Review: Noctigon KR4 (18650, 4xE21A 5000K, CRI96)

Interesting.

I just checked the KR4 E21A store page and in the description there it says that it comes with a Carclo 10623. This would adress maukka's initial criticism concerning the 10622 clear optic.

Can anyone confirm that it's delivered with the frosted 10623 now?

edit: Nevermind, Hank confirmed it over here.

Is there any timeframe announced for the mule version of KR4 with E21A, already?

I’m considering a KR4, interested in the E21A emitter as well.

Not available on website yet but Hank may sell directly if they’re ready?

Just wanted to share the happy news, that the KR4 E21A is now available in 2000K and 2700K.

Thanks Maukka for this – once more – amazing review.

The Noctigon KR4 is also available with a Nichia 219C (4000K, 90CRI). Any idea of how it compares with the E21A?

Only with E21A does the Noctigon KR4 come with the driver with no PWM, at least that is how I interpreted Maukka’s review.

Maybe a little ambiguous. I am not sure why with E21A the KR4 would have noPWM and the other emitters would have PWM with a different FET driver altogether, but that’s how I read it.

The KR4 and D4v2.5 (CC driver installed by request) using XP-L HI/SST-20/etc. only have PWM between 5A/max CC and turbo.

The E21A versions have the FET disabled although it may be physically present on the driver itself, and do not use any PWM. The type and/or wiring of that FET on the 3535 LED versions is different from previous Emisar/Noctigon lights and other common 7135+FET designs.

That settles that. Thank you BurningPlayd0h.

Thanks nocturne and BurningPlayd0h for your replies, but I don't care much about PWM, my question was more tintwise.

The E21A version is rated at 1200lm, whereas the 219C is 3000lm, which makes quite a difference. Not that I am in the "lumen race", tint and beam shape are more important to me, so how do these two LEDs compare in terms of color and hotspot vs spill?

Whether you care about PWM or not, it is useful information to know that the KR4 effectively uses two different drivers, at least the implementation is drastically different, and, in fact, one is likely more efficient than the other, and it isn’t necessarily the brighter of the two that is more efficient, because the emitters also play a role and have their own efficiency aspects.

I can’t answer your question directly as I have not seen either emitter’s output, but I do know that 3000Lm is only 40% brighter that 1200Lm, and anything less than 300% brighter is going to only be negligibly brighter, even if you can tell the difference in brightness, because for a light to appear twice as bright as another to human eyes, it needs to actually be 3 times brighter.

If the best tint is your goal, I can only help a little, and only by deduction and transitive law say the Nichia E21A tint is superior to the tint of Nichia 219C, generally speaking. To explain this, from what I have read here at BLF, the gold standard of tint among the tint mafia is the 219B 4500K, and this is apparently superior to any version of the 219C, again, tint wise and generally speaking. Yet the tint of E21A somehow competes with the tint of 219B. So if X is competitive with Y, and Y is better than Z, then X is better than Z, iow the transitive law applies.

I also suspect that if beam shape is another goal, then you should be made aware that a single emitter will have superior beam characteristics to triple emitters, and triple emitters will have superior beam characteristics to quad emitters. It might make more sense to compare single emitter beam characteristics, but become vastly more complex comparing 4 of one emitter to 4 of another, or it might not make sense to suggest that if one emitter has better beam characteristics than another, that anything at all can be said accurately about 4 of one emitter compared to 4 of another. I could be mistaken, but I think the beam characteristics in a quad are going to depend more on the optic than the emitters themselves.

I know none of this is what you want to hear, so I’ll just tell you what I think you really want to hear: if you put weight on brightness over tint, then get the XP-L HI V3 3A 5000K, because it is actually not a bad compromise in tint for the 4300Lm you’ll get out of it. I think maybe your attraction to Nichia 219C may have to do with an assumption (that I have seen at least a dozen times already) that the 219C tint is good because the 219B tint is good, and this simply doesn’t follow. Most tint snobs here, from what I have read and have had explained to me, aren’t all that impressed with the 219C.

That said, I personally am curious about the 219C, and from the beam shots I’ve seen, I think it is very attractive, and I intend to acquire a light with 219C no matter what the finely tuned tint tastes are of those that best know tint, and I’ll certainly choose it with a constant current driver over one burdened with PWM. Over just a handful of years considering the opinions of those that know drivers best I have gleaned that constant current drivers are more efficient than drivers with PWM, so this will help mitigate the fact that the emitters with the best tint are the least efficient emitters. Plus, it is hard not to notice that PWM kind of sucks.

I hope this helps.

I just got a KR4 and also a D4v2 with Nichia E21A (selected different color temperature for each). I notice they do not have PWM on all levels.

I’m wondering about the “D4v2.5” you mentioned “CC driver by request” = what does this mean?

Does it mean that if ordering the D4v2 with say XPL-Hi LED, then it will use the normal FET +1 driver and will have PWM on all levels except the “1” (0.35A) and Turbo.

But if I want the “CC driver” with an D4v2 (or KR4) with XPL-Hi, then I have to specifically ask Hank to install the CC driver, which will have NoPWM up to 5A and have PWM only when using higher levels (uses FET)?

Thanks nocturne for this very informative post.

Re. 219C, here is what Maukka said in his Astrolux S43S (4x219C) review:

With regard to tint, the beam is very even. There’s some artifacts at the edges, which may be because the optic might not sit perfectly on the LEDs. This was the case with the Astrolux S42 as well. It’s not noticeable in actual use though. I haven’t seen this with lights using Carclo optics.

and:

Some modes between the 7135 and FET get a bit greenish in tint, but low modes and turbo are very nice

In his conclusion:

The tint consistent throughout the beam and neutral on most modes. It still doesn’t achieve the rosy beauty of some 219Bs, but can be altered using filters

Re. brightness, I don't think I will ever need the extra 40% over 1200lm, I assume the latter is enough to blind an assailant and impress friends.

Re. beam shape, in fact I like a very smooth transition between the center and the edges, like e.g. on my Zebralight H51Fw. As far as I understand this can be achieved whatever the LED using the 10623 optics or d-c-fix film.

I made a poor assumption. Throw has a distinct cohesive beam, but with floody lights, and especially if using a decent diffuser or certain optics, the beam sort of disappears and the light seems to come from no where, kind of a cool effect, wall of light. Both have their places, equally useful, equally valid when applied to what is needed. Since carrying the Lumintop FW1A, which is throwy/spilly, lacks flood, I noticed I prefer the mix of throw/spill and flood in the Zebralight SC5c II, the shallower reflector has a far wider illumination, but I can still throw the spot, within reason.

Forgot to mention the D4v2 w/E21A, yep that uses the CC driver with FET disabled.

You’re right on the money, you can email Hank and request the CC driver with FET enabled for any of the standard emitter options too.

I have two of KR4, black one with E21A/5K and gray one with E21A/4.5K. I would like to learn more about this driver. Does anybody have more information? I think it is a linear driver because it is with FET.

Also, does anybody have a photo of this driver?

Thanks.

Do you still have this light? Would love to purchase.

AFAIK FET + sense resistor for constant current linear driver that can be set to anything up to the max - 7.5A for E21A, 5A + fully open FET channel (PWM used between 5A and full turbo) for other emitters.

With delay.....Excellent review maukka