Review: Nitecore LR10 (NW Lantern, HICRI, integrated battery, micro USB charging)

Budda

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 30, 2009
Messages
590
Location
Italy
I received the LR10 from Nitecore for the review.

The LR10 is a compact lantern with integrated li-ion battery and micro USB charging.
The LR10 is available in a CW and a NW HICRI tint version. I got the latter.


The LR10 comes with a charging cable and instructions.
Nitecore_LR10_04.jpg

Nitecore_LR10_05.jpg

Nitecore_LR10_06.jpg


The LR10 is a compact light and can fit in your hand.
Nitecore_LR10_01.jpg


The whole body of the LR10 is made of plastic: yellow (or olive green, or black, all 3 options are available) at the base of the light and frosted the upper part where the LEDs are located.
On one side of the light there is the electronic switch.
On the bottom of the LR10 there is the metallic D-ring and the micro USB port for charging the light, protected by a rubber cover.
Nitecore_LR10_07.jpg

Nitecore_LR10_08.jpg

Nitecore_LR10_09.jpg


Beside the main LEDs, in the LR10 there is also a couple of LED that act as a battery charging indicator (RED when charging, GREEN when charged) ; the RED led doubles also as a locator and a battery gauge meter.
Nitecore_LR10_11.jpg

Nitecore_LR10_10.jpg


Here a comparison with my car keys
Nitecore_LR10_02.jpg


And here with another lantern, a Fenix CL25R.
Nitecore_LR10_03.jpg




UI
Nitecore_LR10_15.png




Output and runtime
Nitecore_LR10_12.png

Nitecore_LR10_13.png

Nitecore_LR10_14.png


at the end of the plot the light still gave a firefly like output for additional time.



Beamshots
There are no beamshots yet.
Having always struggled with beamshots, I had some issues making them with a lantern.
So, right now, I can tell you the tint is a pleasant NW (a real NW, much less than 5000K), no PWM at any level that I can see with my eye.



Here is a thermal video of the light




My thoughts
The LR10 is well made and finished.
The LR10 is a small, user friendly, lamp. The interface is simple, and you don't get through flashing/SOS modes unless you want to. The integrated battery allows a fairly good runtime, although many may prefer the option of non proprietary / swappable batteries, to obtain the same capacity, you will need 2x14500 cells, or several AAA cells; but these options will cause a significant increase in size (not only for the AAA cells, but also a waterproof lid for the tray), weight and will make impossible to have a rechargeable feature.
The magnet and the metal D-ring makes the LR10 easy to set up in different situations. The magnet in my LR10 is strong enough to hold the light vertically or upside down.
I like the choice of several colors for the body of the LR10, although I will suggest you to go for the bright, easy to see, yellow one.
I like the HICRI emitter choice.

I wished the LR10 had another level, at a few lumens, and a constant output red mode.


Thanks to: AntoLed for the camera help, thermal equipment, luxmeter.
 
Top