Nicron B70 Plus Flashlight Review

Nicron updated the Nicron B70 Plus Flashlight with Osram P9 and USB-C charging, too! This light can switch to a right angle style light!

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Official Specs and Features of the Nicron B70 Plus Flashlight

Here’s a link to the Nicron B70 Plus product page.

Versions

Nicron makes many versions of right angle twisty-head lights.  As far as I can tell, there’s just one “B70 Plus.”  Also exists a regular B70.

There are are definitely older versions of this light, too.  The version in my hands uses an Osram P9 emitter but previous generations have been (for example, but potentially not limited to) Cree XM-L2 and Cree XP-L HI.  I’d love to see the XP-L HI version, but I understand the move to P9.

Price

Surprisingly the B70 Plus doesn’t seem to be on Amazon (yet?).  The B70 is though, and looks to be around $50 (referral link).  I would expect the B70 Plus to be around that price, too.

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Nicron B70 Plus Flashlight Short Review

This light isn’t my usual fare, but I was still pleasantly surprised by it.  There are some nice features – USB-C charging, complete package (ie including cell), useful indicating e-switch…  A couple of things that I like a little bit less though – PWM, and overall size.  But at around $50, this will hit a certain niche of flashlight needs very well.

Long Review

The Big Table

Nicron B70 Plus Flashlight
Emitter:	Osram P9 (Cool white)
Price in USD at publication time:	~$50
Cell:	1×18650
Turbo Runtime Graph	High Runtime Graph
LVP?	Yes, with warning
Switch Type:	E-Switch
Quiescent Current:	0.7μA (very low!)
On-Board Charging?	Yes
Charge Port Type:	USB-C
Charge Graph
Power off Charge Port	with cell: no modes without cell: no modes
Claimed Lumens (lm)	1200
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	1223 (101.9% of claim)^
Candela per Lumen	7.9
Claimed Throw (m)	200
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	352lux @ 5.553m = 10854cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	208.4 (104.2% of claim)^
All my Nicron 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

• Nicron B70 Plus Flashlight
• Nicron 2600mAh 18650
• Charge cable (USB to USB-C)
• Spare o-ring
• Spare charge port cover
• Manual and papers

Package and Manual

Build Quality and Disassembly

First of all, this light is long.  It’s not really all that big but it’s certainly long.

A lot of that is made up by the twisty head.  That certainly requires extra length!  And in the ‘bent’ format, the light is no longer that unreasonably large.

Second point is the camo!  It’s very camouflaged.  Try to find the light in the feature image!

The camo printing seems to be likely hydrodipped, which is very cool.  It doesn’t add any different feel to the light, really.

The Nicron B70 Plus is called alternately “Plus” and “+” … I’m not sure which the official name is.  I went with “Plus” mostly because that’s what the box says, and “+” is harder in file names.  😀  But Nicron seems to think either is fine!

One item I found strange on the Nicron B70 Plus is the tailcap. It’s very sturdy.  And by “very sturdy” I absolutely mean “unusually large.”

Both head and tail have springs. Let’s talk more about the tailcap below.

There’s knurling on the body in a few places, including the head.  This helps with twisting, but you won’t really need help – the action is very smooth.

Maybe a little too smooth?  I found that my hands got very small amount of lube from the tailcap and the angle head the first 10 or so times I picked up the light.  And it’s not “normal flashlight lube.”  It’s the kind of lube that smells bad, and … feels icky.  But that excess wears off fairly quickly, and of course a quick wipe down would clean that up too.

Size and Comps

Officially 160mm long and 26mm in diameter, this isn’t a small light, like I said. The weight is 153g without the cell.

If the flashlight will headstand, I’ll show try to it here. If the flashlight will tailstand, I usually show that here, too.

Here’s the test light with the venerable Convoy S2+. Mine is a custom “baked” edition Nichia 219b triple. A very nice 18650 light!

And here’s the light beside my custom-engraved TorchLAB BOSS 35, an 18350 light.  I reviewed the aluminum version of that light in both 35 and 70 formats.

Retention and Carry

A pocket clip is included.  It’s a friction fit pocket clip, and connects only around the head area.

Also included is a tailcap magnet, which is surprisingly strong.  I mean it’ll snap things up that you think aren’t even close….   That brings me to the point about the tailcap I mentioned above.  You’ll note that there is a retaining ring there.  Usually that’d be for switch access in a light like this – but there is no switch.  I’d imagine the point is to be able to remove that magnet – and you might want to.  It’s strong!  Strong enough to hold this light fully extended (ie the most torquey way) horizontally!

Power and Runtime

Nicron provides the appropriate cell with the B70 Plus.  It’s a lithium-ion cell, and the B70 Plus fits a single one only – an 18650.

The cell is a standard button top.

The cell goes into the Nicron B70 Plus in the usual way – positive terminal toward head.

Below you can see a couple of runtimes. Nothing too exceptional, but let’s appreciate that it’s not bad at all.  There’s a big stepdown but we expect that (a light this relatively small couldn’t handle the head of 1200 lumens for long anyway).  Then the light exhibits low voltage warnings through the switch (which not only does red and green, but also orange!).  Then finally shuts off around 3V.

Testing with bench power, the low voltage warnings look about like this:
3.4V Orange switch.
3.1V Red switch.
2.9V Red Flash.
~2.5V off (in practice, the shutoff is much higher!)

All of this is very good.

Charging

USB-C is the way of charging on this Nicron B70 Plus.  The USB-C port is protected by a press-in rubber cover. While the charge port is a little thin, it seats into the light very well.

It’s nice that USB-C to USB-C charging works!

Modes and Currents

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
Turbo	1200	4h	1223	4.60
High	500	4.5h	588	1.66
Medium	80	15h	88	0.20
Low	10	100h	10	0.01
Green	–	–	–	0.04
Red	–	–	–	0.04

Pulse Width Modulation

The real problem with this light is the PWM.  This is the same thing I saw on the Nicron H25 Headlamp (which I like anyway).  The PWM used for mode management is so slow.  

So slow in fact, that (like with the H25), I had broaden my timescale to capture full cycles.

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

Nicron uses a nice big e-switch in the B70 Plus.

The switch cover is nearly flush with the body, and can be a little hard to find without looking.

As with most e-switches, the action is very low.

You can see below the nice indicating feature – not only can the switch light green (as seen), but also red and orange.

Here’s a user interface table!

State	Action	Result
Off	Hold (0.5s)	On (Mode memory)
On	Hold (0.5s)	Off
On	Click	Mode advance (Lower to higher direction)
Any	Hold (2s)	Green
Green	Click	Red
Red	Click	Red “Strobe” (really just a red blinky)
Red Strobe	Click	On (Medium)
Any	Triple Click	Strobe
Strobe	Click	SOS
SOS	Click	On (Medium)

LED and Beam

This version of the Nicron B70 Plus has an Osram P9 emitter.

I was unable to find that in the documentation, but Nicron told me it’s Osram P9.  I was also unable to find the Kelvin claimed, but it’s cool white.

Also included on the B70 Plus are four secondary emitters – two of each red and green.

The red and green are quite useful actually, and have a nice beam profile.

LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)

First are the four white output modes.  Next is green, and finally red.

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

What I like

• Hits specs for output
• Good low voltage protection
• Great indicating switch for low voltage warning
• Very strong magnet
• Right angle head is both fun and useful
• Very consistent USB-C charging

What I don’t like

• Cool white emitter
• Mode memory
• PWM is just so slow!

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Notes

• This light was provided by Nicron for review. I was not paid to write this review.
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