Niwalker MM18JR(72) review (2xXHP70.2 + XHP35 HI, 4x18650)

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

Cool little light. I like these multi type led lights.
Always been abit of a Niwalker fan since I got my MM15.
Hopefully the price is affordable

Great review. Are there any other lights out there with similar approach to incorporate both throw and flood into the same flashlight?

And about turbo stepdown and runtime?

Tests are still underway, but here are some runtime results done on 4x30Q. The efficiency is excellent on L6 for the amount of light this thing puts out.

One thing to note, there’s no low voltage protection, so pay attention to the switch led indicator and don’t let the light run unattended if you’re using unprotected batteries. The output gets very low though so it’s impossible not to notice.

I’m happy to report that the XHP35 HI on the MM18JR does have a fairly well regulated output unlike on the BK-FA30S

And as you see, there’s just too much different modes to test, but here’s some of them entered in a table.

Thanks for the test. Runtime doesn’t seem that great for a 4x18650 light.

8.5 hours at an average of ~700 lumens is up there with the longest available and if you only use the XHP70.2 emitters, it’s one of the most efficient I’ve ever tested.

At first glance I am not that impressed even though I am a big fan of this concept (combination of different beam profiles).

The Noctigon Meteor with de-domed (stock) XP-G2 S2 1D LEDs from 2015 did 70kcd and 6300lm and had a much bigger hotspot with this intensity.

Of course this light has a much longer runtime at 6000lms though, but at that brighness the luminous intensity is lower.

Thanks Maukka for this amazing review, the light seems good, it can run continuous 6k+ lm :open_mouth:

So, whats the room temperature and the final temperature with the fan switched on? It still keeps in 70ºC range?

Interesting that this supports protected cell by the bigger brother Niwalker MiniMax 18III doesn’t.

Thanks for the review!

Do people actually look at those graphs? At least they look fancy. But useful?

Just curious, How do you turn this light off? I see in UI how to access all the different modes, no mention of OFF.
Saw a video review could have been mistaken, but it takes 4 clicks of the main switch to turn OFF.

Nice review Thanks

Correct, you need to cycle all the emitter output modes first to get to off.

Ok, 4 clicks to turn off the light. Thanks

So, I really like how this light looks, nice piece of tech but,
on the box Niwalker says that the throw of this model is 850 meters

but your testing says it’s nowhere near that number:

Did I miss something or!!!

Yes, Niwalker claims a distance of 850m while it is just 492m, almost half throw. But in no review of those I read this fact is adequately emphasized. Nor is the huge heat given off by this torch in High or Turbo mentioned. You are constrained to hold the flashlight by the tail. I suspect that many reviewers are not impartial. They should say that in reality, this flashlight has a ridiculous throw and a turbo flood that can only be used for 30 seconds. In order to increase the throw in the bigger MM18III they put in a deeper reflector two LEDs reaching (maybe) 4400LM arriving at a distance of 650m. Forget 850m of a throw. Sorry for my bad English.