Chicken Drumstick
Flashlight Enthusiast
Astrolux EA01
Declaration & Thanks:
This light was purchased by me.
Conclusion Summary:
Chunky 26650 format that is nice in the hand with a very good beam profile and tint. Seriously needs a pocket clip adding however to make it easier to carry.
Info about my reviews and testing:
I like to keep my reviews fairly informal and not overly technical. There are plenty of talented people with fancy measuring devices to offer more technical detail. What I want to do is give an honest appraisal of owning and using this torch, and what a regular punter will make of it.
What's in the box?
There is also a lanyard and spare O-ring. Note the battery wasn't included[/img]
Exterior Design & Ergonomics:
The EA01 is based very much on the MF01 Mini by all accounts. Which offers support for 26650 batteries as well as 21700 and 18650 via the included adaptors. I'm running mine on a Samsung 40T 21700.
There is a choice of emitters; the SST-40 or the XHP50.2 and some tint options. The XHP50.2 pumps out a lot more lumens, but a lot less throw. With the TIR optic in this light and expecting the beam to be more narrow than from a reflector based light. I'm not so convinced the XHP50.2 is the best match up. Certainly the SST-40 turns it into a fairly compact (head wise) semi-thrower if the Cd ratings are to be believed (98,000cd according to the Banggood website).
There are some minor differences in machining.
This does allow a degree of logo'ing with the MF01 Mini. However the MF01 Mini's tailcap does not activate on the EA01's battery tube. But works the other way round.
There is also the included half length tube for a 26350 or 18350 sized battery. With the SST-40 you might get away running such a battery. But I suspect performance would be well down on the XHP50.2. Personally I struggle to see the point in this battery tube apart from a 2 minuet novelty factor. As the torch is quite fat, shortening the tube does nothing to make it more portable. In fact it arguably makes it more 'ball' like and less nice to carry. It also ruins the ergonomics while holding it.
One thing that is very much missing however is a pocket clip...... Come on Banggood/Astrolux/Mateminco or whoever. Please fix this oversight!!!
UI:
The torch runs Anduril UI. Love it or hate it. It does offer wide flexibility. But in my opinion might be overkill for this setup. There is not a huge visual difference between High and Turbo, to the point that one or the other would be fine. The TIR optic also gives a fairly narrow beam but without a super intense hotspot. This means having huge variety of outputs seems not to offer much difference in real world ability. I think this is one of the few occasions where a simple scrolling H-M-L user interface would work fine, with a moonlight option on a long press from off.
The innards and driver appear to be different to the Mini.
Tail cap amp draw:
HIGH = 4.3amp
TURBO = 8.2amp
Beam:
The beam is quite nice on first accounts. Being a fairly focused TIR you do not get the wide spill beam of a reflector light, but a much more narrow brighter spill. The hot spot is fairly big, but semi intense. However not dazzlingly so like some lights. Outside this gives you a somewhat fat central beam that has fairly good distance but doesn't light up everything around it. This allows you to point the light accurately and not potentially upset people or near by houses with a big spill beam.
I suspect the XHP50.2 may differ a bit, but do not have one to compare.
What I can say is, the beam is nice and clean and highly usable. And unlike some dedicated throwers the beam is not super skinny. Nor does it dazzle so much at close range. The spill is enough to light up the ground in front of you to walk with, but not to the point that it impacts your night vision.
I think in some peoples minds an Osram LED or something more throwy would work with this optic. And I'm sure they are right. But it would then become more specialist use. In this guise I'm thinking it might actually be a good medium of enough throw and a beam useable for other things too. As the hot spot is big with a brighter than normal spill (but much smaller area spill) it even works close up on lower modes. Where most throwers do not.
The 5000k tint is also nice, if anything it gets slightly warmer on very low outputs and a bit whiter on full blast. But it is certainly nicer than the green the XHP50.2 often offers when you dial it down.
Declaration & Thanks:
This light was purchased by me.
Conclusion Summary:
Chunky 26650 format that is nice in the hand with a very good beam profile and tint. Seriously needs a pocket clip adding however to make it easier to carry.
Info about my reviews and testing:
I like to keep my reviews fairly informal and not overly technical. There are plenty of talented people with fancy measuring devices to offer more technical detail. What I want to do is give an honest appraisal of owning and using this torch, and what a regular punter will make of it.
What's in the box?
There is also a lanyard and spare O-ring. Note the battery wasn't included[/img]
Exterior Design & Ergonomics:
The EA01 is based very much on the MF01 Mini by all accounts. Which offers support for 26650 batteries as well as 21700 and 18650 via the included adaptors. I'm running mine on a Samsung 40T 21700.
There is a choice of emitters; the SST-40 or the XHP50.2 and some tint options. The XHP50.2 pumps out a lot more lumens, but a lot less throw. With the TIR optic in this light and expecting the beam to be more narrow than from a reflector based light. I'm not so convinced the XHP50.2 is the best match up. Certainly the SST-40 turns it into a fairly compact (head wise) semi-thrower if the Cd ratings are to be believed (98,000cd according to the Banggood website).
There are some minor differences in machining.
This does allow a degree of logo'ing with the MF01 Mini. However the MF01 Mini's tailcap does not activate on the EA01's battery tube. But works the other way round.
There is also the included half length tube for a 26350 or 18350 sized battery. With the SST-40 you might get away running such a battery. But I suspect performance would be well down on the XHP50.2. Personally I struggle to see the point in this battery tube apart from a 2 minuet novelty factor. As the torch is quite fat, shortening the tube does nothing to make it more portable. In fact it arguably makes it more 'ball' like and less nice to carry. It also ruins the ergonomics while holding it.
One thing that is very much missing however is a pocket clip...... Come on Banggood/Astrolux/Mateminco or whoever. Please fix this oversight!!!
UI:
The torch runs Anduril UI. Love it or hate it. It does offer wide flexibility. But in my opinion might be overkill for this setup. There is not a huge visual difference between High and Turbo, to the point that one or the other would be fine. The TIR optic also gives a fairly narrow beam but without a super intense hotspot. This means having huge variety of outputs seems not to offer much difference in real world ability. I think this is one of the few occasions where a simple scrolling H-M-L user interface would work fine, with a moonlight option on a long press from off.
The innards and driver appear to be different to the Mini.
Tail cap amp draw:
HIGH = 4.3amp
TURBO = 8.2amp
Beam:
The beam is quite nice on first accounts. Being a fairly focused TIR you do not get the wide spill beam of a reflector light, but a much more narrow brighter spill. The hot spot is fairly big, but semi intense. However not dazzlingly so like some lights. Outside this gives you a somewhat fat central beam that has fairly good distance but doesn't light up everything around it. This allows you to point the light accurately and not potentially upset people or near by houses with a big spill beam.
I suspect the XHP50.2 may differ a bit, but do not have one to compare.
What I can say is, the beam is nice and clean and highly usable. And unlike some dedicated throwers the beam is not super skinny. Nor does it dazzle so much at close range. The spill is enough to light up the ground in front of you to walk with, but not to the point that it impacts your night vision.
I think in some peoples minds an Osram LED or something more throwy would work with this optic. And I'm sure they are right. But it would then become more specialist use. In this guise I'm thinking it might actually be a good medium of enough throw and a beam useable for other things too. As the hot spot is big with a brighter than normal spill (but much smaller area spill) it even works close up on lower modes. Where most throwers do not.
The 5000k tint is also nice, if anything it gets slightly warmer on very low outputs and a bit whiter on full blast. But it is certainly nicer than the green the XHP50.2 often offers when you dial it down.
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