[review] Nitefox UW360

Lightbringer · 2018-05-19T16:38:55.000Z

This is a nice little worklight, and quite handy. Except for the flexible neck, construction is all plastic, making it rather lightweight. Especially in the head, reaching out far from the base, you don’t want a heavy head to tip over the light, or if using the magnetic suck base , having it pull away from what it’s stuck to.

The main light engine is a set of 4 LEDs (2850s? no caliper handy…), putting out rather nice neutral-white light, not a hint of Angry Blue™, all mounted on a rather large aluminum board to wick away heat. It’s a mule, so there are no optics to speak of, giving you a wide flood of light without any hotspots.

The base has a magnet at the base, and includes a ferric disc if you want to mount it to something, or can be used as a wider base for a sort of table-lamp. It works, and sticks quite well.

The base is also lightweight plastic, and screws into the neck snugly, and includes an O-ring under the threads. Be aware, though, that the design is not waterproof, as the head has a slider door as if you’d stick in a pair of AAA cells or something. While you can absolutely stick it to the side of your car to change a tire as is seen in one of the pix here, don’t try it on a rainy day, because water will get into the head, and possibly drip through the inside of the neck to where the driver is.

The neck uses a membrane switch to cycle through off/bright/dim modes. Opposite it is the rubber plug for the usb charging port. According to Nitefox, the light itself doesn’t have low-voltage protection, so definitely use a protected 18650 such as the included cell.

The included 18650 cell is protected as mentioned, and though rated 2600mAH, clocked in at 2490mAH on my Opus ’3100. A little under-spec, but quite respectable. It’s not a high-strung light, so any decent cell will work fine in it. I’d stick with the included cell without hesitation.

I didn’t yet do any testing of the charging portion to make sure it doesn’t overcharge the cell. Nor did I measure current draw in any of the 3 modes (bright, dim, parasitic drain when off). Maybe later…

It comes in a nice snap-closure hard plastic case that fits the light, ferric disc, and also-included charging cable. It even arrived with a rubberband around it to keep it from accidentally opening, which was a nice touch (vs tape that leaves sticky remnants all over, etc.).

All in all, it’s quite a nice light, wide-angle, no hotspots, nice tint, decent brightness for close-up work, or even for lighting up the area in front of you at night. Objectively, the price-point may be a bit high, but compared to similar “name-brand” lights out there, it’s more than competitive.

Here ya go, here’s a nice big pic courtesy of Amazon. Shows all the important bits.

Rightclick to see the image fullsize, else click on the image…

amishbill · 2019-09-24T03:31:27.000Z

Darn you…

Despite this looking like a lumen-powered paddle, I find myself trying to find a purpose for it in my life.

Lightbringer · 2019-09-24T03:53:08.000Z

Yep, you’ll get one, play with it a bit, “find a purpose for it” like you say, and then you’ll be getting another one for even more uses for it.

It’s an interesting little critter, not glued or anything, so the head comes apart, etc. Lightweight (to keep it from tipping over, etc.), not quite waterproof though, but still handy.