Just got a new Nitecore MT10A!

I have not bought a nice light in a while, so I thought I would treat myself! This is pretty much just a first impression, but this is one of the best single AA lights I have ever purchased. I will probably run it mostly on a NIMH cell, but any type of AA sized battery can be used in it. Using a 14500, it will output 920 lumens. I tried one earlier, and wow does this little light pack a punch!! The runtime on a 14500 is not too good though. Output on a standard AA is listed as 170 lumens, which is more than bright enough for my needs. At full brightness, it will run about 2 hours and 45 minutes. Using the lithium ion cell, it will do a maximum of 30 minutes, but it will step down after 3 minutes to the next brightness level down. The MT10A also appears to be very well made. The body is very thick walled with good, but not overly aggressive knurling. It is a larger sized light, which I also prefer. I do not like when some manufactures try to make the light so small, it is not comfortable or easy to use if you have larger hands. It also comes with a nice holster, clip, and spare O rings. This light has apparently been on the market for about a year, and I am surprised there is not a lot of talk about it here on CPF!

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

doesnt get much thread time here as most here would consider way to big for a single AA/14500 light. Looks like a great light! Which 14500's do you use in it? I recently bought 3 new 840mah Keeppower 14500's that ended up being to long to fit into the light. Measured them at 55mm long which is pretty darn long for any 14500. Next up I got 2 NC NL147's to try in my new SRT3. Bizarrely one is to short and the other is fine. Both the same NC NL147 and one measured 50.5mm long and the other 52.5mm long which is one hell of an out of tolerance disparity. Settled on red Efest 16340 for the SRT3 in the end as I dig the shorter profile in that set up and the red Efest cell just cranks and so far seems to be a good bit above its rated 700mah.

Have you tried NiMH's or L91's(Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA 3000mah)?

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

mikekoz said:

..............This light has apparently been on the market for about a year, and I am surprised there is not a lot of talk about it here on CPF! .......

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When I saw the title, I thought does Nitecore have a new light....MH10A, then I saw your picture and comments. No not a lot of talk. I think it might have to do with the fact that its kind of big for a single AA light and maybe not as popular as others. But I still really like it and its because of the UP/DN mode select button. Also it did not disappoint with efficiency. It has well regulated outputs. I did some run time graphs. I'm pretty sure that when you're running a 14500 in it, the driver switches over to PWM. But I use an Eneloop and its very well regulated.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?408516-Nitecore-MT10A-Run-Time-Test

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

*MT10A haha. I totally agree with your point about smaller lights being uncomfortable to use. This looks like a great light!

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

I guess my taste in lights like this are different than most. I want the light to feel good in my hand when I am using it, and I also do not carry them in my pocket. This flashlight and my other favorite, a Thrunite Archer V1, both came with holsters, and I just put them on my belt.

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

Ryp said:

*MT10A haha. I totally agree with your point about smaller lights being uncomfortable to use. This looks like a great light!

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It really is! I am totally enjoying this light and have not found anything about it I do not like. If they have a good deal on them on Amazon tomorrow, I may get a second one!! :devil:

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

There don't seem to be many threads about this light. I don't feel like I have enough to start a thread so I'll just drop this off here. I've had mine for a week or two now.

I was mostly drawn in by the 'run on any AA battery' (and offer 900+ lumens on the IMR) for the various obvious reasons.

In hand/actual use impressions beyond the spec sheet:

While not small for a AA light, mostly due to the head size, it feels a little smaller in person than it looked to me in photos. No size complaint, I knew I wasn't getting something really compact like an SC52 or whatever would be (the price paid for all the goodies is a little bulk)

The UI is great. More lights need this UI. Seriously, why don't we have more lights with this UI? Mode memory, instant access to max or minimum, up/down buttons...it's awesome. BTW those up/down buttons are perfect, they are easier to consistently locate by feel than the side buttons on my Thrunites AND I have yet to accidentally press one. Absolutely perfect. Now anytime I pick up any of my lights other than a Zebralight or the M10A, I end up grumbling to myself "why the hell do I have to turn it on in the last used mode (and what was the last used mode?) I want to shortcut right to ____". Or I'll be in a middle mode and want to drop down to something a little lower..."why do I have to go through high/max to get lower? Guess I should have picked up a ZL or the MT10A"

I saw another review on CPF where a tester claimed over 1k actual lumens on an IMR14500 (in fact, higher than claimed lumens for most modes, but lower runtime). Using it side by side with other lights, on a fresh battery, I have no doubt it actually puts out over 1k lumens. For the size and the battery type this thing screams.

Edit: The UI is even better than Zebralight in a way...it is far more difficult to slip and accidentally blast yourself with max when you want super low. It is much easier, even half awake or distracted, to hold the down button and then press the tailcap, than it is to long press the ZL and not for some stupid reason let up a fraction of a second early and blast yourself with max. Speaking of which, the red LED. It's okay. The beam is uneven and full of artifacts but it seems to do what it is intended to do.

My only complaint...the lowest output isn't low enough. I would not call it a moonlight or firefly, just "low". I suppose the red auxiliary LED makes up for that, eh?

Now can we get some relatively compact 18650 lights with these EXACT controls and UI?

Oh yes, it is in this pic for some size reference

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

awesome comparison pic

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

CelticCross74 said:

awesome comparison pic

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I agree. Nice collection you have there!

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

I have the MT20C that I used for flying and such things. It is nice enough, but the red LED has a lot to be desired from what you now know. I use 3400mh orbtronic 18650s in mine. I should have bought the MT10C instead haha

A great pocket light. Love the interface. Changed the pocket clip to a deeper carry from a 2A Thrunite.

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

Warp said:

......The UI is great. More lights need this UI. Seriously, why don't we have more lights with this UI? Mode memory, instant access to max or minimum, up/down buttons...it's awesome. BTW those up/down buttons are perfect, they are easier to consistently locate by feel than the side buttons on my Thrunites AND I have yet to accidentally press one. Absolutely perfect.

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I agree. I love the UP/DOWN buttons. I only wished Nitecore had put an XP-L in the MT20C.......but I tolerate that 18650 light with just an XP-G2 in it only because of the UP/DN mode select buttons.

I started a thread in the Nitecore Store asking if an LED upgrade would be coming in the future..........and it totally fell on deaf ears.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ED-upgrade-to-the-MT20C-Anything-in-the-works

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

hiuintahs said:

I started a thread in the Nitecore Store asking if an LED upgrade would be coming in the future..........and it totally fell on deaf ears.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ED-upgrade-to-the-MT20C-Anything-in-the-works

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You should message them directly. I'm curious as well.

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

Ryp said:

You should message them directly. I'm curious as well.

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It was March 7th that I asked in the Manufacturer's forum (ie:Nitecore Store). And then on May 26th I sent Sysmax a PM. And no reply there either. Maybe if others show some interest, they might respond. They seem to put their emphasis in the P12........but I like the MT20C better. I could do without the red LED but it doesn't bother me too much.

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

hiuintahs said:

It was March 7th that I asked in the Manufacturer's forum (ie:Nitecore Store). And then on May 26th I sent Sysmax a PM. And no reply there either. Maybe if others show some interest, they might respond. They seem to put their emphasis in the P12........but I like the MT20C better. I could do without the red LED but it doesn't bother me too much.

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I just remembered: since you own an MT10A, can't you just use its head on the MT20C's body?

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

I suspect it hasn't been commented on because the EA11 is pretty much the same light but much smaller. The only real difference being the lack of the tail button on the EA11. When they bring out 2 lights that are essentially the same but with one smaller than the other, of course it's the smaller one that gets talked about.

As for output... I have 2 EA11's and one EC11, both of which use the same head as the MH10 just with different bodies. Out of my 3 I have 2 with similar output and one with around 15% higher. (Remember the 'luxeon lottery?). The EA takes a 14500 and the EC takes an 18350 cell but (in my testing) the 18350 can put out more current. Because of this I have the brighter head from one of the EA11's on the EC11 body. This makes that light around 20-25% brighter than the other two.

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

I also remember there were discussions about EC11, EA11 and EC21 suffering from bad efficiency in lower modes, something like 20 hours at 1 lumen. I do have a EC21 by the way and did not like the red light, pretty useless to me.

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

Ryp said:

I just remembered: since you own an MT10A, can't you just use its head on the MT20C's body?

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I tried it but..........here's the problem I had with it. The MT10A driver is in boost mode for AA and for 14500 it's in PWM mode. I can't do run time tests with PWM because I can't measure a constant output and I'm kind of frowned on PWM anyway...........and so for me I didn't consider it a viable option. I will say it does work since the 14500 battery has the same voltage as the 18650. It's just that the MT10A is very well regulated with AA battery and its boost driver.

Here is the problem with the MT20C head on the MT10A body. Since the MT20C's battery source is 18650 or 2xCR123A, the driver is designed only for voltages above the Vfwd of the LED. (basically above 3.0v). So putting that head on the MT10A body means you will have to use a 14500 battery and it will not work with AA battery.

Just not the best combination for switching the heads . We need Nitecore to upgrade the MT20C LED to XP-L.

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

hiuintahs said:

I tried it but..........here's the problem I had with it. The MT10A driver is in boost mode for AA and for 14500 it's in PWM mode. I can't do run time tests with PWM because I can't measure a constant output and I'm kind of frowned on PWM anyway...........and so for me I didn't consider it a viable option. I will say it does work since the 14500 battery has the same voltage as the 18650. It's just that the MT10A is very well regulated with AA battery and its boost driver.

Here is the problem with the MT20C head on the MT10A body. Since the MT20C's battery source is 18650 or 2xCR123A, the driver is designed only for voltages above the Vfwd of the LED. (basically above 3.0v). So putting that head on the MT10A body means you will have to use a 14500 battery and it will not work with AA battery.

Just not the best combination for switching the heads . We need Nitecore to upgrade the MT20C LED to XP-L.

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We do need that. I messaged them the other day, still no response.

Re: Just got a new Nitecore MH10A!

got it to be a slightly better thrower by changing the head to a P10.