Summary:
| Battery: | 4x AA |
| Switch: | Dual Electronic switch |
| Modes: | Moon - Low - Medium - High - Turbo Hidden - Strobe, Beacon, SOS |
| Mode Memory: | Instantaneous mode memory Does not memorize Blinky modes |
| LED Type: | XP-L HI (Cool 'pure' white) |
| Lens: | AR coated Glass |
| Reflector: | Smooth |
| Price: | $58.73 (Use coupon code RMBBUST to get an even better deal!) |
| Provided by: |
Function:
The EA45S utilizes 2 electronic switches. One is the power on/off switch and the other is the mode switch.
From off:
Press and hold the mode switch for more than 1 second to access Turbo mode.
Press and hold the power on/off switch for more than 1 second to access Moon mode.
Double tap the mode switch to access Strobe. While in strobe press either switch to turn off the light.
Press the power on/off to turn on the light in the last used mode (strobe/sos/beacon will not be memorized).
From on:
Press and hold the mode switch to access Strobe. Press and hold the mode switch for more than 1 second to cycle through Beacon/SOS/Strobe. Press the power on/off switch to turn off the flashlight.
Press the mode switch to cycle between moon/low/medium/high/turbo modes. Press the power on/off switch to turn off the flashlight.
Press and hold both switches for more than 1 second to lockout the flashlight. Press and hold both switches for more than 1 second to disengage the lockout.
Data/Runtime:
I measured .08mA parasitic drain. So cells will be dead in about 1276 days, or down to 50% in 638 days on an Eneloop Pro 2450mAh cell.
All throw measurements are lux values taken at 7ft and calculated back to 1 meter (Rounded to the nearest hundred). Ceiling bounce numbers are just simple lux measurements of various lights to compare relative output.
Runtime Test on turbo:
Ambient Temp: 67°F
Minimal air movement, indoors.
During this test there is no external heatsink (a hand or a fan) to pull away heat from the body of the flashlight. You can see how the design of the EA45S pulls heat from the led extremely fast. The heat is well distributed across the length flashlight. There may well be an advanced thermal regulation in the EA45S as the EA45S peaked at 121°F and stayed fairly consistently at 120°F; I need to do more testing to determine whether or not this is the case.
Pictures:
The EA45S came in the typical retail box. It got a little squished during shipping.
Thankfully, the light was unharmed. It came with a decent little holster, a really nice little lanyard, a manual, and the warranty cards.
The holster has all your attachment needs. It's a little rough around the edges.
Some shots of the EA45S chillin' in the snow. The mode button has the 4 lines, and the power button has the power symbol. The rubber is slightly raised off the aluminum, and has a slight squish squish before engaging the switch.
The tailcap is an interesting thing. It's mostly red with maybe a slight hue of lightish red.
The red disk twists to remove the tailcap. Nice double spring at both ends.
At the other end we find that nifty little XPL-HI LED that is mostly responsible for the very respectable throw in such a small form factor.
Comparisons:
Here I wanted to show the finish on the EA45S (Left). It looks like they used a different process or perhaps type of coating compared to the EC4S (Middle). For comparison an M170 on the right side. It's mostly just a difference in appearance as far as I can tell. I don't know if one is more durable than the other or not. There might be an ever so slight increase in grippability of the EA45S.
The EA45S next to it's little.. big.. stocky.. brother? :) The EC4S utilizes 2x 18650 cells and a massive XHP-50 LED.
Apart from the finish, the switch is a bit different between the two. The EA45S switch sticks up a bit more and has some squish in the button before engaging.
The EA45S is thinner in both width and depth. It doesn't seem like much, but in hand the EA45S feels absolutely tiny compared to the EC4S.
No threads in the EA45S tailcap.
Probably the biggest difference, the smaller XPL-HI LED in the EA45S vs the massive XHP-50 LED in the EC4S. This along with the cells each light devours, puts them in vastly different categories of flashlight.
Some variety in the lineup.
From left to right: Thrunite TN4A, Convoy S2+, Convoy C8, Nitecore EC4S, XinTD X3, Nitecore EA45S, Convoy L4.
Here you can see just how much that XPL-HI LED makes a difference. The EA45S is much smaller than the XinTD X3 (XML2 LED), but has almost identical throw numbers.
Beamshots:
First up a comparison between the EA45S and the EC4S. The EC4S is very much a flood monster. The EA45S is pretty much the opposite as a pocket thrower+.
Next up is the Thrunite TN4A (XML2, 4AA), Nitecore EA45S (XPL-HI, 4AA), XinTD X3 (XML2, 18650), and the Convoy L4 (XML2, 2x 18650). Despite using AA batteries and being substantially smaller than the other flashlights, the EA45S really throws out there even among 18650 flashlights. It's also interesting to note that even though the EA45S, X3, and L4 have very different dimensions they have very similar beam profiles.
Conclusion:
Simply put the Nitecore EA45S is a fantastic flashlight. Extremely well built and finished with incredible performance for its size. It's even more impressive to see this kind of performance on AA batteries. The fact that it can give great lithium ion flashlights twice the EA45S' size a run for their money is just awesome. Definite recommendation from me. 
). I found out it takes many variables to all come together to capture this as this was the 8th or so attempt after accidentally discovering it the first time I set it down on the railing.
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