Hi people, what’s the general consensus about Nitecore as a brand, good bang for buck or overpriced?
Looking at the MH12S and P10i in particular, but would also welcome thoughts on the brand as a whole.
Loaded question! Some here LOVE Nitecore, some don’t.
On the one hand: From what I’ve read here the last few years I’m pretty sure it’s a respected brand that probably stands behind their products.
On the other hand: This IS… “BUDGET” Light Form and I suspect many here would rather buy less expensive lights (*and then tweak them) 
I don’t have any Nitecores, but some models have interested me enough to keep an eye out if a killer deals pops up— but I haven’t seen one yet. I also firmly believe there are MANY alternatives of equal quality.
But I’ll not give my short list here, but say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like blondes and Raccoon City (another BLF’er here) LOVES green eyed brunette’s 
But if it just looks right, sometimes you just have to pony-up and get it! And remember that sometimes a good value comes along in a singe model- but not the whole line.
I personally don’t like Nitecore as their mode spacing is a bit much, BUT I do like their TIKI keychain light solid price for a good simple product.
In general, I love ’em, but they are pricey, and discounts are rather rare.
The P30 is my go-to compact-thrower because I loooove the FC switch. That field’s rather crowded, with the GTmini, C8T, other variants. Great lights, too, but I keep going for the P30 when I need one.
My EDC (now and for the foreseeable future) is a MH20 (got a few) and MH20GT (got a couple) because I love that 2-stage switch and its UI in general. Can’t be without spares, as those are great lights. FC11, SC31pro, SP32Av2, etc., are all really great lights in their own right, but not one ever dethroned my MH20.
The TM03 is indeed a Tiny Monster, and the dual tailswitch is awesome, just like the ED20-T and its dual-switch tailcap.
The EC4 series (eg, my EC4GTs) kicks arse as far as sustainable highs, as it’s a 1-piece cast-Al body that distributes heat so evenly, and the over’n’under 18650s and its driver let you maintain high right up to the point where the cells drop dead.
The biggest Nitecore drawback is their usual choice of CW emitters, meaning you either live with CW or have to do an emitter swap. I rarely if ever do emitter swaps anymore, so I just live with ’em.
You can get a ‘W’ suffix light for “warm” which really is neutral(ish). I don’t recall ever seeing “MH20W” anywhere on my lights, but my EDC’s definitely got a nice just-warm-of-neutral beam.
Hope that about sums it up.
They are good quality but brands like Convoy and Astrolux are much better value for the money. 15 years ago, Nitecore was untouchable. Things have changed a lot since then.
I like Nitecore chargers, but I think most of their flashlights are overpriced for what they are.
Some of their keychain flashlights are decently priced, but what I look for most is easy to implement lockout, and Nitecore doesn't usually do that with their keychain flashlights.
Nay
True story:
Of the hundreds of lithium batteries I has all my life, I only had one leak and that was a Nitecore. I emailed them and the lack of empathy was so ridiculous, I swore I would never buy another product from them. I thought they would want the serial number to check the batch or ask me some questions. Nothing. All they said is that the warranty is expired and I should properly dispose of the battery.
They lost a customer over $5
Even BangGood would not stoop to that level.