Review : Nitecore Concept 1 (1700+ lumens , xhp35 hd , 1x18650)

Nitecore Concept 1 Review

A few words for Nitecore Concept 1 :
This flashlight is intended to be a “simple” pocket rocket , reaching 1800 lumens on a single 18650 battery .

Overview/Specifications :

First Look :

Flashlight in it’s box :

Package Contains :

  • Flashlight
  • Holster
  • User manual
  • Small catalogue
  • Lanyard
  • 2x O-rings

A closer look :

Here we have the flashlight . A really small flashlight compared to classic 18650 flashlloghts :wink:

Length: 111.5mm
Max Width: 24.5mm
Weight: 63gr without battery !

It’s side with it’s e-switch visible :

Flashlight next to a 18650 battery :

Let’s talk about the details …

Flashlight has a nice SMO reflector and AR coated lens :

Led is a xhp35 hd e2 , which btw is nicely centered .

It changes modes through the e-switch , that as you can see part of it is iutside of the flashlight :

The little e-switch is inside the flashlight , but they added a little metal part on the outside to make the area that you can press bigger and easier to find …

And the very nice logo on the opposite side :

On the side , it has a clipped already installed :

At the end of the tube and the tailcap there is knurling , nice grippy but smooth too :

Nice , “square” & anodized threads :

Tailcap has a gold plated spring on the inside . It has a magnet too that it can hold it’s weight (including the battery) with ease ! :

Tube will fit even long batteries , here is a flat top for example (see all the unused space) :

With the tube removed , the contact point for the battery is visible (allows flat top batteries to work too) :

Flashlight’s Holster :

Holster is designed for Concept 1 and has a good fit ! :

It’s pretty slim too .

How it works (&modes) :

On / Off :
Hold the switch for approx. 0.5sec and the light turns on. To turn it off, just make a single click.

It has 2 mode groups : General and Tactical.
*General has direct access to the Turbo, while the Tactical has direct access to the strobe.
*If you unscrew the tailcap and screw it back with the switch pressed it will flicker once showing that we are in General mode, or two for Tactical mode. By doing this it switches mode group .

Mode change : To change mode you must be in the OFF state.From off , holding the switch pressed the flashlight will start to change between the five modes. When you are in the mode you like, simply release the switch. Now , the flashlight will remember the last accessed mode and in the next activation it will go direct to that mode.

Shortcut to ultra low :
From OFF, a double click will activate C1’s ultra low mode (~1 lumen).

Shortcut to Turbo / Strobe :
Depending on the group flashlight is , it will have direct access to strobe or turbo. To access these modes directly from OFF just do a quick triple tap (press the switch 3 times quickly) .

Temporary Turbo :
With the flashlight on, hold down the switch for momentary Turbo . After releasing the switch you return to the previous mode .

Battery Voltage :
Each time you screw the flashlight’s tailcap (or change battery), the flashlight will “flash” it’s battery voltage, showing a sequence of flashes. For example , if battery voltage is 3.7V , it will flash 3 times, it will pause for a second and then flash 7 times .

Measurements :

Samsung INR18650-30Q 3000mAh was used in all measurements

Note ! : Notecore suggests to use a battery with a continuous discharge current greater than 8 amps !

Lumens :

  • Ultra Low - ~1.3 lumens
  • Low - 61 lumens
  • Medium - 288 lumens
  • High - 803 lumens
  • Turbo - 1740 lumens

Tailcap measurements (amp draw) :

Coming soon…

Runtimes :

Factory Runtimes using 18650 :

  • Ultra Low - 300h
  • Low - 15h
  • Medium - 4h
  • High - 1h 30m
  • Turbo - 30m

My tests :

High mode :

Here is a close up of the first minutes too :

Turbo mode :

And again , there is a close up of the first minutes :

PWM :

Flashlight in lower modes uses PWM , but the frequency is so high that it can’t be seen (even by sensitive flashaholics’ eyes :smiley: ).

Intensity :

Coming soon…

Beamshots :

Wall @ 12m , C1 has a nice beam , with a big hotspot :

Low :

Medium :

High :

Turbo :

More beamshots coming !

Conclusion :

A nice flashlight from Nitecore , giving a new meaning to a big-small pocket rocket !

  • It is made from high quality components .
  • One of the smallest 18650 lights , great for EDC use .
  • Combines flood with a fairly amount of throw for it’s size (It has a wide hotspot) .
  • There is a stepdown in High and Turbo mode , needed to keep the flashlight’s temperature and runtimes in normal levels .

Recommended !

Comment if you want me to check something on the flashlight , or tell your opinion . Thanks !

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Flashlight was provided by banggood for review purposes .

If you like this flashlight be sure to check it out by clicking here : https://goo.gl/koXycb
Readers get a 27% discount by using the coupon code 9d35ee . Thanks !

Reserved

Thanks, nice review!
After using triples and quads for a while as EDC, I recently got the desert tan S2+ and I really liked the throwiness, I had missed that. This Concept1 must feel like that too :slight_smile:

A concoy s2+ with xml2 and OP reflector must have pretty much the same beam with this Concept 1…

I wish i could open the bezel without scratching it , to replace the xhp35 hd with a xhp35 HI neutral white :slight_smile:

Nice review.

You can override the stepdown on Turbo at anytime simply by pressing and holding the button down. While holding the button down, the light will ignore the temp sensor and continuously maintain 100% output. It will get very hot though.

Thanks!

they have thought about this too :smiley: After a specific temp , it drops output , even if you are still holding the switch !

Thank you for the review, if I read the graph correctly turbo is only sustained for 20-25 seconds, right? Then it drops to 1000 at the 30 second mark and after 2 minutes you only have around 400 lumens? :open_mouth:

Thank you, really nice review! :+1:

Thanks for your kind words !

Exactly . xhp35 on a body that small couldn’t be better i guess, Nitecore should know better …

XHP35 or not, 1000 lumens ARE sustainable for longer than that in any tube light. It’ll be hot but it works