Review of Nitecore Tube

The Nitecore Tube was purchased from GearBest.
The light comes in a very simple box: cardboard and plastic.
It contains only the light and 2 splitrings.

The Nitecore Tube is really compact :open_mouth:
I’ve seen it in many pics, but still, in person it is smaller than expected.

Here compared with a medium sized lighter, a 0.05€ coin and a medium sized key.
It is also very thin

I got 3 Tubes, and all 3 are looking exactly the same. The dark plastic is flawless and has the same colour in every part of the light
Inside the plastic are molded 2 metal pieces, useful to attach splitrings and lanyards

The light can be disassembled removing the 4 screws.

The button protrudes slightly and has a good grip, not slippy at all. The click action gives a clear feedback. Even with the gloves I had no troubles using it.

The cover for the micro usb requires a bit of patience to be removed

On the circuit board inside the light there is a blu LED that works as charge indicator: on when charging, off when charged.
It is really bright.

UI:
When the Tube is off, a single click will turn the light on at the minimum output. Now, a continue pressure will make the light enter in ramping mode
When the Tube is off, a double click will turn the light on at the maximum output.
When the light is on, a single click will turn the light off.
When the tube is off, a continuous pressure will give you momentary maximum output (as soon as you depress the botton the light will turn off).

The Tube doesn’t have memory for the ramping genereted output.

At low level the Tube has eye detectable PWM, and it desappears as you increase the output. I could not detect it by eye at the maximium output.

The lowest output, 1 ANSI lumen, is more than enough to see the keyhole or to move inside the house in the dark.
The maximium output, 45 lumens, will give you a useful amount of light within 10/15 meters from your position
The light has almost 100° angle, creating a wide beam as you would expect from a led without reflector or optic.
The LED tint is good for a keychain, a CW slightlty on the light blue.

Here the Tube with my Victorinox Minichamp, an EDC must have

Runtime Test: Maximum output

Good regulation for the size of the light. Will not leave you in the dark without letting you know it.

Beamshot, 1 meter from the wall

After 3 weeks of owning and using the lights, these are my conclusion.
The Tube from Nitecore is a great light: so small and light that you can forget about having it in your pockets.
Keep in mind that most of the Keychain light widely available have many buttons cell that will run out quickly, are not regulated (short timed hi output, long runtime at low output), and changing the battery is expensive when compared to the cost of the light.
The Tube It is well regulated, has an adequate output for a Keychain light, and has a micro usb port for charging. Oh, and also has 2 + 1 output (min, max and ramping).
For a flashlight person as myself (and you reading this, I guess :sssh: ) it isn’t a problem mastering the UI of the tube, but I have seen my family members using it just with a single click (momentary max and minium output).
I think this light can easily be enjoyed from not flashlight pepole: they are happy not having to remove the battery or connecting a special charger for the battery: we have many USB power supply and micro usb cables around the house.
Runtime and quality of the beam (relative white tint, absence of major artifacts) is a big improvement for their EDC Setup.

Beamshots will come (I’ll have to steal back my Tubes from my family members).

Thanks for reading.

I own 2 clear Tubes for about a year now. Great little keychain lights

BTW, nice review!

nice review! I own one and I love it

Nice review there.
I have each in blue and red for me and my missus.

I bought 10 Nitecore tubes for Christmas gifts last year2015. Not one lasted until Christmas 2016. All ten just flicker now and have been thrown in the trash. The ones I took apart all failed because the red wire from the switch to the battery broke, very cheaply made.Very embarrassing. I’d never buy anything with Nitecore on it.