TITANER ET20, Titanium AAA light

[HKJ]

TITANER ET20





This company has been making titanium lights since 2005 and has now decided to enter the international flash light market, the TITANER ET20 is their entry model. This is a two level light where the light is off with tight head, loosen the head will select high and loosing it even more will select low (From off to low is about half a turn). The light is, of course, made of titanium.



The light is delivered in a small cardboard box and as can be seen on the photo it is marked jewelry (It might be a good idea to substitute another box, if the light is used as a gift to a girl friend). The box contains the light, two spare o-rings, a split ring and an instruction and specification sheet.



The light has a deep LOP (Light Orange Peel) reflector with the led XP-G led at the bottom. There is some GITD (Glow in the Dark) stuff around the led.



The head does not have rifling or knurling, but instead a milled pattern that also works to improve the grip and makes the light look different from other lights. It is also possible to get the light with a more regular pattern.



Moving to the backside of the head the battery connection and the two switches can be seen. These switches are pressed down when the tail is tightened, one controls high/low, the other controls on/off. There is not circuit board visible in this light.



Moving on to the battery tube / tail, the threads is the first thing to look at. They do not look like any other AAA light I have seen, these are square cut and very solid, I do not believe they will ever wear out. It requires just less than two turns to take the battery tube off. There is also an o-ring in a grove, this makes the light waterproof and secures that the light will not unscrew itself.
Inside the battery tube is the usual spring.



On the side of the battery tube is the brand name milled in a special font.



The back end of the battery tube has a very solid eye that can used to mount the light in a key chain



This light is one of the best mechanical build AAA lights I have seen, it looks like it will last forever, it also has a very easy user interface. The huge difference between high and low gives a real low in a two level light, but I would have preferred that low activated before high and a driver that worked better with alkaline. I like the design with the pattern on the head, instead of the typical knurling or groves.



Technical specification and measurements



This light is designed for 1.5 volt AAA batteries (Alkaline, NiMH, Lithium).

Measured size and weight:
Length: 80.9 mm
Diameter: 14.6 mm
Weight: 38.3 gram with eneloop

The light uses a Cree XP-G R5 led.



In the above table I have used 800mAh eneloop batteries for measuring and estimating the runtime. The estimated lumen are based on the specified 60 lumen and then scaled according to measured brightness. When turned off the light has a small current drain, but this is low enough not to have any impact on battery life.



The voltage scan show that the light is stabilized down to around 1 volt, but this stabilization has a down side, the light can use up to 2 ampere from the battery! The driver did jump up and down in brightness and current when doing this measurement, making it impossible to get an exact curve.



On high the light uses a lot of current and with an alkaline the driver has trouble stabilizing the brightness, but NiMH batteries works fine.

The light uses current control and has no flashing modes.



Comparison to other Flashlights

TITANER ET20 XP-G R5, Fenix LD01 SS XP-G R5, 4Sevens Preon Revo SS XP-G R4 NW


4Sevens Preon Ti XP-G R5, Olight Xmas 2010 XP-G S2, Klarus Mi10 XP-E R2


For the full comparison to other lights with graphs and beamshots see here.




Notes

The lights was supplied by TITANER for a review.

[Russ Prechtl]

Thanks for the review! Great job as always. Now if they just change the modes to Low/High and dump the funky font, this one could be a real winner.

[rich297]

Very informative review, thank you! I had to laugh at your suggestion to substitute the box if gifting the light. You're quite right, I know my wife would not consider a flashlight (even a titanium one) a piece of jewelery!

[dongv]

Such an interesting design. I wonder if they'll have variations of the font on the body from batch to batch.

[coyote]

yet another excellent review! thank you HKJ.

[archimedes]

This light looks great (except maybe for the huge carved out letters on the side...).

Are these now available in the US? Their website lists an ET-20A and an ET-20B model with what seems to be the same specs -- what's the difference (and which was reviewed)?

Their website also suggests future surface treatments are possible, such as anodizing, sandblasting, cera-coating, etc. I think DLC would be awesome for this little light. It also mentions "C & B surface treatment" -- anyone know what that is?

Thanks for the great review.

[HKJ]

This light looks great (except maybe for the huge carved out letters on the side...).

I like the lettering, it is a nice difference to the usual lettering with a boring font.

Are these now available in the US? Their website lists an ET-20A and an ET-20B model with what seems to be the same specs -- what's the difference (and which was reviewed)?

The difference is the groves on the head, the reviewed on is the A.

Their website also suggests future surface treatments are possible, such as anodizing, sandblasting, cera-coating, etc. I think DLC would be awesome for this little light. It also mentions "C & B surface treatment" -- anyone know what that is?

Where did you see that?

[sassaquin]

[QUOTE=archimedes;3595871

Are these now available in the US? .[/QUOTE]

I purchased one from Cnqualitygoods.com for $55, but have not received it yet. It is listed under the "special price today" listing at the top of the page.

[archimedes]

I like the lettering, it is a nice difference to the usual lettering with a boring font.

Maybe it looks better in person, but the photos remind me of something marked with a tungsten carbide "pen".

The difference is the groves on the head, the reviewed on is the A.

Thanks, I do like the deep grooves on the head. I imagine this provides excellent grip. Is it easy to operate one-handed?

Where did you see that?

Dunno if it's cool to list exact weblinks here, but it's at the bottom of the "Our Story" page, on the titaner (dot)com website.

[HKJ]

Maybe it looks better in person, but the photos remind me of something marked with a tungsten carbide "pen".

I believe that it is milled with a computer controlled machine.

Thanks, I do like the deep grooves on the head. I imagine this provides excellent grip. Is it easy to operate one-handed?

It is not easy one-handed, the o-ring prevents the head from turning easily.

Dunno if it's cool to list exact weblinks here, but it's at the bottom of the "Our Story" page, on the titaner (dot)com website.

Found it, but I believe that is more general and does not really has anything to do with this light.

[beerwax]

thankyou for yet another excellent review HJK


i too have a titaner . heres my 2 cents.

the word titaner on the side looks good (to me) in person, just not so good in the titaner banner advert. i guess it just photographs badly.

the UI is great, a real breath of fresh air.
the beam/reflector is excellent. unique amongst my humble aaa collection

i do forsee a possible difficulty cleaning under the stainless plate that holds the 2 switch posts, should thread lube seep in there.

cheers.

[candle lamp]

Excellent review as usual and thanks for sharing the information!

In my view, the runtime graph with an alkaline is not good, but really good with an Ni-Mh.
The body seems good quality and looks cool.

[Theknifereviewer]

I live this little light its a great light