based on bench power testing, the light also seems to flash a warning when the cell gets depleted.
Output is low, yes. 543 measured lumens is just not very much but this is a dedicated thrower. See above in The Big Table, the relatively new “Candela per Lumen” part? On this light it’s 201.6. That’s absolutely massive. Ridiculously massive! So to be clear, you aren’t buying this light for big lumens, you’re buying it for throw!
Turbo isn’t regulated at all. High is very well regulated!
There’s a charge cable included – USB to micro-USB.
This cable is for use with the included cell – a 26350.
There’s an indicating LED on the positive end of the cell – red means charging, green means charging is complete. Charging is fairly slow, at around 0.5C – or 0.8A. That’s fine though; in my opinion slower is better.
Modes and Currents
Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
---|---|---|---|---|
Turbo | 760 | 1h30m | 542 | 2.92 |
High | 310 | 2h45m | 226 | 0.73 |
Mid | 150 | 6h45m | 105 | 0.29 |
Low | 20 | 46h | 12 | 0.04 |
Moonlight | 1 | 1850h | 0 | ~ |
PWM
There’s a bit of sawtooth on the lowest mode (possibly Low too), but I don’t notice it in real life.
Here’s a blow up on those two modes – longer timeframe for a bigger picture.
For reference, here’s a baseline shot, with all the room lights off and almost nothing hitting the sensor. And here’s the worst PWM light I have ever owned. Also one of the very first lights I ordered directly from China!
User Interface and Operation
There’s just one switch on the E10. It’s a rubber-covered e-switch, and the pad is plenty big.
Here’s a UI table!
State | Action | Result |
---|---|---|
Off | Click | On (Mode Memory) |
Off | Hold | Moonlight |
Any | Double Click | Turbo |
On | Hold | Mode Advance (LMH) |
Turbo | Double Click | Previous mode |
Off | Long Hold | Lockout (Technically Moonlight then lockout) (flashes 3x to confirm lockout) |
Lockout | Long Hold | Unlock (2x flash to confirm) |
LED and Beam
The emitter in my copy is the white version of this Osram emitter. Also available are red and green Osram options.
There’s an optic in here, which seems to be most often used with the Osram Flat emitters (but maybe not exclusively). It’s unusual – despite how it looks there’s also a lens over this optic, so it’s smooth across the top.
These beamshots are always with the following settings: f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure.
Tint vs BLF-348 (KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b version) (affiliate link)
Test light is on the left! And this time I did all the modes vs the one mode of the BLF-348. Let me know if that’s something worthwhile.
I compare everything to the KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b BLF-348, because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!
Conclusion
What I like
- Massive throw
- Full package
- It’s tiny!
- Did I mention the crazy throw?
- Three total emitter options are available.
- Easy to grasp UI.
What I don’t like
- I’d like a 26650 option
- The switch is just a bit mashy
Notes
- This light was provided by Acebeam for review. I was not paid to write this review.
- This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
- For flashlight related patches, stickers, and gear, head over to PhotonPhreaks, another site where I write!
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Hi,
In your best estimate how much spill is there? 10%.20%,30% of the total lumens[output]?. I know it is a mini thrower but would like to know if there is enough spill to walk on the hiking trail.
On turbo it just gradually loses output and there is no step down?
Never liked or had any use for USB charging. Can the battery be charged in a regular charger? I would think so.
Thanks for the review.
I would not pick the E10 as a hiking light. Regardless of spill percentage….
That’s right, unregulated output that just wanders down along with cell voltage..
Yes just about any charger capable of charing 18350 cells should charge this cell just fine. (I’m with you on in-light charging.)
You wouldn’t use it as a hiking light you said ..so using it for camping, hiking, night walks etc wouldnt be advised ❓What else would it be used for then ❓that’s what most of us buy this kind of light for isn’t it ❓
You should review the Manker MC13 and compare it to this Acebeam E10. Pretty sure they use the same optic and emitter so it would be interesting to see how they stacked up. I went with the MC13 due to the option of both 18650 and 18350 tubes being available.
I would love to. I can never get anyone from Manker to reply to my messages. And I can’t buy all the lights…. 🙁