Niwalker asked me to publish some measurements as fast as possible. So only preliminary results shown for now.
Usually there’s a trade off between flood and throw, unless you make the light huge and use several high output emitters overdriven hard. Niwalker has a couple of lights with dedicated emitters for both flood and throw. I got a MM18JR(72) for testing which utilizes two XHP70.2s for flood and a single XHP35 HI for throw.
Manufacturer’s specifications
Battery: 4x18650 (accepts button and flat tops, protected and unprotected, batteries not included)
LED: 2x Cree XHP70.2 and 1x XHP35 HI (5000K measured from the hotspot)
Waterproof: IPX8
Impact resistance: 1.5 meters
Mode memory: no (dedicated auxiliary switches with memory)
Low voltage protection: side switch led indicator when battery voltage low, LVP cutoff
Thermal regulation: yes
Lockout: electronic
Website: http://www.niwalkerlight.com/lighting_15.html
Box and contents
There’s clearly a typo for throw on the specs. Even the candela and throw distance don’t match.
Size comparison
Niwalker MM18JR, Astrolux MF01, Olight X7R, BLF Q8, Acebeam X45
The maximum output (L7) is not part of the regular mode cycle but must be activated from off by holding down the main switch. This puts the light in momentary turbo, from which you can transition to constant turbo by releasing and pressing the main switch again. Of course you can program either of the auxiliary switches for maximum output.
There’s no way to enable the L7 for the XHP70.2 or XHP35 HI separately. Full turbo is always with all of the emitters at full blast.
UI works as follow
From off
Single click turns 2xXHP70.2 on L1
Holding the main switch activates momentary turbo (L7), releasing and clicking again makes the L7 constant
Double click activates strobe
Triple click for electronic lockout
Single click of either of the auxiliary switches activates the saved mode
From on
Single click advances to the next output configuration (2xXHP70.2 -> XHP35 HI -> 2xXHP70.2 + XHP35 HI -> off) and resets to L1
Long press and hold cycles the output modes on the selected output config (L1 -> L2 -> L3 … -> L6 -> L1)
Long press of an auxiliary switch saves the current mode to the corresponding switch
Unlike on the BK-FA30S, there’s no mode memory on the main switch. It will always engage the 2xXHP70.2 on the lowest mode from off. If you activate a programmed mode with the auxiliary switches, the main switch will turn off the light.
The light is very comfortably sized and while there’s not much knurling on the body to enhance grip, the tapered shape makes for a quite a secure feeling. For mounting, there’s a tripod mount and a lanyard, which attaches below the switches. It’s the same lanyard that comes with the BK-FA30S, but suits much better a smaller light like the MM18JR.
Preliminary measurements
Combined, it’s spec’d for 10000 lumens with 8300 lumens from the XHP70.2s and 1700 lumens from the XHP35 HI. Just like with the BK-FA30S, there’s two auxiliary switches to store your favorite modes and access them instantly. My measurements verify the claim. I got 9900 lumens at 0 seconds, 9350 lumens at 30 seconds. Most of the 61kcd throw is achieved via the XHP35 HI.
The tint of the XHP70.2s is typical. A slightly greenish hotspot and a purplish spill. The XHP35 HI is much more neutral in tint throughout the beam. There’s some artifacts in the hotspot because of the reflector, but the anomalies aren’t very visible in real life use.
Maximum output with both emitters on full blast
Flood L6
Throw L6
All emitters L6