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Author's Statement for Transparency and Disclosure
The test sample/s featured in this article have been provided for technical testing and review by the manufacturer. Test samples are retained by the reviewer following publication of the completed review for the purposes of long term testing and product comparisons.
All output figures and test results published in this review are the sole work of the reviewer, and are carried out independently and without bias. Test results are reported as found, with no embellishments or alteration. Though best endeavours are made to maintain the accuracy of test equipment, the accuracy of these results is not guaranteed and is subject to the test equipment functioning correctly.
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Author's Statement for Transparency and Disclosure
The test sample/s featured in this article have been provided for technical testing and review by the manufacturer. Test samples are retained by the reviewer following publication of the completed review for the purposes of long term testing and product comparisons.
All output figures and test results published in this review are the sole work of the reviewer, and are carried out independently and without bias. Test results are reported as found, with no embellishments or alteration. Though best endeavours are made to maintain the accuracy of test equipment, the accuracy of these results is not guaranteed and is subject to the test equipment functioning correctly.
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Part of NITECORE's improved 'Explorer' Series, the EC21 is the real EDC workhorse of the range as it has a combination of using 18650 in a very compact body, but without runtime sapping excessively high output.
Taking a more detailed look:
NITECORE's standard packaging is used for the EC21.
Included with the EC21 are a holster, instructions, lanyard, spare O-ring, and a deep carry clip which can be fitted either way round.
The holster has a D-ring, and both fixed and Velcro closed belt loops.
The main beam LED is an XP-G2, and set to the side in the reflector is a secondary low power 3mm red LED.
Looking off centre into the reflector, you can see the lens coating, depth of the reflector and how the secondary LED is set into the reflector.
Removing the head of the EC21 from the battery tube gives a clear view of the contacts. Physical reverse polarity contacts mean the EC21 is for button-top cells only.
In the tail-cap the contact is a simple spring which is recessed and allows it to accommodate some of the length of the 18650 cell. In fact when you insert an 18650 it protrudes quite a lot from the battery tube, and it looks as if the tail-cap will not fit on, but it does.
Looking at both ends of the battery tube, the threads look very similar, but they are not the same. I've tried reversing the tube, and the threads do not fit.
Fully anodised and semi-square cut threads are used at the front.
Fully anodised and slightly smaller semi-square cut threads are used at the rear.
Next to an 18650 cell, you can see the EC21 is very compact for this class of light. Also note the twin switches used to control the light.
The beam
Please be careful not to judge tint based on images you see on a computer screen. Unless properly calibrated, the screen itself will change the perceived tint.
The indoor beamshot is intended to give an idea of the beam shape/quality rather than tint. All beamshots are taken using daylight white balance. The woodwork (stairs and skirting) are painted Farrow & Ball "Off-White", and the walls are a light sandy colour called 'String' again by Farrow & Ball. I don't actually have a 'white wall' in the house to use for this, and the wife won't have one!
Though there are flaws in the EC21's beam, thanks to the inset 3mm red LED, these are not particularly noticeable unless you rotate the light. A defined hotspot gives the EC21 reasonable range.
Adjusting the exposure as the red output is at a low level, the red beam is very messy, but relatively normal for these standard 3mm type LEDs.
Outside, the EC21's beam is perfectly capable.
Modes and User Interface:
The updated Explorer range have exchanged various button configurations for the twin button layout seen on the EC21.
With the twin switches positioned to fall naturally under the user's thumb it makes for a very ergonomic design.
With its white and red emitters, the twin switches give easy direct access to Red, White Turbo, White Lower, and Strobe modes.
From OFF, to switch ON to the last used steady white output, briefly press the Power switch. When ON, press the Mode switch to cycle through Turbo -> Lower -> Low -> Mid -> High back to Turbo etc. To switch OFF briefly press either the Power switch.
From OFF, for direct access to Lower, press and hold the Power switch for more than 1s.
From OFF, for direct access to Turbo, press and hold the Mode switch for more than 1s.
To access White flashing modes, from ON, press and hold the Mode switch for more than 1s. This will activate strobe. Press and hold the Mode switch for more than 1s again to switch to Beacon mode. Press and hold the Mode switch for more than 1s once more to activate SOS.
Once activated, pressing the mode switch briefly returns the EC21 to the previous steady mode, or a brief press of the Power switch will turn the EC21 OFF.
From OFF, to switch ON to Red, briefly press the Mode switch.
To enter the flashing Red signal beacon, from Red ON, press and hold the Mode switch for more than 1s. The Red LED will now flash.
To switch OFF briefly press either the Mode or Power switch.
There is a 'Standby' mode which uses brief low power flashes of the Red LED to act as a locator to allow you to find the EC21 in complete darkness. Although low power, the flashes are bright enough to disturb someone's sleep. Exiting standby mode is achieved by switching on either the Red or White output.
Although the EC21 has an easy lockout by simply giving the tail-cap a half turn, there is a lockout mode included. With the EC21 ON, press and hold both buttons simultaneously for 1s to enter lockout. Like this the buttons will not turn the EC21 on. Thanks to the button design this can be done easily with the thumb. To exit Lockout press and hold both buttons simultaneously for 1s and the EC21 will turn ON in the last used mode. When entering Lockout, the EC21 will flash the Red LED to indicate the battery voltage.
Lastly when first inserting cell/s into the EC21, as the power is connected the EC21 will flash the Red LED to indicate the voltage. Whole Volts are flashed first, followed by 0.1V so for example if there are four flashes, pause, one flash, the battery voltage is 4.1V.
Batteries and output:
The EC21 can use either a single 18650, 2x CR123, as well as 2x RCR123.
To measure actual output, I built an integrating sphere. See here for more detail. The sensor registers visible light only (so Infra-Red and Ultra-Violet will not be measured).
Please note, all quoted lumen figures are from a DIY integrating sphere, and according to ANSI standards. Although every effort is made to give as accurate a result as possible, they should be taken as an estimate only. The results can be used to compare outputs in this review and others I have published.
| ___________________________________________ | ________________________________ | ________________________________ |
| NITECORE EC21 using NITECORE 3100mAh NL 188 | I.S. measured ANSI output Lumens | PWM frequency or Strobe frequency (Hz) |
| ___________________________________________ | ________________________________ | ________________________________ |
| Turbo | 443 | 0 |
| High | 223 | 0 |
| Medium | 106 | 0 |
| Low | 22 | 0 |
| Lower | 2 | 0 |
| Red | Below Threshold | 0 |
| Strobe | 51 | 20 |
| Beacon | 103 | Flash every 2.1s |
Peak Beam intensity measured 9100lx @1m giving a beam range of 191m.
There is parasitic drain at 77.5uA giving a time to drain a fully charged 3100mAh 18650 cell of 4.56 Years.
After a very brief initial burst reaching 490lm, the ANSI output settles in at 443. After three minutes the EC21 makes a controlled decline to 350lm which is maintained until around 20 minutes. The output then drops to about 250lm which is regulated for a further 4 hours of runtime before steadily dropping off.
Troubleshooting
This is a new section I am adding to mention any minor niggles I came across during testing, in case the information helps anyone else.
Nothing has come up during testing.
As per the description of this section, this information is provided in case anyone else finds a similar 'issue' that might be fixed in the same way.
The EC21 in use
With a long description of the modes and user interface, this section is actually going to be rather brief. The reason for this is that the EC21 is simply very usable.
The size is possibly one of the most 'hold-able' of any light I've used. A bit of a Goldilocks story, with the EC21 really being 'just right'. The fact it is a single 18650 light makes the battery tube a very good size, but unlike most single 18650 the EC21 is not that much bigger than the 18650 inside it. There is enough length for the thumb to fall over the twin switch with enough still in the hand to feel secure.
For many, single 18650 lights can be a bit too much to EDC, but the EC21 is compact enough to sway you towards carrying it in favour of a smaller CR123, AA or AAA light thanks to the added runtime/power it gives you.
Though not sporting headline output figures (which some of the other Explorer lights do), the EC21 is compact has 18650 power, direct access to Lower, Turbo and Red outputs and is very ergonomic. Bear this in mind when looking through the range, and this quietly reserved model deserves consideration as it is one of the most useful.
Review Summary
| _______________________________________________ | _______________________________________________ |
| Things I like | What doesn't work so well for me |
| _______________________________________________ | _______________________________________________ |
| Direct access to Turbo, Lower, Red and Strobe modes | Inset Red LED affects main beam |
| 18650 power/runtime | 'Only' 443 lumen output |
| Ergonomic twin button switch layout | Main beam is a bit too narrow for close range use |
| Low parasitic drain | Red beam full of artefacts |
| Compact and EDC-able |
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Really like the look of this,the size has surprised me...........wow real compact with benefits of 18650 run times. I actually like the lower output..........imho probably means less issues long term due to not being over pushed and getting too hot. In most uses around 200lm is enough for me,will keep an eye on this one for a possible later purchase........
