Nitecore E4K Flashlight Review

Nitecore recently announced the E4K Flashlight, a 21700 pocket monster output light, which has a claimed output of 4400 lumens.  Read on!

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Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Nitecore E4K Flashlight product page.

Versions

Just one version

Price

Going price is $89.95 on NitecoreStore.com (referral link).

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Short Review

This light REALLY puts out some lumens, if briefly.  I like the big switch, too.  I don’t care for the user interface one bit, but this one’s recycled from another light where I didn’t like the UI, too.

Long Review

The Big Table

Nitecore E4K Flashlight
Emitter:	Cree XP-L2 (x4)
Price in USD at publication time:	$89.95 Buy it with this referral link!
Cell:	1×21700
Turbo Runtime	High Runtime
LVP?	Switch to Low
Switch Type:	E-Switch
Quiescent Current (A):	?
On-Board Charging?	Yes
Chargetime
Power off Charge Port with no Cell?	–
Claimed Lumens (lm)	4400
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	915 (20.8% of claim)^
Candela per Lumen	3.2
Claimed Throw (m)	211
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	151lux @ 4.642m = 3254cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	114.1 (54.1% of claim)^
All my Nitecore reviews!

^ Measurement disclaimer:  Testing flashlights is my hobby. I use hobbyist-level equipment for testing, including some I made myself. Try not to get buried in the details of manufacturer specifications versus measurements recorded here; A certain amount of difference (say, 10 or 15%) is perfectly reasonable.  This 915 measurement is just after the stepdown.  The light does hit the rated 4400 lumens and much higher, but not at 30 seconds, unfortunately.

What’s Included

• Nitecore E4K Flashlight
• Nitecore 5000mAh 21700
• Nylon Pouch
• Pocket Clip
• Spare o-ring
• Lanyard
• Charge Cable (USB to USB-C, for the cell!)
• 21700 to CR123Ax2 adapter
• Manual

Package and Manual

Build Quality and Disassembly

Solid quality here.

There’s minimal finning in the head, but the light steps down quickly enough to prevent getting too hot.  I’d much rather some heat but 1 minute or more on the highest output.

Knurling on the body is good.

Knurling on the tailcap is even better.  The tailcap is what gets removed for swapping cells.  This knurling helps greatly.

The threads are square-cut, anodized and lubed, but very long.  Lots of twisting required.  And the pocket clip makes this annoying.

Big beefy spring on the tailcap, but just a brass button on the positive contact.

Size and Comps

Officially:

Length 117.56 mm / 4.62 in
Head Size 28.6 mm / 1.13 in
Weight 80 g / 2.82 oz

Basically the same length as a Convoy s2+, but a good bit thicker.

Retention and Carry

A standard nylon pouch is included.  The light will fit in either orientation.

Also included is a friction fit pocket clip.

It’s not reversible, allowing only bezel down carry.

Power and Runtime

The E4K runs on this included 5000mAh 21700, which has built-in USB-C charging.  An 18650 can be used, as well as CR123x2.

The cell is a customized Nitecore cell, with their name on the bottom, and a specialized hexagonal button.  It is not a proprietary cell.

Looks like in the photo below there’s a lot of wiggle room for the cell, but there isn’t.  When the tailcap is tightened down fully on a cell, the indicating switch shows the cell voltage.  It blinks the actual voltage.  Three blinks followed by pause, then 2 blinks = 3.2V.  If the light is off, and you wish to check the cell voltage range, click the switch.  It’ll indicate much more generically:

Three flashes: >50% power
Two flashes: <50% power
One flash: <10% power

Also included is this 21700 to CR123Ax2 adapter.

Here’s a runtime on Turbo.  Not that I want the light to cheat for specs, but I’d really like for the initial output to hold on just a little bit longer.  At startup, it’s practically 5000 lumens!  At… maybe 26 seconds, it’s around 4400 lumens.  Then it falls right off.

High doesn’t have this massive stepdown, though, and holds over 1200 lumens for just under 2 hours!

In both tests, the light just stepped down VERY low but didn’t shut off.

The included cell has built-in charging.  It’s a USB-C port.

Nitecore includes a cable – USB to USB-C.

Here’s a couple of charge cycles.  Charging looks fine.  USB-C to USB-C does not work.

Modes and Currents

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
Turbo	4400	30m	915^	12.50
High	1050	3h15m	1246	2.24
Mid	320	7h30m	362	0.55
Low	50	45h	74	0.13
UltraLow	2	700h	–	0.02

^ After the massive stepdown!

Pulse Width Modulation

No PWM.

Here you can see a “baseline” – a chart with almost no light hitting the sensor.

Then there’s the Ultrafire WF-602C flashlight, which has some of the worst PWM I’ve seen. It’s so bad that I used a post about it to explain PWM! Here are multiple timescales (10ms, 5ms, 2ms, 1ms, 0.5ms, 0.2ms) to make comparing this “worst” PWM light to the test light easier. That post also explains why I didn’t test the WF-602C at the usual 50us scale.

User Interface and Operation

There’s a single switch, on the head.  It’s an indicating e-switch.  I like that it’s bigger than most switches like this.  There’s a silicone cover.

The indication can be seen below.

Here’s a user interface table!  There are two mode groups.  They’re the same except where mentioned!  Switching between them is easy.  Turn the light off and loosen the tailcap.  While holding the switch, tighten the tailcap.  The light will flash once for Daily and twice for Tactical mode.

State	Action	Result
Off	Hold	On (Mode Memory), and mode advance through modes^
Off	Double Click	UltraLow
On	Hold	Turbo
On	Triple Click	Strobe
Strobe	Hold	Strobe Group Advance (Strobe>SOS>Beacon)
On	Click	Off
Off	Triple Click	Daily Mode: Turbo Tactical Mode: Strobe

^ Advancing through the modes… must be done from a “light is off” state!  So you want medium, and High is the last used mode, you turn the light on to high (by holding) and keep holding through Turbo, the two lows, then medium.  There doesn’t seem to be another way.  You can double click to ultra low then advance from there…  It’ll still go to memory.

LED and Beam

There are four emitters in this light – a quad.  They’re Cree XP-L2, and they each have their own tiny smooth reflector.  My emitters aren’t all that well centered in the reflector, but I don’t think this affects the beam shape much if any.

These beamshots always have the following settings:  f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure. These photos are taken at floor level, and the beam hits the ceiling around 9 feet away.

Tint vs BLF-348 (KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b version) (affiliate link)

I compare everything to the Killzone 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!

Conclusion

What I like

• Cell is included
• Massive output for a short while
• Nice big switch
• Access to Ultralow from off
• Respectable price from Nitecore

What I don’t like

• Emitter Temperature and tint
• Doesn’t stay at 4400 lumens for long
• The user interface is not a good UI

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Notes

• This light was provided by Nitecore for review. I was not paid to write this review.
• This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
• Use my amazon.com referral link if you’re willing to help support making more reviews like this one!
• Please support me on Patreon! I deeply appreciate your support!