N-Light B10, The "Atomic Bomb"
Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★☆
Summary:
| Battery: | 16340 |
| Switch: | Twist |
| Modes: | 3, HML |
| LED Type: | Cree XP-G R5 3C |
| Lens: | Glass, coated |
| Tailstands: | Yes |
| Price Payed: | $44.10 |
| From: | CNQG |
| Date Ordered: | 23/12-2010 |
Pros:
- Good overall build quality
- Comes with accessories
- Nice neutral white tint
- Regulated output
- Well spaced set of modes
- Built in cell voltage protection
- Stainless steel construction
Cons:
- LED is slightly off center
- Price
- Weigh
- No primary CR123A cell support
- Sharp edges
- Does not take oversized cells
Value: ★★★☆☆
This 16340 only EDC light has a nice set of features but its price is also pretty high. It comes with a diffuser cone, a nice lanyard w/ split ring and some spare o-rings. There is no mention of a warranty and that is something that I'd like to see included in a light that almost costs 50 bucks. It is still a pretty attractive offering all things considered. I would classify it as a high end budget light.
Build Quality: ★★★★☆
This thing looks like a clone of a much more expensive light. Build quality is good and apart from a few sharp edges and a slightly off center emitter I would say that it is top notch. The twist switch is easy to use with the "valve wheel" design at the tail of the light. It is a heavy little light, weighing in at 61.5g empty, it outweighs the similarly sized Quark mini 123 by about 20g even when the quark is loaded with a CR123A cell. The stainless steel body has lightly brushed finish. Threads are greased and well formed, the light operates smoothly. The battery tube has a brass insert to improve the contact between the battery tube and the negative trace on the regulator PCB.
Battery Life: ★★★★★
As of writing I am still waiting for a pair of cells that fits in this light and have not been able to do runtime tests.
Current draw from a lab power supply is:
High 670mA
Medium 135mA
Low 5.5mA
Output is constant from about 4.2V to about 3.1V where the light starts to drop out of regulation. The cell voltage protection feature kicks in a few seconds after he light drops out of regulation at around 3.0V.
A rough estimate of the runtimes would be: High 1h, Medium 5h and Low 5d. Will do a proper test as soon as my Soshine cells show up.
Light Output: ★★★★☆
Its XP-G R5 puts out quite a lot of light in a pretty floody beam pattern, but it is no scorcher. The LED is not driven to its full potential and it shows. The B10 on 16340s is brighter than my quark mini 123 is on CR123As. When using a 16340 the quark wins hands down in terms of sheer output. The beam as a whole is floody and there are no artifacts in it. The hotspot is surrounded by a large corona that tapers off into spill. The hotspot and corona is the same size as the hotspot alone of a qmini123. The output is divided into three output modes, High, Medium and Low. The output modes are well spaced and Low is a true low. The Medium and Low modes are realized by use of PWM. The PWM frequency is high and not easily detectable.
Summary: ★★★★☆
A nice EDC torch. Weigh is 61.5g, not 80g. Only uses 16340 cells, no primary CR123A support. It is regulated and has built in cell voltage protection. Mode arrangement is HML instead of LMH on the one I got. The LED is slightly off center, but that does not seem to affect its nice and smooth beam. Mine does not take some of my oversized protected cells but works fine with true 16*34.0mm cells. Output is a nice white vanilla, slightly warm, as it should be. It is not the first choice when looking for a maximum brightness light to impress others with. It is a nice and classy EDC light.
