Sunday, June 19, 2016

Review: Fenix E01 LED Flashlight

And another AAA LED flashlight I picked up to try out because the price looked good. This one was from Fenix.
Fenix E01 Flashlight: Unboxed
Configuration
x1 - Fenix E01 LED Flashlight

Paid: CA$ ~13.00
Assembly
The Fenix E01's package reminded me of a small pack of batteries with the lightweight cardboard and plastic shell. I peeled the cardboard back and pulled out the plastic shell to get the flashlight out. There was also a battery (not pre-installed) and a few pieces of literature inside, along with a small zip-lock plastic bag with spare parts.

Opening the battery compartment of the flashlight was very easy. Unlike my other small flashlights, the cap was on the lamp/head end. It was easy to screw off, drop a battery in, and then seal back. Turning the light on wasn't the most intuitive though. Screwing the cap or head all the way in turned the light on. To turn it off, I had to unscrew the cap until it turned off.
Fenix E01 Flashlight: Turned on
Design / Construction
I thought it felt very light and fairly solid. No major issues jumped at me.

How was it?
This Fenix E01 was the smallest lamp in my collection, even smaller than my Maglite Solitaire LED and Coast G10. The illumination that it provided seemed dim but usable. Compared to the incandescent Maglite Solitaire I had from many years ago, this Fenix was significantly better -- the Solitaire was really dim. Overall, it looked like a pretty usable, very compact lamp that used a fairly common and cheap AAA battery.

I wasn't extremely impressed with the on/off switch. Having used a Maglite Solitaire LED for so long and other Maglites that screwed open to turn on, this felt counter-intuitive. However, this is a fairly minor issue that may not bug others. It hasn't been used for long so we'll see how it works out in the longer term.
Fenix E01 Flashlight: Light from about 5' away
Conclusion
For CA$ 13.00, I thought the Fenix E01 LED flashlight was a reasonably good and usable compact light. One thing that bugged me was the on/off switch that required screwing shut to turn on and unscrewing a bit to turn off -- this one may be more of a personal thing.

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