Not Impressed With Fenix E01 - Wife Loves It

[Liquidspaceman]

I just received my Fenix E01 from an online store. The light I got was purple because it was going to be a gift to my wife. I turn it on and the light itself is purple. I keep thinking it's reflecting the color of the flashlight somehow, but the reflector is silver.

So I get a purple flashlight with a purple beam. I give it to my wife disappointed and she says, "Oh my god, is the beam PURPLE?" I say, "Yeah that's too bad" in a disappointed voice.

She replies with, "OH MY GOD THATS SO COOL...PURPLE FLASHLIGHT WITH A PURPLE BEAM, I LOVE IT."

Purple is her favorite color you see. I'm sure glad I didn't get one for myself. I have to honestly say that the beam was horrible, not very powerful (what did I expect for a AAA light?). I guess I was expecting it to compete with any one of my cheap AA deal extreme lights. But it didn't even come close.

I respect other people's opinions but I don't get the hooplah. Out of all of my lights this far, it's my least favorite. Feels cheap in the hand, looks cheap with the color of anodizing and the beam was malarky.

If you like it, I am not knocking you for it by the way. So I hope nobody takes this personally. Just my personal opinion that this light is overhyped.

On that note, my wife loves it. And I got an extra present last night for being so "thoughtful." I guess I have to thank Fenix for that purple tint.

***EDIT****

Apologies to mods. If you feel this belongs in the LED subforum, please move there. This wasn't placed in this forum with malicious intent. Was just sharing a story about my wife loving an inferior light. Thanks

 

[Zatoichi]

I'm glad your wife liked it. I don't know why you're surprised about the beam's tint though, as it's been mentioned countless times here since the light was released.

PS: I totally disagree with it being an inferior light. It's very well made, has amazing regulated runtime and uses a Nichia LED. Not sure what more you expected for under $15.:shrug:

 

[Liquidspaceman]

I read the posts about the blue and purple tints. I guess I thought I would get lucky and get one that was more of a whiter tint.

The thing is, I've had lights with blue, purple and green tints. It's just that this particular tint is a lot stronger than I expected. I thought it was going to be a mild purple or blue tint, but the tint is very, very purple.

Disco Velvet Purple.

 

[Liquidspaceman]

PS: I totally disagree with it being an inferior light. It's very well made, has amazing regulated runtime and uses a Nichia LED. Not sure what more you expected for under $15.:shrug:

I agree, I was probably expecting a lot more. I think the simple fact is I don't think I like the low power of AAA flashlights that much. I think I am spoiled by AA flashlights and their output.

I don't think I'd buy another AAA flashlight unless it had the beam width and brightness of some of my AA's.

Again, it's my fault being spoiled by Single AA lights. I shouldn't have expected so much out of a tiny package. I guess I expected to fire it next to my Romisen and say "WOW, THAT BLOWS THE AA ROMISEN AWAY." But it didn't and so that's my own fault for thinking it would.

 

[Cosmo7809]

I also bought a E01 hoping to get a non purple tint... Well when I turned it on PURPLE.... I said either keep it or exchange it and still might get a purple... Take it for what it is... 13 bucks what can you expect.

E01 is a tank.

 

[Zatoichi]

Again, it's my fault being spoiled by Single AA lights. I shouldn't have expected so much out of a tiny package. I guess I expected to fire it next to my Romisen and say "WOW, THAT BLOWS THE AA ROMISEN AWAY." But it didn't and so that's my own fault for thinking it would.

Haha, your expectations were a bit unrealistic then. I think it's great for what it is. It's more of a backup light that can - at a push - provide sufficient light for most tasks. The beam is pretty horrible I must admit, but it does do it's job. In fact I'm still impressed how much it can light up when you're in total darkness.

Another thing I like about it is it's a tough little thing. It's survived impressive torture tests here, and a few days ago I fished my son's out of the washing machine and found it working perfectly and dry inside. There wasn't even a scratch on it, it just looked.... cleaner!

 

[Flying Turtle]

I also completely disagree that this is an inferior light. It performs as advertised very well. There probably are varying degrees of purpleness in the beam. Mine isn't bad. I might agree about purple anodizing, but black and olive look quite nice and seem to be high quality. Low power AAA lights like the E01 serve a useful purpose and the runtime is excellent.

Geoff

 

[cave dave]

I was driving by an airport one time and my GF at the time mentions how she loves that color blue of those airport runway lights so I got her a blue photon. And I'm not talking the blue tint of the white photon, I mean the actual blue LED one. She just loved it.

I haven't actually ever seen a purple tinted Nichia before. I would call them blueish.

PS In the $50 to $60 dollar range there are AAA lights that will be 6 to 7 times brighter than an E01 and same color tint as your other cree lights.

 

[Tomcat!]

I don't think the E01 is really aimed at the flashaholic. It's aimed at the flashaholic who wants to give lights as presents to non-flashies. I gave away 4 over Christmas to non-flashaholics and they liked them. Most good quality lights are a bit too expensive to give away without the receiver feeling a bit uncomforatble if they find out the true cost. (Besides, they'd never believe we're sane with some of the lights we buy!) I've also found, having given away nice lights, that non-flashies don't appreciate the quality anyway. Instead of trying to convert someone to the hobby, I try to convert them to 'being prepared'. In this respect the E01 is good for that because it doesn't cost you much to get friends or family into the 'idea' of having a light on them all the time. Having such a long running light on your keychain which you can forget about until suddenly needed has better appeal to the general public than fancy features. In this limited but handy role, the E01 does a good job very well. I always say to people that any light is good light when you're sitting in the dark. This is something that Joe Public can understand and is happy to have a small tough long running keychain light which they don't have to do anything with other than turn it on.

Off topic: I've also given away small keychain pens like the Inka for pretty much the above reasons too.

 

[andrew123]

I gave a couple E01's to my six and eight year old cousins and they absolutely love them. My auntie says whenever they have friends over it's the first thing they show them.

 

[hyperloop]

i own an E01 and although there is a purplish tint to it, its really only apparent when you're white wall hunting, in a dark room at night, it's a great light to read by or navigate the room/house without waking up anyone else.

In extremely dark conditions or close up work, i find the light to be very useful as it doesnt reflect too much and blind me. Also, the long runtime is awesome, i dont worry about it dying on me.

If you want a really bright AAA light, try the LD01 on a 10440 cell. It will surely impress you.

 

[yellow]

just some time ago, I ordered 5 E01s to put into the families backpacks (and one for EDC).
There were great differences in tint with all of them, but hey, these are 5 mm led! Sure they tend not to be in the white as some WH powerled...

small, rugged, waterproof, looong running, enough output for most "normal light chores", cheap, on the person when one needs them.

If there is some blue/gree/purple tint ... who cares?
I am not going to set the white balance of my cams with them
(at least mine have white 5mms built in. Tints vary from green to blue. When I use a good Cree on a white wall to compare, maybe some have a purple tint also)

 

[Petersen]

I gave a couple e01's to my six and eight year old cousins and they absolutely love them. My auntie says whenever they have friends over it's the first thing they show them.

It is, what it is...small long runtime lights.

I bougth some for my 4 and 6 year kids (gold for my son and purple for my daughter) + one myself for the keychain.
- none for the wife, as she just shakes her head - althrough she has "stolen" my SF M6 as her bedside light..

It's nice for a small AAA light, bluish light is still better than no light at all, when you need it.
- not using it much, as I also EDC a NT120T in my front pocket and a SF A2 in my jacket, but it's nice as an extra light..

 

[Phill]

I agree, I was probably expecting a lot more. I think the simple fact is I don't think I like the low power of AAA flashlights that much. I think I am spoiled by AA flashlights and their output.

I don't think I'd buy another AAA flashlight unless it had the beam width and brightness of some of my AA's.

Again, it's my fault being spoiled by Single AA lights. I shouldn't have expected so much out of a tiny package. I guess I expected to fire it next to my Romisen and say "WOW, THAT BLOWS THE AA ROMISEN AWAY." But it didn't and so that's my own fault for thinking it would.

Turn them both on when you go to bed and see which is still running in the morning. Or see which has died when you drop them both off a 5 story building. Or which is most comfortable on your keychain.

Trying to compare the AAA E01 to an AA Romisen is like trying to compare a small Japanese car to a Land Rover. Neither of them is better than the other overall given both are designed to do very different jobs.

The whole point is to have a small light you can have with you at all times running very easy and cheap to obtain batteries and it is there to get you to a better light source if that one isnt adequate for the job at hand - all delivered at a $15 price point with highly reliable build quality and regulation that is out of this world.

It isnt meant to be your only light source if you are a miner or a caver and it isnt meant to have a high output comparable to your Romisen. In fact Fenix makes a AAA light that will be pretty comparable in the L0D and a couple of AA lights in the L1D and LD10 that im sure without a shadow of doubt will blow it away.

As for the tint, its clearly not perfect, but its basically unnoticeable in real use. It is, i suppose, a side product of the cost its built for where something had to give and they chose the tint to be the part that gave way.

 

[copperfox]

I just received my Fenix E01 from an online store. The light I got was purple because it was going to be a gift to my wife.

Ditto. It was the first fenix I had ever bought too. It was actually brighter than I was expecting, and the beam color is forgivable since it's a cheap, reliable, long running backup light. My wife keeps it in her purse and loves it, so that makes me happy.

 

[kramer5150]

color tint has never been nichias strong point, but if you can tolerate its color the benefits are long running efficiency, cool operating temperatures, mostly smooth beam profile, refector-less designs...etc...

One of my fave lights is the E0, but I have to agree its color tint is pretty horrid. It has far more strengths to easily offset its one weakness.

 

[copperfox]

If Fenix made an E01 with a whiter 5mm LED, even less efficient, I'd buy one for myself. I would expect runtime to decrease a little due to a less efficient LED, but I could live with that.

 

[Lee1959]

Buy a AAA light, you get a AAA light, you do NOT get a AA, Cr123, C etc etc etc... you simply cannot expcet the same performance out of the, that is being terribly unrealistic. That said, the AAA is my favorite sized light bar none, the Streamlight Microstream and Stylus Pro being my favorites and mostused lights by about 4 to 1

I think the E01 would be a very handy light for the change pocket, the only light I carry on keys is the Photon. It would also work well on my wifes name badge from work, if a L0P was not already there. I would get an E01 in a second if it filled a slot I do not have filled numerous times over already, or if one of my other lights bites the dust. I do not buy flashlights just to buy flashlights any more. Tints do not overly impress me, I seldom look at white walls, and they just make little practical effect otherwise in usage.

 

[BRO]

E01 is a solid little light for anyone that wants one on their key chains or what not. For $15.00 it is a real nice light that seems to impress the non-flashlight folks. My wife carries one on her key chain and I have geven them out as gifts: they loved them.

I carry an LD01 on my key chain and an RA 140 Clicky (soon to be a 170) on my hip. We flashlight folks like to see everything in all the dark corners around us. The non-flashlight folks are happy getting to and from their cars with E01.

 

[nbp]

Yeah, you're right, it's a piece of crap...that's why people are still starting threads about it and praising it A YEAR AFTER ITS BEEN RELEASED!

+100 to everyone defending this light. Find me a tougher, more dependable, longer running light for my keys for under $15 and I will buy it.