Preface Official Specs Versions Price Short Review Long Review What's Included Manual and Packaging Build Quality and Durability Size Retention Power User Interface and Operation Modes LED and beam Tint vs... Beamshots, Runtime, etc table. Comparisons Conclusion What I like What I don't like Up Next Notes
Preface
Another JETBeam with on-board charging! This time in 18650 format. I’ve already reviewed the similar AA/14500 light. I was excited to test this one out, because it’s also got an emitter I’ve never tested!
Official Specs and Features
That’s the Chinese JETBeam site; I wasn’t able to find the E40R on the English site.
Versions
There’s only one version of this light. (Unless you consider all the other JETBeams with on-board charging with a similar look, and I don’t. But those are all E series lights.)
Price
This one runs around $50. GearBest has it now for ~$36.
Short Review
I love the build of this light. I love the big rectangular switch. But the emitter is absolutely not for me, and the UI leaves a lot to be desired.
Long Review
What’s Included
- JETBeam JET-E40R
- Charge cable
- Lanyard
- Pocket clip
- Nylon pouch
- Spare o-rings (2)
- Manual and papers
- JETBeam 2600mAh 18650 (not pictured)
Package and Manual
The package is JETBeam’s fairly typical red and blue. The hang tag is a plastic bit that fits in the top flaps. For some reason I hate those things. But they remove easily. The box has a nice product photo and a bunch of specs, much like the manual. The box is also small, or sized for the contents well.
The manual is a long slip of paper with English on one side and Chinese on the other. It’s a good enough manual.
Build Quality and Disassembly
The E40R really suits my hand. I can’t quite say why exactly; there’s not much different about it from 50 other lights in hand, but something about it just feels right.
The threads are square cut, anodized, and extremely smooth. The head and tail both unscrew from the body, but the body tube isn’t reversible; it only fits one direction. The tailcap has a beefy spring, and the head has a brass button.
All in all, I’m very pleased with the build quality of this light.
Size
Officially 106.25mm long, and 26.7mm (head)/25mm (tail) and weighing in at 67.2G without cell. This is a great EDC sized light, especially with the addition of on-board charging.
In fact it’s smaller than the light I always carry (at right).
Retention
Included is a nylon pouch with stretchy sides and most of the other features of a nylon pouch. The (nearly tube) light will fit either direction in this pouch.
Also included with the package (but not installed from the factory) is a collar style pocket clip. This clip is strangely beefy; I’ve opted out of using it in my daily carry.
There’s also a lanyard included, which attaches on the tailcap.
Power
The E40R is powered by a single 18650 cell. JETBeam includes a 2600mAh cell. Note that their manual and package runtimes are quoted based on a 3400mAh cell, so it’d have been prudent to include that capacity with the light. In any case…. this light will work with any type 18650. It’ll also work with 2xCR123A cells. The manual doesn’t mention a voltage range, so I don’t know if 18350 cells will work or kill the light.
Here’s a runtime with the JETBeam cell, on Turbo. The light respectably holds Turbo (>90%) for a few minutes, and then steps down to 50% output for the next 2 hours or so. JETBeam says the light will return to turbo if cycled off – I didn’t test this (normally I do? somehow I skipped it in this test.)
I stopped the test when I noticed that the switch was indicating low voltage. The cell tested at 2.56V at this point…. So I call this a light with no LVP, only a low voltage warning.
The switch has some kind of warning build in (as I said), but the manual doesn’t actually cover that. What it seems, is that if the switch blinks slowly, the cell voltage is somewhere in the >3.4V range. If the switch blinks quickly, the cell voltage is <3V. (Based on this photo.)
Also built in to this light is on-board charging. The micro-USB port is on the head and doesn’t require any proprietary cells or special considerations. JETBeam includes a cable, too.
Charging is ok, but I’d like to see a more stable CC portion of the graph. Charging terminated at 4.21V. Notably the cell tested to the rated capacity.
The side switch will indicate when the cell is charged. A solid green switch means charged. If the switch is blinking, the cell is still charging.
User Interface and Operation
There’s a single button on the E40R. It’s a side, indicating, e-switch. And I’ll be honest, I really like this switch. It’s a little hard to find, as it blends with the rest of the body, but it’s not hard to differentiate from the charge port (as that’s rubber). The indicating features are a little light. The action on the button is very good, with a very positive but quiet click at the bottom of the press.
Here’s a UI table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Click | No Action |
| Off | Long Press | On (Mode Memory) |
| Any | Double Click | Strobe |
| Strobe | Click | On (Mode Memory) |
| On | Click | Mode cycle (THML) |
| Off | Long(er) Press | Turbo |
| On | Long Press | Off |
- There does not appear to be a lockout.
- “Long Press” is really quite long. I measure it at about 2 seconds. That might not sound like long, but it’s longer than any other long press you’ve had to do for main-modes.
- Point number 2 means that direct access to Turbo is even longer than 2 seconds.
I really don’t want to say that this UI is a dumpster fire but it’s not far off. Coupled with the build quality of this light, it makes me quite sad that the UI requires
Modes
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Mode Measured Lux | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 1150 | 2h | 20500 | 2.52 |
| High | 310 | 4.5h | 5980 | 0.56 |
| Medium | 35 | 50h | 719 | 0.07 |
| Low | 3 | 270h | 102 | 0.012 |
| Strobe | 1150 | – | – | – |
LED and Beam
The emitter of choice is a Luminus SST-40. That’s in a very lightly OP reflector, which is shallow and broad. Even so, the beam is quite tight, with little spill.
I have to say, this is easily one of the worst emitters I’ve seen. It’s as green as any non-green emitter I’ve ever seen. That’s really too bad….
Tint vs BLF-348
Normally I might say “the difference really isn’t as great as the photos make this look” or “the beam really isn’t this green,” but in this case, the beam really is this bad, and the tint really is this green.
Particularly on the lower modes, as seen below.
Though to be sure, on Turbo, the tint isn’t that bad. The green is almost unnoticeable.
Beamshots, Runtime, and Lux Measurements
| JETBeam JET-E40R | |
|---|---|
| Emitter | Luminus SST-40 |
| Emitter Notes | N4 BC |
| Cell | 18650 |
| Glamour Shots | Beamshots [0.3″, f/8, ISO 100, 5000k] |
| Runtime | Chargetime |
| LVP? | Switch Warning |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 1150 |
| Lux (Measured) | 615 lux @ 3.719 m |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd | 8506.0 |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 184.5 |
| Throw (Claimed) (m) | 195 |
Random Comparisons and Competitive Options….
The Luminus SST-40 is really what differentiates this light, and there’s not much else with that emitter. Some other JETBeam lights, and an Olight. If you’re looking to get in to a Luminus light, this is a good choice (if you like the UI.)
Conclusion
What I like
- Build quality is great
- On-board charging isn’t bad
- Full package light
- The long click to on makes the button a good fidget item? (since short single click does nothing)?
What I don’t like
- Tint!!!
- Long (really long) hold for off
Up Next
I’d hoped to have a Nitecore MH23 by Friday but I’m not sure that’s going to happen. And I actually don’t have much else in for review! One Wowtac for next week and I’ll be caught up on flashlights (shudder the thought?!?) Still have a bunch of non-flashlight items, though!
Notes
- This light was provided by GearBest for review. I was not paid to write this review.
- This content originally appeared at zeroair.wordpress.com. Please visit there for the best experience!
- Whether or not I have a coupon for this light, I do have a bunch of coupons!! Have a look at my spreadsheet for those coupons. Note I’ve upgraded that sheet so that now, you may subscribe and get notifications when the sheet is edited!!
