I have a few "Black Cat" AAA lights that I bought from DX a year ago. I know I've written about them here before. A couple weeks ago I accidentally left one in a pair of shorts that went into the washer. Even with a 30 minute presoak and a full wash cycle it still works fine despite not even being advertises as water resistant! It's got a reverse-clicky, not my favorite switch (I favor the forward clicky) but they all work great. Supposedly 100 lumens but I think they just picked that number 'cause is sounded good. Pretty bright, though.
That said, I've heard nothing but good about the Fenix E01. The Maratac looks good but yeah, hard to drop $20+ on a AAA light!
For a good light around $16 I've been very happy with my
Streamlight MicroStream LED. Right now it's $17-ish but I got mine for around $15. Very nice! Great switch, IP8 rated and bright for the size. Subjectively it's a bit brighter than my Black Cats, but not by much. A bit whiter, though.