I received the Nitecore LR12 from Nitecore for the review.
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The LR12 is the evolution of the LR10: the light features an XP-L emitter and it has a retractable cylinder diffuser that isn’t completely closed, and allows the light to be used as a regular EDC. The LR12 is powered by a 18650 battery.
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The LR12 comes in this box.
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The overall design is the same as the LR10, but the LR12 is bigger because it uses an 18650 battery.
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In my medium size hand (106x27 mm, 79g)
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There’s a rotating bezel that allows to extract and retract the diffuser.
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The diffuser has a different design than the one on the LR10: it is still cylindrical, but it has an open end, which means than when it is completely retracted, the light now has the beam of a regular flashlight.
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The only removable part of the light is the tailcap, which also contains a magnet that allows the light to be attached to a metal surface.
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UI
The UI is pretty simple: turn the light on by screwing the tailcap on. Turn the light on and off and back on quickly to change modes (low, medium, high, turbo, beacon, in loop).
The light has no memory and always gets on at low mode.
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Output and runtime
Both measured using an unprotected LG MJ1 18650 cell. After all my tests, the cell was above the minimum voltage recommended for 18650, so you don’t run into the risk of overdischarging your unprotected 18650 cells.
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Beamshots at half meter from the wall.
In case someone was wondering how the beam changes when the diffuser goes in an intermediate position between the fully retracted and fully extended position, I made some extra beamshots.
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Thermal Test
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My thoughts
The light is well built and finished
There isn’t much to say about this light: Nitecore re proposed the winning LR10 formula in a bigger light that now is able to produce more output and have more runtime, a good thermal regulation and a different design in the diffuser that, although makes the LR12 still a viable lantern light, but now adds the chance of actually being used as a regular light.
I think you could very well paint the diffuser in red/orange or whatever color you want, in order to have a regular light with a “colored led lantern” alternative in the same package.
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I would like to see this light with a NW tint and a sheath.
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Thanks to: AntoLed for the camera help, the tripod, the luxmeter and the thermal equipment