Four days with the Fenix E0;

I've had my Fenix E0 (the Lighthound one) for 4 days now, i know 4 days is not enough time to draw any valid conclusions, but i'd like to post my experiences

I made the decision when i took it out of the packaging that i would *NOT* be babying this one, no, this one's going straight on the keyring to bang around with car keys and my Victorinox MiniChamp Lite

it's been banging around on the keyring for 4 days now, and the type 3 natural Ano is still flawless, no damage whatsoever

the beam pattern has a slight blue hotspot with a yellow corona, tapering off to a faintly yellowish spill, with dark-adapted eyes, the 5.5 lumens is more than enough for navigating inside the house, or for close up illumination of keyholes, which are it's intended purposes

there have been no accidental activations when carried in pocket, unlike my Fenix E1 which has turned itself on numerous times in pocket or on the keyring, the on-off twist has just enough resistance to prevent accidental activation, the E1 has a much smoother, easier turning twist, so conversely i have to back the head of the E1 off more than the E0

for general use with non-dark adapted eyes, the E0 is often overwhelmed by ambient light, such as a room lit by a 20" television set, or in a bathroom with a standard 4 watt incandescent nightlight bulb, the E1 is clearly brighter in these situations, but that brightness comes at the cost of runtime

compared against my red Photon Freedom, the light intensity is roughly the same, the Photon has an initial brightness advantage but fades quickly as the batteries drain, the E0 holds it's brightness level for a much longer time, and obviously wins out for color rendition

as long as you keep in mind the purpose of the E0, an inexpensive, long runtime "emergency" light that uses a common, easily available battery, you won't be dissapointed, you want more brightness, go with an E1, want *lots* of brightness, go with an L0P, you want the gold standard of fit-and-finish, go with an Arc AAA P, bear in mind though, as brightness increases, runtime decreases, the E0 is *NOT* meant to compete with the likes of the L0P, or any Luxeon pocket light for that matter, it's clearly aiming for the Arc AAA P, that said, the Arc *IS* superior in fit-and-finish, but it's also more expensive than the E0, it's like comparing a Dodge Neon to a Mercedes Smart Car, both vehicles are small cars, but the fit-and-finish on the Smart is much better than the Dodge Neon

I'm very happy with my E0, but to be perfectly honest, they wouldn't make the best gifts for the Unenlightened, as they would judge the light based on it's brightness (or lack thereof), *not* the HA and excellent regulated runtime, the E1 or L0P would make a better gift to the Unenlightened

all in all, i'm happy with the E0, the HA is holding up well so far, the light produced is usable when dark-adapted, or for keyhole spotting, there have been no accidental activations (the E1 has run down 2 lithiums with accidental activations, i now only feed the E1 NIMH's for that reason), and the runtime is amazing, it's a great, long running keyring light

MacTech,

I've had it for four hours now, and I can agree with you. It's only the tint that disappoints me. I recognise your remark about (not) babying a light: that's the difference I feel between the E0 and the Arc-P: I always carry the latter in my change pocket; would like to keep it in mint condition. The E0 will probably replace the Photon clone on my keyring.

Kees

No, the E0 is every bit as good as the Arc AAA, in fit, finish, anodizing, design and brightness. I should really say "in my opinion" here, but if someone is going to say "A" is better than "B", at least be specific. Just because more money is paid for something does not make it automatically better. Don't fall for the Sebenza Syndrome.

I don`t think, at this point, some CPF`ers received good samples and feel we have been to quick to critisize (jeez, where`s my spelling today??) their opinions. I think Fenix`s lack of quality control on these that has caused the confusion.

Anyway, I like the 3 sided body of the E1 better. Just seems more comfortable to me. So I switched the body.

I think they should have polished the reflector more and moved the bulb forward a tad to give a wider beam.

I also wonder if maybe more folks would have been happier if Fenix had shaved 2~3 hours off the run time and gone with a brighter output.

I like the light just fine...but I would have also been happy with a straight 5 hour alkiline run time and brighter output.

Ken

What he said^. I probably got a real outlier in my black one with very blue LED. Being a mod junkie, I replaced it within the first couple of hours of the package arriving. Meanwhile I expressed my dissatisfaction with the blue beam, which is probably good. I say that because a lot of people won't/can't mod out an LED to their taste if it is real bad, they will just hate the light. Had I first posted after modding the light, I probably wouldn't have "told it like it was" with the same passion. And that is what someone who wants to know what it can be like out of the box needs to know. I get real soft on lights that I buy just to mod, because I like the light but know it comes with a poor LED - like the older Gerber IU's, which I have paid about the same price for. My natural color one is quite a bit better, but I will still mod that one (since it is pretty easy) before putting it into service. But I have read enough about the E0 here (easy to do lately!) to tell that there are probably better tint LED's out there than either one I happened to get.


Soooo... I like the smooth but no-accidental-on switching, minimum size with tailstand and long runtime without dimming on an alkaline. The brightness is as adequate as was ever claimed, and I think better appreciated with a decent tint LED - Fenix probably should spend another dime here to get a more consistent bin if this is to be a long time favorite model.

If you want more reflector polish, just push the LED pill out with a dowel or whatever and go at it. Fine wet/dry paper from the auto parts store for sanding paint and some polish (I use Simichrome) will do it in a few minutes, although it will probably be more eye candy than a way to get the 5mm LED to throw any more light forward. I like the eye candy too!

5 hours and more light? Sound good at first, but then it has even less to differentiate it from my Arc. 2-stage, now that would be the ticket!

Hondo

I like mine, even got a second one for around the house

You know, I was sceptical/moderately positive at first glance. But I've had it for a few days now. I put a sheet of paper around the battery for very tight fit, which makes the light feel even more solid, though it is very light. A piece of shock cord makes a good lanyard that can go around the wrist (convenient with such a small light). Then I went and put it through its paces and walked around in a darkened house and outside for two nights.

Result: I'm beginning to like this little light more and more. The blueness is less noticable in actual use when there aren't too many white walls around. Twisty action is perfectly smooth and feels very solid because of the ample threading. Feels more solid than the Arc-P, and one handed use is just easy enough. Brightness with adapted eyes is quite good. Superior to very cheap AAA lights; less than a Proton on fresh batt, but, as has been said, after 30 minutes it will be in the advantage. Beam pattern is to my liking. I like the led being recessed quite far; it's far less vulnerable.

So, whiter led would have been nice. I'm not modding material myself. So this is it. May even try a second one later.

And another thing: I really love the natural finish.

Kees

I think Fenix went with a 5mm led that produces more lumens at the expense of a whiter output. They could have went for an led that produces a whiter output, that has more phosphor coating but produce less light. It's a compromise to take, since that did not want to overdrive the led to produce more brightness. This can be a good thing, because it should reduce the degradation of the led over time.

Never mind.

Re: White / Bright Trade-off

Haz said:

I think Fenix went with a 5mm led that produces more lumens at the expense of a whiter output. They could have went for an led that produces a whiter output, that has more phosphor coating but produce less light. It's a compromise to take, since that did not want to overdrive the led to produce more brightness. This can be a good thing, because it should reduce the degradation of the led over time.

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Thank you for your insight.

Re: White / Bright Trade-off

What's the difference between the Fenix from Lighthound and the Fenix from the Fenix-Store?

Free Postage.

regards.

John.

Okay, it's been banging around on the keyring for a month, lets pull out the E0 and check it out again....

still on the original Energizer Lithium battery

slight wear of the HA around the split-ring attachment, the body of the light itself (the main knurled area) is still unscathed

moving on to the collar, the white paint inside the Fenix logo has worn away, it's bare aluminum now, however the flat area of the "collar" is unscathed, the front edge of the collar has a small amount of wear in the HA, expected as HA doesn't stick to corners very well

the knurling on the head has slight wear, expected as well, knurling has a lot of "edges" to wear, the reflector and LED itself are undamaged, just a little dusty with pocket lint

all told, i'd say the finish is about 95% new, there is a small amount of wear in the expected places, but no undue wear, if you weren't looking at it obsessively, it'd still look brand new

not bad for a $20 keyring light, not bad at all....

TinderBox (UK) said:

Free Postage.

regards.

John.

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The difference is free postage?

floscherl said:

The difference is free postage?

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fenix-store.com offers free shipping on all lights and lighthound charges the normal rate for shipping. If you are buying an EO Fenix-store is the place to go.

adirondackdestroyer said:

fenix-store.com offers free shipping on all lights and lighthound charges the normal rate for shipping. If you are buying an EO Fenix-store is the place to go.

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Either retailer is fine, 4Sevens will be the cheapest what with the free shipping and all, but the caveat is that the free shipping is basically USPS, if you have an incompetent post office like i do, it will add undue delays to the shipping time of your light, Lighthound gives you the option of paying for faster and more reliable shipping if you choose, or if you simply don't trust the knuckledragging apes at the USPS

if you don't mind waiting, 4Sevens is great
if you need it *NOW*, and are willing to pay extra for shipping, Lighthound is great

both very reputable sellers, you can't go wrong either way

adirondackdestroyer said:

fenix-store.com offers free shipping on all lights and lighthound charges the normal rate for shipping. If you are buying an EO Fenix-store is the place to go.

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Hmmmm :thinking:

NO NO NO and...NO!

Fenix E0 AAA Nichia LED flashlight
Shipping Included in price!!

These shipping cost for these flashlights is included in the total cost. Additionally, they will not affect the shipping charge when purchased with other items. There is no international shipping surcharge for these flashlights.

John (LightHound) has also free (worldwide) shipping for all Fenix lights. :goodjob:

BTW, fenix-store and LightHound are both very good flashlight dealers and it´s always hard to choose which one gets my next Fenix order

adirondackdestroyer said:

fenix-store.com offers free shipping on all lights and lighthound charges the normal rate for shipping. If you are buying an EO Fenix-store is the place to go.

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Thats one of the reasons I've always gone with the Fenix Store,
Great service and delivery

I'm liking my E0 more and more as well. Its brightness isn't overwhelming, but it is easily bright enough to navigate in dark conditions. And --- a big plus IMO if you backpack or camp --- it's plenty bright enough to read by in a dark tent or campsite, and will last a lot longer than many other lights.