Nitecore SRT 3.

Just received mine today. No time to test it out as I'm off to work.
It is my first light with a variable control ring UI.

Haven't been able to find much (independent) information about the SRT 3 on the web and was hoping to get any of you cpfers who have may have them to come out of the woodwork and share your thoughts, praises and criticisms etc.


Will add my 2c after work and when I've had some time to play.

Initial impressions are good. Mine is gray. Ano finish is perfect.



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Congrats! Bet your shift is gonna be a loooooong one... :devil:

No SRT 3 owners out there?

Well I've had a chance to mess around with mine.
Beam is nice for an XML with a smooth reflector. A fairly normal XML beam pattern I would say, with the mainly flood beam, but still a nice hotspot.

I am using awrcr123's atm and it is quite brite.

I would not call this a tactical light personally as there is a delay to turn on at all levels including strobe, and max. It is very small but still noticeable.

The light tail stands well, but the shroud makes it hard for my arthritic thumbs to manipulate the switch.

Switch has a good reliable feel to it.

The red and blue flashing is a bit gimmicky IMHO, maybe useful for bicycle Leo's or mounted. Apart from that I can't really see what role it would would fulfill that a normal strobe or manual pressing of a button would achieve. Not a necessity.

I do like having the red led though, reminds me of the proton pro.

The ring UI is great for getting around a house or similar. It is very handy to be able to dial the output up or down as needed ( easy with one hand). The ring also has a nice feel and is not sloppy so to speak.

I much prefer using it with the AA extender and am using the rcr123's with a spacer atm ( prob time for some 14500's).

Using it with AA alkalines and eneloops I was surprised at the output. No comparisons yet, but it seemed quite good.

One odd thing I noticed with mine is when using partially depleted (maybe nearly flat) AA cells the srt3 flickers on max and all settings that output on max. Not noticeable on the strobe or beacon modes.
To get rid of the flickering u just need to dial down the output till it stops.
I would like to hear from other owners about their result with depleted cells.
I was wondering if this was a battery indicator, but as the flickering appears random I doubt it.
Maybe mine is dodgy. I will have to email the retailer about this.

Anyway it is a new toy for the moment.

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thanks for your report!
doesn't sound too good nor too bad. just right. spot on for a new Nitecore initial market release.

:thumbsup:



one can be observing how fast ebay sellers sell the SRT models. hkequipment@ebay for example sold so far 3 copies of Grey and 4 copies of Black SRT3's. vladimirbest@ebay sold 3 copies of Black SRT3's. sounds like low numbers, yup.

it's the summer, slow sales everywhere.

Rat6P said:

I would not call this a tactical light personally as there is a delay to turn on at all levels including strobe, and max. It is very small but still noticeable.

Click to expand...

Is this something that would be done on purpose by Nitecore for some reason, or would it definitely be considered a "defect"? I was planning getting one of these, but this concerns me a little.
Thanks.

I can't say for sure, but I believe that the delay wouldn't be a defect. It is in line with what I have read on the other SRT lights. Basically what the light appears to do (more so in the variable range of output) is quickly ramp up from off to the selected output. This isnt a prob for me when using those other outputs. The delay for max is much less and just seems to be a small delay. It's not much but it is noticeable and prevents the manually strobing the light

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Disappointing - it's a shame that quite a few new lights seem to do this.

A soft-start might be acceptable on a reverse-clicky light (barely), but if it's a tactical light with a forward clicky, then I want the light on immediately I press the switch.

I love that ramping on mine. Clearly no defect. Although quite fast and subtle, it makes it easier on the eyes and helps adopting.

Just got mine today. (paid $49 from Altatac via Rakuten) Quality craftsmanship, control ring is nice and the multitude of functions is nice. Only complaint is it doesn't seem as bright as 550 lumens on a CR123. Would a rechargable 123 produce more brightness?
I like the flexibility to interchange with a 1.5v AA or 3v AA size batteries. Happy with the light so far.

kwalker said:

Just got mine today. (paid $49 from Altatac via Rakuten) Quality craftsmanship, control ring is nice and the multitude of functions is nice. Only complaint is it doesn't seem as bright as 550 lumens on a CR123. Would a rechargable 123 produce more brightness?
I like the flexibility to interchange with a 1.5v AA or 3v AA size batteries. Happy with the light so far.

Click to expand...

On CR123, output is 330 lumens. 550 is only achieved with LiOn batteries (14500 or 16340).

Rcr123 does 550

I have had mine for about a month, I got the mil. Gray finish and I think the finish is great. I am in the police academy now and the red light comes in handy for hitting the head at night without waking up roommates or destroying my eyes, I also like the red for looking at paper work during night drills. The blue is good for when you need a bit more light but still want to preserve your nightvision (like looking through the patrol car trunk. The adjustable selector ring is great for when you need to tune the light for your current task. The beam is nice and floody which compliments my thrower on my duty belt (klarus xt30 but soon to be upgraded to a surefire m3lt) I also really like that it can tail stand. Now for the bad, I hate the red/blue strobe, it's a waste of space and has no practical use at all.

Yeah it needs li-ion batteries to reach the 550 lumens.
I agree - wish it didn't have the red/blue flashing or the SOS.

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I wrote this a couple of weeks back about my SRT3.

My SRT3 arrived today, and there's a lot to like about it.

The beam is very pretty, IMHO. Much brighter than my previous EDC lights (SF E1B, Novatac 120T and Quark AA) in a similarly sized package. It is a little big, and I'm not overwhelmed by the pocket clip, but it'll serve.

I'm not over the moon about two things. One, I'd like to get a tailcap more like the SRT7 where I have better access to the tailcap switch. I will likely end up cutting up the tailcap to better suit my wants. Two, I don't know if it's the switch or the light, but it seems to be a bit laggy when I hit the switch. Like the light is taking a moment to think what mode it should be in before it starts spitting out light. I feel like I'm engaging the switch enough to turn the light on in momentary, but it seems like I need to press and hold to get my selected mode. This results in me clicking through the momentary, which I'd rather not do.

I'll give it some dedicated pocket time and usage to see how it plays out, but I'm kinda disappointed that I'm not blown away right out of the gate.

Click to expand...

After a couple of days I couldn't stand the shroud around the tailcap and had it milled down. This forced me to ditch the stock pocket clip for a snap on style 4Sevens clip. I'd rather have seen an SRT7 style tailcap so I can get the best of both worlds, despite some criticism I've read of the SRT7 tailcap.

The delay in output on variable (even at max) has annoyed me more and more as I've used the light. It's made me think the light doesn't really fit my needs for EDC.

The multiple modes certainly are neat. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten any use out of the flashing white light modes, as I expected. The red and blue (and yes, even the flashing red and blue) have come in handy at one point or another so far. That having been said, if the trade off for all of these modes is a single cell light that's nearly as big as a 2xCR123 Quark Turbo, I think that's a bad trade. This sucker is BIG, particularly when used with an AA battery.

All in all, I'll stick with my Novatac 120T or my SWM M10R for EDC.

My backup light, primary SRT6. Both working flawlessly. SRT3 I prefer with AA extender.

Sent from my* Sony Xperia™ smartphone

I just posted a little review of the SRT3 that I received recently over at edcforums.com if anyone's interested: http://edcforums.com/threads/nitecore-srt3-flashlight-a-noob-review.113145/

Good review Rufhausen. I also got mine through Rakuten on the $49 but mine was black. All aspects of quality are good - I've only had it a short time and have been running a 14500/very bright. I really like the option to run so many different types of batteries to facilitate any situation your in.

Been awhile since I posted in this forum and been an awfully long time since I last purchased a flashlight.

My Klarus XT2C's tailcap broke so I initially started looking for powerful, single AA light as a replacement but found none that would quench my thirst for lumens. I then considered looking around for a single 16340 light and stumbled upon the Nitecore SRT3 which accepts both battery formats so I went ahead and pulled the trigger!

I got my SRT3 yesterday along with the Nitecore 16340 cell and I must say that it's an amazing little light that pumps out a very respectable amount of light at 550lm! Totally love this light, I think I made an awesome choice with the SRT3. It's my first "mini light" and the first light I have which has a smart ring.

Seems very well built and the ring clicks positively into place at each mode, including the lowest setting and at the turbo setting. I don't think i have to worry about the ring moving around in my pocket.

I highly recommend this light to anyone looking for an edc light or looking for flexibility in terms of battery options. One more thing, don't listen to those complaining about the small red and blue led and just be thankful that Nitecore has included it as a bonus I agree that it's not all that useful but it's nice to have.