[Review -Video+Written] Nitecore MH12S (1800 Lumens, USB-C PD, 21700)

LED Flashlights – General Info 21700 Flashlights
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Today I have the Nitecore MH12S, this is a new model in a long light of MH series lights from Nitecore. It’s marketed as multitask hybrid series light. It produces 1800 lumens, contains a 21700 battery that’s included and is USB-C PD rechargeable. Nitecore did provide this light to me to review.

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Packaging & Accessoires
The MH12 comes in a typical Nitecore retail package in the trademark black and yellow color scheme. Something that’s a little different is it doesn’t have the typical runtime chart on the back, only a long list of features, and on the side a list of use cases and accessories. Accessories included with the light itself is a 5000 Nitecore (non proprietary) button top 21700 battery, a 18650/CR123 Battery magazine, tactical holster, USB-A to C charging cable, lanyard, 2 spare o’rings, and a pocket clip, along with your normal paperwork.






Construction
The MH12s is made from aluminum and anodized black. Machining & fit and finish are good, with no obvious problems detected. At the tail cap there is a quie tall mechanical switch that protrudes and it takes some effort to actuate. The lanyard attachment point is on the rear tail cap and decent sized hole. Inside there is stiff springs at either end, and threads are anodized, fine and well lubricated.



The body tube has minimal knurling but does have some on each end, you have 3 areas in the middle for the clip or tactical finger loop (not included) should you want. The body tube is glued to the head. There is a minimal anti roll ring at the front, it’ has limited effectiveness with anything but a flat surface.

The button (eswitch) on the head is aluminum as well, with a hole in the middle for power indication status, the button is relatively small and hard to find at night by feal alone, especially with gloves. There is minimal fins for heat dissipation. Opposite the button there is the USB-C charging port, the silicon cover here is well integrated and stays put without trouble.

Up at the front there is a minimal bezel that does allow light to escape when standing on its head, it protects the anti reflective coated glass lens, and smooth bezel underneath.

Size and Weight
I measured the overall length at 141mm, max diameter on the head at 29.5mm, minimum diameter on the body at 25.5mm. Weight with the included battery was 149.2g. The light is IP68 water rated and submersible to 2M along with the standard 1M of impact resistance.

It’s a long long light but within 5mm of the Thrunite TT20 and Olight M2R Pro, but narrower then both.



Retention
The MH12S has quite a few retention options. It comes with a pocket clip, lanyard and a tactical hostler but is also compatible with a tactical ring that Nitecore offers separately. The pocket clip can attach facing either direction on any of the 3 ribs in the middle of the light. It’s not a deep carry clip as a good ¾ of an inch sticks op out of your pocket when put in the lowest position. My clip was slightly out of spec and doesn’t make contact with the body of the light. A little modification with some pliers should improve this situation but is a little disappointing to see on a brand new light.

You also get a plastic belt holster that the light can be pushed into. You can put it in heads up or heads down, and it’s a tight fit. If done correctly at allows you to mount to access both the side buttons and top button from the holster. The lanyard attachment point should you choose to use that is on the tailcap.

LED & Runtime
The light features a Luminis SST-40 W LED in cool white at 6500k. The good news here is that it’s not as blue as some older Nitecore lights which I appreciate. On ultralow and low power modes I get a slight green tinge but this disappears at higher power levels. The beam itself is small defined hotspot in the center and a large spill of less light. True to it’s name this is a nice all around beam, good for walking the dog, hiking, or more tactical uses if you wish.

There are a handfull of battery options here, the light comes with Nitecore 5000mAh 21700 battery, which will be most users primary cell, but with the battery magazine (Spacer) the light comes with it will also run 18650 and 2x CR123A batteries or RCR123. A battery capable of 8A discharge or more is needed to be able to access Turbo’s 1800 lumens or you will be limited to High’s 1050 instead. No PWM was present in this light, and I did verify this with my oscilloscope.

Official outputs are listed as the following.

  • Turbo - 1800 Lumens
  • High - 1050 Lumens
  • Mid - 300 Lumens
  • Low –50 Lumens
  • Ultra Low - 1 Lumen
  • Strobe/Beacon/SOS - 1800 Lumens

Heat & Runtime
I did my runtime and heat tests with the included 5000mAh Nitecore battery in uncooled conditions (More realistic). Turbo had a pretty quick step down from the 1800 lumens within the first minute and a half but it was a gradual step down and continued this trend from the 0:43:00 mark to 2:46:00 it was quite stable at 40% relative output, before it did it’s LVP warning and stepping down to 5% relative output and shutting off at 3:23:00. Max heat I saw during this time was 46C at 0:10:00.

I also ran a runtime test under the same conditions but only going to high mode, and here the light was able to sustain a much higher output for longer in comparison to turbo. Around 80% relative output or better for 3:26:00, with at total runtime of right at 4:00:00. So if you don’t need turbo this is the best mode to use for sustained output and runtime.

UI
The light has 2 modes, first the daily mode which is the lights default and how I tested and then a tactical function. When in daily mode the light does have a memory function for all modes except SOS and Beacon. When in tactical it will only memorize turbo or strobe.

For daily mode the light turns on with the tail switch, and then you use the e switch up front to change modes, and it cycles through all 5 non blinking modes. There are no shortcuts to jump to turbo or turn on ultralow when off. If you press and hold the mode button when on the light will go to strobe instead of cycling through modes. It’s a little different from many lights but is easy enough to understand but might be hard to remember if switching to many other lights.

Recharging
The MH12S has onboard USB-C charging, thats capable of being charged via USB-C to C and USB-C PD, another nice change to see. USB-C to C is finally going mainstream on flashlights. I charged the included 5000mAh Nitecore battery (non proprietary) from LVP at 2.947V to full at 4.198V in 3.5 hours. Max charging rate I saw was 1.9A at the 1:30 mark. The charging curve here looks a little funny with a lot of drops to near zero as detected by my meter, this also caused it to cut a little short the graph. I don’t think this is a problem for charging the cell just a bit different. The light will also charge 18560’s with the adapter if you want to.



Pro

  • Simple interface but lacks shortcuts to moon or turbo.
  • Good all around beam
  • Not as cool white as past Nitecore Lights.
  • Wide selection of compatible batteries (21700, 18650, CR123A, RCR123A).

Cons

  • Seems long
  • Pocket clip did not make contact with the body without modification and it’s deep carry
  • Only one LED and tint option
  • UI has no practical shortcuts, requires cycling through brighter modes to go lower.

Conclusion
The Nitecore MH12S is a solid general use light. I like that NItecore has taken a step away from ultra blue emitters but do wish they would offer a more neutral or warm tint option, in the MH series of lights since I believe these better represent the multifunction roll the lights were designed for.

This isn’t a light I will probably EDC in my pockets due to the clip design and relatively long nature of the light, I do like it’s slim nature though. I think this is a better jacket pocket light or utilize the holster it comes with. The UI here isn’t my favorite but I can live with it. Overall I like the beam profile here of the light, and with the 21700 it has a great runtime, and it’s super great to see USB-C being implemented with full support and PD support.

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Thanks for the illuminating review ;). If you/anyone could please clarify the graph above. It seems to indicate the “High” setting (orange graph) settles at a (much) higher brightness level than “Turbo” (blue graph), but that’s not true is it?

I think my confusion comes from the graph being a comparison of “percentage of relative output” and not absolute value, and scales on y axis are not the same for the 2 modes (100 on right side is same level as 120 left)? At any rate, I own the flashlight partially thanks to your review and am trying to determine the answer to this question: say 60 minutes in, when both High and Turbo settings have settled, which setting is brighter on absolute scale?

Below is output graph from a review on 1lumen 1lumen nitecore mh12s review, that compares absolute values of outputs. This graph shows “Turbo” (blue graph) settles at a higher level than “High” (red graph).

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Yes it’s comparing relative output not absolute total outputs. The main purpose is runtime, not to measure total brightness. I don’t have equipment that I feel confident in to get a reliable and consistent measure of brightness output at the moment.

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Thank you. Your reviews are excellent and have been very helpful to me. Keep up the good work. :+1:

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Noice!

Wish NC would get with it and stop using CW/6500K emitters in everything, though. That’s so 1997.

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Yeah I had a choice to buy the newer Olight Warrior 3 or older Olight M2R, and opted for M2R (new on eBay) because of its warm light.

This Nitecore has fantastic throw but yes, a bit :slight_smile: on the blue side. Reviews seem to indicate previous generation Nitecore’s are even cooler than the MH12S so at least they are moving in the right direction. At any rate, I don’t know whether it’s due to better throw or the cool temp, but it does seem to illuminate distant objects best for me among the 3 lights below. It really just lights up everything in the distance.

Thrunite’s SST70 looks a bit greenish, although in actual use (vs white wall hunting) I didn’t notice that at all.

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I have two Nitecore MH12S on hand, one looks subjectively less bright than the other, so what else to do but white wall hunting :confounded: .

The difference between the 2 beam shots surprise me. One light is consistently less bright throughout the run-down from Turbo. The green corona is much more noticeable. I know there are LED variations but this seems more than expected?

One Nitecore also has USB-C port that is not aligned correctly with the opening and causes difficulty with inserting charging cable. The replacement process from Nitecore took a little more than 2 weeks and the returned flashlight is better but USB-C port still not completely centered. BTW, something with the design of the USB port such that once plugged in, the cable feels very loose and shakes back and forth more than the other flashlights that I own. I am a little worried about the longevity but we’ll see.

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Looks like the one on the right is better focused (almost everything in the hotspot) while the one on the left is out of focus, ie, more slop around the hotspot.

So it might be the same as far as lumens, but less in candela.

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Thanks. What would cause the focus to be worse with the left light? The LED itself or the reflector? Just curious.

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How it sits, usually. Might need to be raised (ie, sand down the bottom of the reflector) or lowered (put a thin shim between).

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Thanks for explaining. Doesn’t sound like a job for me; I haven’t got even 20 posts on this forum yet lol. It’s interesting that had I not had my other MH12S I would not have known the same model flashlights could vary this much from light to light.

A comment regarding the feel of this light, loose/unsubstantial is probably how I would describe it compared to my other flashlights such as Sofirn, Fenix, Olight, etc. Especially Olight which feels like a solid rock vs Nitecore’s thinness. BTW it may seem like I’m picking on Nitecore but really I am not :person_facepalming: :innocent: . I love the awesome throw and form and am keeping the light. Just reporting my surprise at the build quality for such a premium priced flashlight. You are not going to see one of those commercials where they drive a truck over the Nitecore. It would be crushed to death.

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Thanks for the review. Bit of a shame that Nitecore moved from constant frequency strobes to alternating frequency.

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I think my MH20s were the last NCs I got. Heard about the quality-fade since then, so haven’t put it to the test.

Besides, their “improved” lights like the P30 reboots pretty much suck. They aced the original, and the only direction from there was down.

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Enough b. and moaning. :innocent: I should add the reasons why I’ve kept this light - the sort of details that become more obvious after repeated use.

1 Thanks to SST40 LED, the throw for such a small light is fantastic and the best among the lights I’ve tried. Subjectively better than Olight M2R Pro Warrior (although of course Nitecore’s blue tint is not as nice as Olight’s warm yellow).
2 The tail switch is wonderful to use in comparison with Thrunite T20 and Olight M2R Pro. It protrudes out the most, and has an excellent old-school mechanical and firm feel to it. If you are older and arthritic fingers don’t bend as much as they used to, IMHO this is the best tail light switch there is. Probably because it’s harder to be pushed in accidentally, there is no need for protection “barrier” around the rear switch (as in Thrunite T20), so the switch is very easy to reach and fast to activate.
3 This light grows on me the more I use it. The very same criticism about the thin metal construction ironically is part of the reason why it’s so nice to hold: light and small (vs Olight for example, which weigh about 0.6 oz more - all from the thicker metal LOL).
4 The simple one way clip is for me also best in the business. Simple and easy to engage, unlike many of those 2 way clips.
5 The surface “sculpture” with all the peaks and valleys and knurlings, whether necessary, is beautiful to look at. This light is a looker to me :-).

So oddly after all the complaining, I would still recommend this light. Just don’t run over it with a truck like that commercial.

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This interesting/helpful table from 1lumen was partly why I got the MH12S & Olight M2R Pro Warrior (“better” than newer Warrior 3 because of the M2R’s beautiful warm tint). Will find out how IF22a compare with these 2.