Kitchen Panda
Enlightened
First look at Nextorch P8A "tactical" and GL10 "keychain" flashlights
I had a few hours and some Hong Kong currency left in my pocket at the end of a recent trip and bought myself two souvenirs. I picked up two rechargeable flashlights by Nextorch. I couldn't find any reviews on these two models so I thought I'd mention my first impressions of them - I've only had them for a couple of weeks. (Sorry, I don't have a photo site account but you can find lots of pictures of these lights at the really obvious company web site.)
The Nextorch P8A is my first 18650-powered light. It uses a Cree XM-L and the manufacturer's data sheet claims 660 lumens on high for 100 minutes, and up to 110 hours at 2 lumens. It's programmable, you can use their "Nextuner" software to create additional modes and select the luminance, flash frequency and customized flash patterns. The lowest you can set the brightness to is 1% of maximum, so I don't know how I can get back to the 2 lumen setting again!
The body is a black hard anodized aluminum finish with knurling and two flats, with a hexagonal feature to prevent rolling. There is no pocket clip. The lens is polycarbonate and the reflector has an orange peel pattern. Head diameter is 37.5 mm and body 26.5, overall length is 153 mm. The head has a slight crenulated pattern which lets you see if it's been left on with the lens down - handy for a "night light" mode. Weight with the battery is 196 grams according to my kitchen scale, empty is 140 g. Installing the lanyard doesn't interfere with tail standing.
Build quality I think is comparable to the Fenix and Four Sevens lights I've previously purchased. I've managed already to scuff the anodized finish on the body ( but I bought this light to use, not to look at).
What attracted me to the unit is the built-in micro USB jack for recharging. Unscrewing the head reveals the jack and a pilot light that shows red when charging and green when fully charged. The programmability feature is a mild bonus, I prefer the low-medium-high sequence instead of the factory sequence, and I suppose I can program other settings if I really want SOS or whatever. I did put in a 1/2 hz bicycle -tailamp-style strobe for attracting attention, then a 10 Hz strobe because flashlights have to have a strobe, right? Other reviewers of the Nextuner software have mentioned that it doesn't let you change the intensity of the flashing lights, they must be at full 660 lumen output. You also can't override the momentary press for full brightness feature.
The P8A is supplied with a Nextorch branded "18650" battery, which is stamped "2600 mAh". It's a protected cell and I measured it as 70 mm long. It doesn't seem to have any special terminals on it unlike other Nextorch reviews I've read, so perhaps a standard protected 18650 would be chargeable in the light. There's a spring contact at each end of the battery compartment; the manufacturer offers several different weapon mounts for the light. At full brightness the draw is about 1.8 amps so I expect there would be a step down in brightness to reach the claimed 100 minutes. I estimate the standby current is around 70 microamps - it would take months to use up the battery capacity on standby. The manufacturer doesn't say anything about using CR123s or other batteries in this light.
I don't have facilities for light measurement but a ceiling bounce comparison with a TK70 and a Quark QPA2 gives me the impression that the claimed light levels are the right order of magnitude. The color temperature seems to be in the cool white range similar to the Fenix and Quark, with no objectionable color tints nor black spots nor rings in the beam. There is a little visible PWM if I shake the light hard at low levels, no visible PWM at the full output setting. However, in "test" mode of the Nextuner software, low brightness levels do have some flicker, probably due to the flashlight processor "time sharing" between the USB port and controlling the light. This lamp does not have adjustable focus. The beam shape seems to be very similar to that of the Quark 2AA which has a much smaller reflector, which surprised me until I also noticed the LED in the P8A is also bigger than the one in the Quark. (Effective"throw" should be higher because of more lumens than the Quark - the manufacturer doesn't give an ANSI FL1 working distance but the specs say "172 metres".)
The user interface is different from other lights I have. There's a single side-mounted button with two stages, they call it "Duo Switch". A soft press lights the lamp at full brightness. If you press it till it clicks, it goes to the first programmed mode. Subsequent soft presses advance the light through the programmed modes. There's no memory, the lamp always goes to the first programmed mode when first clicked on. The factory settings are 680 lumens, 280 lumens, 2 lumens and strobe. I used the software to reverse this to put low mode first, but the momentary high mode still activates when first pressing the button - giving a burst of bright light before going to low mode. This doesn't appear to be configurable and in fact the box says the high mode is always available on a momentary press even if programmed for lower output. I find the side-mount button takes a little getting used to, especially when using it with gloves.
Accessories packaged with the unit included one battery, a lanyard and a micro USB cable. I thought there was a mounting clip included in the package, but its only a device to make sure store testers don't leave the light on. Software is from the manufacturer's Web site. Two instruction sheets give the operating instructions for the light and for the software, in English, French, Spanish and Portugese.
The other reminder of the trip was the Nextorch GL10. This is a keychain light with a permanently installed 160 mAh lithium ion battery. It says it has a Nichia LED and has two settings, 18 lumens (claimed 3.5 hours ) and 2 lumens (claims 50 hours). The plastic body is molded in two kinds of plastic (maker says ABS + TPR), so there's no seam between the pushbutton and the case. However, I don't think this unit is watertight since there is a noticable seam where the two halves of the case are joined. There are no screws holding it together, so it's a "repair by replacement" item. The light comes with a split ring to attach to a keychain.
The GL10 is a little bigger than the "Fauxton" style coin cell lights, at 55 mm long by 24 mm wide by 9.5 mm thick, roughly rectangular in shape with rounded corners. The 5 mm LED sticks out one end with no reflector or other optics other than the LED package. A rubber cap on one side covers the micro USB charging port - when connected, the main LED blinks about 1/second when charging, then stays on continually at low brightness when fully charged. The rechargeability was the main attraction for me, as I hate the high cost of replacement coin cells when bought locally and the inconvenience of buying a minimum order quantity or paying for shipping when buying on-line or mail order.
The user interface is a single button. Press once and the unit comes on high. Press again and it switches to low. Hold the button down for 3 seconds and it goes into a 9 Hz "strobe" mode, ideal for getting attention. There are no momentary modes, the unit stays on till it is clicked again. The beam shape is not great (compared with reflector beams) due to the LED optics, but it projects a hot spot to a good distance - the tint is a little on the blue side, but that's not a defect when looking for keyholes. Brightness on "high" is a little more than the freebie "fauxton" I got with my last order from Battery Junction. When I shook the lamp on low brightness, I could see some PWM effect. This lamp is not programmable with the "Nextuner" software and is not recognized by Windows as a communicating USB device.
Both the P8A and the GL10 recharge off the same micro USB cable that I use to charge my phone, my Kobo, and my power stick for the iPod. The charger I keep in the car for the phones will now do double duty for charging these lights.
I look forward to the coming dark months and trying out the P8A and GL10 in regular use.
I had a few hours and some Hong Kong currency left in my pocket at the end of a recent trip and bought myself two souvenirs. I picked up two rechargeable flashlights by Nextorch. I couldn't find any reviews on these two models so I thought I'd mention my first impressions of them - I've only had them for a couple of weeks. (Sorry, I don't have a photo site account but you can find lots of pictures of these lights at the really obvious company web site.)
The Nextorch P8A is my first 18650-powered light. It uses a Cree XM-L and the manufacturer's data sheet claims 660 lumens on high for 100 minutes, and up to 110 hours at 2 lumens. It's programmable, you can use their "Nextuner" software to create additional modes and select the luminance, flash frequency and customized flash patterns. The lowest you can set the brightness to is 1% of maximum, so I don't know how I can get back to the 2 lumen setting again!
The body is a black hard anodized aluminum finish with knurling and two flats, with a hexagonal feature to prevent rolling. There is no pocket clip. The lens is polycarbonate and the reflector has an orange peel pattern. Head diameter is 37.5 mm and body 26.5, overall length is 153 mm. The head has a slight crenulated pattern which lets you see if it's been left on with the lens down - handy for a "night light" mode. Weight with the battery is 196 grams according to my kitchen scale, empty is 140 g. Installing the lanyard doesn't interfere with tail standing.
Build quality I think is comparable to the Fenix and Four Sevens lights I've previously purchased. I've managed already to scuff the anodized finish on the body ( but I bought this light to use, not to look at).
What attracted me to the unit is the built-in micro USB jack for recharging. Unscrewing the head reveals the jack and a pilot light that shows red when charging and green when fully charged. The programmability feature is a mild bonus, I prefer the low-medium-high sequence instead of the factory sequence, and I suppose I can program other settings if I really want SOS or whatever. I did put in a 1/2 hz bicycle -tailamp-style strobe for attracting attention, then a 10 Hz strobe because flashlights have to have a strobe, right? Other reviewers of the Nextuner software have mentioned that it doesn't let you change the intensity of the flashing lights, they must be at full 660 lumen output. You also can't override the momentary press for full brightness feature.
The P8A is supplied with a Nextorch branded "18650" battery, which is stamped "2600 mAh". It's a protected cell and I measured it as 70 mm long. It doesn't seem to have any special terminals on it unlike other Nextorch reviews I've read, so perhaps a standard protected 18650 would be chargeable in the light. There's a spring contact at each end of the battery compartment; the manufacturer offers several different weapon mounts for the light. At full brightness the draw is about 1.8 amps so I expect there would be a step down in brightness to reach the claimed 100 minutes. I estimate the standby current is around 70 microamps - it would take months to use up the battery capacity on standby. The manufacturer doesn't say anything about using CR123s or other batteries in this light.
I don't have facilities for light measurement but a ceiling bounce comparison with a TK70 and a Quark QPA2 gives me the impression that the claimed light levels are the right order of magnitude. The color temperature seems to be in the cool white range similar to the Fenix and Quark, with no objectionable color tints nor black spots nor rings in the beam. There is a little visible PWM if I shake the light hard at low levels, no visible PWM at the full output setting. However, in "test" mode of the Nextuner software, low brightness levels do have some flicker, probably due to the flashlight processor "time sharing" between the USB port and controlling the light. This lamp does not have adjustable focus. The beam shape seems to be very similar to that of the Quark 2AA which has a much smaller reflector, which surprised me until I also noticed the LED in the P8A is also bigger than the one in the Quark. (Effective"throw" should be higher because of more lumens than the Quark - the manufacturer doesn't give an ANSI FL1 working distance but the specs say "172 metres".)
The user interface is different from other lights I have. There's a single side-mounted button with two stages, they call it "Duo Switch". A soft press lights the lamp at full brightness. If you press it till it clicks, it goes to the first programmed mode. Subsequent soft presses advance the light through the programmed modes. There's no memory, the lamp always goes to the first programmed mode when first clicked on. The factory settings are 680 lumens, 280 lumens, 2 lumens and strobe. I used the software to reverse this to put low mode first, but the momentary high mode still activates when first pressing the button - giving a burst of bright light before going to low mode. This doesn't appear to be configurable and in fact the box says the high mode is always available on a momentary press even if programmed for lower output. I find the side-mount button takes a little getting used to, especially when using it with gloves.
Accessories packaged with the unit included one battery, a lanyard and a micro USB cable. I thought there was a mounting clip included in the package, but its only a device to make sure store testers don't leave the light on. Software is from the manufacturer's Web site. Two instruction sheets give the operating instructions for the light and for the software, in English, French, Spanish and Portugese.
The other reminder of the trip was the Nextorch GL10. This is a keychain light with a permanently installed 160 mAh lithium ion battery. It says it has a Nichia LED and has two settings, 18 lumens (claimed 3.5 hours ) and 2 lumens (claims 50 hours). The plastic body is molded in two kinds of plastic (maker says ABS + TPR), so there's no seam between the pushbutton and the case. However, I don't think this unit is watertight since there is a noticable seam where the two halves of the case are joined. There are no screws holding it together, so it's a "repair by replacement" item. The light comes with a split ring to attach to a keychain.
The GL10 is a little bigger than the "Fauxton" style coin cell lights, at 55 mm long by 24 mm wide by 9.5 mm thick, roughly rectangular in shape with rounded corners. The 5 mm LED sticks out one end with no reflector or other optics other than the LED package. A rubber cap on one side covers the micro USB charging port - when connected, the main LED blinks about 1/second when charging, then stays on continually at low brightness when fully charged. The rechargeability was the main attraction for me, as I hate the high cost of replacement coin cells when bought locally and the inconvenience of buying a minimum order quantity or paying for shipping when buying on-line or mail order.
The user interface is a single button. Press once and the unit comes on high. Press again and it switches to low. Hold the button down for 3 seconds and it goes into a 9 Hz "strobe" mode, ideal for getting attention. There are no momentary modes, the unit stays on till it is clicked again. The beam shape is not great (compared with reflector beams) due to the LED optics, but it projects a hot spot to a good distance - the tint is a little on the blue side, but that's not a defect when looking for keyholes. Brightness on "high" is a little more than the freebie "fauxton" I got with my last order from Battery Junction. When I shook the lamp on low brightness, I could see some PWM effect. This lamp is not programmable with the "Nextuner" software and is not recognized by Windows as a communicating USB device.
Both the P8A and the GL10 recharge off the same micro USB cable that I use to charge my phone, my Kobo, and my power stick for the iPod. The charger I keep in the car for the phones will now do double duty for charging these lights.
I look forward to the coming dark months and trying out the P8A and GL10 in regular use.