The Light comes in a cardboard box with the specs on it
Some foam to protect the TM16GT. In the box there is a lanyard, spare o-ring and the manual.
The TM16GT is long 18 cm, wide 9 cm in the head and 5 cm at the tailcap.
The weight I measured 534 g without batteries (a King is around 350 g), with 4 18650s, it's 712 g.
4 XP-L Hi Leds are the distinctive trait of this light. They are enough centered, and the 4 reflectors are fused to each other, increasing the throw.
The light has 2 electric switches next to each other, near the head.
They protrude and are easily found.
The flat tailcap with 3 holes for lanyard and a threated hole for a standard camera stand.
The long threads at the tailcap are anodized, and to physical lockout the light you need to untwist the tailcap almost to the end. This is due to the inner construction of the battery compartment.
To screw the tailcap on the light you need to match the 2 protruding cilinders to the 2 bigger holes in the battery compartment, and then twist it as usual.
Contact points and spring are gold plated. The light has a mechanical protection against polarity reversion. So the 18650 with flat top won't work. I added some magnets on my flat top and they work fine thanks to the inner section of the tailcap that stays in place and doesn't rotate when you twist the tailcap.
The positive poles at the tailcap are protruding, so a flat top cell will work.
The positive poles at the head are not protruding and are mechanically protected against polarity reversion.
For practical uses I attached the magnets to all the cells, even if the 2 with the plus pole to the head really requires it.
Usually when I have to work with magnets, I have 2 concerns:
1) the magnet get stuck to the driver or to the plus pole of the light.
2) the magnet will move and detach from the battery when twisting the pieces of the light.
There's neither problem on the TM16GT: the plus poles doesn't attract the magnet, that always stay connected to the battery; and the batteries don't move when twisting the pieces.
User interface:
I made a video of the UI, to explain it better.
Output
I measured at 2 meters and converted the data, obtaining 269'000 lux/m with 4 fully charged LG HG2.
Runtime: i Thank AntoLed for lending me the instrument.
The turbo mode, L5, if uninterruptly run, is semi regulated. The test at turbo mode was made cooling the light with a fan.
The high mode, L4, has a good regulation: flat for almost 3 hours then it gradually decreases.
Mid level, L3, shows a similar pattern.
I got longer runtimes compared to the Nitecore's data, even if I used batteries with lower capacity.
I didn't test the runtime at L1 and L2.
Beamshot I thank P.P. for lending me the setup. As you can see from the pics, i took the beamshot at 4°, with snow and rain. The TM16GT worked fine, but the wather made the pic worst than usual.
underesposed at 40 meters
reflective object on a tree at 140 meters
Church at 350 meters
Building at 550 meters
My thoughts
The TM16GT has a great lumen/throw ratio compared to its weight and size.
The trait that makes this light really interesting is the wide and intense spill, that is around a really intense and throwy spot.
The XP-L Hi leds, with the fused reflectors make a wide and strong spill, typical of the multi XM-L Lights, and the great throw of the XP-L Hi lights.
The spill is not circular, it shows some "petals" due to the reflector. However, in real use (in the woods, not pointing at the wall at 1 meter), it is still great.
However, the light is not ideally usable at close distances, because of it's intense spot.
I like the 2 separate switches, better than the single switch with 2 stages, present on other Nitecore lights, as the MH20.
The levels are well spaced, and in the outdoors I enjoyed greatly the 1500 and 500 lumens levels. Regulation of the High level could be better.
The absence of battery carrier is a big plus for me: it decreased weight and size, and makes easier change the batteries.
The thread for the stand works, I used to take some beamshots. I would have preferred if it was on the body of the light, to more easily place it horizontally on the stand.
I find the TM16GT a great multi purpose light, for people who needs throw and spill, and a lot of lumens and good runtime at 1500 and 500 lumens.
Take a look again at this pic: keeping the light higher than usual from the ground, the light of the spill will reach the feet of the stand.
This means that in real use, the TM16GT will llighten starting from the feet of the user.
Based on my experience, this feature is not so common as you can think, neither in the flood lights segment. I encourage you to do the same in complete darkness.
Often the spill will start to enlight the ground starting from 20-50 cm, even at 1 meters in some lights.
Walking in the woods, in outdoor with the area around your feet in the darkness, means exposing yourself to misstep and falling.
If I plan to hike with a throw light, usually means that I'll have to bring another light, more flood (usually a headlamp) that will bring light near my feet.
This is not the case of the Nitecore TM16GT, and this is why I can really say that is a multipurpose light.
I received the ligth from Nitecore for the review.
Beamshot and other test will follow. Thanks for reading.
Edit 6 March:
Since I wasn't satisfied with the result I got from the turbo runtime test, I made other tests.
I used 4 LG HG2 fully charged, and turned on the light for 60', then I turned it off for 60'. I repeted this for some times.
Then, I charged the batteries again and left the light on, without cooling or pause.
Apologize for the errors in the mesurement: the variations you can see in the blue series are due to the movement of objects near the luxmeters or the fact that the mesurement was taken from the instrument while I was turning on the light, so the sensor was "ramping" up.
Still, you can clearly see the difference between the 2 curves. There is definetly a mechanism that regulates the output:temperature ratio.
I added the linear curves of each series, because I found them rather interesting. I plan to do more test mixing cooling and pause, to see what's the best combination for the regulation.
Some foam to protect the TM16GT. In the box there is a lanyard, spare o-ring and the manual.
The TM16GT is long 18 cm, wide 9 cm in the head and 5 cm at the tailcap.
The weight I measured 534 g without batteries (a King is around 350 g), with 4 18650s, it's 712 g.
4 XP-L Hi Leds are the distinctive trait of this light. They are enough centered, and the 4 reflectors are fused to each other, increasing the throw.
The light has 2 electric switches next to each other, near the head.
They protrude and are easily found.
The flat tailcap with 3 holes for lanyard and a threated hole for a standard camera stand.
The long threads at the tailcap are anodized, and to physical lockout the light you need to untwist the tailcap almost to the end. This is due to the inner construction of the battery compartment.
To screw the tailcap on the light you need to match the 2 protruding cilinders to the 2 bigger holes in the battery compartment, and then twist it as usual.
Contact points and spring are gold plated. The light has a mechanical protection against polarity reversion. So the 18650 with flat top won't work. I added some magnets on my flat top and they work fine thanks to the inner section of the tailcap that stays in place and doesn't rotate when you twist the tailcap.
The positive poles at the tailcap are protruding, so a flat top cell will work.
The positive poles at the head are not protruding and are mechanically protected against polarity reversion.
For practical uses I attached the magnets to all the cells, even if the 2 with the plus pole to the head really requires it.
Usually when I have to work with magnets, I have 2 concerns:
1) the magnet get stuck to the driver or to the plus pole of the light.
2) the magnet will move and detach from the battery when twisting the pieces of the light.
There's neither problem on the TM16GT: the plus poles doesn't attract the magnet, that always stay connected to the battery; and the batteries don't move when twisting the pieces.
User interface:
I made a video of the UI, to explain it better.
Output
I measured at 2 meters and converted the data, obtaining 269'000 lux/m with 4 fully charged LG HG2.
Runtime: i Thank AntoLed for lending me the instrument.
The turbo mode, L5, if uninterruptly run, is semi regulated. The test at turbo mode was made cooling the light with a fan.
The high mode, L4, has a good regulation: flat for almost 3 hours then it gradually decreases.
Mid level, L3, shows a similar pattern.
I got longer runtimes compared to the Nitecore's data, even if I used batteries with lower capacity.
I didn't test the runtime at L1 and L2.
Beamshot I thank P.P. for lending me the setup. As you can see from the pics, i took the beamshot at 4°, with snow and rain. The TM16GT worked fine, but the wather made the pic worst than usual.
underesposed at 40 meters
reflective object on a tree at 140 meters
Church at 350 meters
Building at 550 meters
My thoughts
The TM16GT has a great lumen/throw ratio compared to its weight and size.
The trait that makes this light really interesting is the wide and intense spill, that is around a really intense and throwy spot.
The XP-L Hi leds, with the fused reflectors make a wide and strong spill, typical of the multi XM-L Lights, and the great throw of the XP-L Hi lights.
The spill is not circular, it shows some "petals" due to the reflector. However, in real use (in the woods, not pointing at the wall at 1 meter), it is still great.
However, the light is not ideally usable at close distances, because of it's intense spot.
I like the 2 separate switches, better than the single switch with 2 stages, present on other Nitecore lights, as the MH20.
The levels are well spaced, and in the outdoors I enjoyed greatly the 1500 and 500 lumens levels. Regulation of the High level could be better.
The absence of battery carrier is a big plus for me: it decreased weight and size, and makes easier change the batteries.
The thread for the stand works, I used to take some beamshots. I would have preferred if it was on the body of the light, to more easily place it horizontally on the stand.
I find the TM16GT a great multi purpose light, for people who needs throw and spill, and a lot of lumens and good runtime at 1500 and 500 lumens.
Take a look again at this pic: keeping the light higher than usual from the ground, the light of the spill will reach the feet of the stand.
This means that in real use, the TM16GT will llighten starting from the feet of the user.
Based on my experience, this feature is not so common as you can think, neither in the flood lights segment. I encourage you to do the same in complete darkness.
Often the spill will start to enlight the ground starting from 20-50 cm, even at 1 meters in some lights.
Walking in the woods, in outdoor with the area around your feet in the darkness, means exposing yourself to misstep and falling.
If I plan to hike with a throw light, usually means that I'll have to bring another light, more flood (usually a headlamp) that will bring light near my feet.
This is not the case of the Nitecore TM16GT, and this is why I can really say that is a multipurpose light.
I received the ligth from Nitecore for the review.
Beamshot and other test will follow. Thanks for reading.
Edit 6 March:
Since I wasn't satisfied with the result I got from the turbo runtime test, I made other tests.
I used 4 LG HG2 fully charged, and turned on the light for 60', then I turned it off for 60'. I repeted this for some times.
Then, I charged the batteries again and left the light on, without cooling or pause.
Apologize for the errors in the mesurement: the variations you can see in the blue series are due to the movement of objects near the luxmeters or the fact that the mesurement was taken from the instrument while I was turning on the light, so the sensor was "ramping" up.
Still, you can clearly see the difference between the 2 curves. There is definetly a mechanism that regulates the output:temperature ratio.
I added the linear curves of each series, because I found them rather interesting. I plan to do more test mixing cooling and pause, to see what's the best combination for the regulation.
Last edited:
