I received the Nitecore P30I from Nitecore for the review.
The P30I is a 21700 powered flashlight, featuring a XHP35-Hi emitter, and controlled by 2 electronic switches.
The P30I comes in this box, with Nitecore’s updated box design.
The P30I comes with a proprietary 5000mAh 21700 protected Nitecore battery, clip, holster, lanyard, spare o-rings, manual, battery adapter, charging cable and remote activator. All the accessories come in a smaller carboard box that is inside the box.
The P30I measures 177 mm in length, with a head 65mm wide and a tailcap 28 mm wide. The weight is 255 grams.
While tailcap and body are in line with other 21700 powered flashlight, the head is bigger than average. And under a AR coated glass, we find a XH-P 35 Hi emitter in a wide and deep smooth reflector.
The tailcap features an electronic switch that behaves for all purposes as a classic forward switch (with momentary activation possible), and a USB-C port for charging the proprietary battery, and operating the remote switch.
Under the charging port there is a milling, on the side of the tailcap, to fit securely the remote switch to the USB port.
The threads are triangular cut and anodized, allowing a physical lockout.
At the head we find a blue backlit electronic switch.
The proprietary battery has some circuit personalization on it
That is reflected on the construction of the tailcap
And the CR123 battery carrier
The positive contact point at the head. On my sample the body was glued to the head.
The sheath is made in cordura, with a metal D-ring, and is mole compatible
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The UI
Check out Nitecore P30i multilingual manual on Nitecore Website
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Output and runtime
Both measured with the provided battery
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Beamshots
Trees at 100 meters
The small XP-H 35Hi surface emitter is very well focused by the big reflector.
The light did impress me for it’s throwing performance. Even at low outputs, the light can reach distances of tenths of meters without flinching.
The spill is a bit narrow, does not reach your feet when holding the light, but I have seen narrower spills, and the distance between the edge of the spill and your feet is not much.
Some zooming in on the threes, done with the camera (no cropping).
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Thermal test
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My thoughts
The light is well built and finished
I like the Nitecore’s updated design on the box. While their lights I tested are always well built and finished, this new box give their light a more premium feeling.
The levels are well spaced. There is a thermal sensor that decreased the output of the light managing the internal heat, and it works well at turbo mode and high mode, I am really impressed that the light can keep an output of 1000+ lumens for around 20’ at room temperature, and then only make a smaller stepdown. An advantage of big lights, they can manage heat much better than smaller lights. This advantage is also reflected in the runtime aspect, whith a bigger 21700 battery that has 30% more capacity than a high capacity 18650.
I like the interface with direct access to turbo mode.
I like that the blue backlight of the switch at the head is always on, allowing you to find the switch with ease, since it’s flush with the head surface.
The blue backlight on the switch will be always on, steady when the battery is above 50, blinking when between 10 and 50, blinking fast when below 10%. If you want a more precise estimation on the remaining battery capacity, you can always resort to activating the function that reads the voltage of the battery.
It’s the first remote switch I see on a light with more functions that activation / deactivation of the output, but you have to manage the 2 switches on the remote if you want to use all the functions of it.
I wish the light had direct access to low mode.
I wish the battery indicator had another step, between 50 and 100% (yes I know I can use the voltage reading function, but the switch backlight is more convenient to use).
If you are looking for a light that performs well into medium to long distances, while mantaining a relatively bright and wide spill (enough to be very well usable at short distances), and you need to have an output of at least 1000 lumens for prolonged times, the P30i might suit your need.
Thanks to: AntoLed, Won, Zampa.