Nitecore P12 950 Lumens Flashlight Review

If you are looking for a light that can be easily carried around with you, the Nitecore P12 is an ideal choice as it is small enough to fit inside your pocket but bright enough for various purposes. Besides, it’s similar with the Fenix PD35 but more cheaper. Now, let’s go ahead and have a look at it.

Quick Take:

Design

The Nitecore P12 has a very simple design and at a compact size of 5.5 x 1 inches. It’s made of aluminum alloy and anodized with a flat black finish, which leads light weight and strength. The body of P12 is designed with knurling and a hexogonal section, which not only offers a good grip but also resists rolling on a flat surface. The u-shaped tailcap protector is large enough to facilitate standing the light on it’s end so that it may light a room like a candle. It also use to control flashlight on and off. The Nitecore P12 features a side mode switch to operate the mode switching. It’s securely packaged with a sturdy belt holster, a spare o-ring, spare tail cap switch, lanyard, tactical grip ring and a pocket clip.

Performance

The Nitecore P12 is equipped with a CREE XM-L2 (T6) LED that is well seated at the base of the smooth reflector. The P12 utilizes mineral glass for an outstandingly even beam with a cool white color. Since it is a small span of mineral glass it should take considerable effort to shatter. Beam color was a cool white with no hint of yellow It has a max output of up to 950 lumens on high mode and can cut through the darkness with a 222 meter beam. The other light levles of the P12 are medium at 210 lumens; low at 50 lumens and lower-low (moonlight) at 1 lumen. It’s expected to have a run-time of 520 hours when the lowest setting is used. For user safety and to prevent overheating / failure, the P12 will automatically switch to a lower mode after three minutes of use at its highest level of output. Nitecore P12 has an intelligent memory function, so you can store preferred brightness setting. But this memory function does not work with either the SOS or the beacon mode.

The Nitecore P12 is a lithium based light. Thus, it can use one rechargeable 18650 battery or two disposable CR123 battery. Besides, (2) rechargeable 16340 battery or (2) rechargeable 18350 battery is also available. According to the manufacturer’s data, it will have a better performance when uses 16850 battery.

Mode Operation

As mentioned above, turn on and turn off of P12 are operated by the tailcap. Press the button on the tailcap until a “click” is heard to turn on the flashlight and press the button on the tailcap a second time until a “click” is heard to turn off the light.

Nitecore P12 has four light levels and can be operated with a side Mode Switch. With the light turned on, press the side switch in quick succession to cycle through the following brightness levels: ultra-low, low, medium and high. Once a desired setting is displayed, it may be saved by turning the light off at the
tail switch.

It also support the special modes like SOS, Beacon and Strobe. To active the Strobe mode, just with the light turned on, press and hold the side switch to activate it. Press and hold once again to access Location Beacon mode and repeat once more for SOS mode. To exit any one of these modes simply press the side switch to be returned to your previously used brightness level. Strobe mode is the default special mode and is the only special mode that has a memory function. SOS and Location Beacon modes have no memory function.

Specification

Conclusion

Is the Nitecore P12 worthwhile? As we mentioned in the beginning, Nitecore P12 is similar with the Fenix PD35. Its quality is not as good as PD35, and this is why it’s cheaper. But if you’re looking for a versatile light that will serve a variety of purposes and it’s easy to carry, the Nitecore P12 is an excellent choice for you.