Nextorch TA22 Review – Tactical Penlight

1. Pricing & Availability
2. What comes in the box?
3. Design & Construction
4. Size & Measurements
5. User Interface
6. Emitter & Beam
7. Mode Chart
8. Runtime
9. Driver & Regulation
10. Batteries & Charging
11. Switches
12. Carry & Ergonomics
13. Competition
14. Conclusion

Pricing & Availability

Nextorch sent me this light in exchange for an honest review. Here is the official product page where you can see current pricing. At the time of writing, it’s $70 USD.

What comes in the box?

TA22 comes in a cardstock retail box with a vacuum formed insert to hold everything in place. Inside is:

• The light itself
• Battery (inside the light)
• User manual
• USB A-to-C charging cable
• Wrist lanyard

Design & Construction

TA22 is a traditional Penlight shape with a slightly flared head and tail. Most of the body has a square machined pattern for grip, which gives it a tough look. That separates it from most other penlights that go for a sleep aesthetic. It also has proper glass breakers embedded in the bezel.

Build quality is good. The threads are very nice, and the finish is great. The switches’ precision leaves something to be desired though.

Size & Measurements

Surefire G2X Pro + Switchback 2.0 | Mini Maglite | Nextorch TA22 | Nextorch TA21 | Olight i3E

Measurement	Measured (mm)
Bezel Diameter	16.1
Length	149.6
Switch Diameter	8.9
Body Tube Diameter	14.4
Pocket Clip Slot Width	5.0
Pocket Clip Slot Diameter	14
Included Battery Length	87.8
Weight with included battery (g)	60

User Interface

This UI is interesting and different from most lights in this class. I see what Nextorch was going for here, but there are a few issues with this version. It works much better on TA21.

How it works: DUTY Mode

• Half-press from off for momentary on. Repeat to cycle through the levels. It’s always 1-level past what you used last, no matter how long you wait between presses. You can full-press from a half-press to switch from momentary to constant on.
• Full-press from off for constant low.
• Half-press from on to cycle mode (low-med-high). Constant-on modes are not memorized.
• Full-press from on to turn off

How it works: TAC Mode

• Half-press for momentary high mode
• Full press for momentary strobe

My thoughts:

• I like that lockout is on the rotary selector. That works very well. There is no mechanical lockout.
• I like the way the TAC mode group is set up. Simple with direct access to the two modes you need most.
• Mode memory: Half-presses are memorized, and the light will always come on in the next mode from the one you used last if you half press. Full-presses are not memorized and it will always turn on low with a full press from off. These should be reversed, so that half-presses always start on low and full-presses get memorized. That’s how Nextorch TA21 works and it’s much easier to use.
• I wish there were a mode group that used press duration to choose between momentary and constant. A long press would activate momentarily and turn off when you release. A short press would be constant on and require another short press to turn off. In this group, a half-press should activate Low mode and a full-press should activate High mode. Just like the tail switches on Olight’s Warrior series.
• I frequently miss-click with this light. The first stage of the switch is hard to find and if I full-press too quickly it sometimes registers as a half press. That’s frustrating when I try to turn off the light and it ends up getting brighter instead. This is more of a switch issue than a UI issue, but it’s worth mentioning here.

Emitter & Beam

The LED isn’t specified but it’s domed and appears to be 3535 size. Color properties info is in the mode chart section. It sits at the bottom of an orange peel reflector and I could not remove the bezel to access the LED.

The beam is quite floody. I would have liked a domeless LED here to focus the beam a bit, even if it produced fewer lumens. The glass breaker sections of the bezel do block the spill a bit so it’s more of a hexagon than a circle.

In the beamshots below, camera settings are fixed and the wall is 2.8M away.

In the beamshots below, camera settings are fixed, the basketball goal to the right of the hotspot is 39M away, and the power pole in the center is 185M away.

Mode Chart

Disclaimer: All of my measurements are taken at turn-on. Lumen measurements were taken on a Texas Ace 3.5″ Lumen Tube. A candela measurement was taken at 10 meters with an Opple Light Master III on the highest brightness, and other candela figures were calculated relative to that. CRI, CCT, & DUV data were taken for each mode from a few feet away at the center of the hotspot with the Opple Light Master and Waveform DUV Calculator. Runtime tests were performed with the Ceilingbounce app on my smartphone. These tests were performed with a fully charged included battery unless otherwise specified. I cannot measure moonlight directly, so moonlight readings are calculated based on the brightness relative to the next-lowest mode. None of this is professional equipment, so take these measurements with a grain of salt.

The official specs are above, followed by my own measurements below.

Level	Lumens	Candela	Throw (Meters)	CRI (Ra)	Color Temp. (K)	DUV (Tint)
High	840	3100	110	67	5910	0.0085
Medium	140	520	45	66	5870	0.0094
Low	13	48	14	65	5630	0.0126

Runtime

Performance is good. High brightness is great. There aren’t many 2xAAA size penlights that get this bright. Sustained brightness is around 170lm, give or take 20. That’s on par. Runtime is excellent with over 1hr on High and over 2hrs on Medium. As you can see it’s unregulated and brightness trends down as the battery drains, which isn’t great.

Thermal regulation: My Turbo and Turbo Cooled tests are virtually identical, so there’s no active thermal regulation here, just timed stepdowns. That means performance will be consistent, but not optimized for ambient temperature.

LVP (Low Voltage Protection) is not present. It relies on the battery’s protection circuit to prevent over-discharge. That’s not a big deal here because there aren’t really any unprotected 10880 cells available, and any AAA batteries you use don’t need LVP. However, relying on the protection circuit means the light cannot be re-activated in an emergency once it shuts off, and that may be an issue for some people.

Driver & Regulation

The driver seems to be an unregulated FET driver, which is disappointing to see at this price point. Linear drivers aren’t expensive and that would at least keep the brightness consistent as the battery drains. The driver is inaccessible to the user.

Regulation performance is below average. It appears not to be regulated at all. Every mode is affected by battery voltage, but the difference is small enough you aren’t likely to notice.

PWM: No PWM is visible to my eyes nor audible to my ears, but my phone camera and Opple Light Master were able to detect it on all modes.

Parasitic Drain: I can’t measure parasitic drain on this model because my my multimeter probes won’t fit without dislodging the battery.

Batteries & Charging

The battery included is a 650mAh 10880 cell. It’s the same length as two AAA/10440 cells put together, but it’s a single cell. AAAs won’t work. I tried two Eneloop AAAs and it would not turn on. You must use the included battery.

Charging is facilitated by a USB-C port on the battery. You can’t use it while charging, but you can charge it almost anywhere. There’s no charging port on the outside taking up space and creating a place for water to get in. The battery does not function as a powerbank, which is appropriate because it’s so small. Charging takes about 90 minutes. This battery is all-but-proprietary, being a highly unusual size. I can’t find it for sale separately, so when it eventually wears out, the whole light may be useless.

The battery indicator is a glowing ring built into the tailswitch. It glows for a few seconds after you put the light in lockout mode or press the switch while in lockout mode. I’m glad to see a battery indicator here, because most penlights don’t have one. I’m also glad it indicates in 25% increments. Constant blue means 75-100% charge. Blinking blue means 50-75%. Red means 25-50%. Blinking red means 0-25%.

Switches

TA22’s killer feature is its switch setup. It has a two-stage electronic tail switch and a rotary mode group selector. I’ve never seen such and advanced switch setup on a Penlight. I love that it acts like a forward clicky and a reverse clicky mechanical switch at the same time. Lockout being handled by the rotary selector rather than a series of clicks is excellent.

With that said, these switches could use some improvement. The first stage of the tailswitch is super mushy and hard to feel, so I often don’t press hard enough or accidentally press too hard into the second stage. It also tends to read full-presses as half-presses if I press and release too quickly, so instead of turning the light off it gets brighter. The rotary selector works pretty well, it’s just got loose detents that don’t feel very high quality. The tailswitch is proud so the light can’t tailstand.

Carry & Ergonomics

Ergonomics are great. Penlights tend to fit well in the hand and are easy to manipulate. Both reverse and cigar grips are comfortable, and each switch can be pressed or rotated in either grip.

Competition

Here are some lights in the same class and how they compare.

Streamlight Stylus Pro USB: name-brand alternative

• less expensive and more widely available
• 350lm peak brightness with similar throw
• built-in battery
• Micro-USB port on the light for recharging
• 2 modes only
• forward clicky tail switch

NEBO Inspector RC: budget alternative

• significantly lower price
• appears to have worse build quality
• similar included USB rechargeable battery
• also accepts AAAs
• single tailswitch and 3 modes
• it’s a zoomie, so the beam is a flat circle

Nitecore MT2A Pro: larger alternative

• less expensive
• similar brightness, way more throw
• bigger (2xAA size instead of 2xAAA size)
• similar included battery with USB charging port (except it’s 2xAA size)
• also accepts AAs
• reverse clicky tail switch with 3 modes

This section is not comprehensive. If I didn’t include a particular light here, it doesn’t mean it’s bad or doesn’t deserve to be here. I simply cannot list every possible competitor.

Conclusion

This is the coolest “tactical” Penlight I’ve seen. It nails some tactical features without going overboard. Brightness, ergonomics, and the clip are great. Build quality and battery/charging are good. Regulation, switches, and UI could use some improvement. If you want a tasteful tactical penlight, this is a good option.

Thanks to FlashlightGo for sending me this light for review!