Manker E05Ti Titanium Flashlight Review

Here’s a light – the Manker E05Ti Titanium flashlight – which I knew immediately would be a fun little flashlight.  An AA-sized light but a thrower?  Read on!

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Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Manker E05 Titanium flashlight product page.

Manker E05Ti Titanium Flashlight Versions

Technically there’s just one version of the Manker E05Ti Titanium flashlight, which you can see here.  But Manker also made an aluminum version of this light.  The Manker E05 is very similar to the E05Ti, but the E05Ti seems quite a few design enhancements.

Price

The Manker E05Ti Titanium flashlight sells new for $49.95.  The aluminum version is less expensive, at 25.95.  One place to buy the Manker E05Ti Titanium flashlight is straight from the Manker maker.

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Short Review of the Manker E05Ti Titanium Flashlight

Such a fun light.  As fun as I thought it would be, and probably more.  An AA-sized thrower is just too much fun.  The titanium and overall design is a nice touch.  The driver could have just a little bit of temperature control, though.

Long Review

The Big Table

Manker E05Ti Titanium flashlight
Emitter:	OSRAM KW CSLNM1.TG
Price in USD at publication time:	$49.95
Cell:	1xAA
High Runtime Graph	Medium Runtime Graph
LVP?	Yes
Switch Type:	Mechanical
On-Board Charging?	No
Claimed Lumens (lm)	150
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	135 (90% of claim)^
Candela per Lumen	44.5
Claimed Throw (m)	160
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	229lux @ 5.108m = 5975cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	154.6 (96.6% of claim)^
All my Manker reviews!

Manker E05Ti Titanium flashlight
Emitter:	OSRAM KW CSLNM1.TG
Price in USD at publication time:	$49.95
Cell:	1×14500
High Runtime Graph	Medium Runtime Graph
LVP?	Yes
Switch Type:	Mechanical
On-Board Charging?	No
Claimed Lumens (lm)	400
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	320 (80% of claim)^
Candela per Lumen	44.9
Claimed Throw (m)	250
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	1056lux @ 3.672m = 14239cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	238.7 (95.5% of claim)^
All my Manker reviews!

^ Measurement disclaimer:  Testing flashlights is my hobby. I use hobbyist-level equipment for testing, including some I made myself. Try not to get buried in the details of manufacturer specifications versus measurements recorded here; A certain amount of difference (say, 10 or 15%) is perfectly reasonable.

What’s Included

• Manker E05Ti Titanium Flashlight
• Lanyard
• Spare o-ring
• Manual

Package and Manual

Build Quality and Disassembly

Manker’s not really known for making titanium lights (maybe they’ve done them before, but anyway it’s not their typical fare).  So you may wonder two things: is it really titanium, and how’s the build quality.  Well first off, it’s definitely titanium.  The threads feel in such a way that only titanium feels.  Secondly, the build quality is great!

Here’s the top-down view.

Here are those threads.  Titanium often… or usually… has gritty, grainy threads.  That’s just the nature of the metal.  These are no different, though as you can see in the photo below, mine could use a bit of cleaning up and some lube.  (Those two things always help titanium threads.)

Inside the cell tube is a spring, which is stiffer than you’d guess.  And the head has only a button.  This button is surrounded by a plastic ring, so only button top cells work.

I didn’t take the light any further down than this.  The driver looks to be a screw-in type.

Size and Comps

Size: 94mm length x 20mm Diameter
Weight: 52.3g (without battery)

If the flashlight will headstand, I’ll show it here (usually the third photo).  If the flashlight will tailstand, I’ll show that here, too (usually the fourth photo).

Here’s the test light with the venerable Convoy S2+.  Mine’s a custom “baked” edition Nichia 219b triple.  A very nice 18650 light.

And here’s the light beside my custom engraved TorchLAB BOSS 35, an 18350 light.  I reviewed the aluminum version of that light in both 35 and 70 formats.

Here is the Manker E05Ti Titanium flashlight with a couple of other Mankers.  You can see the clip style is maintained with the 18350 body. The two on the left make for a great combo carry!!  Or all 3 if you’re going bigger.

Retention and Carry

There are two main ways of carrying the Manker E05Ti Titanium flashlight.  Both are seen here: the pocket clip at left, and the lanyard hole at right.

First, the pocket clip.  This clip is a single screw deep carry clip, connected by a Torx screw.  The clip is great.  Easy to use, deep carry, and overall just very functional.  There is a small possibility of a “cheese grater” effect with the clip against the bands on the light.

The pocket clip is not reversible, so there’s no hat light possibility here.

Next is the lanyard, which attaches through the hole in the tailcap.

It’s also possible to attach the lanyard through the hole in the pocket clip if you wish.  This is equally as secure.

Power and Runtime

One of the coups of this little light is that it is dual-fuel capable.  It’ll run on 1.5V AA-sized cells (Alkaline, Lithium, Eneloop/NiMH).  But it’ll also run on 14500 lithium-ion cells.  Whatever cell you do use, it’ll need to be a button top, though.

Very steady output is seen on the modes with AA.  Appreciated!

On high with a 14500, this thing gets hot….  I actually cooled the light with a bit of water during this test – over 60°C gets out of my comfort zone for testing a bit.

 

Medium heats up a bit too, but not too bad.  Still, you’ll want to be careful regarding the heat generated with a 14500.

Modes and Currents

The modes are quite different between AA and 14500 – I’ll say that the lowest mode of AA is practically unusable.  But the other two are very good modes.

AA (1.5V):

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
High	150	1.8h	135	1.16
Mid	50	7.5h	42	0.37
Low	0.5	500h	0	0.00

The 400-lumen mode really heats up this titanium body!!

14500 (4.2V):

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
High	400	0.7h	320	1.90
Mid	150	2h	113	0.64
Low	5	48h	2	0.02

Pulse Width Modulation

There’s no PWM when using an AA cell:

But with an 14500, all modes have PWM.  This PWM is not visible, however.

For reference, here’s a baseline shot, with all the room lights off and almost nothing hitting the sensor.  Also, here’s the light with the worst PWM I could find.  I’m adding multiple timescales, so it’ll be easier to compare to the test light.  Unfortunately, the PWM on this light is so bad that it doesn’t even work with my normal scale, which is 50 microseconds (50us). 10ms.  5ms.  2ms.  1ms.  0.5ms.  0.2ms.  In a display faster than 0.2ms or so, the on/off cycle is more than one screen, so it’d just (very incorrectly) look like a flat line.  I wrote more about this Ultrafire WF-602C flashlight and explained a little about PWM too.

User Interface and Operation

A single switch is used for controlling the Manker E05Ti Titanium flashlight.  It’s a reverse mechanical clicky.

The switch cover seems to also be titanium.  And there’s a tritium slot here!  This is a lot like the Reylight AA/AAA switches, both in look and action.  The motion is better than Reylights, though.  The switch is firm, with little play (and almost no slop).

Also, the switch is not proud at all – tailstanding is a cinch.

Here’s a UI table!  It’s the same for AA/14500.

State	Action	Result
Off	Click	On (Mode memory (Strobe memorizes as “Low”))
On	Click	Off
On	Tap	Mode advance (LMH Strobe)

Now that’s a very simple UI!  Many people (including me) hated on this UI because strobe is in the main cycle.  That means you always have to cycle through strobe.  Super annoying, and a very bad design choice.  I’d rather just have strobe left out entirely.  Also: mode memory.  Just start the light on low every time.  If the light always started on low, I could effectively avoid strobe by turning the light off long enough to let it reset to low (probably 5 seconds or so).

LED and Beam

What makes this little titanium light so special is the emitter: an Osram KW CSLNM1.TG.  Commonly called “flat white” this throwy emitter has a narrow deep reflector to make a very throwy beam.

LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)

AA:

14500:

Beamshots

These beamshots are always with the following settings:  f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure.

AA:

14500:

Tint vs BLF-348 (KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b version) (affiliate link)

I keep the test flashlight on the left, and the BLF-348 reference flashlight on the right.

AA:

14500:

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!
• Nice titanium construction
• Dual fuel – 1.5V and 4.2V cell option
• Tritium slot in switch!

What I don’t like

• Strobe in the main group
• Mode memory
• Unregulated output causes a very hot light

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Notes

• This light was provided by me for review.  I bought this light with my own money, and I was not paid to write this review.
• This content originally appeared at zeroair.org.  Please visit there for the best experience!
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