[candle lamp]

The Quinlan T01 is a new 1xAA light from Manker. The T01 is a XP-L (HI)-based model, with a fairly hight output and outstanding throw. Inside the nice cardboard box, there is only a light come with a removable pocket clip (attached). Note that my review sample is a pre-production version.
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Manufacturer Specifications from Manker website and user manual (User manual is not final version) :

• Most powerful bulk production EDC AA thrower
• Cree XPL-HI LED
• Max. lumen output : 500 lm, Peak beam intensity : 10,000cd (driven by Eneloop Pro Ni-MH battery)
• Max. lumen output : 900 lm, Peak beam intensity : 20,000cd (driven by 14500 Li-ion battery)
• Beam distance : 925ft / 282m
• Max. runtime of 150 hours with an extremely efficient constant current circuit (Low mode)
• Machine from aerospace grade solid aluminum bar
• HA III MIL-Standard hard anodized, original color
• Titanium coated two-way clip
• Double side coated optional grade lens
• IPX-8 waterproof standard (2 meters/6.6 feet under water)
• Impact resist up to 2 meters / 6.6 feet
• Tail stand to serve as lamp
• 85mm (length)×29mm (head diameter)×20mm (tail diameter)
• Weight : 1.94oz / 55g (without battery)


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[Addition 12.11.15]


I received the shipping version's specification from Manker recently as above. They made a true moonlight mode (0.1lumen with Ni-MH) and changed the related outputs of the Low mode.
[Addition 12.11.15]


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The length of the T01 is shorter, but the head is a bit fatter and larger, compared to other 1xAA class. This large head is believed to be caused by increasing diameter and depth for boosting throw. The hard (type III) anodizing is a matte natural finish which is very light grey, and there is only a tiny flaw near the bezel tip and the side switch on my sample. There's no body label, as the light is pre-production sample. The light has no tail switch as expected. Fit and finish looks very nice.
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The light has 2 parts. The body is one piece with the head (i.e., the body has a built-in head). The pocket clip works as a good anti-roll device as well.
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The light has a shallow five-point crenellations bezel ring and a relatively large head with an electronic side switch (i.e., most other compact lights have slim head). There are three cooling fins for heat dissipation on the head. The side switch is silicon rubber, and it has a slightly stiff feel to touch and has short travel, which produces clicking sound. The switch cover is embossed with an impressive logo and slightly recessed, so the risk of accidental activation should be reduced. It is relatively easy to locate by feel.
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The positive (+) battery contact is slightly recessed in the head. This recessed contact works as a physical reverse polarity protection. It means only small button-top cells work in the light (i.e., true flat-top cells will not work). Actually my AW 14500 (750mAh) black protected cell doesn't work in the light, due to its long length. But the Soshine 14500 (800mAh) black protected just works fine, as it's a bit shorter than AW 14500.

The light has an over-discharge protection function and the cut-off voltage for Ni-MH is 0.6V and 2.6V for Li-ion cell. In my view, these cut-off voltages seem to be low under load for some rechargeable cells or some manufacturers.
Note that the constant Turbo in pro mode doesn't seem to have an over-discharge protection feature.
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The light uses AR coating lens and the purple hue is reflected on it. The aluminum reflector has a smooth pattern. Surface finish on the reflector is perfect from visual inspection. But, there are some specks of dust on the reflector and the inside of the lens. You can't see them unless the light is on. Centering of the XP-L HI V3 emitter is absolutely perfect at the bottom of the reflector cup on my sample.
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The titanium coated pocket clip looks sturdy and hold onto the light very securely. It is reversible, allowing both bezel-up or bezel-down. It is not secured to the body very well under the bezel-up style. Note that bezel-down comes set by default.
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Only the half of battery tube and entire tailcap are covered in diamond-shape knurling with three flat faces. With the pocket clip attached and other grip elements (e.g, cooling fins, side switch. etc.), overall grip is good. The wall thickness of the body tube is 2.6mm. The light feels very sturdy.
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The screw threads are square-cut of good quality. Threads are well machined, and anodized which allows the light to be locked-out. The threads of my review sample were quite dry. but threads action is good. I applied a very light coat of lube on them. Screw threads action is fairly smooth with no cross-threading or squeaking.
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There is a dual gold-plated negative spring on the inside of the tailcap. The female threads are anodized too. The lights can tailstand stably, as the tailcap base has a flat face.
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User Interface


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[Addition 12.11.15]

[Addition 12.11.15]

There are two modes (i.e., General mode & Pro mode).
In “general mode”, you can use constant output set by factory default and flashing modes. In "pro mode", you are able to
1) select the brightness level among L1~L3 for each constant output (Low~Turbo)
2) use constant Turbo (i.e., constant Turbo output with no step-down)
3) check the approximate battery power

You can access from general mode to pro mode by holding the side switch down for 5 secs from off, the light flickers twice. This means you're in pro mode.
If you hold the side switch down from off for 5 sec from off, the light flickers once. This means you are now in general mode.

1) General mode


There are constant output mode and flashing mode in general mode.
On-Off and output switching is controlled by the electronic side switch.
Pressing and holding (0.5 sec) the side switch will turn the light on, and another pressing and holding turns it off.

When on, a quick press and release (i.e., click) of the side switch will proceed Low -> Med. -> High -> Turbo, in repeating sequence. The light has mode memory, and remembers the last output level used when you turn the light off and back on.

[Addition 12.11.15]
Now you can access a true moonlight mode (0.1lumen with Ni-MH, 0.3lumen with 16340) by a quick press and release (i.e., click) when off in the shipping version.
[Addition 12.11.15]

The flashing mode is hidden. Quick double-clicking the side switch from either on or off will activate Strobe. Then, single click on the side switch will proceed S.O.S. -> Beacon -> Strobe, in repeating sequence. A quick double click on the side switch will return to the memorized constant output in general mode. If you press and hold the side switch from flashing mode, the light will be turned off.
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2) Pro mode


I can express two groups in the pro mode more simply by saying that "group 1" is constant output mode and "group 2" means flashing mode, constant turbo, battery indicator and custom setting.

On-off and output switching under pro mode are quite the same as the general mode.
On-Off and output switching is controlled by the electronic side switch.
Pressing and holding (0.5 sec) the side switch will turn the light on, and another pressing and holding turns it off.

When on, a quick press and release (i.e., click) of the side switch will proceed Low -> Med. -> High -> Turbo, in repeating sequence. The light has mode memory, and remembers the last output level used when you turn the light off and back on.

Note that you can select (or specify) a brightness being used among L1~L3 in group 2 (i.e., custom setting). There are 3 brightness levels for each constant output. L1 is the lowest and L3 is the highest brightness. Group 1 is made from group 2.

As far as I know, the brightness of each constant output set by factory default in general mode are as follows :
- Low in general mode is Low "L1" in pro mode
- Med. in general mode is Med. "L2" in pro mode
- High in general mode is High "L2" in pro mode
- Turbo in general mode is Turbo "L3" in pro mode

The flashing mode is hidden in pro mode as well. Quick double-clicking the side switch from either on or off will activate Strobe. Then, single click on the side switch will proceed S.O.S. -> Beacon -> constant Turbo -> battery indicator -> custom setting for each output (Low, Med., High, Turbo) -> Strobe, in repeating sequence. In custom setting, you will get three brightness levels (L1, L2, L3) in repeating sequence, for about 6 sec each with 2 sec between them. You can specify the brightness only once for each output by pressing and holding the side switch. So you need to repeat the whole cycle (i.e., Group 2) for another output setting.

Once the cells are below 25% power according to Manker, the light will flash once. It will flash 4 times with a full charge of the cell.

As shown above, in order to access to "battery indicator" or "constant Turbo", you have to access to Strobe first. It can be uncomfortable to use pro mode actually.

If possible, I would like Manker to isolate "custom setting" and "battery indicator" from pro mode (for example, custom setting could be changed to custom setting mode) in my opinion. This means there are general, pro and custom setting mode. Battery indicator could be accessed in either general or pro mode.



The above graph shows Turbo in general mode and constant Turbo in pro mode. The constant Turbo doesn't step down to lower level and its initial output is not as bright as Turbo in general mode.
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Standby Current Drain

Due to the electronic side switch interface, the T01 is drawing a small current when the light is fully connected. I measured this current as 5.7μA, 16.1μA with Eneloop AA and Soshine 14500 respectively. For 1xEneloop (2000mAh), that would translate into around 40 years before it would be fully drained. For 1x14500 (800mAh), that would translate into around 5.6 years. These are negligible, not a concern. This current can be cut by simply unscrewing the tailcap a little.
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From left to right, Panasonic Eneloop AA, Manker Quinlan T01 (XP-L HI V3), Olight S15 (XM-L2 U2), Spark SF5 (XM-L2), Armytek Partner A1 (XP-G R5), Fenix LD12 (XP-G R5).
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From left to right, Manker Quinlan T01 (XP-L HI V3), Olight S15 (XM-L2 U2), Armytek Partner A1 (XP-G R5), Fenix LD12 (XP-G R5).
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Measured Dimensions

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The T01 is small AA light. It is reasonably good size to hold and use. You can use it as an EDC light. Overall build quality is excellent.
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PWM


The T01 shows no sign of PWM with all battery sources (i.e., NI-MH, Alkaline and 14500 Li-ion) at all output levels. The light is fully no flickering in all output levels. I notice there is no buzzing sound.
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Runtime
The runtime to fall to 10% of its initial output from 30 seconds after the point the light is first turned on (i.e., based on ANSI FL-1) for Turbo is as follows :





T01 steps down after about 2.5 minutes runtime on all battery sources. Regulation after step-down is maintained very nicely through Turbo mode on Eneloop, Alkaline battery. Note that you will see the light starts to step down gradually after 1.9 mins runtime, and level off to around 53% of the initial output after 2.3 mins on Eneloop AA (2000mAh). This seems to be a timed drop-down. The initial output on 14500 Li-ion is much higher than the other battery sources. True multi-power support is available on the light.

Note that two Eneloop AA I used for runtime test are Panasonic BK-3MCCE (1.2V, Min. 1900mAh) Ni-MH and Sanyo HR-3UWX (1.2V, Min. 2400mAh) Ni-MH.
The latter is the first (i.e., old) generation of the Pro version.

You can see the light on Ni-MH and Alkaline turn off automatically for preventing the cells from over-discharge at the end of runtime. But I turned the light off in case of 14500 Li-ion cell intentionally, as the output was less than 10% of the initial output level.
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On High, the light on Eneloop and Alkaline maintains perfectly flat regulation for an extended period, before dropping. The light is semi-regulated on 14500 Li-ion (i.e., slowly drop in output). You will not be able to notice the drop in output over time in practice. The initial output on 14500 Li-ion is about twice higher than on other battery sources.
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You will see the stepped down output level from Turbo is higher than High as shown above .
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Compared to the other 1xAA class lights, the T01 shows the excellent runtime efficiency and awesome output at the max. mode. The light is a heavily driven light and output-runtime efficiency remains top of the 1xAA class in my collection.
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Beamshot

1. White door beamshot (about 50cm from the white door) on max. output on 1xPanasonic Eneloop AA (2000mAh)
- ISO125, F/8.0, 1/25sec, Auto white balance


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- ISO125, F/8.0, 1/100sec, Auto white balance


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- ISO125, F/8.0, 1/800sec, Auto white balance


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- ISO125, F/8.0, 1/2000sec, Auto white balance



The light shows a well focused narrow hot spot and medium sized spill beam. The overall beam profile is good. The beam has a typical cool tint, but there's no greenish tint to my sample.
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2. 7.0m Indoor Beamshot on max. output on 1xPanasonic Eneloop AA (2000mAh)
- ISO125, F/2.8, 1/10sec, Auto white balance

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The hot spot is well focused for throw and the side spill is reasonably good as well
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3. 85m Outdoor Beamshot on max. output on 1xPanasonic Eneloop AA (2000mAh)
- ISO160, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance

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The Quinlan T01 is an outstanding thrower for 1xAA class. It has a tightly focused hotspot. This is number one throwing stock AA light with XP-L HI I have tested to date.
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Low mode shows a nice lower low output level. But not real firefly or moonlight mode, in my view.
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Overall Impressions

• Build quality is excellent
• Fatter head compared to other 1xAA class
• The light can stably tailstand
• Anti-roll indentations on the body
• Small standby current drain (5.7uA) is inevitable, but not a concern
• Physical lockout function at the taicap
• Physical reverse polarity protection function
• True flat-top or long cells will not work
• Mode memory for all output levels except Strobe
• You can use Ni-MH, Alkaline, Lithium, 14500 Li-ion or LiFe
• User custom setting is available in Pro mode
• Some features in Pro mode could be updated (or isolated)
• Over-discharge protection function, but a bit low cut-off voltage for some brands
• You can check battery power roughly
• Timed step-down but gradual feature on Turbo in General mode
• Constant Turbo (i.e., no step-down) in Pro mode is available
• Excellent output-runtime efficiency
• Awesome max. output and beam distance
• True Moonlight mode is not available -> available now in shipping version
• No sign of PWM flickers at any output modes
• Overall beam tint is cool white without greenish tint
• Number one AA throwing stock light with XP-L HI I have tested to date


Manker Quinlan T01 provided by Manker for review.

[candle lamp]

[Addition 12.11.15]


I received the shipping version's specification from Manker recently as above. They made a true moonlight mode (0.1lumen with Ni-MH) and changed the related outputs of the Low mode.
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Now you can access a true moonlight mode (0.1lumen with Ni-MH, 0.3lumen with 16340) by a quick press and release (i.e., click) when off in the shipping version.
[Addition 12.11.15]