Preface
The Nitecore TIP2 (or Nitecore TIP 2) is the second generation & replacement of the previous Nitecore TIP 2017 model, with dual LEDs and magnets.
Let’s check out the merits and demerits of this new generation Nitecore TIP2 model.
Packaging & First Impressions
This is what the light will come with as shown below.
- The flashlight is sealed from factory – disassembly is not recommended.
- The removable non-reversible fairly deep carry (plastic?) pocket clip comes pre-installed from factory. Its orientation allows for attachment to a baseball cap for hands-free usage.
- The pocket clip can be removed easily but we would generally discourage repeated removal and re-installation due to the material it is made of.
- The clip does not have much tension to ensure that the light will stay clipped to any material, when compared to metal pocket clips. It does a decent job when attached to thicker materials like a baseball cap.
- The 2 side electronic switches require a relatively light press to activate. The slightly raised metal and pocket clip attachment surrounding the switches do help mitigate the possibility of unwanted activation of the light.
- The provided keychain clasp is of a fairly decent quality to be able to support the full weight of the light and hold up to the test of time.
- Tailcap is held in place by the 2 pieces of strong neodymium magnet and enables the TIP2 to be quickly deployed from a keychain attachment and be used as a flashlight instead.
- Magnetic tail (magnets are situated on both the Left & Right sides of the Micro-USB port) is able to bear the flashlight’s weight when attached horizontally and vertically (upside down) to a flat ferrous metallic surface.
- Anodizing of the light is uniform without any missing specs.
- No holster and/or lanyard is provided.
- Scanning the QR code with your phone/tablet on the box’s back would bring up the Nitecore TIP2’s product page.
Front:
Back:
Sides:
Top:
Bottom:
Box Contents:
Quick Overview (Manufacturer Specifications)
- Body Material: Black HAIII Aluminium
- LEDs: 2 * Cree XP-G3 S3 Bin
- Battery Format: Built-in 500mAh battery
- Output & Runtime (with built-in 500mAh battery):
- Low (1 lumen / 55h)
- Mid (30 lumens / 8h)
- High (200 lumens / 1h 15min)
- Momentary Turbo (720 lumens / 15min) – there is a temperature-based output step down.
- Max Beam Distance: 93m
- Beam intensity: 2,160cd
- Waterproofness: IP67
- Impact Resistance: 1m
- Dimension: 62.6mm (length) x 13.4mm (height) x 26.9mm (width) [excluding clip]
- Weight: 38.3g (including Battery & excluding Clip)
- Accessories Included:
- 1*Built-in 500mAh battery
- 1*Keychain Clasp
- 1*Clip
- MSRP: ~$45
UI (User Interface)
UI for this light is suitable for Every Day Carry (EDC) as it is rather straightforward to use.
There are 2 settings (DEMO and DAILY) and 2 electronic switches on the side of the flashlight – MODE button (closer to the head) & POWER button (further from the head) to operate the light.
Switching ON and OFF is done by the electronic switches on the side of the flashlight. There is momentary activation (MOMENTARY TURBO) using the MODE switch.
Normal Operation
From OFF:
- HOLD (POWER) [~1.5 sec] – Light will switch ON to last used Mode (last mode memory).
- HOLD (MODE) [~0.5 sec] – Direct access to MOMENTARY TURBO.
From ON:
- 1 Click (POWER) – Light will switch OFF.
- 1 Click (MODE) – Mode change (light cycles through LOW, MID & HIGH ⇒ LOW, MID & HIGH). TURBO is not part of the mode change cycle.
- HOLD (MODE) [~0.5 sec] – Direct access to MOMENTARY TURBO, releasing switch will return to previous mode.
Note: There is no STROBE or SOS (blinky) modes for this light.
Switching Modes (DEMO ⇔ DAILY)
From ON/OFF:
- HOLD (MODE & POWER) [~1 sec].
- Release buttons after seeing the LEDs flashing the following:
- 1 Flash (DEMO mode is activated).
- 2 Flashes (DAILY mode is activated).
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 till desired mode is activated.
Note:
- DEMO mode will cause the light to switch OFF after 30 seconds (no matter which mode one is in) whereas DAILY mode does not have this shutdown timer. The DEMO mode is an available option as an alternative for not having an electronic lockout for this light.
- Switching ON the flashlight immediately within 3 seconds after the above-mentioned 30 seconds, will put the flashlight into temporary DAILY mode until switch OFF.
Power Indicator
There is only 1 type of Power Indicator for this flashlight.
From OFF:
- 1 Click (MODE) – Battery Capacity Indicator is activated [3 BLUE LEDs (between the MODE & POWER switches) will flash in the following sequence].
- 3 Flashes – Power is >50%.
- 2 Flashes – Power is <50%.
- 1 Flash – Power is <10%.
Note: When the power is low, the Power Indicator (3 BLUE LEDs) will flash every 3 seconds.
Form Factor
The TIP2 has grown in size as compared to the TIP, largely due to the dual LEDs, dual magnets and tailcap-keychain attachment.
That said the TIP2 still feels rather compact and can disappear almost entirely in a clenched small sized hand. This makes for an acceptable size keychain edc, especially since the tailcap-keychain can be quickly detached from an attached bunch of keys and used as a flashlight, due to the onboard dual magnets that holds the tailcap-keychain attachment to the flashlight. The tailcap-keychain attachment also allows for the Micro-USB port to be protected from the elements.
Switching between overhand and underhand holding method is not easy due to its short form factor. There is no knurling on the light but the less conventional shape and pocket clip attachment enables the light to be sufficiently “grippy”, even with wet hands/gloves.
It is not able to tail-stand with the protruding keychain attachment point on the tail.
However, it can tail-stand without any issue when the tailcap-keychain attachment is removed.
TIP2 without the Pocket Clip:
TIP2 with the Pocket Clip:
TIP2 with the Tailcap-Keychain attachment removed:
Charging Process
For a purely Micro-USB chargeable-only flashlight, it is a little strange that Nitecore did not include a Micro-USB cable as part of the provided accessories with its current MSRP price. Nonetheless, Micro-USB cables is probably one of the most commonly used cables in recent years (with the exception of USB-C and Lightning cables) so it is not that hard to get one on hand to charge up the TIP2.
With a Nitecore-branded Micro-USB Cable (taken from the Nitecore LR50), the battery was charging at ~0.26A.
The light is capable of operating on all modes even when charging (at the expense of a slower charging rate). However, it is recommended to limit the usage to “LOW” or “MID” mode only, to ensure that the battery does get charged.
The slow blinking BLUE indicators in between the MODE & POWER switches depict charging in progress and solid BLUE (no blinking) indicators depicts charging has completed.
Beam Style/Beamshots
For this light, the spill, corona and hotspot is somewhat predictable due to the TIR optics. The LEDs are partially covered under the TIR (Total Internal Reflection) optics. With the LED used, the beam is more suited for recognising items in the up-close and near distance only.
The above beam profile is a rough interpretation of what is seen when white wall hunting.
The beam has a somewhat distinct hotspot with some slight corona and a fairly wide (rectangular-style) spill, with most of the lumens output focused into the hotspot. It also helps that the LEDs are perfectly centred in this sample. There are some beam artifacts when white wall hunting but not visible in real world usage.
All of the beamshots taken below are done so with the following camera settings (LOW: 3.2 sec, F3.5, ISO100, 5000K WB, MID: 1 sec, F3.5, ISO100, 5000K WB, HIGH: 1/3 sec, F3.5, ISO100, 5000K WB, and TURBO: 1/6 sec, F3.5, ISO100, 5000K WB).
Some pictures have been adjusted slightly to depict as close as to what is seen in real life. The distance of the light from the door is 4.6m.
Control shot:
LOW (1 lumen):
MID (30 lumens):
HIGH (200 lumens):
MOMENTARY TURBO (720 lumens):
Mode (Output) Spacing
Mode spacing appears to be progressively brighter to the eye and the modes are well spaced enough to be able to know which mode one is currently in. With that in mind, TLR tend to view mode spacing as battery life indicators (amount of runtime left) rather than the specific output (lumens).
The LOW mode of 1 lumen which is what most would call a moonlight mode and is perfect for night-adjusted eyes and midnight snack runs.
It would be nice if the 720 lumens mode version was an actual TURBO mode, rather than a MOMENTARY TURBO mode. However, Nitecore probably went with a MOMENTARY TURBO instead, as a light of this size does get uncomfortably warm rather quickly.
Tint & CRI
Nitecore did not disclose the tint (color temperature) and/or the CRI (Color Rendering Index) for the LED used in their light. For this light, a guesstimate would be in the 6500K and 70CRI ballpark.
There are tint shifts throughout the beam profile. The hotspot is cool white whilst the corona possess a slight yellowish-green tint; and most of the spill having a slight purple tint (the furthest end of the spill portion has a yellowish-green tint).
This is however, not as noticeable in real life.
Waterproofness
The light was subjected to warm water submersion, followed by cold water submersion and left under room temperature running water tap whilst running on HIGH.
No signs of water intrusion in the head or switch was seen.
However, water entered the tailcap due to the lack of an O-Ring that is normally used to seal off the tail area. After drying off the water, no issues were found during operation and/or charging of the flashlight.
Lockout Capability
No mechanical lockout or electronic lockout is possible when needed, like during transportation in a bag.
Hence, we do not recommend transporting this flashlight in an enclosed area (bag, purse, etc.). If that is unavoidable, we recommend activating DEMO mode (see above “UI (User Interface)“ on how to switch to DEMO mode), to ensure that even if the switches do get activated; the flashlight will switch ON for a 30 seconds only.
That said, having the pocket clip attachment in-place, the likelihood of accidental activation does diminish substantially. In addition, Nitecore has selected to have the UI activation to require HOLD options rather than 1 Click/Press option that their other flashlight models use, as a probable workaround solution for removing an Electronic LOCKOUT option.
Quick Comparison to Previous Generation
| Description | Nitecore TIP2 | Nitecore TIP 2017 | Nitecore TIP CRI 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| LED Used | 2 * XP-G3 | 1 * XP-G2 | 1 * 219B |
| TURBO Output | 720 Lumens (MOMENTARY) | 360 Lumens | 240 Lumens |
| Max Beam Distance | 93m | 74m | 56m |
| Beam Intensity | 2,160cd | 1,400cd | 810cd |
| Dimension (Length) | 62.6mm | 60.8mm | 60.8mm |
| Dimension (Height) | 13.4mm | 13.8mm | 13.8mm |
| Dimension (Width) | 26.9mm | 24.5mm | 24.5mm |
| Weight (including Battery & excluding Clip) | 38.3g | 23.5g | 23.5g |
| Color Options (Aluminium) | Black only | Black, Gray, Silver, Red, Green, Blue & Gold | Silver, Gray, Gold, Brown, Blue, Red & Green |
| Metal Options | Aluminium only | Aluminium, Stainless Steel & Copper | Aluminium only |
| Water Resistance Rating | IP67 | IP54 | IP54 |
| Magnets | Yes (2 Magnets) | No | No |
| Micro-USB Port | Fully covered by Tailcap | Exposed but can be covered by Clip | Exposed but can be covered by Clip |
Scale Comparison (Ruler)
Summary
To sum up, we believe that the most important part of any review is if given the chance to purchase the same light for our own EDC/usage or to gift to our loved ones out from one’s pocket (wallet), would we still do it?
For this light, it is a definite YES, if the tint shift and beam profile are not an issue for your usage.
The small form factor with 720 lumens burst output, relatively deep carry & removable pocket clip, direct access to MOMENTARY TURBO, strong dual magnets, covered Micro-USB port and easy detachment from the tailcap-keychain attachment are all plus points for this flashlight. The built-in battery might seem as a major disadvantage to some but it helps decreases the overall size of the flashlight.
It would be nice if Nitecore will produce a TIP 2’s High CRI version like the original Nitecore TIP CRI version which utilized a Nichia 219B LED.
Here is a bonus size comparison picture with other Nitecore flashlights/headlamps.
From Left to Right: Nitecore TINI, Nitecore TIP2, Nitecore TUP, Nitecore HC65, Nitecore HC33, Nitecore MH12GTS and Nitecore MH25GTS.
As with all gears, two is one and one is none.
Stay safe,
The Lite Review
Disclaimer: Light was provided for by Nitecore (manufacturer) for this review. No other compensation was provided.
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Nitecore TIP2
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