Review: Nitecore TIP2 (2xXP-G3, micro USB charge, removable clip, EDC)

Budda · 2019-06-11T21:26:24.000Z

I received the Nitecore TIP2 for the review from Nitecore.

The TIP2 comes in this box

The TIP2 looks like a squeezed version of the TIP, larger and thinner (62 mm x 27 mm x 14 mm)…

From the single XP-G emitter of the TIP, the TIP2 gets 2 emitter with a plastic TIR optic

Here with a BIC lighter (the smallest one).

Like the TIP, it features a removable plastic body encasing which acts as a clip. It fits on both sides so you can have the clip on the side you prefer.

There is also a blue LED indicator for the battery. Now, it has a separate window and does not glow under the switches.

The back of the light is connected to the body via 2 strong neodymium magnets. You simply pull (with quite some force) and the two pieces come apart. To reconnect them, just put them back and the magnet will hold them back together.

Here you can see the 2 magnets and the micro USB charging port in the middle for the integrated 500mAh battery. The light can be used while charging.

The magnets are strong enough to keep the light on a metal surface even when kept on the side

Here with the TUP

Defenetly a good looking light

In the hand

UI

Beamshots at 0.5 m

Output and runtime

This is how I got this plot: I run the turbo mode until the light stepped down. Then I decided to reactivate the turbo (second peak), and when the stepdown happened, I immediately reactivated it (third peak).

My thoughts
The light is well built and finished.
The levels are well spaced and the regulation is fine. The thermal regulation is there and it works.
I like the UI with direct access to highest mode.
The magnet system works well in practice and also acts as a cover for the micro USB port as well as for the magnets. No, it won’t come undone easily, if you are asking that.
The clip-cover fits on the body snugly, it works well and it is IMHO much more elegant and discrete than the one on the TIP, while maintaining functionality. You can use it to clip the TIP2 to your clothes or to the visor of a baseball cap, making it an improvised headlamp.
There is no electronic lockout, although the switches are low profile and small, but you can choose between the daily and demo mode (which turns the light off after 30”).

Nitecore took the already successful TIP and improved all that could be improved: better design and looks, better output, added thermal sensor, added detachable keychain feature.
I would like this light to come witha direct access to low mode, a neutral/warm tint, and to have an electronic lockout.

Thanks to: AntoLed, Zampa, Won.

bmengineer · 2019-06-12T14:19:06.000Z

I like the UI with direct access to highest and lowest mode.

I believe it has mode memory with no shortcut to the lowest mode. Also, how did you find the tint shift on yours? Your beam shots don’t show quite the same yellow perimeter that zeroair and I both saw.

avservice · 2019-06-12T21:54:40.000Z

“Nitecore took the already successful TIP and improved all that could be improved: better design and looks, better output, added thermal sensor, added detachable keychain feature.”

Hardly?
No Lockout and they actually made this worse by far and no Nichia which again was already an option on the Tip before this one?

The Magnet is also a pretty huge liability for some of us and will sure stick to any metal nearby without fail!

I am not trying to be nasty here but I wonder if you had to pay for your copy these things might bother you more than they seem to?

Budda · 2019-06-13T22:07:46.000Z

“No Lockout” & “No Nichia”
I would like this light to come with a neutral/warm tint, and to have an electronic lockout ; and I say that I would like a warmer tint on almost all the lights that I review.

“I wonder if you had to pay for your copy these things might bother you more than they seem to?”
I try to provide at best at my abilities a fair assesment of the characteristics of the light.
In my reviews I try to divide the facts and data (like: output, runtime, beamshots) from what are my thoughts, expressed in the paragraph with the same name.

“The Magnet is also a pretty huge liability for some of us”
Although this is not such a strong magnet if you keep the cap on it (meaning the cap will shield the magnetic filed by quite a bit), and I believe most people can get behind this (like all the people who own an armytek-olight or any other light with magnetic charging, which magnet can’t be shielded and whose strenght it’s higher than the one shielded on the TIP2), I don’t think people who don’t want a magnet would be surprisingly upset by the presence of magnets. Presence and function of magnet is clearly advertised as one of the characteristic of this product.
If you don’t want magnets on your lights you have for sure the right to not want them. Makes some lights suited for your needs and others not suited.
For example, I keep my EDC light in a small separated pocket in my working bag. So a shielded magnet is not a factor for me.

Budda · 2019-06-13T22:11:21.000Z

bmengineer:

I like the UI with direct access to highest and lowest mode.

I believe it has mode memory with no shortcut to the lowest mode. Also, how did you find the tint shift on yours? Your beam shots don’t show quite the same yellow perimeter that zeroair and I both saw.

I believe you are right and I got confused with that aspect of the interface of the P18 that i was reviewing at the same time. As I always say in my reviews, I like the direct access to a low mode too… so I will have to put that into the wishlist at the end of the review.

The tintshift is present too on my sample (which beamshots are took at high mode), but it is very evident only on wall hunting at close distances. In real world use I don’t think it makes an impact.
It would be better IMHO if the light was warm.

avservice · 2019-06-14T11:00:19.000Z

OK I will try again,

This is part of your Review:
“Nitecore took the already successful TIP and improved all that could be improved: better design and looks, better output, added thermal sensor, added detachable keychain feature.”

I don’t understand how you can claim this.

The fact that you also say that you wish there was a Lockout and Nichia option is directly at odds with this statement as well as I read it?

Removing the Lockout and option for a Nichia Emitter is not improving all that can be improved?

This is the opposite of improving.

I am not suggesting that the improvements that you site are not real, I am just suggesting that they did not improve all that could be improved but instead designed in the actual opposite of improvements too for some reason?

And on mine the Magnets are so obnoxious that I can not keep them from sticking to any metal they get near.

I also carry mine in a pocket and with attached Keys as it is a Keychain Light isn’t it?

And again I am not trying to be nasty but instead to be clear about how this light has evolved and why this has been bad for my use.

will34 · 2019-06-14T09:25:21.000Z

I carried a 1st gen tip as my keychain light for almost a year and was very happy with the performance. It did got accidental turn-on from time to time but I could live with that.

I skipped the TUP hoping nitecore would do a good job with the tip2 but to my disappointment it is just what I feel like an unfinished product with bandages around the issue. Specially disappointed by the turbo activation and long press to turn on time. I found most of the time accidental activation is caused by me laying against a table edge or low height counter and in those cases it wouldn’t matter if it’s 0.5 seconds or 2, it would still activate.

Just hoping nitecore reads these feedbacks and release an improved V2 or something. Currently using an acebeam u15 which also gets accidenta activations but at least I get direct access to different modes and has instant turn on, which for me is most important for a keychain light.

acab · 2019-06-14T09:33:51.000Z

thanks for this review. Out of my price league for a small light, but I really like Nitecore.
Maybe one day!

NancySinatra · 2019-06-14T10:30:40.000Z

It performs great with a flashlight and it’s an alternative of headlamp if you wear a cap. I’ve had this light for from last one week and haven’t charge it yet! The clip holds well, you can stick it in your pocket while you are outside in Night. I used it at night in rain. Anyway, I have so impressed with this little one and started to buy it as a gift from my friends.

xevious · 2019-08-05T14:38:45.000Z

I really don’t understand why companies like this produce small EDC key chain flashlights with tints above 5000K. Tint is a much more noticeable thing for near-field use. It’s not as important for longer range, as in many cases you’re simply searching and want more throw. When you’re using a light like the TIP2, it’s mostly for the immediate area and for small task purposes up close. You’ll definitely feel like the cool white is not as appealing as neutral white or warm white. Even still, a lousy beam pattern is more noticeable too. From the Samsung LH351D mod I saw in another TIP2 review I saw, the beam pattern can even improve:

NOTE: this is a comparison shot — TIP2 beam is on left.

If Nitecore can get their act together and figure out a workable electronic lockout with minimal parasitic drain, and employ this with an LH351D, 219C, or SST-20, I think they’d have a winner. I’m going to wait it out and see if they make the smart move.

bmengineer · 2019-08-05T18:06:08.000Z

Nice looking swap, must have been some real smart dude that did it!