candle lamp
Flashlight Enthusiast
Nitecore has released the MH20GT, the upgraded version of the MH20, which is one of the Nitecore rechargeable Multitask Hybrid series, powered by 1x18650 or 2x(R)CR123A. The packaging is the thin cardboard box. You can see the important features and specifications on the front and back of the packaging.
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MH20GT comes with removable pocket clip, spare o-rings, micro-USB cable, spare micro-USB port cover, user manual, warrant card. lanyard, and holster with velcro closing flap.
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Manufacturer Specifications from Nitecore's website & manual :
• A lightweight, portable 1x18650 USB rechargeable flashlight
• Utilizes a CREE XP-L HI V3 LED
• High efficiency constant current circuit enables maximum output up to 1000 lumens
• Driven by one 18650 battery for maximum runtime up to 680 hours
• Integrated "Precision Digital Optics Technology" provides extreme reflector performance
• Boasts a peak beam intensity of 33,000 cd and a throw distance of up to 362 meters
• Features advanced temperature regulation (ATR) technology
• Innovative single button 2-stage switch accesses multiple functions and modes
• Integrated power indicator notifies battery voltage (accurate to 0.1V)
• Intelligent charging module with a micro USB port charges Li-ion battery rapidly
• Direct access to ultra-low and turbo output
• Detachable two-way anti-rolling clip
• Toughened ultra-clear mineral glass with anti-reflective coating•
• Constructed from aerospace grade aluminum alloy
• HAIII military grade hard-anodized
• Waterproof in accordance with IPX-8 (2 meters submersible)
• Impact resistant to 1.5 meters
• Tail stand capability
• length : 4.37" (111mm)
• Head diameter : 1.25" (31.8mm)
• Tail diameter : 1" (25.4mm)
• Weight : 3.13oz (88.8gram) (without battery)
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The hard(type III) anodizing is a matte black and no flaws on my sample. All labels are sharp and clear in white against the black background. But labels are not as very bright white as some other lights, but that helps to make them less obtrusive. The typical diamond-shape knurling is present over battery tube and tailcap. The light has no tail switch. Fit and finish looks very good.
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The light has 3 parts (i.e. head, body tube, and tailcap).
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The light has a crenellated bezel. It also has a wider head and deep reflector for good throw. There are six small embossments right below the side switch which provide grip and anti-roll feature. There's an electronic side switch for on-off and mode changing. The switch cover is not the hard plastic or metal button, but it looks soft silicone rubber. It is not protruded from the head surface. This means the risk of accidental activation may be reduced. The switch has a good feel to touch and has slightly longer travel, which produces a clicking sound when pressed all the way down and release for On-Off.
The distinctive aspects of the light are a two-stage (two-pressure) side switch and a built-in micro USB charging port for 18650. Even though wearing thin leather gloves or thick skiing gloves, I had no trouble with that switch. The charging port is on the opposite side of the switch in the head, and it is protected from water and dust by a small rubber cover.
The light has physical reverse polarity protection to protect from improper battery installation. All flat-top unprotected cells where the positive is very slightly above the wrapper that I have work just fine.
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The light uses AR coating lens where the purplish blue hue is reflected on it. The reflector has a smooth pattern. It is well polished with no noticeable finishing flaws, and well-centered XP-L HI V3 LED sits at the bottom of the reflector cup.
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Note that while off (or standby mode), click the side switch halfway to activate the blue LED indicator to flash once every three seconds, helping you locate the light in the dark. Click the switch halfway again to turn the blue LED indicator off.
When first inserting cells and connecting the tailcap, the blue LED under the switch will read out the voltage of the battery (1x18650 or 2xCR123A) in a series of flashes (i.e., when the battery voltage is 4.2V, the blue LED will blink four times, followed by one second pause and with another two blinks).
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The pocket clip is not so sturdy but hold onto the light securely. It is removable and reversible, allowing both bezel-up or bezel-down. The wall thickness of the body is 3.0mm. The light feel solid.
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The body and tailcap are mostly covered in slightly aggressive knurling. The grip is however very good, thanks to other elements (side switch, USB port cover, cooling fins, and pocket clip).
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The screw threads are square-cut of good quality. Threads are well machined, and anodized which allows the light to be locked-out when the tailcap is slightly loosened. As supplied, threads are well lubricated. Screw threads action is smooth with no cross-threading or squeaking on my sample.
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There is a removable negative spring on the inside of the tailcap. You will seea tiny hole on the tail side for lanyard (or split ring) attachment. There is knurling band on the tailcap. The MH20GT can tailstand.
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User Interface
There are three modes (i.e., general mode, flashing mode, and standby mode).
On-off and output mode switching are controlled by the two-stage electronic side switch.
Press the switch all the way down (i.e., full-press) and release to turn the light on. Press the switch all the way down and release again to turn the light off (i.e., enter into standby mode).
1) General mode
Half-press and release the switch to advance through outputs when on, which proceed in sequence from Lower (Ultra Low) -> Low -> Med. -> High -> Turbo, in repeating sequence. The light has mode memory, and remembers the last output level used when you turn the light off and back on, even after a battery change.
Note that you can jump to Turbo by half press-and-holding the switch when on. Press- and-holding the switch all the way down for more than one second to access Turbo when off.
You can access to Lower (i.e., Ultra Low) by half press-and-holding the switch for more than one second when off.
2) Flashing mode
The "hidden" Strobe, SOS, and Beacon are accessed by full-press-and-holding the switch when on. Full-press and hold the switch to enter Strobe. When in Strobe, half-press and release the switch to cycle through SOS, Beacon, and Strobe. A single full-press-and- releasing the switch will enter into Standby mode. A double full-press-and-releasing the switch will return to the memorized output level in general mode. The flashing mode has no memory.
3) Standby mode
When the light is in the general mode or in the flashing mode, full-press-and-releasing the switch will enter into Standby mode. In this mode, the light consumes small amount of power to maintain the settings in the micro control unit.
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The charging device came with the MH20GT is a 1m USB charging cable with connector and standard USB plug. You can connect to the USB port of your PC by a bundled micro USB cable or to your electric outlet by a AC/DV USB adaptor. But the adaptor was not supplied from Nitecore, so I use my Galaxy S4 USB adaptor (output DC5.0V, 2A).
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Note the charging solution is to be used only with 1x18650 cell. You don't need to either turn the light on or off in order to enter charging (i.e., do just connect the micro USB cable to the charging port near the head). It seems the light uses CC/CV charging concept. 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.
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A LED indicator under the switch shows you three charging status. It will blink once every two seconds under normal charging condition. If there is problem during the charging process (i.e., in case battery installed incorrectly or tailcap not screwed), the indicator will blink rapidly. When charging is complete, the indicator will show solid blue.
The user manual estimates it will take about 6 hours to full charge the depleted cells this way.
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Charging in the light
I did charging test with an unprotected LGABB41865 18650 (2600mAh) in the light, using the USB adaptor (output DC5.0V, 2A). The voltage before, under and after charging are as follow :
I used the Xtar USB Detector "VI01" to measure charging current and input voltage.
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The resting voltage of the 18650 was 3.63V. As shown in the above table, the initial charging and input voltage were respectively 0.52A~0.53A and 5.23V. Max. charging current was 0.52A~0.53A.
After 4hrs, the current was down to 0.05A~0.06A. After 4hrs 3mins, charging was completed and the LED indicator went solid blue. The resting voltage of the 18650 was 4.18V at this point. It is reasonable and good for fully charged voltage.
Note that the charging current is still 0.02A when the LED indicator is blue. Even if I remove the battery from the light, it is still 0.01A~0.02A. So this small current seems to be a standby current to check whether the cell is fully charged or not (i.e., to check the battery condition), in my view.
I left the charged 18650 cell in the light to see if the light does charge it continuously once fully charged. After 12hrs 3mins, the resting voltage of all 18650 was 4.17V. This means the light will not charge the cell after full charge.
Nitecore confirmed that if the voltage of the cell drops to 4.0V, the light does resume charging the cell in the light.
I found that while charging, a half press-and-releasing the switch will let you know the current battery voltage.
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Standby Current Drain
Due to the electronic switch design, the MH20GT is drawing a small current when the batteries are installed and the tailcap fully connected. I measured this current as 29.1μA. considering a 18650 (2600mAh), that would translate into around 10 years before they would be fully depleted. This is not a concern. I however would recommend you store the light locked-out when not in use for a long period.
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From left to right, VicLite 18650 (2600mAh) protected, Manker U11 (XP-L HD V5), Nitecore MH20GT (XP-L HI V3), Olight S30R II (XM-L2 U3), Acebeam EC35 (XP-L HD W2).
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From left to right, Manker U11 (XP-L HD V5), Nitecore MH20GT (XP-L HI V3), Olight S30R II (XM-L2 U3), Acebeam EC35 (XP-L HD W2).
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Measured Dimensions
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The light comes with a basic nylon holster with a velcro strap on the head. The light fits in the holster either head-up or head-down with clip attached.
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It is good size to hold and use. It can be used as an EDC light. The entire light's compact design makes it feel comfortable when held in hand. The light feel solid. Overall build quality is excellent.
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PWM
The light shows no sign of PWM at all output levels. I notice there is no buzzing sound at any levels.
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Runtime
The runtime to fall to 10% of its initial output from 30 seconds after the point the light is first turned on (i.e., based on ANSI FL-1) for Turbo is as above graph.
MH20GT has a built-in thermal sensor which is a nice safety feature for the high output light. There is no thermal step-down on Turbo on 1x18650, thanks to fan cooling during testing. Instead, fan-cooling runtime shows a slowly drop in output as the battery drain or near exhaustion.
As expected, the higher capacity cell gives you extended runtime and better efficiency in output during regulation.
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This is a comparison with cooling and temporary fan cooling to see how the light activate. The lack of cooling make the light step down slowly after 5 mins of continuous runtime. Then I let the light cool down with cooling from 28 mins to the rest of runtime. This does make it come back on to the almost Turbo output, but not too much, due to low voltage of the cell. If there is fan cooling, the advanced temperature regulation (ATR) function will recover Turbo output level even after the light step down. The regulation pattern and runtime efficiency of the light seem good.
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The light is a heavily driven light for this class. Compared to the other 1x18650 class light, the MH20GT shows very good excellent efficiency and output similar to Fenix SD10.
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Beamshot
1. White door beamshot (about 50cm from the white door) on max. output on 1x18650 (2600mAh) VicLite protected cell
- ISO125, F/8.0, 1/25sec, Auto white balance
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- ISO125, F/8.0, 1/100sec, Auto white balance
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- ISO125, F/8.0, 1/800sec, Auto white balance
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- ISO125, F/8.0, 1/2000sec, Auto white balance
The light has a small sized bright hot spot. A soft corona surrounding the hotspot is very slightly greenish yellow. The spill beam width is narrower than others. Beam pattern is good, free from any artifact. The overall beam profile is good, and the overall beam tint is a typical cool tint.
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2. 7.0m Indoor Beamshot on max. output on 1x18650 (2600mAh) VicLite protected cell
- ISO125, F/2.8, 1/10sec, Auto white balance
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The spill beam width is slightly narrower than others at this distance.
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3. 60~65m Outdoor Beamshot on max. output on 1x18650 (2600mAh) VicLite protected cell
- ISO125, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance
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4. 85m Outdoor Beamshot on max. output on 1x18650 (2600mAh) VicLite protected cell
- ISO125, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance
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The MH25 is an outstanding thrower for the class, given the size of the head.
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This is a Lower (Ultra Low) mode showing a very nice lower low output level.
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Overall Impressions
• Build quality is excellent
• The light can tailstand
• Anti-roll indentations on the body
• Reduced risk of accidental activation
• Small standby current drain (29.1uA) is inevitable, but not a concern
• Physical lockout function at the tailcap
• Physical reverse polarity protection function
• Flat-top cells where the positive is very slightly above the wrapper will work
• Mode memory for all output levels except flashing mode
• Charging an unprotected 18650 in the light seems good and safe (,but not fast)
• Rubber cover of the micro-USB port may reduce waterproofness
• You can use 1x18650 or 2xCR123A (or 2xRCR123A)
• Thermal step-down feature on Turbo
• Output-runtime efficiency is very good
• True Moonlight mode is available
• No battery warning indication function when on
• No sign of PWM flickers at any output modes
• Beam pattern is good
• Overall beam tint is cool white
The Nitecore MH20GT provided by Nitecore for review.
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