2 those, who complained about time to download pics in review. this time i compressed them to less weight. does it take less time for review to open?
SFT70 is a damn good LED that combines excellIt throw and brightness. But, somehow it is difficult for big brands to make a good flashlight with this (and SFT40) LED. And “Good” stands not for an amount of light, but its quality (i mean tint). And finally, Nitecore made a flashlight that does not have such problems.
You can buy Nitecore P23i tactical flashlight at :
➤ AMAZON
Specification
maximum brightness and range 3000lum \ 470m (55300cd)
power 21700 (native i-series)
built-in type-C charging (support usb-c - usb-c cables)
control of two buttons in the tail
aluminium case
SFT70 cold light LED
stabilized brightness
size 143.5*31.8*28.5mm
waterproof ipx-8
Package and appearance
The box has expectedly attractive design.
There is nothing new about box itself. But this transparent plastic container now has cover on the bottom. A small feature that will help you not to drop all the kit, when you took it out of box. That happend countless time with me. Strange no other company invented this feature before -)
The kit includes everything you need: the flashlight itself, a 5000mah battery, a lanyard, a clip, a charging cable, a holster an o-ring and a manual. Oh… but where is 2 * CR123 -> 21700 adaptor?
The holster is good, soundly sewn.
The flashlight is relatively compact for such brightness and range. 143.5*31.8*28.5mm - it is only slightly larger than some mid-sized flashlight with a 21700 battery.
Nitecore P23i has a pleasant thoroughbred appearance, but it is not certain that you will distinguish it from any other model in the ‘i’-line. Flashlight does not have any special outstanding features. Just another black good looking tactical flashlight.
The grip is tenacious.
But the grip is tenacious and comfortable regardless of the knurling. The clip works here, and the fact that the diameter of the body is smaller than the tail and head. It forms a sort of saddle.
The flashlight is tactical, and it is controlled by a combination of a tail button, which is familiar to tactical flashlights, and a flat button for accessing the strobe / switching brightness located next to it. In general, access is convenient. But I would prefer a classic rocker to a flat button, rocker is higher and it is definitely easier to find and press it. Again, i dont says this flush mode button is inconvenient, but i prefer more classic approach.
Springs are at both sides, as it should be for tactical flashlight. Flashlight will withstand recoil.
And here is the main feature of the Nitecore i-series. The flashlight will work only with expensive battery of ‘i’series, with a + placed on each side. And you can also charge this battery only in flashlight. Previously, kit included 2 * CR123 -> adaptort, which could fit 18650 with couple pliers move. Previously.
However, this is a matter of taste. I know a lot of people who has no problem with it.
The head of Nitecore P23i is quite compact by the standards of tactical flashlights (and even really compact regarding its brightness), tiny cooling fins here are frankly a design feature.
As you can see, there is a standard blue indicator that (and I really like it) shows the battery voltage. This is one my fave features that i should thank Nitecore for.
There is a Type-C charging connector on the opposide side. It is deep, closes securely and without any difficulties.
Charging is fast enough, the 5000mah battery charges in about 3 hours. But there is a jamb. If you charge a fully discharged battery, the flashlight will turn on and may blind you.
The bezel is moderately aggressive, so no problems for carrying flashlight i pocket. Teeth are cullet balls made of silicon nitride.
The reflector is smooth and has a very rare SFT70 LED placed on its bottom.
Please note that the LED does not have the usual silicone dome, which significantly increases the range.
The last thing worth noting is that the flashlight is compatible with a variety of accessories and mounts, up to a replaceable tail cap with a built-in LED.
User Interface
Simple and convenient UI
There are 2 lines of modes, simple and tactical. Switching is simple you need to press the flat button and unscrew the cover, release the button and wrap it back.
For the rest:
tail button OFF-ON (half press supported)
flat button on pressing from ON switches brightness on hold: tactical mode (only strobe from off-on) normal mode (strobe from off \ turbo from on)
it turned out that with fast switching of brightness from ON, you can enter the strobe even in normal mode. dont think that this is a something bad.
How Nitecore P23i illuminates
SFT70 is not only long-range, but also bright (which means hot) LED. And here the reverse side of the compactness of Nitecore P23i head appears - fast heating, and therefore a decrease in brightness when thermoregulation comes into play.
The flashlight has a stabilized brightness, the effect of cooling is quite strongly felt.
Turbo drops from the very first second, but its runtime is far from decorative. And if there is a little wind around, then the brightness will drop to a noticeably higher level from turbo. In general, despite its size, the flashlight allows you to “burn out” in the turbo, even if turbo immediately slides down. Its initially high level will give you a good margin of both brightness and runtime in it.
The latter is also true for High. In the presence of cooling, it falls down to quite decent stable ~ 1000 lumens and relatively modest 400-450 without cooling. Most likely, a tactical flashlight with such a range will be used outdoors, so it is worth looking at “fan cooing” graph line
At some point, the brightness drops even in MID mode. In fairness, this happens after 25 minutes and if there is cooling, these 800 lum will not sag.
I had no doubt that there would be plenty of light both in terms of brightness and range - the SFT70 does an excellent job with this. But, like SFT40, this is a very problematic LED in terms of light quality and with a high probability of a swamp green tint at lower brightness modes. I was sure that here Nitecore would screwed up like any other major brand. And - a miracle happened! Nitecore P23i gives a wonderful (as far as it is possible for Luminus SFT40) light. Bravo.
Even at lower brightnesses, it has good range and no visible parasitic green tint shift. Here the comparison with Nitecore MH25s v2 will be very clear.
At short distances, even low mode gives visible light.
The relatively long-playing High mode is quite consistent at a distance of 100 meters with a little
At a distance of a couple of hundred meters, Turbo completely illuminates the 9 floors building and I doubt that someone will need to work with such a flashlight at a longer distance
The flashlight gives visible light at a distance of 350m in turbo mode, which is very impressive for a flashlight with such a reflector size.
All in all, I think that Nitecore P23i takes full advantage of the SFT70 LED. I have absolutely no reason to be dissatisfied. Of course, I would like a neutral light, but SFT70 simply does not have such a version.
In the Nitecore P23i video review, you can better see how this tactical flashlight works at different distances
there are some alive shots in final part if Nitecore P23i video review
Overall impressions
I think that Nitecore P23i is the best flashlight in the entire ‘i’ line that I have seen. The only thing that i dont like is battery, the main feature of whole ‘i’-line. The installation of an additional signal conduction tube in the body is a well-known and simple solution…Okay, I have a lot to say about this topic, but it has nothing to do with how the flashlight itself works and illuminates, not about my position about proprietaty batteries and chargers. Still, my practice shows that a pair of batteries (one in flashlight + spare) is enough for total majority of needs. And,hell, if you buy P23i, this means that you can afford an additional battery. And, definetely, if you will not be happy with the necessarity to buy an spare battery, you will be happy with Nitecore P23i itself. Because, because this flashlight is very good and I’m ready to begin to crumble in praises. Nitecore P23i has a lot of advantages:
- design
grip comfort
fast type-C charging
long runtime
convenient UI with normal and tactical modes
good choice of modes and modes spacing (besides real ultralow)
awesome brightness
decent turbo runtime for this brightness
unexpectably good cooling effect even in turbo mode
good performance in high brightness modes
stabilized brightness
wonderful combination of brightness and throw
no green tint in low brightness modes!!
undocumented strobe access from ON
In addition to the ‘i’-only battery, i try to find some other CONs. 1st pair of them are sort of “it would be cool, but…” then real CONs
- cold light (but there are simply no other options for this LED)
instead of a strobe from OFF for normal mode, I would add an instant ultralow
no level order 1-5 lum
price
If you need a compact yet powerful tactical flashlight with a 21700 battery and classic tactical “two tail buttons” UI with the same so demanded “both far and wide” light (without a decorative 5 second turbo puff), then Nitecore P23i has it all. You will have to fork out, but I am sure that you will like the result.
