This is what the official Nitecore EA4 user guide has to say about Standby/Lockout modes:
"In [standby] mode, the light will consume small amounts of power to maintain the settings in the MCU (micro control unit) but appear to be turned off. When in standby mode the power indicator light will flash once every three seconds to show the location of the light."
"Lockout mode consumes almost no battery power and prevents the light from accidentally turning on."
When not in use, I keep my EA4 in lockout mode for this reason.
I don't think Nitecore has published the power consumption/drainage rate in standby mode.
The LED on the switch is not very bright. If you can’t see it in a darkened room, then you probably have a faulty flashlight (in which case you should get it exchanged under warranty).
In an emergency (or for people unfamiliar with the EA4), the simplest & most intuitive thing to do is to press the switch and it will turn ON in Turbo mode. Press again and it will turn OFF.
If it’s in LOCKOUT mode, you have to press and HOLD until it turns ON.
It will always come on with low when exiting lockout, even with full click. To the uninitiated, they may think the batteries are going dead. Some people may cycle the power and get back to turbo, some may not. I think the UI could be better if they provided a way to disable the half click when desired, perhaps with 3 clicks since 2 is strobe, and disable the half click lockout exit.
even better if they use a selector ring to change between group. so the side switch only for cycling through the modes in the particular group. will be more intuitive in my opinion…
It’s not hard. All the charts and such make it seem difficult. There’s nothing to it at all. You want it on, just give it a full click like any other light.
Good to know. Oh well, it’s a huge pain to correct now. Then there’s one or two other things I’d change or add, like the lockout mode- but it takes forever to change and the video is long enough as it is.
