Nitecore NU32 - beam comparison, teardown and 219B swap

Other Types of Lights LED Headlamps
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Spoiler:

Oof… Yes it’s quite visible and it looks hideous. Thankfully I won’t be using it.

Edit: Nitecore confirmed to me by email that my unit is genuine and that his sample is the same. I do not recommend you buy this light. With emitter swap it is much better but still not quite perfect.

(left click image for bigger size)

NU32 is one of the latest additions to Nitecore’s NU lineup. Released October 31st. So really new.
https://flashlight.nitecore.com/product/nu32

I ordered the NU32 from Aliexpress (with my own money) for my sister as a christmas present. I would’ve bought the NU20 CRI for her which I got for myself last year but Nitecore has discontinued it earlier this year. (Boo!)
So, as a beginner flash-a-holic I couldn’t resist checking it out and taking pictures of the beam because there are none yet as far as I know and since this is such a new product. Couldn’t find any discussion about this here on BLF either.

First impressions after couple of minutes in no particular order or format:
The plastic feels high quality, it is smooth feeling and body feels very rigid/sturdy/substantial.
You don’t need fingernails to open the flap covering microUSB port and the hole for the port in the housing looks nice.
On my unit the flap is a bit hard to close and infact will not close if I just push it. I need to push and rub it for it to seal properly. Not a big problem. I just need to tell this to my sister.
Buttons are not too mushy, just enough tactile feedback.

The tilt mechanism feels like a joke compared to NU20 CRI. (Emphasis on the word feels)
With NU20 CRI you have to mean it to change the angle and it clicks very audibly when you do. I like this and it has not failed me.
With NU32 the tilt requires not much effort and there’s barely any audible feedback depending on how you change it, like if I hold it from the strap holder and change angle with my other hand there’s not a lot of feedback.
I have not worn it and will not so I have not tested it on my head but I did hold it from the strap holder section and shake it in various ways, it did not move but I cannot know for sure if it will stay put when running or jogging.

With that out of the way, let’s look at the pictures. All these are taken with Xperia XZ1 Compact (f/2.0) using “Manual Camera” application.

Let’s do the threesome first
10cm away - 5000K, ISO 800, 1/200
NU32 - SF14 219C - NU20 CRI (low/low/low)

NU32 - Tube - NU20 CRI (low/high/low)

Then here’s NU32’s secondary LED’s, ~40cm away with protractor, 7000K, ISO 500, 1/500
Nitecore NU32 aux CRI (19 lumens)

Nitecore NU32 red (9 lumens)

Now here’s the main LED’s, ~40cm away with protractor, 5600K, ISO 100, 1/500
Nitecore NU32 medium - XP-G3 S3 (33 lumens)

Nitecore NU20 CRI medium - 219B ~5500K? (30 lumens)

Sofirn SF14 medium - 219C (~40 lumens?)

Jaxman E2L low - 3x219C 4000K (30 lumens)

50 cm way - color rendition with random junk. Auto WB (I think, bad memory, sorry), ISO 250, 1/50
NU32 - XP-G3 medium

NU32 - CRI

NU20 CRI medium

SF14 medium

E2L low

My aim could be better but some snowy late night outdoor shots. ???K, ISO 800, 1/30
NU32 - XP-G3 high

NU20 CRI - high

SF14 - high

E2L - medium I think

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Left click image for bigger size

So I had read about the XP-G3 horrors before I purchased this light but I must’ve forgot. I was genuinely surprised how bad it was which prompted me to do the pictures…
I pondered and wondered on what I should do. Don’t know if my sister would notice it but if she would then I don’t think she would be able to unsee it.
So let’s go for a emitter swap then. Let’s open it up first…

And we’re in like sin.

How: A cutter and some patience. I didn’t need heat. Don’t go too deep with the cutter. Start on the flat side seams, gently at first until you make a groove for the blade to ride in and go around until you can feel your cutter going through the plastic. Then go for the corners. I took my time doing this, maybe 15-20 minutes and left barely any marks on the plastic. It’s tight but you can get it open without marring anything. I did marr the plastic on couple of spots because the cutter went off in wrong direction. I’ll have to smooth them out afterwards…

Nitecore is using the battery as a heatsink. 40x25mm and 2.5-3.0mm thick thermal pad which was glued to the PCB from one spot, see the red residue and thermal pad material left on top the component on the PCB.

Yup, an 1800mAh battery. 103650 size, not sure if it has built-in protection.

Grainy close up of the PCB

Brains of the operation

Da front

Separate MCPCB, 1mm aluminium

No thermal paste… A dab would do, like, you know, air is bad at like 0.02W/mk. Even toothpaste is better. Or mustard. Or ketchup. Or anything but air.

I don’t really have a lot of options for the emitter swap. Obviously I could order something but it’s already 27th so I don’t think it would arrive in time for christmas.
What I do have is that shitty AA led+cob flashlight into which I stuffed an Nichia 219BT-V1 5700K 90CRI from Kaidomain on a 16mm MCPCB. I could reflow it off of that onto this… Especially considering I broke it’s switch early this year so it’s just sitting there collecting dust.

I’ll have to think for a bit. I’ll probably go for the 5700K 219B option. It’s the fastest solution and best option I have right now. Funny thing is, I’ve been meaning to order solder and flux for a long time since I’ve kind of run out… I do have some stuff but not sure it’s appropriate for this kind of thing. What could possibly go wrong… At least the LED is on a separate MCPCB so I can’t really fuck up the PCB of the light itself.

P.S. Didn’t take a picture of the optics side of things but the reflector is 16.7mm wide and 6.7mm deep, o-ring is 1mm thick and as wide as the reflector while the lens is 1.1mm thick.

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I didn’t take pictures of the emitter swap. Just a reflow using a skillet on a stove. The XP-G3 was quite stubborn, I ended up destroying it in the process but good riddance.
Nor did I take pictures of what it looks like after, it’s just a 219B sitting on an MCPCB. Not that exciting. I may take one later when I find the time to seal the light back up.
Besides swapping the emitter I did add a dab of MX-2 thermal paste between the MCPCB and PCB, just behind the emitter itself. Can’t hurt anything and it’s W/mk rating is well over 200x higher than air.

So here’s the threesome pic first
10cm away - 5000K, ISO 800, 1/200
NU32 219B - SF14 219C - NU20 CRI (low/low/low)

Seems like I messed up the focus completely on the 40cm pics so I’ll skip them.

Outdoor shots, last time I said 5000K but based on what my new pictures look like it was a lot warmer color temperature setting. Doesn’t really matter besides that it’s the same for the comparison shots.
5000K (for real this time), ISO 800, 1/30. A bit out of focus but oh well.
NU32 219B on high

NU20 CRI on high

SF14 219C on high

E2L 3x219C on medium

Looks like the hotspot with the 219B is still a bit egg like. Probably wrong focal length with the reflector or something like that?
I don’t have anything to remedy it so I don’t even care. At least the hotspot isn’t puke green anymore. So I’m going to call that a success.
Now I just need to seal it.