Skilhunt EC500 Review – Excellent Mid-Size Thrower

1. Pricing & Availability
2. What comes in the box?
3. Design & Construction
4. Size & Measurements
5. User Interface
6. Emitter & Beam
7. Mode Chart
8. Runtime
9. Driver & Regulation
10. Batteries & Charging
11. Switch
12. Carry & Ergonomics
13. Competition
14. Conclusion

Pricing & Availability

Skilhunt sent me this light in exchange for an honest review. Here is the official product page where you can see current pricing. At the time of writing, this configuration is $88 USD but their whole site is on sale for 12% off through Christmas.

What comes in the box?

The box is printed cardstock with more divider boxes and a vacuum-formed insert inside, along with:

• The light itself
• Battery (inside the light)
• User manual
• USB A-to-C charging cable
• Wrist lanyard
• Spare o-rings
• Pocket clip

Design & Construction

I’m thrilled that Skilhunt chose a black bezel and retaining ring here instead of blue. It looks smart with a smooth black steel bezel and retaining ring contrasting the satin black anodizing on the rest of the light.

Build quality is good overall. It feels dense and well-made, but not heavy. The anodizing is thick and satin with no sharp edges in the machining. The pocket clip finish is sub-par.

Size & Measurements

Skilhunt MiX-7 Gen 2 Plus | Surefire G2X Pro with Thyrm Switchback | Skilhunt EC500 | Olight Warrior 3S | Mini Maglite

Measurement	Measured (mm)
Bezel Diameter	51.6
Maximum Head Diameter	51.6
Length	130.9
Switch Diameter	10
Lens Thickness	2.0
Lens Diameter	49.0
MCPCB Size	~22
LED Footprint	5050
Body Tube Diameter	25.4
Pocket Clip Slot Width	5.3
Pocket Clip Slot Diameter	24.0
Tailcap Diameter	28.0
Tailcap Length	17.7
Driver Diameter	Inaccessible
Included Battery Length	74.8
Weight with included battery (g)	207

User Interface

This is mostly a normal E-switch UI, but I dislike how the adjustable Turbo and Strobe make the mode spacing uneven and prevent a normal moonlight-low shortcut.

The actions are # of presses followed by a hold (H) or a release (C). So, “1C” is one click and release. “2H” is two clicks but you hold down the last one.

State	Action	Result
Off	1C	On (main group)
Off	1H	Moonlight
Off	4C	Lockout (indicator on)
Lockout	1H	Moonlight (momentary)
Lockout	2C	Toggle indicator off/on
Lockout	4C	Moonlight (unlocked)
Moonlight	1H	Cycle Moonlight brightness (L2-L1)
Moonlight	2H	Low
On (main mode group)	1H	Cycle mode (M2-M1-H1)
On (main mode group)	2H	Moonlight
Any (except off & lockout)	1C	Off
Any (except off, lockout, Moonlight)	3C	Blinkies
Any (except Moonlight & blinkies)	2C	Turbo
Blinkies	2C	Cycle mode (strobe-SOS-beacon, memorized)
Turbo	1H	Cycle Turbo brightness (T2-T1)
Turbo	2C	Return to memorized main mode

Below is a new system I’m trying out for the UI section. Let me know what you think in the comments wherever I post this review!

Basic E-switch UI Checklist: 11/12

• 1C on/off✅
• 1H to change brightness✅
• Stepped levels✅
• Main rotation is Low-Med-High✅
• Moonlight shortcut: 1H from off✅
• Low shortcut: 1H from Moonlight❌
  • 2H from the Moonlight group will jump to Low. That’s not ideal, but it’s a big improvement from previous Skilhunt models, where 2H from moonlight jumped to the memorized mode, not necessarily Low mode. I wish the adjustable Turbo and Moonlight feature were removed so a normal 1H moonlight-low shortcut could be used.
• Turbo shortcut: 2C from anywhere✅
• Strobe shortcut: 3C from anywhere✅
• Mode memory for Low, Medium, and High✅
• No mode memory for Moonlight, Turbo, and Strobe✅
  • To clarify, it will memorize which level you use, but only within that mode group. So if you activate a blinky mode, it won’t override your main memorized mode, but it will remember that blinky mode the next time you enter the blinky group.
• 4C to lock/unlock✅
• Does something when you click the switch in Lockout mode✅

Notes:

• Strobe changes frequency. That’s good for tactical users and not good for light-painting users.
• They fixed beacon. On previous Skilhunt models, beacon would flash every second with a ~50% duty cycle. On this model, it flashes every 2 seconds very briefly.
• The lockout indicator is activated every time you enter lockout mode it activates the lockout indicator beacon. I wish it remembered whether you had the indicator beacon activated/deactivated. I just use mechanical lockout instead (loosen the tailcap a bit).
• Mode spacing is weird. The modes are spaced evenly if you use all 7 brightness levels, but they’re not spaced evenly if you just use one Moonlight or Turbo level. I wish the adjustable Moonlight and Turbo feature were removed, and the mode spacing re-adjusted.

Emitter & Beam

EC500 comes with the venerable Luminus SFT40 LED in three color temperatures. I chose the 6500K to get the most brightness and throw. It’s an excellent choice for a medium size single-cell thrower like this one.

The hotspot is narrow, as you’d expect. It’s most useful for seeing far away, not for general purpose or up-close illumination. I appreciate how crisp and well-defined it is. The spill is plenty bright for peripheral illumination.

In the beamshots below, camera settings are fixed and the wall is 2.8M away.

In the beamshots below, camera settings are fixed, the basketball goal to the right of the hotspot is 39M away, and the power pole in the center is 185M away.

Mode Chart

Disclaimer: All of my measurements are taken at turn-on. I don’t trust my lumen tube to give accurate measurements for super narrow beams like this, so all the lumen figures here are calculated assuming Turbo is as bright as advertised. A candela measurement was taken at 10 meters with an Opple Light Master III on the highest brightness, and other candela figures were calculated relative to that. CRI, CCT, & DUV data were taken for each mode from a few feet away at the center of the hotspot with the Opple Light Master and Waveform DUV Calculator. Runtime tests were performed with the Ceilingbounce app on my smartphone. These tests were performed with a fully charged included battery unless otherwise specified. I cannot measure moonlight directly, so moonlight readings are calculated based on the brightness relative to the next-lowest mode. None of this is professional equipment, so take these measurements with a grain of salt.

The official specs are above, followed by my own estimates & measurements below.

Level	Lumens (estimated)	Candela	Throw (Meters)	CRI (Ra)	Color Temp. (K)	DUV (Tint)
Turbo (T1)	2100	230000	959	68	6526	0.0039
Turbo-ish (T2)	984	110000	660	66	6160	0.0069
High (H)	591	65000	510	66	6060	0.0078
Medium (M1)	289	32000	358	64	5920	0.0094
Low (M2)	49	5300	146	62	5980	0.0121
Moonlight-ish (L1)	4	430	41	63	5790	0.0118
Moonlight (L2)	0.1	13	7	63	5760	0.0124

Runtime

Performance is satisfactory and in line with the competition. Sustained output is about 1000lm for a little under 2 hours.

Thermal regulation: There’s a negligible difference between my Turbo and Turbo Cooled tests, so I don’t think there’s any active thermal regulation here. There’s just a timed stepdown at about 1 minute.

LVP (Low Voltage Protection) is present and works well. When the battery is effectively empty, the light will shut itself off. It doesn’t rely on the battery’s protection circuit and the light can be re-activated in an emergency.

Driver & Regulation

Driver: I couldn’t separate the head and body to access the driver. Skilhunt sometimes glues those components together. Skilhunt told me this is a Buck driver, and it has a spring on it for some battery flexibility.

Regulation performance is good/average. It maintains most of the Turbo brightness down to ~25% charge, and all the other modes are flat down to ~25% charge or less. That’s exactly what I want because it shows the components are high quality and they’re being pushed hard for great performance.

PWM: No PWM is visible to my eyes or camera, nor audible to my ears.

Parasitic Drain: 45 microamps unlocked, or locked out with indicator disabled. That will take 12+ years to drain the included battery. With the lockout indicator enabled, the drain will be much higher. I recommend using mechanical lockout (loosening tailcap) for long-term storage.

Batteries & Charging

The battery included is a 5000mAh, protected, button-top, 21700 cell that powers the light well. Unprotected flat top 21700s and protected button 18650s also work, with the latter rattling slightly. Unprotected flat top 18650s are too short.

Charging is facilitated by a USB-C port on the side of the head, covered by a silicone port cover. I’m glad Skilhunt chose USB-C charging here instead of their proprietary magnetic system. Both A-to-C and C-to-C cables work fine. It’s fully functional while charging, except for T1 mode, even with the battery disconnected. There’s a powerbank function too, which I expect on lights with a 21700 battery or larger. Charging takes about 2.5 hours.

The battery indicator is located under the switch. It glows while plugged in, and for a few seconds when the light is turned on or the battery is connected. Here’s what it means:

State	Color	Meaning
Charging	Blue	100%
Charging	Blue Blinking	>75%
Charging	Red	50-75%
Charging	Red Blinking	<50%
Unplugged	Blue	>80%
Unplugged	Blue Blinking	50-80%
Unplugged	Red	20-50%
Unplugged	Red Blinking	<20%
Powerbank	Blue Blinking	High Charge Remaining
Powerbank	Red Blinking	Low Charge Remaining

Carry & Ergonomics

Ergonomics are great. It fits well in the hand and my thumb lands nicely on the switch in a forward grip. A neck grip is very comfortable too when using my middle finger to press the switch. It even works in a reverse grip with my pinky on the switch. It feels light and maneuverable.

The clip has a PVD-coated finish that I don’t think will hold up well (it didn’t on my EC200). It lands on a rough spot and has a small mouth so you have to lift it to pocket the light. It’s bidirectional for no reason. This isn’t a good clip, but I’m not sure it matters. It’s not a compact pocket light, so I don’t think most users will even bother installing the clip. For that reason, I think it’s cool that Skilhunt included a clip at all. Most competitors don’t, and it’s great for the few users that will use a clip.

Magnet(s): There are none.

Competition

Here are some lights in the same class and how they compare.

Thrunite Catapult Pro: bigger, brighter alternative

• similar price
• more brightness & throw
• a bit larger and heavier
• SFT70 LED
• boost driver
• less-popular 26650 battery
• smooth ramping UI (no stepped modes)
• no pocket clip
• similar charging solution

Acebeam L19 2.0: dual-switch alternative

• more expensive
• same LED
• TIR optic
• similar brightness, more throw
• a bit larger and heavier
• similar aesthetics
• similar side switch UI
• independent Turbo tailswitch
• similar charging solution

Convoy M21E: budget alternative

• less than half the price
• similar lumens (with the same LED) and less throw
• smaller head diameter
• wide variety of LED and driver options
• similar size & layout
• worse UI & aesthetics
• similar charging solution

This section is not comprehensive. If I didn’t include a particular light here, it doesn’t mean it’s bad or doesn’t deserve to be here. I simply cannot list every possible competitor.

Conclusion

This is a good medium size thrower. It doesn’t have any one feature that sets it apart from the competition, but it does pretty much everything well. Plenty of brightness, plenty of throw, popular battery size, convenient charging, powerbank, good UI & switch, great build quality, great size and ergonomics. It’s a complete and well-polished package.

Thanks to Skilhunt for sending me this light for review!