Lumintop FW21 Pro (10,000 lumen) vs Nightwatch NSX3 (9,900 lumen)

I’m leaning toward the Nightwatch. People have reported respectable turbo runtimes with good heat dissipation on the NSX3. But the newness & Anduril of the FW21 Pro has me questioning my inclination toward the Nightwatch. Any comparison info would be greatly appreciated, Thank you.

I have both. I started off by ordering four NSX3 9,900 lumen, but I only received one, because the supply dried up. So I jumped on three FW31 Pro and I just received them yesterday. One major difference between the two is the switch. Both are in the rear, but on the Lumentop, the switch is electronic, instead of clicky. The Lumintop is shorter, because the reflector wells are not as deep, and also because the switch on the nightwatch takes up more length. The user interface on the two lights is totally different. That depends on your preference. Also, even though the head diameters are almost identical, the reflector wells on the Nightwatch are deeper, larger diameter, and moderately overlapping. The reflector wells on the Lumentop are shallower, smaller in diameter, and non-overlapping. This results in the hotspot of the nightwatch that is tighter, and the hotspot on the Lumentop is a little bit larger.

I like both, and I think you should buy both, and whichever one you don’t like you can sell or give to a friend. By the way, if you know where I can get more of the Nightwatch 9900 lumen, please let me know because I’d love to buy two more of them.

Neal has the Nightwatch NSX3 xhp50.2 version now.

It sounds like I may slightly prefer the NSX3. I like clicky buttons. I also like the double click for turbo. The tighter hotspot also sounds a bit more up my alley as it will likely “appear” brighter. I debated going for the floodier one of the two but now I kinda just want the Nightwatch, something about the shape speaks to me. I was about to order the FW21 Pro about a week ago or so, then I heard about the Nightwatch. At first it seemed like a cheaper gimmicky kind of light, but as I read reviews and people’s first hand impressions, I got a feeling that the NSX3 was pretty special. The FW21 doesn’t seem too special and I get the feeling the turbo mode lasts a lot less than the NSX3.

By chance, do you know which one steps down from turbo earlier and which one holds a higher lumen output after step down? Do you maybe have a personal opinion on which you feel is more useful after the turbo step down?

Thank you so much for your impressions.

The FW21 Pro has user adjustable thermal regulation setting. Default is 45C, and the user can adjust higher or lower. Both lights are hot rods, so the higher modes should be used only very briefly. I do not thermal test my lights; that is, I only use the highest modes for a second or two to scan a large area very briefly.

I am going to check Niels’ website again, and if it looks like he has them in stock, ready to ship, I’m going to order two of them.

lumintop has them in stock, ive just ordered a fw21pro, directly, ordered it 2 days ago, now its on its journey

great communication if needed , victor is very nice to speak and deal with

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001057825147.html?spm=2114.12010612.8148356.1.75fe537bZ2746f

I am consider to buy SST40 version of Nightwatch, I really don’t like very much 6500K 3V XHP50.2 of FW21Pro . If they release 5000K version of both lights that will be great. Also Nightwatch have better cooling fins on head compared to FW21Pro. Also Nightwatch is a cheaper.

Neals has 15% off of new arrivals so the FW21 Pro is technically the same price without a battery, The promo code is “NDNA” and brings it down to about $55 USD too right now.

So you’d ultimately prefer the FW21 Pro? Is that the one you mean you’d order a few more of if in stock? Which one would you keep and which one would you give away to a friend between the two lights?

I like both, and I just received three of the FW 21. I only have one of the nightwatch, even though I originally ordered four, because I only received one. I am going to check Neil’s website to see if I can order a few more of the nightwatch, if he has them in stock, ready to ship.

Hmm, Thank you. Maybe getting both IS the way to go.

Yep, save yourself the angst.

I have the NSX3 with different emitters (I put high CRI LH351D led in it), but as an advice I very much suggest it over the Lumintop FW21 Pro. The nightwatch at least tries to make the most of shedding heat for this compact format (although at the full 120W nothing will be enough), the FW21 does not even make an attempt at it. While at these power levels heatshedding is the single most important design goal. Making 10,000 lumen is dead-easy these days, but making it actually usable is very hard.

Djozz, what are your thoughts on the NSX3 build quality? Seems like it could be a nice host.

Build quality is good. Modding was a while ago but I recall it was easy. I did not like the driver, I used a 17mm BLF-A6 driver soldered in a brass converter ring (from Simon) to bring it to 22mm. I did not get the leds perfectly centered in the three reflectors, that can be because the leds were not precisely centered on the pads during reflow, or the MCPCB is not perfectly tailored for the reflector, I don’t know which. With the big dies of the LH351D’s it does not matter, the beam is fine.

Hmm, tempting!

I have only the FW21Pro so I can’t compare, but, regarding turbo runtimes: with the FW21 they are not as bad as I’d have expected. I set the thermal regulation at 82°C and with a Molicell P42A I get 12-15 seconds before stepdown, at room temperature. And when it steps down, you can always kick it back to turbo by double clicking again, and get a few more seconds. Being so light, you can hold it cigarette style by the tailcap end, and you can get 40 seconds, maybe up to a minute of total turbo runtime before it becomes too hot to hold even by the tail… if you don’t fear frying the LEDs or battery, that is.
Even 12 seconds are more then enough I’d say, for the intended use of this light… this is essentially a quasi-EDC, it is smaller and lighter than the NSX3, it has a clip… it’s a light to carry around and use at a “low” level it can hold indefinitely, and if you need a few seconds at 10000 lumens well, you can have it.
The main drawback of this light would be the ugly tint and horrendous tint shift.

Heat dissipation is a bit overrated with this class of flashlights I think. Even the NSX3 won’t hold the 10000 lumens for more than… 30 seconds maybe? It’s still not enough to be an appreciable advantage over the FW21Pro in real world usage: what can be a real world situation where you need 10000 lumens for more than 15 seconds but 30 seconds is enough?

anybody know what is the amp draw this two light?

The 53A goes just over 30s on turbo before stepping down using a new 30T. You can re enable turbo repeatedly afterwards but it always steps down. 3 xhp50.2s is simply too hot for most lights outside of a gigathrower form factor.

I’ve been tempted by the 21PRO but am weary about quality control from what I’ve read about the FW3A series and also my HL03’s flaw. Anduril is really tempting though but I think I’ll hold off.