Fenix E12 Flashlight Review

The Fenix E12 V2.0 AA Flashlight for Everyday Carry is a flashlight designed to fit in your pocket and be forgotten until you need it. Because it weighs less than 1 ounce without the battery, it made me wonder if it would be a good replacement for a headlamp. So, let’s dig deep into a Fenix E12 Flashlight for Everyday Carry Review. As with my other Fenix reviews, I received this flashlight in exchange for an honest review (see Fenix PD36R Flashlight Review and Fenix HM65R Headlamp Review).

While I love headlamps, there are downsides. One of the downsides has to do with people who use headlamps but aren’t familiar with them. They tend to blind their fellow paddlers instead of turning off the light, blocking the light with a hand or aiming the light down when talking to each other. The biggest downside is that because the light comes from near the eyes that shadows tend to obscure features. It’s better to have the light lower or higher for better vision. With a flashlight instead of a headlamp, you can put that light anywhere in a form that feels easy to handle. That said, it’s nice to have a light that goes wherever you aim your head. Can you have the best of both with a light flashlight? The answer is below.

Features

This flashlight features a cool white LED with three level outputs controlled by a single button on the rear of the flashlight. It uses a single AA battery. Rechargeable AA batteries are available from Fenix. The E12 offers a IP68 Waterproof Rating. That means it is fully submersible to 6.5 feet for up to 30 minutes. Its aluminum A6061-T6 body is durable and comes with a two position pocket clip. The pocket clip can secure the light to the bill of a baseball hat to make it work like a headlamp.

A single tail-switch control works for one handed operation. A deep push until you hear a click turns the flashlight on. Three light touches cycle through the different brightness levels. It always starts in the lowest level after you turn it on. The beam is always a wide-angle beam with 12° hotpot and 86° flood.

Fenix E12 Flashlight Review

In use this flashlight easily slides into a pant pocket or life vest pocket where it remains until needed. It can also clip to the bill of a baseball hat where it acts like a headlamp. Lacking a baseball cap, you could use a a strap, such as Nite Ize’s Strap, to make this flashlight work as a headlamp. I found the light convenient to carry around and use. Since I’m also a photographer, I’ll mention that this is a great light just to stash into the photography bag just in case.

The various brightness levels work well. The low setting works well for closeup work, such as reading in a tent or sitting around camp and cooking. The medium level was useful for walking around the campsite or heading to the bathroom. It illuminated nearly everything that I needed to see. The high setting was bright enough to look into the distant woods to check for bears or wolves or whatever squirrel made a sound at the edge of camp. Mainly, I used the low and medium settings for my purposes while testing the light. For photography, I found the high was helpful for framing shots at night.

As far as weight goes, with a battery the Fenix E12 Flashlight weighs 1.8 ounces. With the Nite Ize strap, it comes in as 2.9 ounces which is about average for headlamps. You save weight if you normally wear a baseball cap or don’t need the headlamp feature.

Conclusion

After testing the flashlight for approximately a month, I found it to work well. It shows no wear and tear and it always worked for me. I like the idea of having a replaceable battery instead of a built-in rechargeable battery, especially since you can use rechargeable AA batteries. It works well clipped to the bill of a baseball cap or with the above mentioned strap. If you are looking for a small flashlight instead of a headlamp for your camping and paddling needed, then you should consider this one.

Buy it: Fenix E12 V2.0 AA Flashlight for Everyday Carry [Direct]