Review: Nitecore NU17 (Trail Headlamp, microUSB rechargeable, XP-G2 S3, Red and HICRI)

Budda · 2019-09-12T00:28:36.000Z

I received the Nitecore NU17 for the review from Nitecore

The NU17 is a trail headlamp from Nitecore. It features an included 580mAh rechargeable li-ion battery, that powers 3 different emitters: a CW XP-G2, a set of HICRI LEDS and red LEDS.

The NU17 comes in this small cardboard box with a plastic window. With the NU17 coomes a micro USB cable, the manual and the headband.

The front of the NU17 with the different emitters.

The back of the NU17, where the straps fit tightly in its enclosure

The mount for the headband allows several tilting inclinations for the NU17, and also acts as a physical barrier when the light is not tilted (a sor of closed position). Compared to other small NU lights that I owned, on the NU17 the tilting mechanism feels more precise in the action, with a good feedback.

On the bottom there is the micro USB port for charging, covered by a rubber cover port. The NU17 is rated IP66.

The NU17 is very compact (53x30x28 mm), even considering the small size of other NU lamps. Here is a comparison with the NU30 that I previously reviewed and that offers, the same 3 different light modes (standard light, red light, HICRI light).

Compared to the strap of the NU30, the one of the NU17 feels more confortable, and has a couple of advantages, like the presence of reflective elements imbedded in the fabric

And a line of anti slipping silicone on the inside

Beamshots
Half a meter from the wall

Outdoor

Output and runtime

My thoughts
The light is well built and finished.
The UI is the classical trail running lamp, shared throughout several trail lamps model, so people can move from a model to a different one without having to readjust their UI habits.
Compared to previous NU models, here the HICRI LEDs have a more warm tint and their beam is more clean and with lesser artifacts. Similarly for the red LEDs, where the NU17 doesn’t lack in output (as you can see in the beamshots).
I really like the optics used in this NU17, as you can see in the beamshots they do a good job of smoothening the imperfections in the smaller LEDs, as well as providing a very wide and foot reaching beam even when the XP-G2 emitter is engaged.
I like the micro USB port on the bottom of the light, it makes the port less exposed to rain, sweat and overall dirt, and the new rubber band is more confortable (you don’t need to over tighten the band when you want to prevent to slipping when it’s soaked or when you are bouncing a lot on some terrain).
Overall, considering the relative small price, simple UI and compact size and weight, the NU17 can be a serious candidate for people who are entering the trail running world and don’t want to spend lot of money but still get home a light that allows you to enjoy the state of the art LED technology, or are particularly sensitive to size and weight (consider the size-output-runtime-budge proportion).

I would have liked the NU17 to have also a low HICRI mode.

Thanks to: AntoLed, Won, Zampa.

Budda · 2020-03-09T07:31:14.000Z