Nitecore EA11 CREE XM-L2(U2) 900lm

At the moment 18 hours… and flashlight is “on”.

EDIT:
18;30 min. intensity begins to fall relatively quickly. 18h. 45 minutes flashlight OFF

That’s a reasonable amount of time for one 1.2V cell.

ThruNite Archer 1A V2 NW on Low of 15lumen for 22hours i find much more reasonable than the nitecore, also the Thrunite is much more reasonably priced. For $5 more than the cost of the nitecore i can get 2 of the ThruNite Archer 1A V2 NW’s.

Thank you Trevi_lux for doing the runtime test, i find it strange that the runtime for 1lm was so understated 18hrs is much better than 10hrs. Makes me wonder about the other runtimes they stated.

But as with everything it is personnel choice for me the ThruNite Archer offers far more VFM than the Nitecore in both cost and runtimes. Then there are those that value the burst of 900lm of the Nitecore more highly, to me it looks like they skewed the driver towards the 900lm top end to the detrement of the lower modes, but i am no expert.

There are several options for decents EDCs AA. But the Nitecore offer to me a great Turbo option and one of the best interface that I have used (and red led, and voltage read option). When a flashlight have a great compatibility of chemical and voltage options, we know that the perfomance will not be the best with all of them. NiMH is only acceptable with lithium, the best 1XAA made so far today.

Sorry but I hate Service Customer Thrunite. Open, close the store, never answer the asked questions …. I do not like and I did not want to buy that model.

Nice to see NC conservative on it’s specs, but ~18 lumen-hours of efficiency on an Eneloop is REALLY poor, and I understand this light uses an obvious/noticeable PWM. I’ve output/runtime tested an SC52 over 130 lm-hrs (1.3 lms for 100+hrs) and the Neutron V2 ~180 lms-hrs (6 lms for ~30 hrs) - both about right for an efficient 1xAA Eneloop at those output levels… and current regulated. My NW Neutron tops out at ~700 lms on an IMR 14500 which I suspect is very close to what this NC can do on the US-ANSI scale I use.

I’m all for screaming bright pocket rockets, but when dealing with such a small battery like a 14500/Eneloop, IMHO, it’s not worth sacrificing the low-end efficiency, or mode spacing, for an output that’s really only useful for seconds at a time.

I think, you are ok, poor with NiMH.
But you are wrong, this Nitecore is not closed to thrunite Neutron. This Nitecore produces (with IMR) more lumens that my Nitecore EA4. For efficency, there are many other lights, I have lot of them, but pocket rocket with this interface and the oportunity in case that I need of use with common AA, only this.
Of course for EDC best many others. But for Turbo mode if you see my runtime of first 21 minutes, this is great!!!
(one thing more, for me Neutron is ugly :weary: )

Well, I don’t own any NCs, but using a same scale basis (Selfbuilt) the XML1 EA4 tested at 770 lms, but the new XML2 version was bumped 100 lms so call it 870 lms, and throw in another 100 lms since you find the EA11 “brighter” so even if the EA11 were ~970 lms (SB-scale) that’s still only 20% brighter than the 810 lms SB gets for the Neutron. I personally consider a 20% lumen differential (~10% perceived given the logarithmic thing) to be “close” :slight_smile: - I’d certainly need my lightbox to distinguish that difference.

Agree you can always carry a second light, but one of the primary reasons I like these pocket-rocket 1xAA/14500s, is that…… you don’t have to anymore.

(all JIMHO, of course)

Only for reference, my equipment is not so good.
Lux to one meter. (for high mode I measured after 20 seconds)

I have read your reviews. It it interesting for me. Thanks!

For those that do want the Nitecore E11 banggood have it on offer

I may not like the light but not going to stop those that do geting it cheaper.

The gb has better price!

Thanks for your review. The brand nitecore is one of my favourite brands. High quality and exquisite outside material.Support the Nitecore.

The Nitecore Tiny USB flashlights are also good. http://www.lightscastle.com/catalog/category/?q=Nitecore+Tiny

I made a small Nitecore EA11 review, it is in Italian, but maybe someone can appreciate the photos of the flashlight.

Short URL: http://goo.gl/lM7zYx

use google translation https://translate.google.com/ :wink:

Thank you for the review and pictures almost enough to make me get one.

would be good if they offered extention tubes like ultrafire does for the C3

I have the Nitecore EA11 (XM-L2 OP)and am wondering what the best 14500 battery would be. The recommend an IMR type. Does anyone have any recommendations on a good source for a quality battery and charger? Is an IMR still recommended for this flashlight?

I sincerely appreciate any info you can share.

Yes, the WindyFire IMR14500 from Mountain Electronics is what a lot of us bought when we got the EA11's

Also, use a button top as the polarity protection doesn't like flattops.

Xtar MC1 is a decent charger for less than $5

http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=477&search=Windyfire+14500

http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=xtar%20mc1

Mountain Electronics appears to be out of stock on this item. It’s very confusing (for a newbie) to know what the best, and safest, battery and charger to use. The Nitecore site doesn’t make it clear what they recommend. I certainly don’t want to take chances with unsafe batteries. Is this type of “unprotected” battery still recommended?

The battery was reviewed by HKJ (our battery guru reviewer) here at BLF. It was rated as acceptable in its class and fit for high drain applications. For the price, one of the better Hi Drain batt's around.

https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/28265

The Xtar MC1 charger is one of the entry level safe chargers.

I recommended the above two items because most new members are lookin for the best bang for the buck. You want top rate, please have a look at the high end.

There is a SEARCH BAR at the upper left hand corner of the page. Why not give it a try. You'll be amazed at what YOU can find.

Good Luck

Thanks much Streamer. I’m always good to pay more for better / safer. I did do a search but found that there’s almost too much info and it’s hard to tell what’s current. I figured that some folks had experience with this light and a good battery / charger combo. I will check out your recommendations. Thanks again!