Quick look at Klarus EP10 & St10

[3_gun]

Ordered these two from the Klarus home page so I'd have something to play with while recovering from a total hip replacement. I paid just a bit over $25 for the EP10 & just over $20 for the ST10. Both arrived quickly & well boxed. Saddened to see both lights had a 2000/18650 instead of a 2600 battery as shown. After charging both to 100% it was time to play. Sorry I don't have any fancy equipment but it's not really needed most of the time, and I hope you'll agree when I'm done.

Build is solid in both. I'd think you would need to try hard to hurt then.

Output. Both claim to be at least 1000L or better. First glance I'd say they easily hit the mark Neither could out shine the other & as far as I can tell, neither had stepped down after 10min. Both were warming up, neither got hot. Nice for lights that hit the claimed peak & run at that peak for a useful time.

The ST10 is small enough to be an EDC light. Quite compact at 4.4" long & 1.01" at the head. The EP10 is bigger, big enough that most wouldn't use it as an EDC, unless you have a glove box or deep jacket pockets. It's 6.32" long &1.38" at the head.

Both will tail stand & both can use a lanyard w/o tipping the lights. Neither have a magnetic base. Both use side switches, the EP has a short cut to strobe. Both recharge using a usb-c cable at a max of 1amp.

The ST10 claims a 1100L turbo, a 400L high, 100L medium & 10L low. The EP10 runs 1000L high, 200L medium & 30L low. Both show a light pattern with a good hot spot & useful spill. Colors appear true to life. The EP10 claims 210m throw at high while the ST10 claims 115m. Quick test out the back door clearly shows it to be very likely. The EP10 clearly wins the weight title at 175g to the SP's 59g, both w/o batteries.

So at the price points these lights hit & the performance delivered, I give both a solid thumbs up. Time and use with tell how they do in the long run

 

[3_gun]

Back for a short update and a correction or two. First I switched the prices, the ST10 was $25 not the EP10. Second the ST in a micro port, the EP is type c. Both will work while charging with the EP even working without the battery in. Neither run at all power levels but they do run. Lastly I saw an online review that has the ST stepping down due to heat. Guess I should've run the light a couple minutes longer.

 

[treek13]

Thanks for sharing. Enjoy your new lights & get well soon!

 

[3_gun]

Another quick add as use builds on these very reasonably priced lights. Just had to look for the "stupid" cat (is there any other kind..really) that ran outside because it was afraid of a building storm. EP10 in hand with the freshly charged 2000mah battery the search began. Happily the Dr did a fine job on the hip, other than muscle pain recovery has been a breeze. In a light steady wind with just enough rain to start to soak a normal baseball cap bill the cat was found. Run time on high totaled about 45-50 minutes with no noticeable dimming. No heat build up was noticed and after a 20 minute'ish rest the battery still showed 3 lights and full brightness .. for about 45 seconds. Still had 3 light levels but "high" topped out at about twice as bright as the 200L med. Still very useful light levels and run times for a light that doesn't/didn't break the bank. The claimed run times may be a bit optimistic, at least at full brightness. Still no issue with heat, dimming or the light rain. This light may be worth getting a 3000+mah brand name battery; which sadly will cost as much or maybe more than the light w/battery did new. No rush .. next planned test will be using it on the bicycle as rehab of the hip continues.

No real news good or bad on the ST10. Still using it as an EDC & everything is working just as expected

 

[3_gun]

A quick update on the first 2 lights I bought that started my ongoing education. The ST10 was "lost" while being used during a move. Still have a few boxes in storage so there is still some hope it will turn up. Nice light, tho it has been surpassed by Acebeam, Fenix, Convoy & others that have been bought since in performance(& price).

The EP10 keeps trucking along. It still holds the stand by (meaning used a lot) general purpose light along with a couple of used much less often MagLites. Grabbed when my EDC (of the day) is a small AA/14500/16350 light. Bit more throw than flood which is good for a misc use light. Bit of a color shift, a ring around the hot spot w/an ok spill for fill around it. I'd guess an SST40 or something along those lines. Run times are good even if the battery was smaller than expected. Not the greatest UI but not a problem given 3 well space levels & strobe having its own switch. I've never noticed any dimming on high on any run but then again I've got no test eqt.

Worked fine as a bike light but that duty was short lived as it had more throw & less flood than my riding style needed. Still the rattles n bumps never caused the slightest flicker.

Seems it was updated to a V2 & later discontinued by Klarus. Kinda wish I'd bought 2 now as it really works well as a modern "Maglite" kinda light.