I think my Fenix E01 is...

[Ty_Bower]

Title says all. If you own more than one, feel free to vote more than once.

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

When using the E-01 for what it was intended for (key chain, or back up light) I find it flawless. It's a durable, long running, simple twisty light I use to get into my car, or house at night where the slight bluish tint emitted from it is irrelevant. My vote for one of the best practical lights of 2008 from one of the best flashlight manufactures on the market today.

 

[BabyDoc]

I don't like one of your choices. I don't think the E01 is detestable crap, because it is built well and finished nice and the barrel turns with a smooth precision feel. The LED output however, is disappointingly very purple. Since I can't stand the beam and the light doesn't get used; it is a waste of my money. Unfortunately, the 3rd choice down while not giving the E01 some credit it does deserve, comes closest to my opinion about being a waste of money.

 

[xcel730]

How about none of the above? I don't think the E01 is the best thing, but I don't think it's crap either. I like the way it's constructed, but just don't like the purple tint. Any option for that?

 

[Citivolus]

I presented my non-flashaholic wife with her new E01 yesterday, when my batch of 3 arrived. Her first response after turning it on was "Is the beam supposed to be that purple?"

However, to me the beam colour doesn't get noticed in practical use, as my brain white balances it out fairly well. It is noticed more when there is another light source to compare it to.

My only other quibble is the lack of any way to retain the head. I can see my daughter losing hers, so I'm going to need to come up with some retainer mechanism to tether the head to her lanyard.

Over all, it is more useful than I made it out to be in the first half hour of playing with it. In the dark it works just fine.

Regards,
Eric

 

[Illum]

what? no choice for "good output but too fat"?

 

[WadeF]

I went with:

absolutely fantastic. Best thing since sliced bread.

While I think they are fantastic little lights, not sure it's the best thing since sliced bread. However, I rate it better than the other choices.

 

[fordwillman]

I have two at the moment, but not for long. The poll misses the mark. Where is the category between just a flashlight and utter crap?? The emitters in mine are strong purple in output. The light is well built, the external colors are nice, but bottom line... I personally don't like the light. Where did Fenix pick up TRUE purple Nichias???

 

[C4LED]

Exactly, and that's a part of what makes it such a great, long runtime, emergency light--which is what a lot of us are interested in.

If the power is out after a hurricane, etc... you won't be worried about 'tint' and 'white wall hunting.'

 

[Marduke]

Try comparing the GS to an older CS, or worse yet a BS, and I think you'll see the "purpleish" tint is still much whiter than the old "angry blue"

 

[aussiebob]

I went neither good nor bad, i really like them but wouldnt go as far as saying they are the best thing since sliced bread.
Ive given them to all my family members for their keys, car etc.
They make a great gift light, cheap, lots of coulors, runs on AAA, and easy to use.

 

[gswitter]

Decent (but not great) light at a good price. The tint was expected, but the output is disappointing. Good design, but it does feel like an inexpensive light. I was hoping for a significant improvement over the competition. This isn't it.

 

[Retral]

I don't have one, but $15 seems quite a bit to spend on something that's little more than a keychain light with low output (yes.. I'm aware it has pretty good battery life).

 

[Marduke]

I don't have one, but $15 seems quite a bit to spend on something that's little more than a keychain light with low output (yes.. I'm aware it has pretty good battery life).

Then by no means look at Peak, Arc, or Photon ($12+ for "just a piece of plastic")

 

[Retral]

Then by no means look at Peak, Arc, or Photon ($12+ for "just a piece of plastic")

Yeah.. I know.. the prices of some of these lights seems mind blowing..

I think my ultimate light would be an AA version of the LifeFlux LF2X - I love everything about it aside from the almost impractically small size and the fact that it uses AAA instead of AA. I like the feel of my Ultrafire C3, and even it feels a little small in my hand.. anything shorter/thinner and it seems like it'd feel like using a chapstick-tube as a flashlight.

I've got my eyes on the LF5XT, but I don't know if I'll like the crown or push button.. especially if it's a fairly light button & gets accidentally activated easily. Plus, I'm not sure if you'd be able to get phenomenal runtime on the lowest mode (like 10+ hours on the lowest mode with a NIMH AA).

 

[Lit Up]

If the power is out after a hurricane, etc... you won't be worried about 'tint' and 'white wall hunting.'

Or using a 1xAAA light unless desperation is present or something.

 

[Lit Up]

I don't have one, but $15 seems quite a bit to spend on something that's little more than a keychain light with low output (yes.. I'm aware it has pretty good battery life).

I done beat the horse on that issue a couple years ago over the previous E0 which IIRC costed more.
Got bombarded with runtime graphs and all this nice stuff trying to disprove my position and justify its cost.
My sample died a few months later and all the graphs in the world didn't save it.
Then, *gasp* a manufacturing flaw was discovered afterwards. The circuit board was getting crushed killing a few others samples here as well.

Live and learn.

 

[TONY M]

It is just a dim flashlight at the end of the day, that beats the hell out of a mag solataire and can compete with an arc at a good price. The long regulated runtime is the main featre for me.
I like it and will probably get another 1 or 2, but its not the holy grail or anything.:candle:

 

[mighty82]

The main reason I like it is that it can run in full regulation on a cheap alkaline, perfect for emergency. I don't know of any other similar flashlight that will do that. I don't have any flashlights without flat regulation, and I never will (except the L0D).

I also find it very good looking, and it has a good "feel" to it. It has already become my most used flashlight, because it is small enough to hide in my pocket without me feeling it, and it will allways be the same brightness whenever I need it. I never need to charge batteries for it. None of the cheap plastic aaa lights out there can compare to it. Extremely good build quality and very smooth operation.

I like it much better than my L0D because of the damn flickering and the non-flat output curve and lack of ability to run off alkalines.

 

[Daniel_sk]

4 of my non-flashaholic friends are using E01 and they are all very impressed by the ligt. Some describe it as "amazingly bright" . Cost is big factor for non-flashaholics, I could never convince them to buy Arc AAA's.We will see how will the E01 hold up over time.