Preface
The ER16 is one of the newer EDC-friendly style flashlight from FiTorch.
While it packs some surprisingly good qualities, there is still slight room for improvement with other segments.
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Packaging & First Impressions
This is what the light will come with as shown below.
- The threads and o-rings were lightly lubricated. Threads were rather smooth and clean (no gritty feeling).
- The provided clip is reversible. However, it will require quite a bit of effort to reverse it once it has been installed.
- The clip has sufficient tension to ensure that the light will stay clipped to any material to prevent the light from falling out & enables deep pocket carry for bezel down carry.
- The side electronic switch requires a fairly light press to activate.
- Anodizing of the light is uniform without any missing specs.
- The provided lanyard is able to support the full weight of the light and should hold up to the test of time.
- Holster provided is of decent quality and should withstand day-to-day abuse without issue.
- Battery compartment holds the provided (unbranded) non-proprietary 16340 650mAh with more than sufficient room for a thicker battery width. In fact, it will fit almost all of the common Button Top 18350 batteries (e.g. Efest, AW, Keeppower, etc.).
Front:
Back:
Sides:
Top:
Bottom:
Box Contents:
Quick Overview (Manufacturer Specifications)
- Body Material: Black HAIII Aluminium
- LED: XP-L2
- Battery Format: 1 x 16340/RCR123A or 1 x CR123A ONLY
- Output & Runtime (with 16340 battery):
- Low (3 lumens / 60h)
- Mid (130 lumens / 6h)
- High (340 lumens / 1.5h)
- Turbo (1000 lumens / 0.5h) – there is a temperature-based output step down
- Max Beam Distance: 150m
- Beam intensity: 4,500cd
- Waterproofness: IPX-8 Standard
- Impact Resistance: 2m
- Dimension: 93mm (length) x 25.4mm (head & body diameter)
- Weight: 72.4g (excluding batteries)
- Accessories Included:
- 1*unbranded 16340 650mAh battery
- 1*Micro-USB Cable
- 1*Lanyard
- 1*Clip
- 1*O-ring
- MSRP: ~$51
UI (User Interface)
UI for this light is suitable for Every Day Carry (EDC) as it is simple and straightforward to use.
Switching ON and OFF is done by the side electronic switch on the light, so no momentary activation is possible.
From OFF:
- HOLD (~0.5 sec) – Direct access to LOW.
- 1 Click – Light will switch ON to last brightness level used (last mode memory).
- 2 Click – Direct access to STROBE; 1 Click to go to last brightness level used / HOLD (~1 sec) to switch OFF.
- HOLD (till LED flickers in LOW mode) – LOCKOUT mode is enabled; HOLD (till LED flash once) – LOCKOUT mode is disabled.
- 3 Click – Battery Capacity Indicator (Switch LED will flash one of the following colors)
- Each Green LED blink signifies 1V.
- Each Red LED blink signifies 0.1V.
- Hence, 4 Green LED blinks and 1 Red LED blink signifies 4.1V.
From ON:
- HOLD (~1 sec) – Light will switch OFF.
- 1 Click – Mode change with every click (light cycles through TURBO, HIGH, MID, LOW -> TURBO, HIGH, MID, LOW).
- 2 Click – Direct access to STROBE; 1 Click to go to last brightness level used / HOLD (~1 sec) to switch OFF.
Note:
- FiTorch’s UI selection is rather unconventional as most manufacturers would go with LOW, MID, HIGH, TURBO -> LOW, MID, HIGH, TURBO. Its saving grace is the direct access to LOW (although it is not advertised in its instruction manual/website) and TURBO is 1 Click away from LOW – it isn’t the best workaround but it is a viable option.
Form Factor
For flashlights that are intended to use on a daily basis (EDC) and for possibly a long period of time, form factor is extremely important.
This light feels extremely well balanced and compact in a medium sized hand (not head/tail-heavy). Switching between overhand and underhand holding method is easy with its form factor. The knurling on the light enables the light to be sufficiently “grippy”, even with wet hands/gloves.
The included deep carry pocket clip is excellent and we hope that more of their product lineup would have this style of clip incorporated.
It is able to tail-stand perfectly, even with the lanyard attached.
Charging Process
With the provided Micro-USB Cable, the battery was charging at ~0.98A which is close to the manufacturer specified 1A charging rate. The charging rate is a little high for a 650mAh battery but as the battery get charged up – the charging rate seems to drop correspondingly.
The light is capable of operating on all modes even when charging (at the expense of a slower charging rate). However, it is recommended to use “LOW” only, to ensure that the battery does get charged as quickly as possible.
The Blinking GREEN indicator depicts charging in progress and Solid GREEN indicator depicts charging has completed.
Beam Style/Beamshots
For this light, the spill, corona and hotspot is somewhat predictable due to the fairly deep Smooth Reflector. With the XP-L2 LED used, the beam is still sufficiently “throwy” for recognising items in the near to mid-range distance.
The above beam profile is a rough interpretation of what is seen when white wall hunting. The beam has a distinct hotspot with some slight corona and a fairly usable (almost circular) spill. It also helps that the XP-L2 LED is perfectly centred in this sample. There is a slight ring in the beam when white wall hunting but not visible in real world usage.
All of the beamshots taken below are done so with the following camera settings (LOW: 2.5sec, F3.5, ISO100, 5000K WB, MID & HIGH: 1/3sec, F3.5, ISO100, 5000K WB & TURBO: 1/4sec, F3.5, ISO100, 5000K WB).
Some pictures have been adjusted slightly to depict as close as to what is seen in real life. The distance of the light from the door is 4.6m.
Control shot:
LOW (3 lumens):
MID (130 lumens):
HIGH (340 lumens):
TURBO (1000 lumens):
Mode (Output) Spacing
Mode spacing appears to be progressively brighter to the eye and the modes are well spaced enough to be able to know which mode one is currently in. With that in mind, TLR tend to view mode spacing as battery life indicators (amount of runtime left) rather than the specific output (lumens).
It would be nice if FiTorch would incorporate a MOONLIGHT mode for those bedtime runs or during which having 3 lumens is still too bright for the night-adjusted eyes.
Tint & CRI
FiTorch did not disclose the tint (color temperature) and/or the CRI (Color Rendering Index) for the LEDs used in their light. For this light, a guesstimate would be in the 6500K and 70CRI ballpark.
There are tint shifts throughout the beam profile. The hotspot is cool white whilst the corona possess a slight yellow-green tint; and the spill having a slight purple tint. This is however, not as noticeable in real life.
Waterproofness
The light was subjected to warm water submersion, followed by cold water submersion and left under room temperature running water tap whilst running on Turbo.
No signs of water intrusion in the head, body, switch or charging port was seen.
Lockout Capability
Both mechanical lockout and electronic lockout are possible when needed, like during transportation in a bag.
See above “UI (User Interface)“, on how to activate and deactivate electronic LOCKOUT.
A quarter turn (anti-clockwise) of the tailcap or a quarter turn (clockwise) of the head will enable mechanical LOCKOUT.
Note: Even though electronic LOCKOUT is enabled, 2 Click of the switch will still enable STROBE. Hence, it is important to engage mechanical lockout during transport in an enclosed area (e.g. bag, purse, pocket, etc.).
Scale Comparison (Ruler)
Summary
To sum up, we believe that the most important part of any review is if given the chance to purchase the same light for our own EDC or to gift to our loved ones out from one’s pocket (wallet), would we still do it?
For this light, it is a definite YES if the UI is not an issue for your usage.
The ER16 is almost the perfect EDC all-in-one package set with just a few niggles. It has relatively fast charging, strong tail magnet, deep pocket carry clip and all at a rather wallet-friendly price point (with the discount code provided for our viewers).
However, it’s not all rosy – if a more conventional UI and the ability to have a proper electronic lockout were possible; the ER16 would have been one of the best wallet-friendly all-rounded EDC flashlight set (with the included battery and charging cable) to get.
Here is a bonus size comparison picture next to the some of the other 16340-friendly flashlights that we recently reviewed.
From Left to Right – Oveready BOSS 35 (18350-friendly too), FiTorch ER16, Olight S1 Mini Baton.
As with all gears, two is one and one is none.
Stay safe,
The Lite Review
Disclaimer: Light was provided for by FiTorch (manufacturer) for this review. No other compensation was provided.
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FiTorch ER16
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