Skilhunt EC150 Review – Fine Compact EDC Light

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 it’s on sale for ~$50 USD.

What comes in the box?

EC150 comes in Skilhunt/ESKTE’s standard retail box. A window shows the light inside and a sticker specifies the LED. Inside is:

• The light itself
• Battery (inside the light)
• User manual
• Wrist lanyard
• Spare O-Rings
• Pocket clip

Design & Construction

EC150 looks just like an EC200 with a shrunken body tube and tailcap. The head is smaller than an EC200 as well, but it looks a little oversized compared to the rest of the light. Overall, it’s pretty tiny.

Build quality is good. The anodizing and machining are well done. It feels higher quality than lights from budget brands like Convoy, Sofirn, or Wurkkos. It doesn’t feel quite as high quality as most models from higher-end brands like Olight, Acebeam, or Wuben.

Size & Measurements

Emisar D3AA | Skilhunt EC150 | Skilhunt H150 | Lumintop FWAA | Reylight Pineapple Mini

Measurement	Measured (mm)
Bezel Diameter	22.6
Length	79.6
Switch Diameter	10
Lens Thickness	1.5
Lens Diameter	19.0
Optic height	17.6
Optic height (from MCPCB)	5.9
MCPCB Size	15
LED Footprint	3535
Body Tube Diameter	18.0
Pocket Clip Slot Width	3.7
Pocket Clip Slot Diameter	16.7
Tailcap Diameter	20.0
Tailcap Length	12.4
Driver Diameter	Inaccessible
Included Battery Length	50.4
Weight with included battery (g)	60

User Interface

This UI works like most other e-switch UIs with a couple changes. The adjustable Moonlight and Turbo modes cause some problems, but aren’t problematic enough to be a deal-breaker for me.

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
Moonlight	1H	Cycle Moonlight brightness (L2-L1)
Moonlight	2H	M2
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)
Turbo	1H	Cycle Turbo brightness (T2-T1)
Turbo	2C	Return to memorized main mode

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❌
  • 1H from the Moonlight (L1-L2) group just adjusts the brightness within that group. You have to do 2H from the Moonlight to jump to Low mode (M2).
• 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: The purpose of this checkpoint is to see if 1C from off will go to Moonlight, Turbo, or Strobe if you used them last. This light does not do that, which is good. It does memorize Moonlight, Turbo, and Strobe within their mode group. So if you memorized the lower Turbo mode, higher Moonlight mode, or Beacon instead of Strobe, it will return to those if you use their shortcut.
• 4C to lock/unlock✅
• Does something when you click the switch in Lockout mode✅

Notes:

• The adjustable Moonlight and Turbo modes over-complicate the UI unnecessarily and cramp the mode spacing. The brighter Moonlight and lower Turbo should be eliminated and the middle mode should be spread out a bit. That would also free up 1H from Moonlight and Turbo to jump to Low, as it should be.

Emitter & Beam

EC150 uses three LEDs under a TIR optic. The two LED choices are Nichia 519A 4500K (shown here, for the best colors and wider beam) or Luminus SFT25R Cool White (for worse colors but more throw). The power wires to the MCPCB are quite small, but that’s OK because the LEDs are in series, not parallel.

The beam is floody with a wide hotspot and spill that fades gradually away from the hotspot. It’s great for up close or flooding a room, but it doesn’t throw far.

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

In the beamshots below, camera settings are as close as possible, 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. Lumen measurements were taken on a Texas Ace 3.5″ Lumen Tube. 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 measurements below.

Level	Lumens	Candela	Throw (Meters)	CRI (Ra)	Color Temp. (K)	DUV (Tint)
Turbo (T1)	1040	2200	94	98	4820	0.0013
T2	550	1200	69	98	4730	0.0020
High (H1)	270	570	48	98	4670	0.0011
Med (M1)	92	195	28	98	4600	0.0006
Low (M2)	16	34	12	98	4550	0.0006
L1	2	4	4	99	4630	0.0010
Moon (L2)	0.1	>1	~1	98	4590	0.0010

Runtime

Performance is good. The ~1 minute Turbo time is unimpressive but sustaining 250lm from high CRI LEDs in such a tiny light is great.

Thermal regulation: My Turbo and Turbo Cooled tests are virtually identical, so there’s no active thermal regulation here, just timed stepdowns. That means performance will be consistent, but not optimized for ambient temperature.

LVP (Low Voltage Protection) is present and works well for li-ion batteries. It doesn’t rely on the battery having a protection circuit. The light will shut off when the battery is practically empty, but it can be temporarily re-activated in an emergency.

Driver & Regulation

The driver must have a boost circuit because it can drive a set of ~3V LEDs from a ~1.5V AA. Initially I thought it was linear when running on a 14500 cell, but some helpful Reddit and BLF users pointed out that the LEDs are in series. That means it’s purely a boost driver no matter what battery you use.

Regulation performance is bit below average. It maintains full Turbo brightness down to ~50% charge, but Turbo is noticeably dimmer at ~25% charge and below.

PWM: My Opple detected some kind of mild flickering on the two Turbo modes, but it wasn’t PWM and all the other modes are flicker-free.

Parasitic Drain: I can’t get a parasitic drain reading. When I set my multimeter to the 2000 microamp sensitivity range I typically use, the light won’t “boot” and turn the indicator LED on. When I lower the sensitivity enough that it turns the indicator LED on, it’s not sensitive enough to measure parasitic drain. Fortunately, mechanical lockout works great so you can just loosen the tailcap if you’re worried about parasitic drain.

Batteries & Charging

The battery is optionally included. Mine came with a 920mAh 14500 cell, but they also offer a 1300mAh cell with a USB-C port built in. Alternatively, it can accept AAs too.

Charging is facilitated by a USB-C port on the head opposite the button. It’s got a silicone port cover to seal it, but that port cover is right by the clip, so it gets pulled open frequently when I pull the light out of my pocket. It’s fully functional while charging.

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%

Switch

The switch is electronic and located on the side of the head. There’s a rubber boot held down with a threaded retaining ring. It’s partially transparent so it can light up and function as a battery indicator. It’s audibly clicky and it never turned on by accident while I was carrying it. I like it!

Carry & Ergonomics

Ergonomics are decent. It’s a small light, but with the clip installed I can get a good 2-3 finger grip on it with my thumb on the button. Pencil grip works well too.

Magnet: There’s a magnet in the tail that’s strong enough to hold on a vertical surface. It appears to be held in by the tailspring like most Skilhunt models so it may be removable. Unlike most other Skilhunt models, this one does not include the plastic spacer to fill the gap left by the magnet if you remove it.

Competition

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

Skilhunt M150 V4: almost identical but two key differences

• same brand, price, size, battery indicator, magnet, clip, and UI
• single LED in a reflector instead of three LEDs in a TIR optic
• proprietary magnetic charging instead of USB-C
• plastic switch instead of silicone

Emisar D3AA: enthusiast alternative

• similar size, shape, and layout
• many more LED options
• can get significantly brighter depending on LED selection
• RGB auxiliary LEDs
• Advanced Anduril firmware
• No integrated charging (some cells with USB-C charging built in might fit, but they may not work with Turbo mode)
• less expensive, but battery and charger aren’t included

Convoy T3: budget alternative (if you get aluminum instead of TiCu shown in my review)

• about 1/3 the price
• doesn’t include battery or charger
• mechanical tail switch instead of electronic side switch
• larger, many more color options
• worse clip
• more LED options
• single LED with reflector

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 fine little EDC light with compelling features. The battery options are great. The build quality, beam, switch, and performance are good. Throw isn’t great but that’s to be expected from a small triple. The UI and clip/charging interference could use some improvement. Those changes would take this light from fine to best-in-class in my opinion.

Thanks to Skilhunt for sending me this light for review!