Fenix E01 Comparison Review

Once again from the kind courtesy of 4sevens (http://Fenix-Store.com) I have on loan a Fenix E01 to try out.......

Size comparison -

...yes, it's a blue one.......
and not only that, it's 4seven's own personal flashlight - he took it off his keyring to lend it to me -

that's his name in Chinese - that is how kind he is.

Head -


First, you should check out this_is_nascar's My Quick Fenix E01 Review -
where he has runtime graphs of the Fenix E01 -
because this is what the E01 is about -
long runtime on a single humble AAA battery - not only that, like its predecessor the E0 it is very well regulated giving more or less flat output for 8+hours.

I consider my comparison review supplemental to this_is_nascar's - a sort of qualitative/subjective look complementing his runtimes and figures.

vs. Fenix E0 both on NiMH (eneloops)

yes the E01 is just noticably brighter - not that it makes that much difference in real practical use - but it is brighter - and it has a much nicer tint - although the central hotspot is blue.

vs. classic ArcAAA (circa ~2003) both on NiMH

definitely brighter and nicer tint - but we are talking 5 years on in technology advances to this classic ArcAAA (~2003).

How about something closer?

vs. Fenix L0D-RB80 on Low - both on NiMH

comparable, the E01 might just have it... although the beam characteristics are different so makes it hard to call - here one can more easily see the blue central hotspot of the E01. The L0Drb80 Low is spec'd at 7.5lumens (8.5hours) the E01 is 10lumens (11hrs sun mode + 10hours moon mode)

vs. Fenix L1D-Q5 on Low - both on NiMH

again comparable - the L1Dq5 on Low may be a bit brighter? L1Dq5's Low is spec'd at 12 lumens (25hours but it's an AA battery)

$15 shipped? this is a bargain - considering the basic ArcAAA is twice the price with with just over half the brighntess and about half the runtime.
and Fenix gives nothing away in materials and construction - the E01 claims aircraft grade aluminum, Type III hard anodizing, Waterproof to IPX-8 Standard, and uses a real spring in the bottom of the body tube instead of the foam doughnut around the +ve contact on my classic ArcAAA (known battery crusher) - also the E01 will tail-stand for candle mode use.

Not only that the E01 come in colors -

start your own collection......
you're a flashaholic, aren't you?:nana:

Comparison with typical fauxton coin cell keyring light, and side emissions in Post #14

Another sample of the Fenix E01 compared to the CMG Ultra-G and Dorcy 1AAA (last reflector version) as well as re-compared with the E0 and ArcAAA in Post #26

AWESOME!

When all is said, and done the E01 will get props from many people who will consider it the flashlight of the year.:twothumbs

Great review, thanks.
How come your E01 tint is so white? Mine has a slight blue tint at the centre and yellow corona.

LA OZ said:

How come your E01 tint is so white? Mine has a slight blue tint at the centre and yellow corona.

Click to expand...

I don't think the sample of one of the E01 I tested is all that white -
it is just like your description - yellow'ish corona with blue center -
photos have limited dynamic range - so the hotspots tend to get grossly over exposed - so show as white.
Look at the -2 stop underexposed versions - especially the comparisons with the L0D and L1D to better see the blue center.

Thank you for the review and the very informative pictures.

I still can't believe that so many people (including me) rave about a one-stage AAA light. As a survival light, the E01 could be the light I've been waiting for for a long time. Thank you Fenix.

Nice job.

It is very helpful to see all this info in one place, thanks.

Also, is it just me or do the colors look much better in person than in Fenix's promotional photos? I am really liking the blue one now.

UnknownVT, if I may add a picture here... it's from the most recent batch
that they have been working on. They are working hard to hone in on the
color consistency. (btw I did not take this picture - it was sent to me by fenix)

I ordered a Purple one for my gf and an Olive on for me. Can't wait till they get here...

4sevens said:

if I may add a picture here... it's from the most recent batch that they have been working on. They are working hard to hone in on the color consistency. (btw I did not take this picture - it was sent to me by fenix)

Click to expand...

You're a "bad" man 4sevens -
this pic will only make people want ALL the colors -
in addition to the standard black and olive -
but at least it won't break the bank.

Ask Fenix are there going to be Red and Green ones?

UnknownVT said:

You're a "bad" man 4sevens -
this pic will only make people want ALL the colors -
in addition to the standard black and olive -
but at least it won't break the bank.

Ask Fenix are there going to be Red and Green ones?

Click to expand...

haha
No green and red at this point.

4sevens said:

haha
No green and red at this point.

Click to expand...

I bet they are saving green for St. Patricks day and red for Christmas!

Comparison with a typical "fauxton" clone - this one is recently from DealExtreme -



So the cheapo DX fauxton at all of 47cents (10 for $4.73 free shipping) acquits itself quite well.

One of the things about 5mm LEDs is there is pretty strong spurious/stray side emissions of light (see this thread from 2004 - Stray Side Emissions of Domed LEDs ) that is from the tip of the dome. Lights like the ArcAAA use their "reflector" to try to divert this stray light forwards - there is argument to how effective this is......

Here's a direct comparison between the AAA lights and a typical "fauxton" - note the very strong side "spikes" from the LED tip on the fauxton .......
my 2003 ArcAAA has a little side-spike - but nothing really to complain about........

Awesome review! Makes me want to collect all the colors

Thank you very much for this review. Especially the comparison pix of the Fenix lights for size. This is very very helpful.

boonsht said:

Makes me want to collect all the colors

Click to expand...

ugh, same!

Allright cool. Thanks for the review.

I must admit I was confused by the addition of the faux-ton. I thought you were showing one of the new Nichia GS faux-tons. You had me thinking for a sec that I shouldn't have bothered ordering them...

Awesome beamshots as usual. :thanks:

UnknownVT said:

Comparison with a typical "fauxton" clone - this one is recently from DealExtreme -

Click to expand...

Thanks much for the comparison beam shots!