Acebeam E70 Mini Review
What do you do when you know something is excellent but you don’t like it? Objectively, I understand that Amadeus is a truly superior film, but I don’t like it. I love symphonic music. I love movies. And Amadeus is unquestionably well made. So it seemed impossible that I would hate it. But I do. Thomas Hulce rendered Mozart as a buffoon and as historically accurate as that may have been, I have no idea, it was unpleasant to watch in a movie. It made both the main character, F. Murray Abraham’s Salieri, vexing and unlikeable. And no matter how good a movie is or how wonderful the source material might be, unless it is a comeuppance horror of the Final Destination vein, watching a movie where all the characters are unlikeable is a chore.
The same is true with this light. It’s unquestionably good, but I am not thrilled with it. That is, I see it is really great but I don’t like or prefer it. My wife, who is my night time walking buddy, insists on this light for our dark daily strolls.
Here is the product page. The E70 Mini has an MSRP of $80 and a street price of $70. Here is a written review. Here is a video review. There are a few color variations and the Mini has full sized brother, the E70 which runs on a 21700 battery. Here is the Amazon link to the E70 Mini with proceeds going to the website.
Finally, here is my review sample:
Design: 1
In both knives and flashlights, I have always prioritized good carry over most other things. The reason is simple—no matter how much you “use your shit” no one uses their stuff more than they carry their stuff. So I prefer the Dragonfly over the PM2 and the FourSevens Mini Turbo Mk. 3 over some flamethrower. But every once in a while I like to look at different stuff and even though it is a few years old now the Acebeam E70 Mini is still quite the flamethrower. At 2000 lumens and with good color rendering, the E70 Mini is more than twice as bright as my favorite 18650 torch, the Zebralight SC65 (though it is only somewhat perceptibly brighter). This is a very complexly machined light but it also has a bunch of really nice features (like the wonderful light escapes). There are, however, two terrible flaws—one with design and one with UI. The design flaw is simple—this light is too big for what it is. It is about 50% larger by volume than the SC65. And for what? I am not really sure outside of the lumens. And as we have written for a decade and half now, lumens, beyond a certain point, don’t matter. The difference between 600 and 2000 lumens is certainly beyond that point.
Fit and Finish: 2
Acebeam, like many Chinese light makers, has virtually flawless fit and finish. The item is essentially identical to the original design. This means that you don’t have to worry about silly stuff like cross threading a tailcap, but it also means any design flaws are all the more evident.
Grip: 2
Carry: 1
Its not a huge light, but when you have the SC65 around, it is hard to grab this thing and carry it in your pocket all day, especially when you are running around the house working on projects, out in the woods on a hike, or running errands. It is basically like carrying around the tube from a toilet paper roll made out of metal. And since I really value carry, the E70 isn’t going to be an inner circle light.
The clip is nice and effective, but it is a bit big and when you add its mass to the already large light the “Mini” part of the name seems like when you call a huge person “Tiny.” It’s not debilitating, especially in a winter jacket, but it’s not even close to a “I forgot I had this on me until I needed it” light. One weird thing—the clip is contoured. I don’t think I have seen that before on a stamped clip, but it is interesting that companies have this as an option. I not sure where it will matter, but choices are a good thing.
Output: 2
This is where the E70 Mini earns its keep. It produces a wall of lush and accurate light making night walks all the less foreboding and dangerous. After years of sifting through lights, this light is the one that my wife prefers on walks and the preference is a strong one. It won out over dozens of lights I like better, including the SC65, the VME, the Surefire EDC-1 DFT, the HDS Rotary, the Haiku, the Exceed Rampant, the Cool Fall Spy 007, the BOSS 35, and a slew of other benchmark lights. And though I am surprised to admit it, the output here is pretty darn wonderful. On a recent scout night hike, the E70 Mini was a star—twice as bright as any other light on the walk even though some were much larger. It is funny when you compare our stuff to the stuff flashlight muggles carry. Chalk one up for other people’s preferences.
Runtime: 2
Our walks have gotten longer and while the light drops a few times during them, the biggest drop (after the cheaty “turbo” mode) doesn’t occur until around 40 minutes into the walk. And even then, while the output is greatly and visibly diminished, it is still plenty bright to get us home. And the low stinks, but if you are buying this light for its low, let’s put a trailer hitch on the Ferrari 250 GTO.
Beam Type: 2
Wall-o-photons. A huge wall, like a Hoover Dam-sized wall. And yes, I don’t prefer this beam type at all, but for the intended use, it is perfect. If you need to light up your front yard or a road or your entire car parked in a parking garage, this will do it.
Beam Quality: 2
Though I prefer a mix of throw and flood (see the McGizmo Haiku), the beam type is different than beam quality and here, my preferences match what the E70 Mini gives you—amazing color rendering, smooth, artifact-free output, and no visible PWM. Acebeam is pretty consistently great on both fit and finish and beam quality and the E70 Mini is no different.
UI: 0
This is the second mortal, as opposed to venial, sin. Any UI that requires a double press for the single core function of the light is wrong. I know it is designed to protect from accidental activation, but the SC65 has a side mounted e-switch, which is even easier to activate and that design avoids the double click. And here is the weird thing—e-switches are often used to save space as they don’t require the additional length that a mechanical switch does. But we don’t get the space saving benefit of an e-switch here. All of the drawbacks and none of the advantages make Jack an upset reviewer. F- for a stupid UI designed to accommodate part that is not used correctly.
Hands Free: 1
It’s too big for hands free other than a ceiling bounce. And there it is amazing, basically turning a dark room into a midday room.
Other Considerations
Fidget Factor: Low
It’s a flashlight with a single button. Nothing to do here.
Fett Effect: High
While the body tube is full of slits and vents, I am sure the coating will wear off eventually giving the light a rugged and cool appearance.
Value: Moderate
Its not a screamer, but the quality of the build and the beam make it better than many lights in this price range.
Overall Score: 16 of 20
This isn’t my kind of light. It’s too big, the UI stinks, and the output isn’t as versatile as other lights, but for what it is, the Acebeam E70 Mini is quite good. It serves a role better than many lights and the output is both bright and high quality. That’s a combination that is hard to beat. A few tweaks in a v2 could make this light the best EDC on the market, but alas, many of the Chinese flashlight brands don’t bother to iterate. If they did, here is what I would change:
Make a shroud around the e-switch like on the BOSS35;
Get a more low profile clip; and
Absolutely jettison the stupid double click for on UI.
Even if they didn’t shrink the v2 version, these changes would make it pretty competitive.
Competition
Let’s be clear—the Zebralight SC65 is really the top of the heap in terms of 18650 lights. It is smaller, has a better beam profile, has better color rendering, better run times, and a better UI. The E70 Mini is brighter, but that’s really its only advantage. If you had the choice between EDCing a roll of dimes or a roll of half dollars, but the half dollars were categorically less useful, which would you take? Okay, so that’s not a good comp, but compared to a lot of other 18650 lights, the E70 Mini is not bad. A lot of these lights are just “how bright can we make this thing?” and in that universe, the E70 Mini does well. Really well. Acebeam has been at or near the top of the lumens output for every battery format for years and this is no different. I distinctly dislike the “wall o’ lumens” beam type, but lots and lots of people love it and there is no doubt that the E70 Mini excels in that area. So in that regard, this is really a good light with a terrible UI.
Amazon Links
Amazon Links