This is not a review. This is first thoughts.

Continuing from my previous foray into Aplos lights, I asked and they recommended the E10 as another constant-current model. At roughly $12

(I used a new member coupon), I thought to myself - what have I got to lose? The run-times are great. Not as flat as the T02, but very respectable given the price. It’s very compact.

Here it is next to the Convoy S8.

Here is the TIR optic.

The eagle-eyed may notice that this light looks a lot like Sofirn’s SC32. Aplos is another Jinba Shenzen Tech company like Wurkkos/Sofirn, so it’s common to see some shared designs. I don’t own an SC32, but the few big differences I can spot (apart from aesthetic ones) are the optic (TIR vs fresnel), switch (tail vs side), USB port flap design, and of course the UI/driver. Similarly to the T02, the build quality is right about what you expect from Sofirn/Wurkkos.

‘Turbo’ ouput swan-dives after the initial burst and stabilizes at about the 600 lumens range.

I stopped the test after 1.5 hours, it was enough data for me to see the performance.

‘High’ dipped a bit during the 60 minutes I tested it on - it looks like you can expect to hold about 350-400 lumens for quite a while.

I should also note here that after testing on both modes, the flashlight is only warm, and not at all uncomfortable to handle. Impressive.

UI is different on this E10 vs their T02, understandable as they’re different lights. This is meant to be an EDC. This has shortcut to ‘moonlight’!

• 1C on/off
• 1H from off for lowest mode (praise be!). You can cycle into the main modes from here.
• 1H while on to cycle L-M-H-Turbo.
• 2C in any state to strobe > 2C again to beacon > 1C to return to previous state (on or off)

Absolutely acceptable UI. If I could change one thing, I would wish for 2C to go to turbo from any state, and instead relegate strobe to 3C, but this is a minor thing. The light has mode memory, which I typically dislike, but since this has moonlight shortcut it can be forgiven.

It’s an SST40. Though green, especially at lower levels, the SST40 probably contributes to the flashlight running as cool as it does. You might think that 350 lumens sustained for a ‘high’ mode is not very high - but I think this is a conscious choice by Aplos. It’s meant to be a (relatively) cool running, long run-times, practical amount of lumens type of EDC light - so it makes sense. Still, as soon as I figure out how to open the bezel, I’m probably putting something else in.

The beam - I love it. It’s basically a pure flat hotspot

or as close as you can get to one. There’s always spill, as with any of these types of TIRs, but it’s not the same kind of spill you get from a reflector. It’s just sort of like increased ‘ambient’ light.

Here it is compared to a TD01 and TS11, from roughly the same distance. It’s a pancake. It’s basically a zoomie beam-shape without all the cons of being a zoomie.

This light is 18650 with support for 2xCR123A. I don’t use CR123A’s myself, but I thought that was pretty neat.

The 2 weakest points of this flashlight in my opinion: the USB port flap, and lowest mode being 10 lumens.

• The USB flap is laughably thin and flimsy. Feels like a light breeze will fling this thing open.
• The lowest mode being only 10 lumens is a bit of a disappointment. In all fairness, they did call it ‘Low’ in the manual and not ‘moonlight’. I think any flashlight that’s meant to be an EDC should have a proper moonlight, ideally a lumen or sublumen one. But it’s not a dealbreaker for me.

I’ll cut off here.

In summary:

• Very affordable and compact EDC with respectable regulation for about $12-17 on AliExpress.

I’m currently seeing this light go for about $16 on GeForest AliX. It’s also on Amazon but I never advocate paying 2-3x the price just to get it quicker. Just wait the 2-week slow boat and save you some cash.

I swapped the stock clip for one of Sofirn/Wurkkos’s two-way clips. Deeper carry. Nice.