Nitecore R40 v2 Flashlight Review

Nitecore has released the Nitecore R40 v2 Flashlight, a new “everything” light. It has USB-C charging, and a cell is included. Read on!

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Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Nitecore R40 v2 Flashlight product page.

Versions

There’s just the one version

Price

These are going for the price of $149.95 at NitecoreStore.com (referral link).

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Short Review

This light seems to be a well-rounded contender, aside from lacking LVP. It’s not going to be a light purchased by the flashlight enthusiast, but it will be a solid choice for the flashlight enthusiast’s parents, for example. There are so many charging options that all the bases are covered. The output is good, the charging is good. A big downside is the proprietary 21700, but as I said, enthusiasts aren’t going to be buying this, so that will likely not matter.

Long Review

The Big Table

Nitecore R40 v2 Flashlight
Emitter:	Cree XP-L2 (V6)
Price in USD at publication time:	$149.95 at NitecoreStore.com
Cell:	1x”21700″ (included, proprietary)
Turbo Runtime	High Runtime
LVP?	No
Switch Type:	E-Switch
Quiescent Current (A):	?
On-Board Charging?	Yes
Charge Port Type:	USB-C
Chargetime
Power off Charge Port with no Cell?	No
Claimed Lumens (lm)	1200
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	1115 (92.9% of claim)^
Candela per Lumen	28.1
Claimed Throw (m)	344
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	1065lux @ 5.542m = 32710cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	361.7 (105.1% 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.

What’s Included

• Nitecore R40v2 Flashlight
• Nitecore NL2150DW Proprietary 21700
• Nylon Pouch
• Charge cable (USB to USB-C)
• Wall plug to barrel
• Car plug to barrel
• Lanyard
• Charge base
• Spare o-ring
• Charge base (different kind from above!)

Package and Manual

Build Quality and Disassembly

The build quality is good. Standard Nitecore fare, which is “good enough.”





One little thing that bothered me about this charge port cover is that the cover spins around on an axis opposite that little tab. Well, if you don’t shove it down in there exactly right, then the little tab isn’t in the right place for easy use next time.


The threads on the tailcap are square-cut, anodized, and very smooth. Also fairly long, but since the user will probably never take the tailcap off, that’s not a problem.

There’s a spring on both the head and tail – more on this later. There are actually two springy parts on the head.



Not a lot is going on for cooling fins, but there’s so much mass here that this, too, is not really a problem.

Size and Comps

Length: 159mm
Head diameter: 40mm
Body diameter: 38.6mm
Weight: 211g (288g with cell)

Retention and Carry

There’s a nylon pouch included with the purchase. It’s a fine pouch, and the light will go into it in either direction. The light will need to be removed for use.

There’s also a lanyard included, which attaches only on the tail area, through this hole in the body.

There is no pocket/belt clip or plastic holster for belt use. No other options for carry are included.

Power and Runtime

The R40 v2 runs on a “21700” battery, but that’s really inaccurate – a regular 21700 cell does not work in the light. This light requires the cell that’s included, which is seen below.

This cell is the same on both ends – that’s quite unusual…. but it does mean the cell can be inserted in either direction, and work fine. The positive terminal is in the center, and the negative ring surrounds it. This also means the cell can not be charged anywhere but in the R40 v2.
Upon inserting the battery, the indicating switch will flash to reveal the cell voltage. And it blinks the actual voltage. For example: three blinks then a pause and 2 blinks would be 3.2V.

Here are a couple of runtimes. I was surprised to see this light hitting over 1100 lumens – and not only that, it does so for almost an hour! That’s quite spectacular.

High is equally well regulated and stays at around 500 lumens for around 4 hours, which is again impressive.

I stopped both tests while the light was still active, but the switch was indicating the cell voltage was low. In both cases, the cell was around 2.5V. That’s lower than I’d like and indicates there is no LVP in this light.

Charging

A charging cable is included. It’s USB to USB-C.

The charge port for using this cable is right on the tail and covered by a press-in attached rubber cover.

Here’s a charge test with the supplied cable. It’s a little slow, to be honest, but also reliable. Also, note that at the beginning, the charging circuit smartly gets the voltage up a bit from the 2.5V (post runtime) before starting the ~1A charge.

I tested briefly with USB-C to USB-C and this also works fine. It doesn’t appear to be Power Delivery, but charging at 5V does work this way.

Also included are a number of ways to get 12V power to a number of 12V barrel plug bases. First is the wall plug:

Then the car plug for cigarette lighters:

And then the charge bases. I don’t have any way to log these, but they seem to work fine. This one in particular is a wireless charge base.

The light just sits comfortably in this, ready for use at any time.

Also included is this charge base, which is a wall mount (see those two holes in the back there), and also operates on wireless charging.

Also, a 12V in barrel plug.

This has so many power options. Unfortunately, one of the strongest possibilities for these charge bases doesn’t seem to be incorporated – when power goes off to the charge base, the light does not turn on. That’s an often-requested feature that I can only remember seeing in one light, and it’s not offered here. Big swing and a miss there.

Modes and Currents

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
Turbo	1200	2h15m	1115	2.80
High	480	5h	506	0.94
Mid	220	11h30m	247	0.41
Low	50	48h	74	0.13
Ultralow	1	1200h	–	0.01

Pulse Width Modulation

No PWM whatsoever here. Yet on some of the other recent Nitecores, there was PWM so bad it was disorienting. I wonder how many groups at Nitecore manage electronics.

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 are a couple of switches on the R40 v2. They’re both e-switches, both have indicator function, and are side-by-side on the head.

Here’s a user interface table! Note that there are two switches – one for power (has a power icon) and one for modes (has four lines). The mode button is closest to the front of the light.

State	Action	Result
Off	Click Power Switch (PS)	On (Mode Memory)
Off	Click Mode Switch (MS)	No action
Off	Hold MS	Turbo
Off	Hold PS	Ultralow
On	Click PS	Off
On	Click MS	Mode Advance (ULMHT)
On	Hold MS	Strobe
Strobe	Hold MS	Strobe Advance (Strobe>Beacon>SOS)
Off	Double click MS	Strobe
Strobe Group	Click either	Off
Any	Hold both	Lockout (Emitter flashes to confirm)
Lockout	Hold both	Unlock (To Ultralow)

LED and Beam

The emitter in this light is a Cree XP-L2. The reflector is big, deep, and smooth. This gives a very spotted beam, which has very good reach.

Beamshots

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 keep the test flashlight on the left and the BLF-348 reference flashlight on the right.

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

Conclusion about the Nitecore R40 v2 Flashlight

What I like

• “Ultra” complete package
• Wireless charging (two options!)
• Wall mount
• Meets specification for throw and output!
• Very stable output even for turbo.
• Extremely stable High output.
• USB-C charging is very reliable

What I don’t like

• Size – this is a big light
• Proprietary 21700 cell is absolutely required
• No real LVP – this type light should have LVP
• USB-C charging is slow at around 1A

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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!
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