NiteCore D10 vs Fenix L1D Q5 Premium?

Several of you have now received your D10 lights and already had L1D lights and I'm wondering how the two compare. Which you prefer?

Has anyone done runtime charts of these two?

I just received my L1D Q5 Premium last Friday and like it quite a lot and am wondering how it compares to the D10. The L1D was my first new pocket light since my L1P when they first came out.

Runtime charts of the two using the same type of batteries would be especially appreciated.

Thanks.

Huge fan of the Fenix L1D/L2D/P2D - all of which use the same head.

Advantage to Fenix:

1. The UI is much simpler and quicker to use if you want 3 stages accessible at all times. Nothing to learn really. This is pretty big for me. 6 stages in all is great and well spaced.
2. Strobe is great. I use it all the time.
3. It's more flexible - one head, can be used with AA, 2AA and 123.
4. On 2AA or 123, it is MUCH brighter than the D10 to my eyes. This is another significant advantage.
5. It's lighter and comes with a belt pouch which is my normal carrying method.
6. No flaws with the UI while the D10 does not always ramp up from the lowest point when it is supposed to until you try to do the ramping again a 2nd time. Same with the brightest setting.
7. Best efficiency of all AA lights - by a good margin. Fenix's regulation/efficiency is just amazing and have been around for a while. Not sure why others have not caught up.

Advantage to the D10:
1. It is a bit brighter than the Fenix, especially the spill. (I am wrong in an earlier posting thinking the Fenix is brighter.)
2. Can use rechargeable lithium ion battery. But not 123 or 2AA.
3. It's just fun to play with.
4. Much more SOLID feeling. The thing feels like a solid cylindrical hunk of well crafted metal. It does feel much higher quality in hand. Really could easily be a $100 light and not feel overpriced.
5. Much better grip.
6. Smaller and shorter, although heavier.
7. Probably much more durable although I've not had any Fenix fail out of a great many.
8. Much lower low which is nice.
9. No clicks.

Hope this helps. IN all, tough choice but my choice is probably L1D just for the UI that's not quite fully there for me. Choice because the light is a tool rather than a play thing.

Moses

moses said:

Hope this helps. IN all, tough choice but my choice is probably L1D just for the UI that's not quite fully there for me. Choice because the light is a tool rather than a play thing.
Moses

Click to expand...

This is why I'm hoping that I'll love my D10....................because it's a tool. If you've never had a clicky tailswitch fail on you then you're a lucky individual (or just new to torches). With the PD system it looks like they've taken out the "switch" part of the switch while having it still do a similar job. Pretty much the only thing that can fail on this light is the emitter/driver package and these have been proven very reliable and it's kinda hard to do away with 'em

I have a Fenix L1DQ5, one thing i don't like about it, is that it has a reverse clicky. If it came with a forward it might be better. I use my lights at night most of the time when most people are asleep. I find the clicking noise of the switch is too loud and wake others up. With the EX10, the switch is much more silent, so this is one thing i like most

There are forward clickies available for fenix lights now...but yeah i do agree that most clicky's seem abit loud

Yapo said:

There are forward clickies available for fenix lights now...

Click to expand...

I see that now. How are they in use? Is it hard to get used to the "reversed-ness" compared to what we're used to with Fenixes?

:shrug:

If Fenix would come out with a L2D R2 without the useless SOS mode but with the strobe still, I would pay $80.00 for that.

Also awesome would be if they came out with a 2AA body that shared the other Fenix's hexagonal shape!!!

This is a tough choice, especially because I EDC'd the L1D Q5 for 2 months, and really really love the L1D Q5.

But I got the D10 today, and played around with it for 30 minutes. I can tell already that I'm going to replace the L1D Q5 with the D10 as my EDC.

The main thing for me is the clicky on the D10 feels so perfect. It's shorter but firm push to click it on. It's easy to go to low or high, or increase / decrease brightness.

Besides the firm and nice PD clicky, the knurling is PERFECT. I was afraid the knurling might be too agressive, but it is perfection, not too rough not too smooth. It just feels so good in the hand. That's the other thing about the L1D - the body is very smooth. I put tape on it to add grip, but the D10 knurling feels so much better.

The L1D Q5 shines (pun intended) in a couple of areas: 1) run-time / efficiency, 2) a fool-proof UI.

I like the D10's UI better and worse than the L1D Q5 UI. The L1D UI is predictable. But it never changes. With the D10, you can start in high, low, or somewhere in between. You can also do momentary. The D10 gives you options, but the only issue is it may be a little more too flexible for some people, who want lo / med / hi and that's it...

So bottom line, you should get BOTH the L1D Q5 and the D10!!!! If you only could get one right now, I suggest the D10... But save for the L1D Q5 so you can get it too!!!!

lyyyghtmaster said:

Also awesome would be if they came out with a 2AA body that shared the other Fenix's hexagonal shape!!!

Click to expand...

They did! its called an L2P body...a few places still sell the L2P

I can never really claim myself to be a fan of any multi-mode light but the EX10/D10 are about as good as it gets. You set it to a level you like, and it remembers it until you choose a new level. Simple and easy.

Build quality is superior on the SmartPD's to the Fenix's.

I have had a few clickies fail on me. Luckily a quick dismantle of the switch, clean and reassemble was all that was needed but this is not something you want to have to do in the field. I am extremely confident in Don's PD switch design and my preliminary impressions tell me that Nitecore has certainly done the design justice.

As I said elsewhere there is pretty much no sub-$100 light that I'd rather have for EDC over the EX10/D10.

Yapo said:

They did! its called an L2P body...a few places still sell the L2P

Click to expand...

Does the L2P body fit the L1/2D? I've asked before and already forgotten if it is compatable.
I prefer the L2D body shape to the P3D anyway.

The two-stage L2P v2.0 does. The original L2P that was released alongside the L1P back in 2005 is of a smaller diameter.

carrot said:

The two-stage L2P v2.0 does. The original L2P that was released alongside the L1P back in 2005 is of a smaller diameter.

Click to expand...

So does this light (which is a sweet little light for the price!)
https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_69_50&products_id=334

but yes, only 2-stage Fenix lights have forwards. With the "D" series the reverse is how you change modes and I guess that wouldn't work with forward?

They should work fine, just a little more awkwardly.

alibaba said:

but yes, only 2-stage Fenix lights have forwards. With the "D" series the reverse is how you change modes and I guess that wouldn't work with forward?

Click to expand...

You just hit the forward until you come to your desired level and click it. To change level then, you have to un-click (lol) so the light goes off, and tap the forward again.

Where do you guys get the forward switch for the Fenix ? I'd love to try one.

Thanks,
Moses

After many hours of searching, I found this:

https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_40&products_id=465

Ok after thinking about this topic some more, here's what I think about the D10 / L1D:

The D10 has now spoiled me in terms of how a clicky should feel like. Prior to the D10 I was very satisfied with the clicky on the Fenix. But now the clicky on the Fenix seems like it takes too much effort to fully depress (even though it's not really), but once it's on, it's effortless to switch modes from low to med to hi.

So I guess with the D10 I got the effortless clicky with the right amount of resistance to not have it go on accidentally.

It's all about the clicky!!!!

But as I stated above, you really should have one of each, the D10 and the L1D. Both are superb lights in their own right, and at their prices they are the best value hands down as well.

Here are a couple of pictures comparing my D10 to my L1D.

From left to right - all 1AA lights:

Zebralight H50, NiteCore D10, Jet-1 IBS, NiteCore D.I., Fenix L1D Q5



Here's the ones that are able to tail-stand, along with a pocket knife:

Thanks for all of the feedback.

It looks like I may be buying a D10 in the near future.

When I showed the L1D to my wife, she asked if she got one too. I felf bad telling her that she didn't.

There is one interesting aspect of this light that I haven't really read about here.

It appears that when the NiteCore SmartPD lights are sitting, they are drawing from the cells.

From the EX10 and D10 specs:

* When the light is off, the microprocessor draws very, very little power -
between 0.1-0.4ma (0.2ma typical). For example, one 2000mah cell would
last about 416 days!

This may not be a factor for EDC lights, but it's something to consider.