Until the production of the SRT6 and SRT7, I've never been much of a Nitecore fan, particularly of the EC2 and some of the early push button makes it brighter feature. The runtimes also were a bit disappointing. It surprised me that so many people didn't go for the red, green and blue LEDs.
After using the Nitecore SRT7 for a couple of months now, I'm hooked on it. Yes, I like the floody light I get from my Klarus ST11 (which is one of my favorite lights), the Nitecore doesn't seem to skimp on anything. The strap that comes with it is a great quality cord, and while the case could be better, many LED high performance flashlights don't come with them these days, and this Nitecore is no slouch. I have a Klarus XT30 that will give me reach, but I don't often need it. If the Nitecore had the flood that the Klarus ST11 did, it would be perfect (for me); though the SRT7 gives both flood and reach, but is not the best in each category.
The low-ball price of $79 (shipped) is very competitive and both the SRT6 and SRT7 have been shown to take water pressures to about 80 feet of water for half an hour and would probably go much longer. And even those who are convinced they'd never use the colored LEDs in the Nitecore, I'm convinced they would soon find uses. (Only SRT7 users could confirm this, however.) Feature for feature, I can't think of any flashlight on the market that is this dependable, this well made and yes, modestly priced. Why any police officer or military personnel would pick a Surefire or other light that sells for much more and does far less, is beyond me.
When I first got my Klarus, it saved my butt a few days later when some clown in an SUV screeched around a corner and headed right for me, my wife and cat while we were taking a walk and headed right for us. The cat, of course, left us for high ground in a heartbeat (presumably to get help), and I had no time to push my wife out of the way. The only thing I had was the Klarus in my right jacket pocket. I only had time to hit the full blast mode, not the strobe as I would have preferred. In the briefest of moments, I saw that the driver was a student from the nearby high school, and that he was right in the middle of texting. Blinded by the light, he swerved away from us and, unable to see a thing, pulled over and waited for his vision to clear up. He didn't exit the vehicle or attempt an apology in any way. He just remained stopped and we moved on with the cat in tow.
It's not often something pays for itself within a week of its purchase, but we would have been splattered even if I had had to remove the light from its case. Fortunately, the flashlight was in my hand, and my hand was in my pocket. Had the light been a Nitecore SRT7, we also most likely would have been plastered because of its two-step ready system. Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, I carry the Nitecore in Standby Mode and ready to use with but a push of a button.
At night, the red light lets me keep my night vision, and though I don't rightly know what the green and blue lights do, they sure are purty! I suspect the red and blue blinking lights could scare off some bad guys, I also suspect they could get one into some trouble if improperly used. Anyway, with crime also on the rise, a small, but good heavy duty flashlight can always be useful.
There are many lights out there that go for more than a C-Note that are simply riding on their names. Feature for feature, they are just providing yesterday's technology today. But yes, I'm willing to say that there are more Nitecores in my future.
