candle lamp
Flashlight Enthusiast
The MH25 is one of the new MH (Multitask Hybrid) series from Nitecore. It's my understanding that it's first Nitecore rechargeable XM-L U2 light runs on 1x18650 or 2x(R)CR123A batteries.
The light comes in basic packaging. The light comes with a good number of extras. It include user manual, warranty card, USB cable, spare o-rings, tailcap rubber switch boot, pocket clip, grip ring, lanyard, and holster with velcroed closing flap.
One more thing, there is a 18650(2300mAh) protected cell in the light to boot.
.
.
Manufacturer Specifications from user manual :
• Premium CREE XM-L U2 LED
• Maximum output of 860 lumens
• High efficiency regulation circuit
• Maximum runtime of up to 28 hours
• Intelligent charging circuit with voltage detection charges safely and rapidly
• Integrated micro USB charging port is water, dust and impact resistant.
• Multiple output modes are conveniently accessed via rapid rotary switch
• User-defined mode provides customized brightness levels plus strobe and SOS modes.
• Intelligent memory function stores preferred brightness setting
• Broad voltage circuit accepts both rechargeable and non-rechargeable Lithium batteries
• Optimized ultra-precise reflector offers a longer beam distance than competing products
• Waterproof in accordance with IPX-8 (submersible to two meters)
• Stainless steel bezel ring protects core components from damage
• Toughened ultra-clear mineral glass with anti-reflective coating
• Constructed from aerospace-grade aluminum alloy
• HAIII military grade hard-anodized
• Reverse polarity protection
• Stainless steel titanium-plated clip
• Anti-rolling design
• Length: 160mm
• Head Diameter: 40mm
• Tail Diameter: 25.4mm
• Weight: 145grams (without battery)
.
.
The hard (type III) anodizing is a matt black and consistent throughout with no chips on its surface. Anodizing is good on my sample. All labels are sharp, clear, and bright white against the black background. Only knurling band is present over head and tailcap. The light comes with a removable grip ring & stainless steel titanium-plated pocket clip and they look sturdy. They hold onto the light well. The grip ring & clip work as a good anti-roll device.
.
.
The light has 3 parts (i.e. head, battery tube, and tailcap).
.
.
The light has a flat stainless steel bezel ring. There's no cooling fin for heat dissipation on the head. There is a spring on the positive contact plate in the head, so flat-top batteries should work fine. The light has reverse polarity protection to protect from improper battery installation (i.e., the electronics of the MH25 itself has in-built reverse polarity protection.)
.
.
The light uses AR coating lens and the purple hue is reflected on it. The aluminum reflector has a smooth pattern. Surface finish on the reflector was perfect from visual inspection, with very fine radial machining lines running down the reflector cup, and well-centered XM-L U2 LED sits at the bottom of the reflector cup.
.
.
The distinctive aspects of the light is a built-in micro USB charging port for 18650. The charging port and charging status indicator are in the lower part of the head. These charging port & indicator are protected form water and dust by the additional screw-driven side cap. This side cap has a knurling with small sections cutout, giving a good grip. The light uses tightening and loosening the head to access two modes (i.e., turbo mode and user-defined mode), so this side cap seems to be acted as the grip allowing you easily turn the head. But it results in opening the side cap only and no changing mode (i.e., the side cap is a part of the head). So you have to grip the battery tube with force to change mode because of neither knurling on the battery tube nor its clean cylindrical design. The head has notch on the right above the side cap where the removable clip can be attached.
.
.
The charging device is a simple 1m USB charging cable with connector and standard USB plug.
.
.
The USB cable attaches to the computer to charge 18650 cell in the light. The red color indicator shows you three charging status. It will blink [Correction 12.11.18] once every second [Correction 12.11.18] under normal charging conditions. If there is problem during the charging process (i.e., in case battery installed wrongly or tail switch not pressed or tailcap not screwed), the indicator will blink rapidly. When charging is complete, the indicator will illuminate steadily. Note the light needs to be turned on for charging mode.
[New 12.11.20] The initial charging current is 400~500mAh. The light uses CC/CV charging and termination current is 10% of the charging current. You can charge an unprotected or protected 18650 cell, but (R)CR123A's are forbidden. The wall adapter or car power adapter is optional purchase. [New 12.11.20]
.
.
[New 12.11.17]
The screws on side cap allow it to open and close, and there is an waterproofing o-ring. Screws seem good quality (but invisible to the naked eye), and can be tightened securely on my sample. But you should keep an eye on the side cap & the o-ring to ensure they don't loosen, which could affect waterproofness of the charging port. [New 12.11.17]
.
.
The stainless steel titanium-plated clip is tail-facing, and not reversible.
.
.
The battery tube has a cylindrical tube design and accommodates both 2x(R)CR123A's and protected 18650 cells easily.
.
.
Threads on both ends are well machined, with the those on the rear end being anodized which allows the light to be locked-out when the tail cap is slightly loosened.
Threads on either ends on the battery tube mate well with the head and tailcap with no issues of cross-threading or grinding. The screws threads on the head side & on the tail side are square-cut & traditional triangular-cut respectively.
.
.
The wall thickness of the battery tube is not so thick, but average in this class.
.
.
The tailcap switch is a forward clicky. The rubber switch cap is recessed within the tail end. The switch has nice stiff tension with average travel and tactile clicking feedback. There is a removable plastic grip ring which helps with holding the light in a cigar style grip and also serves as an anti-roll feature. The grip ring can be fixed on the battery tube securely by screwing the tailcap, and removed without removing the O-ring on the tube.
.
.
There are a small hole and couple of wide loops for wrist lanyard attachments on the grip ring and tail end. Technically, the light can tailstand, but it's rather unstable due to the small area of the switch cap relative to the body size.
.
.
User Interface
Turn on-off by the tailcap forward clicky switch (press-on for momentary, click for locked on). There are two modes (i.e., turbo mode & user-defined mode).
With the head tightened, the light will always turn on in Turbo output (i.e., Turbo is the only mode available). With the head loosened, you will get the user-defined mode which contains five selectable sub-modes. You can select the output mode for this state by soft-pressing the switch from off or clicking off-on from on. The sequence is Hi -> Med. -> Low -> SOS -> Strobe, in a repeating loop. The light has mode memory, and saves the last setting used in the head-loosened state.
[New 12.11.17] Note that this mode memory includes SOS and Strobe mode as well. [New 12.11.17]
Hi on the user-defined head-loosened state is lower than Turbo on the head-tightened state (i.e., there are four defined output constant modes).
.
.
From left to right, VicLite 18650(2600mAh) protected, Xtar TZ58, Rofis TR31C, NItecore MH25, ThruNite Scorpion (v1). The MH25 is little shorter than both TZ58 and Scorpion, but longer than TR31C.
.
.
The head size & body weight excluding battery of three lights are as follows :
TZ58 - 40.2mm / 134g, MH25 - 40mm / 145g, TR31C - 39.7mm / 180g
.
.
It is good size to hold and overall grip is fine.
.
.
The CR123A & 18650 fit well in the tube. All types (i.e., true flat-tops, wide and small button-tops) of 18650's work fine. Overall build quality is very high.
.
.
Measured Dimensions & Weight
.
.
MH25 comes with a nylon holster with a velcro strap on the head. The light fits in the holster head-up only.
.
.
PWM
The light shows no sign of PWM at any output levels. I think the light is actually current-controlled as claimed. I notice there is neither buzzing sound nor tint-shift at all output levels with the naked eye on my sample.
.
.
[New 12.11.17]
Runtime
MH25 steps down on turbo output after 3 mins runtime, on both 1x18650 and 2xCR123A's. It drops approximately by 40%. This is a timed drop-down, not a thermal sensor feature as manual says. Regulation is maintained very nicely through Turbo on all batteries. The relatively high and low capacity 18650 cells show stabilized flat regulation. The difference is how long they last before falling out of regulation near depletion. It seems that TorchGear 18650 (its bare cell is Panasonic NCR18650A) was unable to supply sufficient power to keep the circuit at its initail level. So initial output is dependent on the specific internal battery chemistry. Of course, the 3100mAh cell performs better in entire runtime.
It seems those little blips near the end of the run are from the low-battery warning system of the light (i.e., The light will blink continually).
The runtime for 10% output of Trubo output for various batteries is as follows :
1) 1xVicLite 18650 : 96 min.
2) 1xNLTEK 18650 : 116 min.
3) 1xTorchGear 18650 : 159 min.
4) 2xPanasonic CR123A : 91 min.
Note that the bare cell of the NLTEK is LGABD11865 (3000mAh), and its maximum charging voltage is 4.35v for full capacity. But I charged it 4.2v for runtime test, so the capacity is about 2700mAh reduced with about 300mAh.
.
.
Beamshot
1. White door beamshot (about 50cm from the white door)
- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/250sec, Auto white balance
.
.
- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/800sec, Auto white balance
.
.
- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/1250sec, Auto white balance
The light has a middle sized bright hot spot. The hotspot is very well focused, perfectly circular with a defined edge. A soft corona surrounds the hotspot which makes the hotspot seems slightly wider than it actually is. The spill beam region is relatively dim compared to the hot spot, but is clean with no artifacts. The beam has a cool side.
.
.
2. Indoor beamshot (about 7m from the target)
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1/4sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
.
.
- TZ58
.
.
- TR31C
.
.
- MH25
.
.
.
.
3. 55m Outdoor Beamshot
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
.
.
- TZ58
.
.
- TR31C
.
.
- MH25
.
.
.
.
4. 60~65m Outdoor Beamshot
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
.
.
- TZ58
.
.
- TR31C
.
.
- MH25
.
.
[New 12.11.17]
.
.
* MH25 provided by Nitecore for review. (Thanks!)
The light comes in basic packaging. The light comes with a good number of extras. It include user manual, warranty card, USB cable, spare o-rings, tailcap rubber switch boot, pocket clip, grip ring, lanyard, and holster with velcroed closing flap.
One more thing, there is a 18650(2300mAh) protected cell in the light to boot.
.
.
Manufacturer Specifications from user manual :
• Premium CREE XM-L U2 LED
• Maximum output of 860 lumens
• High efficiency regulation circuit
• Maximum runtime of up to 28 hours
• Intelligent charging circuit with voltage detection charges safely and rapidly
• Integrated micro USB charging port is water, dust and impact resistant.
• Multiple output modes are conveniently accessed via rapid rotary switch
• User-defined mode provides customized brightness levels plus strobe and SOS modes.
• Intelligent memory function stores preferred brightness setting
• Broad voltage circuit accepts both rechargeable and non-rechargeable Lithium batteries
• Optimized ultra-precise reflector offers a longer beam distance than competing products
• Waterproof in accordance with IPX-8 (submersible to two meters)
• Stainless steel bezel ring protects core components from damage
• Toughened ultra-clear mineral glass with anti-reflective coating
• Constructed from aerospace-grade aluminum alloy
• HAIII military grade hard-anodized
• Reverse polarity protection
• Stainless steel titanium-plated clip
• Anti-rolling design
• Length: 160mm
• Head Diameter: 40mm
• Tail Diameter: 25.4mm
• Weight: 145grams (without battery)
.
.
The hard (type III) anodizing is a matt black and consistent throughout with no chips on its surface. Anodizing is good on my sample. All labels are sharp, clear, and bright white against the black background. Only knurling band is present over head and tailcap. The light comes with a removable grip ring & stainless steel titanium-plated pocket clip and they look sturdy. They hold onto the light well. The grip ring & clip work as a good anti-roll device.
.
.
The light has 3 parts (i.e. head, battery tube, and tailcap).
.
.
The light has a flat stainless steel bezel ring. There's no cooling fin for heat dissipation on the head. There is a spring on the positive contact plate in the head, so flat-top batteries should work fine. The light has reverse polarity protection to protect from improper battery installation (i.e., the electronics of the MH25 itself has in-built reverse polarity protection.)
.
.
The light uses AR coating lens and the purple hue is reflected on it. The aluminum reflector has a smooth pattern. Surface finish on the reflector was perfect from visual inspection, with very fine radial machining lines running down the reflector cup, and well-centered XM-L U2 LED sits at the bottom of the reflector cup.
.
.
The distinctive aspects of the light is a built-in micro USB charging port for 18650. The charging port and charging status indicator are in the lower part of the head. These charging port & indicator are protected form water and dust by the additional screw-driven side cap. This side cap has a knurling with small sections cutout, giving a good grip. The light uses tightening and loosening the head to access two modes (i.e., turbo mode and user-defined mode), so this side cap seems to be acted as the grip allowing you easily turn the head. But it results in opening the side cap only and no changing mode (i.e., the side cap is a part of the head). So you have to grip the battery tube with force to change mode because of neither knurling on the battery tube nor its clean cylindrical design. The head has notch on the right above the side cap where the removable clip can be attached.
.
.
The charging device is a simple 1m USB charging cable with connector and standard USB plug.
.
.
The USB cable attaches to the computer to charge 18650 cell in the light. The red color indicator shows you three charging status. It will blink [Correction 12.11.18] once every second [Correction 12.11.18] under normal charging conditions. If there is problem during the charging process (i.e., in case battery installed wrongly or tail switch not pressed or tailcap not screwed), the indicator will blink rapidly. When charging is complete, the indicator will illuminate steadily. Note the light needs to be turned on for charging mode.
[New 12.11.20] The initial charging current is 400~500mAh. The light uses CC/CV charging and termination current is 10% of the charging current. You can charge an unprotected or protected 18650 cell, but (R)CR123A's are forbidden. The wall adapter or car power adapter is optional purchase. [New 12.11.20]
.
.
[New 12.11.17]
The screws on side cap allow it to open and close, and there is an waterproofing o-ring. Screws seem good quality (but invisible to the naked eye), and can be tightened securely on my sample. But you should keep an eye on the side cap & the o-ring to ensure they don't loosen, which could affect waterproofness of the charging port. [New 12.11.17]
.
.
The stainless steel titanium-plated clip is tail-facing, and not reversible.
.
.
The battery tube has a cylindrical tube design and accommodates both 2x(R)CR123A's and protected 18650 cells easily.
.
.
Threads on both ends are well machined, with the those on the rear end being anodized which allows the light to be locked-out when the tail cap is slightly loosened.
Threads on either ends on the battery tube mate well with the head and tailcap with no issues of cross-threading or grinding. The screws threads on the head side & on the tail side are square-cut & traditional triangular-cut respectively.
.
.
The wall thickness of the battery tube is not so thick, but average in this class.
.
.
The tailcap switch is a forward clicky. The rubber switch cap is recessed within the tail end. The switch has nice stiff tension with average travel and tactile clicking feedback. There is a removable plastic grip ring which helps with holding the light in a cigar style grip and also serves as an anti-roll feature. The grip ring can be fixed on the battery tube securely by screwing the tailcap, and removed without removing the O-ring on the tube.
.
.
There are a small hole and couple of wide loops for wrist lanyard attachments on the grip ring and tail end. Technically, the light can tailstand, but it's rather unstable due to the small area of the switch cap relative to the body size.
.
.
User Interface
Turn on-off by the tailcap forward clicky switch (press-on for momentary, click for locked on). There are two modes (i.e., turbo mode & user-defined mode).
With the head tightened, the light will always turn on in Turbo output (i.e., Turbo is the only mode available). With the head loosened, you will get the user-defined mode which contains five selectable sub-modes. You can select the output mode for this state by soft-pressing the switch from off or clicking off-on from on. The sequence is Hi -> Med. -> Low -> SOS -> Strobe, in a repeating loop. The light has mode memory, and saves the last setting used in the head-loosened state.
[New 12.11.17] Note that this mode memory includes SOS and Strobe mode as well. [New 12.11.17]
Hi on the user-defined head-loosened state is lower than Turbo on the head-tightened state (i.e., there are four defined output constant modes).
.
.
From left to right, VicLite 18650(2600mAh) protected, Xtar TZ58, Rofis TR31C, NItecore MH25, ThruNite Scorpion (v1). The MH25 is little shorter than both TZ58 and Scorpion, but longer than TR31C.
.
.
The head size & body weight excluding battery of three lights are as follows :
TZ58 - 40.2mm / 134g, MH25 - 40mm / 145g, TR31C - 39.7mm / 180g
.
.
It is good size to hold and overall grip is fine.
.
.
The CR123A & 18650 fit well in the tube. All types (i.e., true flat-tops, wide and small button-tops) of 18650's work fine. Overall build quality is very high.
.
.
Measured Dimensions & Weight
.
.
MH25 comes with a nylon holster with a velcro strap on the head. The light fits in the holster head-up only.
.
.
PWM
The light shows no sign of PWM at any output levels. I think the light is actually current-controlled as claimed. I notice there is neither buzzing sound nor tint-shift at all output levels with the naked eye on my sample.
.
.
[New 12.11.17]
Runtime
MH25 steps down on turbo output after 3 mins runtime, on both 1x18650 and 2xCR123A's. It drops approximately by 40%. This is a timed drop-down, not a thermal sensor feature as manual says. Regulation is maintained very nicely through Turbo on all batteries. The relatively high and low capacity 18650 cells show stabilized flat regulation. The difference is how long they last before falling out of regulation near depletion. It seems that TorchGear 18650 (its bare cell is Panasonic NCR18650A) was unable to supply sufficient power to keep the circuit at its initail level. So initial output is dependent on the specific internal battery chemistry. Of course, the 3100mAh cell performs better in entire runtime.
It seems those little blips near the end of the run are from the low-battery warning system of the light (i.e., The light will blink continually).
The runtime for 10% output of Trubo output for various batteries is as follows :
1) 1xVicLite 18650 : 96 min.
2) 1xNLTEK 18650 : 116 min.
3) 1xTorchGear 18650 : 159 min.
4) 2xPanasonic CR123A : 91 min.
Note that the bare cell of the NLTEK is LGABD11865 (3000mAh), and its maximum charging voltage is 4.35v for full capacity. But I charged it 4.2v for runtime test, so the capacity is about 2700mAh reduced with about 300mAh.
.
.
Beamshot
1. White door beamshot (about 50cm from the white door)
- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/250sec, Auto white balance
.
.
- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/800sec, Auto white balance
.
.
- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/1250sec, Auto white balance
The light has a middle sized bright hot spot. The hotspot is very well focused, perfectly circular with a defined edge. A soft corona surrounds the hotspot which makes the hotspot seems slightly wider than it actually is. The spill beam region is relatively dim compared to the hot spot, but is clean with no artifacts. The beam has a cool side.
.
.
2. Indoor beamshot (about 7m from the target)
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1/4sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
.
.
- TZ58
.
.
- TR31C
.
.
- MH25
.
.
.
.
3. 55m Outdoor Beamshot
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
.
.
- TZ58
.
.
- TR31C
.
.
- MH25
.
.
.
.
4. 60~65m Outdoor Beamshot
- ISO100, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance
- Control Shot
.
.
- TZ58
.
.
- TR31C
.
.
- MH25
.
.
[New 12.11.17]
.
.
* MH25 provided by Nitecore for review. (Thanks!)
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