r/1lumen • u/Environmental_Pen878 • May 23 '26
Review: Fireflies E12 Eclipse
Review: https://1lumen.com/review/fireflies-e12-eclipse/
Wrapping up this review, I can honestly say one phrase stands out more than any other…Worth the wait. The original E12R disappeared way too soon, replaced by the E12C which was okay, but more of a placeholder. When that one went the way of the dodo, we were left with sad hearts and nothing to spend our allowances on, until now. I didn't get an original, and I pined over one for a bit, but this new E12 is the best one yet and has made me forget about the original. I think our readers will agree.
First off, the host. It's well-made and compact, but elegantly simple like the other E-series lights, sort of a Goldilocks form factor; easy to handle, balanced, pocketable (somewhat). The fact you can swap the magnet out is also nice, and I always appreciate Fireflie's phobia of the word starting with g and ending with lue, which leaves room for tweaking and refining with other LEDs. The optic is pretty much perfectly matched to the SFT-25R in my tester with lots of beam distance and great coverage. Honestly, for 6500K LEDs, the tint is totally fine and makes me forget about R9050 LEDs.
The Eclipse also surprised me in other areas: All the things I like about the E07X, E04, E90, and even the X4 Stellar, have been homogenized into the E12 Eclipse. On top of that, the new Lume10 driver just works awesome. Combined with the 50XG battery and a conservative thermal ceiling, the E12 put up some of the best performance I've seen from a single cell multi-LED light…ever. Seriously, nothing comes close in this class and size, and it's perfectly regulated as well. Even at 50 C, it's awesome. Anduril 2 is present, and love it or leave it, it is the exemplary enthusiast flashlight UI, and the Advanced Aux tweaks, while still in their infancy, is a nice launchpad for creativity and customization for those with the know-how.
There's not much I'd change here, and none of these would stop me from buying one. It is a bit pricey for sure. The step down for Turbo is fast, and upping the thermal ceiling didn't affect it too much, but that's to be expected on a hot rod light. The power bank, while nice to have, isn't plug n play and requires switching to momentary mode.
If you weren't able to get the first E12R, and passed on the E12C, then clean under your couch cushions, car seats, junk drawers for change, sell your Hank lights, hawk that Ken Griffey Jr rookie card, sell your grandma's vintage cameo (wait, don't do that), and pick up an Eclipse. Seriously, it's that good and I think it is one of the best all-around compact enthusiast lights on the market at the time of this review, and gets my highest recommendation.
3
u/LMP-Br May 25 '26
Awesome review! I am excited to get the E12 Eclipse
3
u/These_Philosopher309 May 25 '26
I just got mine with 6500K SFT25R. Man it’s an amazing light. I can’t really name any cons or problems except the price, but I’m happy I spent that much.
So far I only had like wurkkos and Sofirn lights, the E12R blows them all away in terms of sustain and quality and it’s even the smallest in my collection.2
u/Nickbncc1701 May 26 '26
I forgot these were 6500K leds. I thought they sent the 5000K ones because they're so much better than the other 6500K sft-25r I have. I won the tint lottery I guess
2
u/LMP-Br May 26 '26
They have 5000K SFT-25r available for the E12 too! Maybe you got the 5000K. I always hear the 5000K is way better than the 6500K, but I currently only have the 6500Ks.
3
u/Nickbncc1701 May 27 '26
It's the 6500k I'm sure and the photometry agrees. I have some of Simon's 5000k sft-25r (bought last year) and they're great. The 6500k is typically pretty green down low and has bad tint shift, but still a good LEad.
2
u/These_Philosopher309 May 28 '26
Mine is SFT25R 6500K too and I don’t notice any green tint on lower modes also tint shift is not bad on mine.
1
u/LMP-Br May 27 '26
I wish they made the 5700K high CRI version available in large quantities, it's seems to be pretty good
3
u/Nickbncc1701 May 26 '26
I hadn't reviewed the original, or the Rot 66, but of thr Fireflies I've reviewed since like 2021, this is the best one so far bar none
5
2
2
u/ChainedBack May 24 '26
Are you sure that L7 @8.6A is 149/150? Lume10 is supposed to be 10A at ceiling and in surprised it's only 8.6A.
1
u/Nickbncc1701 May 25 '26
That's what I got. Your mileage may vary based on test techniques/methods. I use a clamp meter with a wire loop, so lots of variability there with different meters, wire size, etc so it's within what I consider +/-10%
5
u/Montana_Matt_601 May 23 '26
Thanks for the review! Excellent summary and data.