Ese is a new brand of flashlights from China which currently have 3 models in their lineup. Reviewed here is the Ese AF2. The head consists of 3 parts, the smooth bezel, upper, and lower halves which make up the entire head. All these parts are adhered together. The bezel is made of stainless steel which provides improved protection for the front end of the light when dropped or subjected to other forms of abuse. The lens seems to be made of regular glass, I could not find any literature by the manufacturer regarding the exact type of glass used. A smooth metal reflector sits behind the lens and is aligned well with the emitter sitting at the bottom, perhaps just a hair towards one side. The remaining parts of the head has a smooth cylindrical shape, cleanly designed with no additional design elements. Black Type 3 anodizing is used to coat the entire light. Coating is smooth and consistent throughout with no marks or chips to be found. Threads on the head are very well cut and clean with no grinding or machining residue.

The battery tube is very similar in length to most 2x AA powered lights, and of average thickness. The exterior of the battery tube is slightly raised towards the front half and has a band of checkered textured knurling going around it. There also a flat faced machined on the knurling which has branding printed on it. As with the head, anodizing is smooth and very well finished in a glossy black. The inner wall and tail end is also coated which allows the light to be locked out with the tail cap loosened. Threads at both ends of the battery tube are well cut also, no issues on these were encountered during tests. The tail cap is smooth all over the exterior with no textured knurling, it does have a slightly raised lip towards the end with 2 small holes for lanyard attachments. The rubber switch cap used feels quite nice, it's smooth with no texture on the surface either. The rubber switch cap protrudes out slightly from the tail cap so it can't tail stand. The tail cap houses a reverse push button held in place by a retaining ring. The switch has an average amount of travel and has a good amount tension. It provides a very positive tactile feedback and audible click.

If you're unfamiliar with any of the terms used in this review, click here for explanations on common flashlight related vocabulary.

The Ese AF2 provides 5 output modes which can be cycled through by switching the light off and on again within 2 seconds. Modes are in the following order:

Off > Medium (100 lumens) > Low (8 lumens) > High (185 lumens) > Strobe (8Hz) >S.O.S.

The strobe flashes at high brightness while S.O.S. flashes at the medium brightness. The beam profile has slight artifacts as expected from its smooth reflector. Color temperature from the Q5 bin emitter leans towards the cool side without being noticeably blue or violet. Runtime is slightly shorter than average while its regulation hold rather well. The AF2 does have a memory feature so the light will turn on at the previously used mode. The lower levels are achieved by PWM with a very high frequency and is hard to detect unless you intentionally wave it around vigorously while looking into the head end of the light.

The Good - Well machined and smooth anodized coating. Good regulation. Stainless steel bezel protects from drops and other impacts to the front end.

The Bad - Runtime is shorter than average.

The Relative - Beam has some slight ring shaped artifacts with a cool white color temperature. Memory feature which enables the light to turn on at the previously used mode. Does not tail stand. Uses a reverse push button switch.

Head (front view).

Head (side view).

Head (rear view).

Battery tube (front view).

Battery tube (side view).

Battery tube (rear view).

Tail cap (front view).

Tail cap (side view).

Tail cap (rear view).