Nitecore TM20K

Product Information

When I look at the ever-growing Tiny Monster family I notice that almost all of them are super compact lights that produce a lot of light at a short distance. Nothing happens when you press any button; I find this very practical solution to avoid accidental starts. Other features make the torch special: The user can switch between floodlight (1800 lumens) and spotlight (1200 lumens). The high brightness level run-time is measured without temperature regulation active, therefore as the TM20K regulates its outputs and adapts to the ambient environment to maintain optimal performance, this may affect the real use run-times. In my sample, received for the review, to unlock the flashlight just move the lever to the desired position 1 or 2 (the sales package, as written in the manual, should have another procedure for unlocking the flashlight once the it is locked).

I know because in the past I (on numerous occasions) ended up with scorch marks on jackets and jeans. The NPP30 pouch perfectly fits the powerbank and any essential cables and the NU06 LE beacon light helps you stay visible in high risk ops! My preference is always for removable/replaceable batteries, but the other side to this is the guaranteed performance of the cells chosen by Nitecore to power this Tiny Monster, and the simplification of the design as it doesn’t need a battery door.The turbo brightness will produce extreme heat during long use, therefore it is advised to limit activation when the torch becomes hot. It also provides excellent heat dissipation, combined with the cooling fins on the head of the light and integrated Advanced Temperature Regulation (ATR). DMM: Current readings were taken with a Precision Gold PG10B DMM for low currents and a Mustool X1 clamp meter for high currents. In terms of handling and the interface, although the TM20K lists ‘tactical’ modes, the layout of buttons and ease of access to them would not be my choice for use in a pressured situation. The beam of the Nitecore TM20K has good uniformity with diffused lighting with a wide radius and a not particularly cold color but tending to yellow in the first part of the crown / spill.

Considering the size, that performance on High giving a hour of solid output, 45 minutes of which is over 3000lm, does make this a workhorse, even if you ignore the Turbo output. Half the table is normal, then where it starts to list an ND filter, this is a ‘neutral density’ filter that simply cuts the light reaching the sensor by approximately 90%. Haven't used it much (yet); however, it appears to be everything promised and is one "BRIGHT" light. When the light is on, to go into the special Floodlight and Spotlight modes, you must press and hold the Mode button. The 3 switches are all at the tail end, so the TM20K is designed to be carried with your thumb at the end and your pinky towards the head.Anyway, to output 20 000lm the TM20K uses 19x XP-L2 LEDs, one placed in SMO reflector for a decent throw, the rest just sits without optics (mule) to give a massive floodlight. I kept going for about an hour of intermittent turbo use about 30 times and the peak output barely dropped, consistently hitting well above 15,000 lm. Cramming this many LEDs in a light means there’s no room for normal size reflectors, resulting in not as much throw as something with just 1 LED.

Now we have two copies of the same graph, the first shows all the traces taken to check the behaviour during the ANSI 30 second measurement time. Soo, if you somehow charge a flashlight with non-removable battery every day, it will still have 80% of its original capacity. The Nitecore TM20K is a substantial tactical flashlight with a maximum output of a mighty 20,000 lumens. A built in blue power indicator in the power button indicates the remaining battery voltage with a series of flashes by pressing the mode button when the torch is off but unlocked. Inspired by the notion to "Keep Innovating" as a global leader of LED flashlights and chargers with over 100 patents and a grand-slam award winner of the American International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA), German iF Design Award, Red Dot Design Award and the Japanese G-Mark (Good Design), NITECORE creates innovative products in a wide variety of fields and leads the industry in new standards of portability, aesthetic, output and functionality.Reference readings are taken to ensure the filter factor is correct, and a set of measurements were taken. TM20K has a CNC Machined Unibody Design, is powered by 2 internal batteries in 4800mAh 21700 format, has 6 light levels over the Turbo and the Strobe with a maximum autonomy of 13 hours. The light intensity in the turbo mode is overwhelming to say the least, even though it is only for a short amount of time. Probably lighter than you expect a 20k lumens flashlight to be, but it "gets" heavier the more you hold it.