There are certainly a lot of people who like lightweight headlamps with a built-in battery. Nitecore NU model line of headlamps is exactly for this audience, a line of compact and lightweight plastic headlamps.
Nitecore NU25 2022, as the name suggests, is an update to the popular and still well selling model that was released 5 years ago. I propose to see what’s new there and whether the new model turned out to be better than the old one.
you can buy new Nitecore NU25 2022 at
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Package and appearance
The headlamp is packaged in a nicely designed black cardboard box. It will not be a shame to give or to receive as a gift.
Inside is a plastic backing, in which everything is stored.
The kit consists of the headlamp itself, a headstrap (2 available types), a type-c charging cable, and a manual.
The head mount is unusual and consists of two parts: flat, common for most headlamps, and ultra-light, typical for light-moving flashlights. By the way, Nitecore NU25 2022 can be bought with the last one as well.
Width adjustment is simple and very fast. When you are on the go, it is much simpler than the usual way.
I stuck on feedback of guy who used 1st gen of Nitecore NU25, he gave some feedback. I agree and disagree with some of it. But i will mention it anyway, to keep review objactive.
To start with, he wrote that hair gets inside this adjustment node. Well… maybe it happens, if the hair is long. I have a short haircut and have never had problems with “oh, my hair is hooked.”
there is a gel strip on the inside
It is worth noting that Nitecore recently released another easy-to-fly flashlight Nitecore HA11. It is powered by a single AA battery and its headband is reduced to a pair of rubber bands. And here’s what’s interesting - in addition to reflective elements, head strap also have glow-in-the-dark elements, something that i`ve never ever seen in headlamps! So, new Nitecore NU25 2022 also has this part of rubber band. Of course, dont expect it to be as bright as on the promo-pic )) but i warmly welcome idea to implement GITD elements here.
And here is the headlamp itself. To begin with, let me remind you what the first generation Nitecore Nu25 looked like.
And this is how the new generation of the Nitecore NU25 headlamp looks like.
And now in more detail. As before, the angle of the flashlight is adjusted with a traditional ratchet.
There is frankly a slight play in each position. It is soo insignificatn to the point that it’s worth mentioning, but I don’t feel any of its influence in actual use. Relatively speaking, if you shake your head, then the flashlight will not walk back and forth.It keeps it`s angle firmly. I don’t have a single similar flashlight on my hands to compare how the ratchet works, maybe this is generally normal. It’s just that the aforementioned user complained, I decided to mention for the sake of completeness and objectivity of the review.
If 1st gen of NU25 head mount was threaded through the slots, now it clings to a pair of metal plates. And it clings securely.
that is how it was in 2017
and in 2023 just put the head mount and fasten it with these two legs.
Let’s go straight. I can’t say about this mount system “oh, it used to be bad, but now it’s fire.” It was fine before. Put strap in the slot and that`s all. Now I see only one, perhaps rather hypothetical advantage. If you pull headlamp hard and sharply, now these “legs” will come unfastened, and the plastic will not break out of the mount. But this is already from the category of “if grandmother had balls, we called her grandfather…”
Changing the charging connector to type-c is a completely logical and justified change. The headlamp also supports charging from a reversible USB-C cable too.
I note that you need to get used to securely close the plug. You need to bend it slightly in a certain manner. Of course, let’s look at things realistically, when would we blindly close and open the plug of the charging connector? Each time you take headlamp off your head to charge. So, obviously you see charge cover and that is not a problem to bend this rubber plug a certain way. So, that is not a proble, but just nuance of use, which i have to mention. Aj, the plug itself is thick and reliable.
There is also a charging indicator, the simplest one.
Charging is really fast, one hour and you are back in full combat readiness.
There are two buttons, both are comfortable. There are no problems with finding and determining them blindly at all
The optics have changed dramatically. Instead of a small reflector and a pair of rectangular TIR lenses, there are now 2 large low and high beam TIRs, and between them a pair of tiny red light LEDs.
And here i must mention next - the plastic panel. I again refer to NU25 2022 user’s comment. Dude wrote that panel was pretty scratched after he put NU25 in pocket with some stuff like keys and small repair stuff. What can I say … I recommend the most common bag or plastic case to store NU25 while you carry it. That is an obvious thing to do. Or, well, just put the Nitecore NU25 2022 in some separate pocket or carry it with thing that will not scratch the plastic. You know, i woulnd carry any stuff with plastic lense in pocket with keys, no matter how hard plastic is.
I also should note that according to my impressions, it’s just plastic like usual plastic, I didn’t notice it is weak to scratching. However, here we must rely on a long experience of real use, and a short and rather gentle review use.
That’s it. Here are some more photos for those who are interested. There are no complaints about the quality. The only thing that would be worth modifying is the plug of the charging connector so that it gets up as tightly as it should every time.
UI
UI has changed. Initial one was more convenient for me. Not to say that current one is uncomfortable, but you need to get used to it.
I like the instant access to the minimum brightness and the fact that the flashlight turns on at this brightness upon exiting the lock.
How Nitecore NU25 2022 illuminates
Well, that is absolutely no surprise that there is no sense to expect long runtime in higher modes from a compact plastic headlamp. You dont want plastic to melt on you head, dont you? So that is no surpsie that 400lums High mode is short-time here (reasonably short, according to brightness\plastic, here i dont complaint). But Nitecore Nu25 2022 has a timer stepdown for each of the modes including Low. And this leaves questions…
Look here. You turn Mid, then after 2 minuties you are at level of 60lums Low, and this is the brightness level that NU25 2022 can sustain. And it does. So, if headlamp can easily sustain 60lums after stepdow, what is the reason to set timer stepdown to Low level as well? NU25 2022 sustains 60 lums after stepdown, but doesn`t sustain if you turn 60lums Low mode separately.
So, stepdown in High and Mid is something that you may expect. But i cannot explain stepdown in Low.
For the end user, this is what it translates into in the bottom line:
a) If you need to work in Low - turn on Mid, after a couple of minutes the brightness will drop to the level you need and stay there.
b) Do you want something brighter? Turn on High, after 30 seconds the brightness will drop to 30%, that is, about 120 lumens. This is the maximum brightness at which the flashlight can work for a long time.
c) The MID itself at 200 lum is limited to one and a half minutes. This is, in fact, another sort of turbo mode. Ok, that is no surprise as well, 200lums may be quite hot for compact plastic headlamp.
d) An undocumented 1/3 from LOW mode opens in this scenario, i.e. ~ 20lum, a mode that is quite convenient for my purposes, mode which I am glad to see here. The question again is what’s the point of getting to it by such roundabout ways of the stepdown.
e) Spot or Flood in Low or Mid modes separately will be brighter than both of them, turned on altogether. 60lum against 30 + 30, easy to undestand.
I dont concern this disadvantages, decision to split brightness between Spot and Flood seems quite reasonable to me.
In general, the light is quite pleasant. As far as I remember, Flood light was warmer in 1st gen of Nitecore NU25 of 2017. But the light in the new model does not repel me as well. It just colder, but not cold. Would be cool to make back to back comparison, but i`ve sold 1st gen soon after review years ago (and then regreted several times).
Ok course, Nitecore NU25 2022 is not a bright flashlight. I mean stable brightness. 400 lums of High mode is a really good output for such a sort of headlamp. And it would be naive to expect compact plastic headlamp to be as bright as some modern full-scale model with the same SST40. These are totally different light source for different needs.
Red light is damn bright.
Those who can be repelled by modest numbers of brightness, can take a closer look at how everything looks alive, when you use new Nitecore NU25 indoor. I know lot of people hunt for big lumens. But my experience tells me that i rarely climb higher ~150lumens in real life use.
All the modes on max brightness
Spot + flood, all the levels
Flood only
The photo and gifs clearly show what this headlamp is capable of in terms of light. If you need to quickly look around, it will completely light up about 50 meters around. Although, Nu25 2022 was created for a different, much smaller radius of use, and it is totally reliable within it.
Immediately on the gifs below, it is perfectly clear that if you turn on the conditional 60 lumens of the spot and flood together, then it consists of 30 + 30. That is, I repeat, a single spot or flood will be brighter.
Here at the end S+F at the maximum
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
I have criticized (I criticize and will continue to criticize) Nitecore more than once for some features that i dont like.
But I have great sympathy for the NU line of their headlamps. Someone would spit: plastic, with a built-in battery, low-power - what can please in this combo? Many will not be impressed. But I really like the NU line. Honestly.
I also liked the NU25 2022. It is light, it has a good battery and runtime, fast charging, there is instant access to a ultralow (some people don’t care, but for me it’s really important). UI has changed and you have to get used to it.
The light (brightness, range and runtime) of a headlamp totally correlats with its size, weight, material and battery. Here the flashlight neither surprised nor disappointed me.
I have only one question left. I see no reason why the manufacturer made a timer spedown for Low mode. Now you have to turn Mid mode on, if you would like to constantly use these 60 lums of Low mode.
ah, yeah. I`d also would like to see some classic firefly mode, like 0.5lums. 6 lums is a good mode, but this may be too bright if you turn flashligh on when wake up at night.
And, of course, you should carry Nitecore NU25 with attention to prevent scratching plastic lens panel.
P.S. I have a suspicion that the reason is the following. The eye adapts to the drop in brightness and you cannot notice this stepdown (if it is not rapid drop) when using a flashlight. And the runtime in this case becomes quite long.
All in all, if you want a lightweight headlamp with a built-in rechargeable battery, the Nitecore NU25 will most likely give you what you need, provided you can reasonably estimate the radius within which it will shine normally. And this radius is definitely enough for your eyes not only for some work at arm’s length, but also for walking and unhurried jogging.