Nitecore EDC07 Review – Ultralight High-CRI Flatlight

Pricing & Availability

Nitecore sent me this light in exchange for an honest review. Here is the official product page and the Amazon US page where you can see current pricing. At the time of writing it’s $46 USD.

What comes in the box?

EDC07 comes in a retail box with a plastic insert. Inside is:

• The light itself
• User manual & paperwork
• USB A-to-C charging cable
• Wrist lanyard

Design & Construction

The design is similar to most other flat EDC lights. It’s basically a flat-ish bar with rounded corners. The mold has lots of grooved and facets to add visual interest and grip texture. I could do without most of the facets but I do like the grippy square blocks on the edges.

Most flashlights are made of aluminum. This one is made almost entirely of plastic. That makes it very light and should also make it durable. I had concerns about heat from the LEDs but it seems to work just fine. It’s also IP67 water resistant, which is an improvement over some other EDC-series models from Nitecore. I removed the screws and tried to disassemble it but the two halves didn’t want to come apart.

Size & Measurements

Surefire G2X Pro | Zebralight SC65c HI | Nitecore EDC07 | Mini Maglite | Nitecore MT2C Pro

Measurement	Measured (mm)
Length	120.1
Width	30.3
Thickness	16.3
Weight with included battery	71g / 2.5oz

Switch & User Interface

EDC07 has a dual-switch layout that’s pretty traditional for cylindrical lights but not common in flat EDC lights. There’s a forward clicky mechanical tailswitch for on/off and an electronic side switch for mode changes. The side switch is simple and works fine.

The tailswitch is stiff and requires more force than most to actuate. It’s also protected by molded-in teeth on the tailcap. They allow tail standing and prevent accidental activation. Unfortunately, I find them uncomfortable during use and they make it difficult to latch the tailswitch. If I planned to carry this light regularly, I would shave the tailcap teeth off with a sharp knife or rotary tool. It’s also a dust magnet. I took the photo below after carrying it for 2-3 days and hitting it with a blast of compressed air.

How it works:

• On/off: Press the tailswitch halfway for momentary on, release to turn off. Press the tailswitch all the way to latch it on. Press again for off.
• Brightness adjustment: Click the side switch while the light is on to cycle modes (low-med-high-turbo). Moonlight isn’t included in this rotation.
• Color temperature adjustment: Hold the side switch while the light is on to cycle color temperature (cool-neutral-warm).
• Shortcuts: Press the tailswitch while holding the side switch to access Moonlight. If you continue to hold the side switch it will activate Strobe (variable frequency) and then SOS. There is no Turbo shortcut.
• Mode memory: All modes are memorized (including Strobe and SOS). The light will turn on in whatever mode you used last.

This is a standard dual-switch UI, plus the color temperature adjustment feature. This works fine, but I have to flip the light around in my hand to access both switches. I prefer independent dual switch setups where the side switch can turn the light on/off and change modes for utility, and the tailswitch is dedicated to Turbo mode.

Emitter & Beam

EDC07 has two NiteLab multi-cct multi-die LEDs. These LEDs each have four dies (two cool and two warm) so you can select among cool, neutral, and warm white color temperatures on the fly. They’re under a diffuser TIR optic for a wide beam. The warm diodes are high-CRI, so both the warm and neutral white settings are high-CRI. High-CRI is rare in this class of light.

While multi-die multi-cct LEDs are a novel idea, they make the beam too floody for my taste and add unnecessary complexity. They could have achieved the same effect with two single-die LEDs (one cool and one warm). That would allow for throwier LEDs and a throwier optic for a more balanced beam profile.

The beam is floody at ~3.5 cd/lm with a vague hotspot and wide spill. It works well for close-up tasks but I find it doesn’t have enough reach outdoors. I can bump up the brightness for a bit more throw but that drains the small battery much faster.

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

In the beamshots below, camera settings are as similar as possible, 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)
Turbo	1600	5300	150	71	5890	0.0002
High	350	1200	68	69	5620	0.0042
Medium	92	310	35	69	5480	0.0044
Low	17	56	15	69	5570	0.0048
Moonlight	0.9	03	03	68	5540	0.0058

Level	Lumens	Candela	Throw (Meters)	CRI (Ra)	Color Temp. (K)	DUV (Tint)
Turbo	1600	5100	140	83	4230	-0.0002
High	310	990	63	85	4050	-0.0002
Medium	82	260	32	85	4070	0.0008
Low	15	48	14	87	4220	-0.0007
Moonlight	0.9	03	03	86	3970	-0.0007

Level	Lumens	Candela	Throw (Meters)	CRI (Ra)	Color Temp. (K)	DUV (Tint)
Turbo	1200	4500	130	94	3110	0.0063
High	250	940	61	97	3010	0.0040
Medium	68	260	32	97	3030	0.0038
Low	12	45	13	97	2930	0.0030
Moonlight	0.7	03	03	98	2920	0.0023

Runtime

Performance: Turbo time is poor, but peak brightness is impressive. Sustained output in the ~250-350lm range is respectable for a plastic light, and better than I expected. Runtime is decent too.

Thermal Management: My Turbo Cooled test shows a significant increase in sustained brightness, meaning this light has active thermal throttling that will adjust brightness to give you maximum performance without overheating. It gets fairly warm on Turbo but never too hot to hold. Nice!

LVP (Low Voltage Protection): The light will shut off when the battery is practically empty, but it can be temporarily re-activated in an emergency.

Driver

The driver is advertised as “high efficiency constant current”. That’s all I know about it.

Voltage immunity is good and above average for this class of light. It maintains most of the Turbo brightness down to ~25% charge, and all the other modes are flat down to 25% charge or less. That’s exactly what I want because it shows the components are high quality and they’re being pushed hard for great performance.

PWM: No PWM is visible to my eyes or camera, nor audible to my ears. My Opple picked up some mild flickering on Low mode, but all other modes are flicker-free.

Parasitic Drain: I can’t measure parasitic drain because the battery is inaccessible.

Batteries & Charging

The battery included is a built-in 1500mAh li-ion pouch cell. It’s not user-serviceable, so when the battery eventually wears out, you can’t replace it. That sucks, and it comes with the territory. Virtually all of these flat-style EDC lights have built-in batteries.

I want to note that it comes fully charged out of the box. That’s not great for battery health. Nitecore should ship these half-charged so users can get the most useful life out of their purchase, especially considering the battery can’t be replaced.

Charging is facilitated by a USB-C port on the back of the light. It’s sealed by a silicone port cover and takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to charge. It can be used while charging. There’s no powerbank function, which is fine on a light this small.

The battery indicator is a four-diode style (my favorite kind). It’s intuitive and glanceable. It comes on for a few seconds when you turn on the light, and stays on while charging. I will note the indicator doesn’t seem to be well calibrated. It shows <25% charge for the first ~45 minutes or charging and then finished the last 75% in the final ~30 minutes, which is not how li-ion charging works. Not a big deal, just worth mentioning.

Carry & Ergonomics

Ergonomics vary depending on the grip. A reverse grip is uncomfortable because of the teeth on the tail, so I use a cigar grip most of the time. And I have to flip it into a forward grip to press the side switch. If I planned to carry this light every day I’d cut the teeth off the tailcap to make a reverse grip more comfortable.

Competition

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

Streamlight Wedge XT:

• about twice as expensive
• not as bright, not as dim
• two modes only, programmable order
• tailswitch only
• narrower clip
• no USB-C port cover
• aluminum body
• cool white only, not high-CRI
• similar weight
• a bit shorter
• battery is built-in, but it is user-replaceable with a kit from streamlight

Thrunite Defender:

• slightly more expensive
• cool white + green laser + UV
• no adjustable cct, not high-CRI
• side switch and rotary selector, no tailswitch
• magnetic tailcap
• aluminum construction
• heavier

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

The pricing, brightness, voltage immunity, size, weight, LED color properties, and pocket clip are great. Runtime, charging, and the battery indicator are good. The switches, ergonomics, and UI are fair but could use a bit of improvement. The beam is too floody for my taste. The color temperature adjustment seems a little gimmicky and the inaccessible battery is a major downside. Overall, this lights sets it apart from the competition with light weight, plastic construction, a simple UI, adjustable color temperature and high-CRI.

Thanks to Nitecore for sending me this light for review!