Here’s a new and special Acebeam. New because it’s a Gen II of the EC35, and special because it’s a version only available at killzoneflashlights.com! Read on to see what makes it special.

Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the official product page. But note that this version (Luminus SST-20) and the Nichia 219c versions are custom to KillzoneFlashlights.com!!

Versions

The Acebeam stock version is a Samsung 351D emitter. There are no body variations. KillzoneFlashlights.com ordered two customized versions, which are available only at killzoneflashlights.com.

Price and Coupon

Buy this version at killzoneflashlights.com (referral link), for $76.90 with the EVVA 3500mAh 18650 shown in this review.

Short Review

This light has so many features, it’s hard to not love. USB-C charging, USB-out, a customized emitter option Luminus SST-20, etc. And it’s an Acebeam, so you know the build quality will be great.

Long Review

The Big Table

Measurement disclaimer: I am an amateur flashlight reviewer. I don’t have $10,000 or even $1,000 worth of testing equipment. I test output and such in PVC tubes!! Please consider claims within 10% of what I measure to be perfectly reasonable (accurate, even).

What’s Included

Acebeam EC35 Gen II

EVVA 3500mAh 18650

Charge cable (USB to USB-C, with USB-out too)

Nylon pouch

Manual etc

Package and Manual

Build Quality and Disassembly

The build on this light is great – typical of Acebeam lights. In fact many of these lights seem to be from the same mold; they feel so similar in hand.

The head has some cooling fins, but not excessive. And not so much that this isn’t a “tube light,” too.

The knurling is appropriate but not aggressive.

Both the head and tail have appropriate springs.

The threads on the tail end are beefy. Anodized and well lubed, and square cut – these threads are great.

More on the switch later, and the indicator above the switch – but for now just note the silk screened “HOT” logo there.

Size and Comps

Officially:

28.7mm head diameter

25.4mm body diameter

138.7mm length

84.8g weight

It’s long, to be sure.

Support your local PhotonPhreaks!!

Retention and Carry

There are a few options for carry here. First is the nylon pouch. It’s a good one, with a metal d-ring and a snap. The light will fit into this pouch in either orientation, but both ends are closed (which is usual), so no using the light while pouched.

Next is the friction fit pocket clip, which is attached from the factory. It’s tail-only, making it a bezel-down carry. And it’s not deep carry, but as long as the light is, the balance is still fine. The clip is very snug, and has some loops to which one could attach a lanyard if desired.

The more common lanyard attachment point is through either loop in the tailcap. The tailcap is designed to give good/easy access to the button while wearing gloves, but this also means the light will not reliably tailstand.

Power and Runtime

The EC35 Gen II is powered by a single 18650 cell. The kit includes the cell seen below, which is an EVVA 3500mAh 18650. It’s a button top protected cell.

Below are a couple of runtimes. Turbo and High. Don’t forget that this is a Luminus SST-20 emitter version of the EC35 Gen II, which isn’t represented on the website of Acebeam, nor are there ‘real numbers’ for this light. The claim for the LH351D emitter version is 1100 lumens, and we can expect this 95+ CRI Luminus emitter to be lower than that. It is, by a good bit. I measure Turbo at 564 lumens (30 seconds, 589 at startup). The light has both a low voltage warning (emitter just bezel-side of the switch) and actual LVP, shutting off just under 3V.

The low voltage warning works as follows:

Green: 100%-11% (4.2V-3.35V for Liion, 6.6V-4.55V for 2xCR123)

Red: 10%-6% (3.3V-3.05V for Liion, 4.5V-4.15V for 2xCR123)

Red Flash: 5%-1% (3.0V-2.7V for Liion, 4.1V-3.8V for 2xCR123)

The High output is pleasantly well regulated, and also exhibits LVP (though I forgot to check the cell voltage after the test). I did turn the fan off at around 200 minutes, and note that the temperature rises a bit from that point.

This light also has built in charging, by way of a USB-C port in the head. The cover for this port is typical Acebeam, and quite snug.

Acebeam provides with the EC35 Gen II a power cable. It’s very short, and is USB to USB-C. Also in the “USB” end is a USB-out port, too.

Charging again looks like typical Acebeam. Charging is quite fast in fact, for a single 18650 cell – up over 2A for some duration. This does mean that charging is quick, at under 3 hours.

The indicator also indicates charging state – Red while charging, Green when charging is complete. (And Blue when used as a powerbank but I’ll say that again later.)

Also surprisingly, the USB-C port in the head of the light can work both ways, allowing the EC35 Gen II to be used as a power bank! Here’s a bit of USB output, first tested to see how much current can be drawn, then tested to see how low the cell is taken before output stops.

A fresh cell can output over 2A (up to 2.4A before shutting off)! And the USB output stops when the cell is somewhere around 3.25V. At a steady 2A, the output voltage was dipping more than I wanted, (you can see it trending downward), so I switched to around 1A, which the light output could sustain handily (with no voltage drop until the end.)

When being used as a powerbank, the indicating LED is Blue.

Modes and Currents

Mode Mode Claimed Output (lm) Claimed Runtime Measured Lumens Tailcap Amps Turbo 1100 (For 351D, not SST20) 2h15m 564 – High 390 (For 351D, not SST20) 4h15m 220 – Mid 160 (For 351D, not SST20) 10h30m 99 – Low 16 (For 351D, not SST20) 75h 12 – Moonlight 0.5 (For 351D, not SST20) 75d – –

More on the switch later but this isn’t a simple mechanical tail clicky. So like the other lights recently, I couldn’t test current with my bench power.

PWM

What is seen below is probably not PWM, but some sawtooth on the lowest and second lowest mode. It’s just slightly visible on the lowest mode, but invisible on the second lowest.

Here’s a bigger time scale on those two, so you can see some full cycles.

For reference, here’s a baseline shot, with all the room lights off and almost nothing hitting the sensor. And here’s the worst PWM light I have ever owned. Also one of the very first lights I ordered directly from China!

User Interface and Operation

There are two switches on this light. There’s the tail clicky, which feels like a mechanical clicky – forward in fact. But this one doesn’t act like a mechanical switch in at least one important way – it’s not possible to lock the light out by clicking the mechanical switch off. What it does do is allow access from anywhere in the UI directly to the highest output. Basically it’s an all-time Turbo button. Also if the clicky is ON, then this overrides any other modes – the e-switch does nothing!

The other switch is an e-switch on the side of the head. The switch is very much like other Acebeams. A metal switch cover with a very flush button. This button is exactly opposite the charge port, and the charge port cover is very easy to locate without looking. That makes the e-switch easy to find too, since it’s opposite. Not the most ideal way, maybe, but effective.

Since the mechanical switch isn’t really normal, the e-switch has an always-available option. Ie even with the light off, the modes may still be cycled with the e-switch. (Again, that’s unusual, which is fine, but could be confusing.)

Just bezel-side of the e-switch is a power indicator. I’ve covered what this does throughout this review, but it has the capability to display red, green, and blue.

Here’s a UI table!

State Action Result Any Tap Tail Switch (TS) Momentary Turbo Any (On) Click TS Steady Turbo Off Click Side Switch (SS) On (Mode memory of LMH only) Off Hold SS Moonlight On Hold SS Mode cycle (LMH only) Any Double Click SS Turbo On (SS) Triple Click SS Strobe Off Hold SS 5s Lockout (Confirmed by 3 flashes)* Lockout Hold SS 5s Unlock (Confirmed by Moonlight mode steady) On via TS Click TS Off

The manual says that in lockout, the tail switch can still access Turbo, but I don’t find that to be true on my sample.

LED and Beam

KillzoneFlashlights.com commissioned two special emitter versions of the EC35 Gen II. I got my light from KillzoneFlashlights.com, so I was lucky enough to get one of those lights – this is a Luminus SST-20. It’s 4000K, and 95+ CRI.

Here’s a closer-up of the SST-20.

This emitter has the advantage of being 95+ CRI and having better throw than the stock option, but at the cost of total output. That’s a tradeoff you can decide about, but it’s certainly worth considering.

These beamshots are always with the following settings: f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure.

Tint vs BLF-348 (KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b version) (affiliate link)

Test light is on the left.

I compare everything to the KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b BLF-348, because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!

Conclusion

What I like

Nice complete package light

Good build quality

USB-C charging at 2A

USB-C out (aka “powerbank”) works very well

LVP on both light output and powerbank output

What I don’t like

Light is quite long

UI can be confusing until the Tail Switch is fully understood

Notes

This light was provided by KillzoneFlashlights.com for review. I was not paid to write this review.

This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!

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