Nitecore TIP Winter Edition Review (V2)

Nitecore TIP Review V2
Hey folks today we have the best light ever tested by me. Well one of the best. You may think I am joking but I am serious. The market has needed this flashlight for so long and its finally here and fixed!
We are reviewing the Nitecore TIP version 2 Christmas edition box actually says winter edition. Christmas day is a special day for all of us. But for me its my birthday that is right my birthday is on the 25th of December and this year I turn 30. Turning 30 means no more acting up right? No way it means extra shenanigans this time around lol. Maybe I can go to the doctor and ask for testosterone injections now lol Maybe even some Human growth hormone! We will see what Santa brings in his sack .
The usual disclaimer the Nitecore TIP was sent to me by Gearbest for review they are on sale until the 31th of December. Prices this month have been crazy all around with Gearbest and Banggood competing with each other. We are all laughing straight to the bank. The retail on these TIPs are twice as high as the selling price they are going for 16 USD. That is a crazy price for what you get! I am not taking sides in this war. Price wise Gearbest wins out easy this time. I am buying a TIP for my partner no doubt it will be here after Christmas but that is okay. I might swap the color of both of ours so its one color all together. I am not sure what she is getting me because i have yet to decide i may get a welder and a fire extinguisher lol.
Purchase link here:
Nitecore TIP Christmas (link is external)
Coupon: GIFTDEAL Price: $16.59

Let me start by saying out of the 3 lights I have here to review. This one has me the most excited I love it! I have been EDCing the Nitecore TIP for a week now on my key chain and I love it. Love is in the air every where i look around. Honestly I feel like I can throw away my normal EDC flashlight. I can confirm this is a version 2 of the TIP my one has no lockout drain and the red light doesn't blink when you lock out the light. I took my apart the drain is still a tad high coming in at 88 micro amps when locked out but that is acceptable. Considering the TIP comes with a built in 500mah battery even when stored you will get about 5-6 months of storage before the battery is flat. This 500mah battery gives you a max run time of 46 hours in Nitecores imagination lol. Nah if you use the TIP on Ultra low AKA moonlight mode you will get 46 hours of run time. Now I know all you moon light lovers just relaxed your selves. If your any where in the northern hemisphere relaxing goes with the Christmas decor lol.
The Nitecore TIP is what the Nitecore tube should have been. I have had the Tube on my key chain now for over a year and a half and it get mild use at best. Its more so there for the placebo effect so I know I have a backup flashlight if I need it. In this last week the Nitecore TIP has seen much more use then the tube over the years. Nothing against the tube but it just needed a tad more power. This is what separates the TIP from other flashlights in this markets its overall usefulness. I should mention my TIP and all winter TIPs only come in the XPG2 variants. Which of course gives you more powerrrrrrr.
The Nitecore TIP has 4 modes

• Ultra low: 1 lumen @ 46 hours

• Medium: 35 lumen @ 6 hours 30 min

• High: 150 lumen @ 1 hour 30 min

• Turbo: 360 lumen @ 30 minutes

This mode spacing is perfect! For once mode spacing makes sense. The TIP only has 3 standard modes but all as you need to do to access turbo mode is push and hold the mode change button that accesses turbo from any mode even from of. This makes turbo access so easy. The Nitecore TIP has a memory mode function for all modes except turbo which is fine because once again for the 100th time turbo access is super easy. You can also push and hold the power button for instant access to Ultra low. I know I know you love moonlight mode. The winter edition of the Nitecore TIP come in one variant only they all use the CREE XPG-2 S3. You can get the Standard TIPs in an high CRI Nichia if your into that stuff. I do agree the beam is nice on the Nichia but id rather keep my run times and output for my EDC flashlights. Plus after using the BLF 348 they run so damn hot! I cant imagine the high CRI TIP being any better? Maybe some one can chime in?
Beam profile wise the Nitecore TIP is super flood heavy it has almost no throw. The only throw you get from the Nitecorece TIP is because of the overall power output. Nitecore is back to using there "Precision Digital Optics Technology" I have seen this used on a lot of there headlamps its just means its super floody but still provides some throw. I like the beam profile by using this technology its like using TIR optics just not as floody overall making the beam more useable. The Nitecore TIP gives you 1400cd which is equal to 74 meters of beam distance. This is number one for throw lol. Its so much better having a beam like this on the TIP it works so well. The area that you light up looks so much better lit up then having a throw heavy beam.
As an EDC flashlight the Nitecore TIP kind of falls down here. Only in one place and that is the IP54 rating so it is not waterproof. It would be just water resistant I think we could fix this issue pretty easy by just covering the USB port. I am not sure why Nitecore went this route and left the USB charging port uncovered. The Nitecore Tube even has its USB charging port covered and comes with a better IPX rating.
I will insert a snip here of the IP standard ratings. The first number is for dust ingression the second number is for water resistance .

• 5
  Dust protected
  Ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment.

• 4
  Splashing of water
  Water splashing against the enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effect, utilizing either: a) an oscillating fixture, or b) A spray nozzle with no shield.
  Test a) is conducted for 10 minutes. Test b) is conducted (without shield) for 5 minutes minimum.

So you can see it should be able to hold up to EDC use pretty easy but I would still feel better if the USB port was covered. These port cover can be bought for cheap. I will leave a link here as where you can purchase them. I took my light apart and the TIP has an O-ring the whole way around the light to help keep out water. Maybe for ease of use Nitecore went this route because the covers on the Tube are a tad hard to get open. On a plus note the Nitecore TIP comes with a drop resistance of 1.5 meters which is more then enough for EDC use. Being used as an EDC flashlight the Nitecore TIP is bound to get banged around and beaten pretty bad in every day use especially if stored on your keys.
The Nitecore TIP is made out of the usual HAIII military grade hard-anodized which is a major upgrade compared to the Nitecore tube because that was made out of plastic.
Well harden plastic its not like it wasn't a good flashlight. The TIP uses metallic paint in a huge variety of colors. The Christmas editions come in two colors only either red and green or blue and red. I guess that is why they are the Christmas editions I actually like the colors being mixed because its not often you would see a flashlight that looks like this with mixed colors.
I hope in the future we see this style of flashlight its very different and it sure beats always looking at a bland and plain flashlight! Another note for the build quality is the fact that the TIP comes with a rear suspension ring is capable of sustaining 30kg weight. Now I am not sure how many keys you carry but that is more then enough for me. Please if you carry more then 30kgs of keys show me I really want to see them. In a side note this means you could attach the TIP to your backpack and suit case and then use the TIP to lift them up because your massive. Your name is probably Benedikt Magnússon! (worlds strongest dead lifter unassisted).
Size wise the Nitecore Tip is so small and light it would be easy to lose which is a downside. The TIP weights in at 23.5 grams with the battery which is crazy light! Even thought it is this small it manages to stay cool even on turbo mode. I am not sure how they do it well Nitecore say its because of there Advanced temperature regulation but I think its black magic. It does have a temperature step down which is perfect if you gift this flashlight to a noob that knows nothing about lights they will not break it. It also comes with all the other necessities when using a Lithium battery like over-discharge and overcharge protections. Plus short circuit protection and auto end-off-charge for the built in 500mah battery. Back to the size because we all know its size that matters most. The TIP is 60.8mm (6.8cm) long vertically and 24.5mm (2.45cm) across horizontal and is a mere 13.8mm (1.38cm) thick. To put the weight and size into perspective it weights the same as an AA alkaline battery.
The Nitecore TIP has two buttons one for power and one to change modes. Both these buttons are back-lit with a red and green LEDs the same colors as Christmas lol. Its the same on all the TIPs they all have that config of lights. The Nitecore TIP turns on the red LED under the buttons when it is charging and changes to green when the charging is complete. The red LED under the buttons flashing when the TIP is put into lockout mode is a tell tale sign that you have a V1 TIP. The V1 TIPs had a battery drain issue in lockout. Peoples batteries where going flat in lockout mode after only 4 days. This is fixed on the Christmas edition of the TIP. That also leads me to the fact that the TIP has a lockout mode which is essential on an EDC flashlight. Simply push and hold both buttons on the TIP. The TIP will then flash the main LED once and that means its locked. So no accidentally pushing buttons and leaving the TIP on to drain away the battery. I wonder where all the energy was going with the V1 TIPs?
What is included in the package? I forgot to add this part! Plus Nitecore doesn't write what is included in this pack!

• TIP Winter edition

• USB Charging dongle

• Key-ring attachments big and small attachments

• Instruction manual

• Warranty card

• A card for you to write on? Its like a Christmas card i guess lol

Overall I challenge you to show me a flashlight that can compete with the TIP? In any way? Its overall output is massive and its size is small and tiny. It is built with Nitecore quality and is made for every one with its ease of use. You can gift the Nitecore TIP to friends and family and know it is safe for every day use. The Christmas edition comes with every thing you need to run the TIP straight from the pack. You may be able to think of other lights around this price with this output but do they come with an integrated charging circuit with a built in 500mah battery? This could be the next legacy key chain flashlight! I love the Nitecore TIP and i would highly recommend it! Just stay away from V1 and buy yourself the V2.
These next photos are all taken at ISO 800
I will add in you can clearly see from the photos how bright the Nitecore TIP really is. It holds its own in the EDC league while being smaller and lighter then these other lights.


Thanks for taking the time to read.
Regards Chris

Great. Another purchase to be made. Thanks for the review. So the external link, that's for a package of 2?

You only get one for that price. But it is a mixed color like the one in my picture.

hazard2036 said:

You only get one for that price. But it is a mixed color like the one in my picture.

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When I went to the link the price was not near what you post here?

Also that was some kind of review!

An absolute steal at that price! My 2nd tip is now enroute!

firsttothescene said:

An absolute steal at that price! My 2nd tip is now enroute!

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Nevermind

I have never heard of GearBest before. Where are they located?

It starts with a C and ends with an a, and it's not Canada.😊

Thanks for the review! Issues with the V1 kept me away but now thinking about it again.

OP- I will remind you of the Family Friendly policy here, and ask you to edit your original post accordingly. Thank you.

Please may I add that the tint on my previous (V1) sample with the XP-G2 was very nice for being a cool tint. Color rendering is not as good as the Nichia of course, and I did not notice the Nichia emitters running hotter than the Cree. Perhaps it should be mentioned here that if you use this capable light day and/or night quite a bit, you'll need to recharge it like many charge their phone; nightly. This much light coming from such a small battery needs it. Typical keychain use will last a long time however. If you see the (red emitter) button light blinking, give it a charge when you can.

Once you learn the user interface, it is a very efficient flashlight to get the light level you want, typically one or two clicks to get from off or on to any mode.

The easily accessible buttons are just the ticket for some folks. Others want more button protection (or recessed buttons) to avoid unintentional activations (Manker LAD candidates?). The two button lockout works very well for many.

Yea you need to use the coupon.

I edited my post. Sorry!

KITROBASKIN said:

Please may I add that the tint on my previous (V1) sample with the XP-G2 was very nice for being a cool tint. Color rendering is not as good as the Nichia of course, and I did not notice the Nichia emitters running hotter than the Cree. Perhaps it should be mentioned here that if you use this capable light day and/or night quite a bit, you'll need to recharge it like many charge their phone; nightly. This much light coming from such a small battery needs it. Typical keychain use will last a long time however. If you see the (red emitter) button light blinking, give it a charge when you can.

Once you learn the user interface, it is a very efficient flashlight to get the light level you want, typically one or two clicks to get from off or on to any mode.

The easily accessible buttons are just the ticket for some folks. Others want more button protection (or recessed buttons) to avoid unintentional activations (Manker LAD candidates?). The two button lockout works very well for many.

Click to expand...

Yea i love twist activation lights as my EDC for this reason no buttons to press and turn by accident. Did they replace your V1? Its a shame how Nitecore handled the lockout issue. I have 5 of there lights and 4 of there chargers i would expect better quality control and testing from such a big company. Those Nichia LEDs always run a tad warm they love wasting energy but that is part of having a high CRI LED.

Thanks for the great review - just ordered one at that fantastic price. Can't go wrong with Nitecore products - own several and will continue buying their well designed, high quality products!

Cheers,
Tim

Thank you for the great review. Am considering ordering one for myself now.

hazard2036 said:

Yea you need to use the coupon.

I edited my post. Sorry!

Click to expand...

Thanks!

I just got my winter edition...from Amazon. Pricey at $32. It does seem to be the v2. Really did not want a WE...but wanted to reduce the risk of getting a v1. Works as expected, very bright for it's size for sure. Happy with it.

Insane deal, unfortunately it only lets you buy 1, got one for my brotherinlaw, will try back later and see if I can order a backup for myself.
Nice review, this really is a great light, at this price it's ridiculous.

Hey hazard, thank you for the informative and entertaining review, and for the great deal.

Can you post where you purchased a port cover that will fit the charging port for the TIP? Muchos gracias.

Great deal for 17 bucks. Just picked one up. Might pick up another as a gift.