NITECORE E4K with Organizer

There are many, many good flashlights to choose from, but after a long search I've found the Nitecore E4K to be a superb flashlight for my needs. Read on for full details. A single button to control everything ------------------------------------------- Many if not most of the quality flashlights on the market use two buttons for control -- a tail switch and a side button. In my view, this is a very suboptimal design scheme. The idea of the tail switch is to allow quick access to momentary and/or full on+off while holding the flashlight overhand. This is perhaps ideal for tactical use (by law enforcement for example) and is handy for quickly checking out something in the dark. But it requires an overhand grip, which has two negatives: 1) you can't easily access the side switch without shifting to an underhand grip and 2) the overhand grip is not good for continued use of the flashlight in many situations, such as walking / hiking in the dark. A few of the new Nitecore tactical flashlights have incorporated a dual button scheme into the tail switch (an on/off button and a mode button), which is a step in the right direction, but I feel that the single side button is superior for non-tactical use cases. And, another BIG plus with the design of the side button on the E4K is that it is a) large and b) sticks out of the side in a way that is easy to find and use, even with gloves on. 4400 Lumens, both floody and throwy -------------------------------------------- I've seen some reviews that say something along the lines of "my 1000 lumen flashlight is more powerful than this one, so no way it has 4400 lumens". Lumens refers to the total amount of light emitted by the device whereas candela (candlepower) refers to the focused beam of light and how far it can reach. In my view, the E4K maximizes both lumens and candela. With 4400 lumens, it has a LOT of light output and much of that output is used to create a nice floody light which not only lights up what you are directly pointing the light at, but also the periphery, which is great for many general use cases. However, with this much power, at the higher levels, the E4K is also able to throw a lot of light at quite a reasonable distance. These characteristics might not please someone looking for a truly tactical flashlight (for use in search or interrogation or in a crowded public area), but for general outdoor use, I think the E4K hits all the right marks. But the turbo mode gets hot and eats the battery --------------------------------------------------------- I've noticed multiple reviews that point out that the flashlight gets VERY hot when using the turbo mode. It also eats the battery quickly. This is generally true of most flashlights with turbo modes. To get that much power in terms of lumens uses a lot of energy (battery) and generates a lot of heat as a byproduct. My personal take is that many people use turbo mode improperly. It is not meant to be left on for any length of time. Rather, it is for an exceptional situation where you need maximum light to "check something out". And the E4K has a great UI for accessing the turbo. While you can access the turbo mode by cycling through the various brightness levels, you can quickly access turbo by a press-and-hold on the button. As soon as you let go, it returns to the previous brightness level. This is absolutely an ideal way to utilize the power of turbo and in short bursts you won't see the light get too hot or eat battery too quickly. Flashlight size, form factor, EDC (Every Day Carry) --------------------------------------------------------- Something you'll see a lot if you research flashlights is the idea of EDC (Every Day Carry). These tend to be relatively small flashlights that you can always have with you. In my opinion, the E4K is a little too big for literal EDC use. I prefer some of the new very powerful and flexible keychain flashlights for my own EDC use. That being said, I think the size, both width and length, as well as weight, of the E4K is just right. It feels good in hand, either bare handed or with gloves on. It hits the sweet spot for me. Lighting Modes ------------------ The E4K has an excellent selection of lighting modes. It has ultralow, low, mid, high and turbo. The ultralow is 2 lumens which might dissuade some people looking for a true "moonlight" mode that has less lumens. However, keep in mind that due to the floody nature of the E4K, the 2 lumens is actually a very usable moonlight mode. I personally find that ultralow and low satisfy 90+ percent of my needs, but it is nice to have mid and high when needed, plus the quick access to turbo for those exceptional cases where I need to light up everything! The E4K also has strobe, SOS and beacon modes. The strobe is an effective deterrent, with randomly changing frequencies for more impact. I personally rely on the strobe as a hopeful deterrent for coyotes and other wild animals I might encounter on my nighttime walks / hikes. The SOS is pretty standard. The beacon mode is awesome! It is a single super-bright flash at regular intervals. I can see this coming in handy and it is just plain cool. Battery level indicators --------------------------- There are two ways to check the battery. Both flash a blue LED under the side switch. When the tail cap is loose and then tightened you get a detailed readout via flashes to show the voltage of the battery within +/- 0.1V. Perfect! For more general use, a single press when the flashlight is off will give a series of blue flashes, 3 flashes means above 50%, 2 flashes is between 10% and 50% and 1 flash means less than 10% remaining. Good for a quick take on how much battery you have left. Charging the battery ------------------------ The battery has a USB-C port on the side which allows it to be charged without a specialized charger (the cable is provided and you can use your phone charger or any other USB power supply). This works well and has a red light when charging and green when fully charged. Note that it uses less than 1 amp for charging, so it takes a while (several hours) to fully charge a depleted battery. Many other current generation flashlights incorporate a USB charging port directly on the flashlight. In my view, the approach of the E4K keeping the charging circuitry on the battery itself is ideal. When charging ports are on the flashlight itself, they need covers to keep out dust and water, plus it is more circuitry in the flashlight itself that could break. With the solution of being on the battery, if for whatever reason the charging port / circuitry failed, you can just get a new battery. I find that if you don't use turbo too much (see my comments on that above), the battery lasts a LONG time between charges, so having to take it out to charge is not really a negative. The UI (User Interface) of the side button ------------------------------------------------ Given the inherent limitations of a single button interface to ALL features of the flashlight, I think that Nitecore has come up with a really good UI in the E4K. First, a comment on the nature of the UI. Many / most flashlights have an extremely simple UI with the two-button approach. The tail switch is the on/off button and the mode switch simply cycles through the various lighting levels. The UI on the E4K is rather complex. You NEED to read the manual, get familiar with it, practice it, until it becomes second nature. It is worth the effort, though, as once mastered, you can really maximize the full potential of the E4K. Some highlights: - Direct access to ultralow. When the light is off, a double-press on the button goes directly to ultralow. - Momentary access to turbo. When the light is on, press and hold the button to access turbo, let go to return to the prior brightness level. - User modes. The default mode is known as "daily mode" and when the light is off a triple-press will directly access turbo. There is another mode known as "tactical mode" which I prefer. In this mode a triple-press when the light is off will directly access strobe. I like this because a) triple-press when the light is off or on will always go to strobe, so less to think about and b) my preferred use of turbo is momentary and I never want to go to full-on turbo mode. - Mode memory. The flashlight will return to the previously chosen level the next time you use it. I've found two "tweaks" to the UI that really help with my daily use of the E4K: First, I cycled through the various light levels and chose what is my default level. For me, this is low, but whatever works for you. My general usage of the E4K is to switch between ultralow and my default brightness (low). I only use the other brightness levels on rare occasions and for turbo I rely on the momentary access feature. Tweak #1: To switch quickly from ultralow to your selected default brightness level, do a double-press and hold on the second press until the light comes on. This is not an official button press, but it works well to switch from ultralow to your chosen brightness level. Tweak #2: If you want to quickly switch from the current brightness level to ultralow, do a single-press, wait for a second, then do a double-press. Again, not an official button press sequence, but memorizing this makes it easier (at least in my usage). UI Improvements -------------------- While I like the UI, it is not perfect (no UI really ever is), so I have some suggestions for possible improvement: - I wish the normal cycling through brightness levels didn't include turbo mode. - The current UI uses a single-press when the light is off to show the remaining battery power and you need to press and hold to turn on the light, but not too long or you'll start cycling through the various brightness levels. I assume that part of the reason Nitecore chose this was to avoid accidental pocket activation of the flashlight. I think this could be resolved by incorporating an electronic lockout feature. That being said, maybe they considered this and didn't go through with it as it made the UI too cumbersome for general use. - In the current UI, you can only cycle through the brightness levels by turning on the light when it is in an off state. This is counterintuitive and probably disliked by many users. I have found a way around this (see my "tweaks" above), but still think it is suboptimal. - The triple-press seems a bit finicky in my usage. If you triple-press too slowly, it won't do what you expect and I often find that to happen, even when I attempt to do it quickly. - I wish there was a customizable UI feature, like Skilhunt has for their flashlights. Other features of note -------------------------- - The color temperature of the CREE XP-L2 V6 LED's is cool white (probably 6500K). This is very standard on portable LED flashlights, but many clamor for a bit warmer tone. I don't know all the technical issues behind the color choice of the LEDs, but personally I am fine with the cool white light for my own use. - The nature of 4 LED bulbs in a little reflector array results in "flower petaling" at the edge of the beam. In other words it is NOT a smooth round beam, but has jagged edges at the periphery. This is very noticeable when the beam is focused on a wall or nearby surface, but in general use it doesn't bother me at all. - ATR (Advanced Temperature Regulation) is a feature that automatically regulates the output of the flashlight to keep it from getting too hot. This is a nice safety feature, especially because bad things can happen to lithium ion batteries that get too hot. - The clip & lanyard are fairly standard. I personally don't use either, but note that the only way to attach the lanyard is to the clip itself. - The flashlight is IP68 rated for 2 meter submersible in water and 1 meter impact resistance. The water rating is great as you really don't need to worry at all about it getting wet. I wish the impact rating was a little higher, but I also don't plan on dropping it often! - Because it doesn't have a tail switch and has a nice width, the E4K is excellent at tailstanding! This is an overlooked feature, but is great for using the light in a stable setting to light up a room / area without being held. Conclusions -------------- Again, there are many, many choices for flashlights. None are perfect for every use case. As I mentioned, I personally use something else for literal EDC (check out the Fenix E03R). But I find the Nitecore E4K to be a superb flashlight for daily use on long early morning walks / hikes in the dark. Thank you Nitecore!

This flashlight has a powerful, long-lasting, *wide-angle* beam that is perfect as a handle-bar-mounted headlight for my mountain bike; great at night; and great during the day in beacon mode. I keep the flashlight in my pocket (EDC) and attach it to my handlebars with a simple olight silicone flashlight mount. I use an NL2150HPi battery and carry a tiny Nitecore MPB21 "charging bank" adapter so that the battery in my flashlight can recharge my phone in a pinch (yes, this has saved me). The *wide-angle* moonlight mode, which is on the bright side, is perfect for reading at night, and can illuminate a room just enough when pointed at the ceiling. Medium mode, pointed at the ceiling, makes a very pleasing lamp. The clip is easily reversible, and the flashlight is just small and light enough that it can serve as a headlamp clipped to a ball cap. In an emergency, slam down the big button and you have full on turbo mode - great tactical light really. Half press the button and you can see the power remaining. And then there is this feature I discovered recently: the flashlight always emits a slight glow, like the glow of a watch dial; not enough to illuminate anything, but enough to find the flashlight on your bedstand at night. No, this flashlight doesn't have a USB port, but the battery lasts a long time between charges, and I have come to appreciate its amazing features, compact size, and bombproof simplicity. The main thing is that wide angle beam - other flashlights might advertise the incredible throw of their narrow beams, but who cares. I want a light I can use. Like I said, I use this light on my mountain bike, and it lights up everything in front of me. I've used the light every day for the past year and a half.

This is an awesome flash light and I use it during my nighttime walks. I would normally use a FatMax flashlight that has an excellent throw and a strong beam. However, I was looking for something that was brighter and more compact. After researching a number of flashlights, I settled on the NiteCore E4K. Out of the box it feels like a well made flashlight. It fits perfectly in my hand and once I had figured how to adjust the intensity of the light, I was very happy. A few things to note: This flashlight is very bright. It throws a fantastic white light that does a great job. With that said, I feel that this flashlight does not have a strong 'beam' and the device does not come with an adjustable lens that allows to narrow the throw. The second thing is that this light has five brightness settings. The first is extremely low, maybe what your cell phone would produce, and really doesn't help much in a day-to-day situation. The second level is not much better. The third is okay and works well if you just need to see what is around you without much light pollution. The fourth setting, which is what I usually keep it set on, does a good job. When the flashlight is used at the fifth level, which is the brightest, it becomes very hot in about 10 seconds and is not intended for long term use. Overall I am very happy with this flashlight. My only recommendation would be to add a way to sharpen the beam.

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