At the end there will be a summary for those who like only particulars. In each topic I will bold the key sentences, so it will be easier to notice what’s the most important. Enjoy!
Check the official Nitecore website: http://www.nitecore.com
Read about the Nitecore EDC27: https://flashlight.nitecore.com/product/edc27
Table of Contents:
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General parameters
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Package content
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Appearance, parameters
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UI, heat dissipation and charging
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PWM
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Waterproofness
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Light pattern, tint
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Beamshots
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Gallery and Summary
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Material | Stainless steel + carbon fiber frame |
| Reflector | TIR, clear plastic |
| Lens | plastic TIR, not protected by glass |
| LED | 2x Luminus SST40 cool white |
| Brightness | 3000lm max, theoretical |
| Throw | 220m |
| Switch | 2x electronic tail switch |
| Modes | 5 + strobe |
| Mode memory | Yes |
| Battery | Built-in 1700mAh Li-Ion battery |
| Overheating protection | Yes |
| Low voltage protection | Yes |
| Waterproof | IP54 |
| Impact resistance | 1m |
| Size | [Diameter: (Head: 31mm / Tube: 31mm)] / Length: 136mm |
| Weight | Flashlight + battery: 124g |
Inside were:
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Flashlight
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Lanyard
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2 spare o-rings
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Manual
Yes, the lanyard came broken, what a pity. What can I do if I ever need to attach one? I will have to choose from my 72 other lanyards that I don’t use. What a shame. Nitecore, please do better in the future so I can have more unnecessary things randomly lying around.
It looks really great, to be honest. At first I was a bit sceptic about its shape, but now I like it.
Let’s dive deeper:
On the front there is a plastic clear TIR optics. It is unfortunately not protected by glass, so it will get scratched fairly easy.
2x SST40 6500K is able to output 3000lm, which is really impressive for this size flashlight. It is not that far from XHP70.2, but look at its size
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not fooled by its power and won’t recommend only small flashlight with a lot of power. I know it cuts both ways, and it is indeed bright, but for a short time, due to small mass and quick overheating.
It would be even more unfair to compare its size to different flashlights with similar output. Let’s do this:
LoOk HoW mUch biGgeR the CoNvOY is cOmPaRed tO tHis NitECoRe. WHY IS IT SO BIG?
To have a different, 2S driver? Probably. To have good thermal mass? Yeah. To have longer runtime? Well, yes.
On the other hand it is about the size of FW1A Pro, I think. I don’t remember its name, it is basically next FW3A iteration Lumintop manufactured seeing how popular the original FW3A is and how much money can they squeeze out of it. Both outputs sits at around 3000 lumens.
So, it is safe to say, making a 3000 lumen flashlight this size is not that unique, and Nitecore is not making something unique in terms of its size. EDC27 is unique in other ways (OLED display, UI, copper elements to mention only a few).
On top there is a small, tiny OLED display that is able to display several key informations, like current battery voltage, brightness, and runtime left on current mode.
I once made a joke by mentioning it can also show the current weather forecast and showed this:
But there were someone saying that reviews should be honest, without misleading informations.
He probably had a bad day. Or was a Grouchy Smurf
The flashlight has a good grip thanks to rough textured carbon fiber frame.
It also has a detachable metal clip, as every EDC flashlight should have
Built-in Li-Ion battery is good. You can also see the copper heat dissipation fins, under the clip.
UI
It’s insane!
I really appreciate thinking and engineering behind the UI. Seriously, there are 2 switches, and one of them has 5 different functions, and the other has 2.
I’m impressed by the first square small button
You can:
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See actual voltage by short half press
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Activate ultralow mode by long half press
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Turn the flashlight on and off by a full press
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Change modes by short half press when turned on
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Turn on lockout mode by long half press when turned on
And I know there is Anduril out there where you can enter a lockout mode by a 6-click, change ramping by 3-click, turn on strobe by 8-click followed by 2-click, change temperature threshold by 12-click followed by wait and then 35-click if you need 65°C, or you can change aux led color and brightness by 16-click then jump and wait, then 4-click to change color, then crouch, do a quick 5-click and hold (for approx. 1.5s, not longer), flashlight starts blinking, wait for the 9th blink if you need dim aux light, 11th blink if you prefer stronger light, otherwise wait for the 17th blink, press and hold, loosen and tighten the head (still pressing the button), flashlight will blink quickly 10 times and slowly 5 times and you’re ready to go.
Yes
Sorry @ToyKeeper
Anyway, the second button (with “MODE” on it) is used exclusively for turbo and strobe.
Heat dissipation
Integrated copper cooling fins (very small cooling fins). Is it really helping? I mean, copper is good, but I am not sure if it makes a significant difference here.
Charging
Built-in USB type C charging port, not very well covered by the plasticky cover.
Only IP54, that’s probably why.
Hardly visible, only with a phone camera. This is of course a very good result.
Declared IP54, which means „Dust protected. Prevents ingress of dust sufficient to cause harm” + „Protect against water sprayed from all directions”
Trust me, you don’t really need IP68 in your next EDC flashlight. What you want to do with it? Dive? Then it won’t be enough. It would be great to have IP56 here, but IP54 is enough in 90% of situations.
2x Luminus SST40 6500K, plastic clear TIR optics, max declared brightness 3000K
Beam from about 70cm from the wall. It looks square-ish, but I am honestly surprised. I never noticed it before, and I am using this flashlight for some time now. You won’t notice it too, probably.
Beam profile from about 10cm from the wall.
As I mentioned early, it does look greenish here (at least for me). It is because of my new camera, I am considering messing with more detailed settings, because white balance at 5000K simply doesn’t render the color correctly.
It does not look nearly as greenish as here.
ISO200
t2s
f/3.5
5000K white balance
General picture of what the forest looks like:
Beamshots of Nitecore EDC27:
This is so confusing. Is it an EDC flashlight, or maybe a 3000lm XHP70.2 big 21700 flashlight? It turns out it’s both, only with 2x SST40 instead of XHP70.2
And again, I have a new camera, and it seems that setting WB at 5000K does not look
And more common use scenario:
In my opinion 200lm is plenty enough for just walking and hiking. Nearly 4 hours of runtime on that brightness is also a lot. But everyone’s different, so it could be too low for you, maybe you need at least 1000 lumens, or it could be too high, like for my brother who is completely fine with 50lm.
Nitecore EDC27 is a unique flashlight, in a good way.
First of all, it’s an EDC flashlight, so it should be small, lightweight, well protected against water and dust, should also have a neutral tint, good CRI, and not so floody, but not so narrow beam.
EDC27 is not perfect. if you need something to really use every day, this is probably not the best choice.
But if you need a flashlight to use occasionally / light EDC, then it’s a good option. IP54 will be enough in most situations, OLED display is really handy, the flashlight has a unique design and a lot of power, 3000lm to be exact.
Pros:
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3000lm, small body
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Unique design, practical (big metal clip, textured sides for better grip)
Cons:
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Plastic front element, prone to scratches
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Buttons are feeling wonky, not the best tactile feedback
If you have any questions, put them below, thanks for sticking for a while 
