Nitecore IFE-1
OVERVIEW
The Nitecore IFE1 is an EDC sized, CR123 powered, "Infinitely" variable light utilizing CREEs XPG emitter (R5 Bin). The light is hard anodized with a beautiful dark grey finish. Its a nice change up from the all too common black anodized lights. It sports a titanium bezel ring, and a very sturdy titanium clip. Size wise its a bit large for a single CR123 light. That doesnt mean its too big though. As an EDC its just about the perfect size for my hands. Its enough to grip onto but not so much that its weighing down your pants. The knurling on the light is perfect. Not pocket shredding aggressive but not so smooth as to not provide any grip.
The IFE1 utilizes a rotating selector ring to control the output. This along with a forward clicky makes it an extremely useful light. Many lights will not allow you to signal because mode selecting is done through clicking. To some this may be a moot point. For me this a plus because I frequently use my light in rapid bursts. With other forward clickys you may need to wait a second between presses or else you'll end up switching modes. You get the idea. One downside to forward clickys is that you need to click it off to switch modes. With the IFE1 this is not an issue since the selector ring can be used to change modes whether the light is on or off. This is great for those who dont want to ruin their night vision. Just move the ring to the lower end, turn it on, and move up until you get to the right mode. The light can switch from so dim that its damn near unusable to blindingly bright (Nitecore rates it from .5 to 260 lumens, compared to lights with known outputs, I believe the lowest to be lower). The IFE1 does have one strobe mode but its well out the way. You have to move past a very obvious detent in the selector ring to use it.
CONS
By all means the IFE1 is a great EDC choice, but its not without its downfalls. For EDC usage, I absolutely need my light to tailstand. Im not sure why, but Nitecore designed the actual tail end to look like it would be great at tailstanding, but falls short (literally) due to the bulging switch boot. I easily switched my boot to a shorter one and now it tail stands beautifully but I feel I must mention it because it did require modification.
From strobe, the selector ring travels nearly 360 degrees (maybe about 315). Sounds great in theory. 300 degrees of travel should provide the ultimate in customization right? Wrong! The dimmest modes are all in the space of about 45º. Once you go past that its too bright to look into. Moving past 90º your eyes wont see much of a difference between movement. Because the lower modes are all packed into such a small area, if you happen to rub against something you might move the ring and completely ruin your night vision.
That brings me to my next point. The selector ring is a little bit too sensitive. Its smooth and feels nice, but its too smooth. Its too easily changed. More than likely, when you insert into your pocket, it will change brightness. Theres not enough resistance to it.
The last downfall is runtime. I dont have the equipment (or patience) to do runtime charts but you dont need one to no that this thing can drain your battery in a few days. Due to the overhead of the circuitry that allows the use of the selector ring and the "infinite" levels, it uses quite a bit of energy doing nothing. If you leave the light in standby (moving the ring to the off position and not clicking the switch off) it drains about 10ma on a RCR. It draws about the same amount of energy up through the first 3 levels. You would think that at only .5 lumens it would run for weeks on end. Too bad it wont even last a week. Basically, you can leave the light on the 3rd brightness level and it would run about the same amount of time as if you left in standby. At the same time, the standby current problem can be solved by simply switching the light off through the clicky. Thats the good thing about this light also having a clicky in conjunction with the ring.
Conclusion
You would think with all those huge negatives that this isnt a good light. We all know theres no perfect light but with some modification the IFE1 gets close. Once you modify the boot it easily tailstands, its as waterproof as I need it to be, customize-able output, and some decent runtime makes the IFE1 a great contender for your EDC lineup. The provided clip is one of the nicest Ive ever seen. Design wise, its also one of the most handsome. Its not overly gaudy but its enough to make it stand out. Also, though the levels are PWM controlled, they are such a high frequency that its completely unnoticeable even at the lowest levels. Im usually sensitive to this but it doesnt bother me at all.
Bottom line is, if I could go back in time and order it again or purchase something else, I would definitely buy it. $100 may be a lot for such a small light but the features make it worth it. Many complain about the circuitry overhead on the lowest mode, but anything over 50 hours is more than enough for most situations.
Heres some comparison shots
Lowest modes (Jet IIIM R5 rated 4 lumens vs IFE1 rated .5)
Size Comparison
(Fenix LD15, Nitecore IFE1, Solarforce L2T, Jetbeam Jet IIIM)
Thanks for reading. This was my first review. I wanted to be quick and to the point. I dont do runtime plots or pwm frequency readings. Im just an everyday joe who uses his flashlight constantly for work and pleasure. If you have any questions or concerns let me know. I may have left some stuff out accidentally but feel free to ask.
