From memory I stumbled across the original Nitecore NU25 headlamp back in early 2018 when I was looking for a new one for night lure fishing which wouldn’t annoy me or turn on in my rucksack and drain the battery down without me knowing. It has turned out to be one of the most perfect products I have ever pressed into service for my fishing (review after 2.5 years with it here), indeed I own two of the NU25 headlamps (Veals Mail Order or Amazon) and I can’t think of a single thing about them that I dislike. One lives in my waterproof rucksack for fishing, and the other one lives in the hallway for walking Storm in the dark. So I wasn’t looking for a new headlamp at all. But then an email arrived in my inbox a while back…………..
I guess my blog and website get picked up by numerous internet marketing companies. Most of those emails go directly into spam, but a few of them come into my inbox. Either they seem to be from factories in China inviting me to buy their fishing tackle products, or else they are automated emails from somebody who claims to have read my blog and wants me to publish a blog post from them about something with no connection to fishing but which I guess links back to them. I delete all these types of emails.
Occasionally I get emails from fairly random companies asking if they can send me some sort of product which I guess they would like reviewed on this blog. 99.9% of the time these also get deleted as well because it makes me feel very uncomfortable, but a few years ago I did reply back to a random marketing person from the company Lifeventure who I guess found me online. I had already been using their quite brilliant Lifeventure Thermal Mugs for years, and they were asking if I wanted to see one of their new TiV Vacuum water bottles. For the first time ever I said yes please because it was a company I was actually aware of. I thought the new bottles were fantastic and I wrote a review because it’s the sort of thing I think is invaluable for fishing and indeed anytime I want cold water with me. I emailed the marketing people back to show them the review and I never heard a single word back! To this day I still use that water bottle from the review, and my wife and I own and use at least four of the Lifeventure Thermal Mugs between us.
What I am trying to say is that I get a fair amount of useless emails, but at the end of September last year I got an email out of the blue from a marketing lady at Nitecore over in China. I guess they had been searching around on Google and had found out about me raving about their NU25 headlamp on this blog. I only didn’t delete the email because the word Nitecore was in the subject heading, so I gave it a read. She was asking if I would like to have a couple of different versions of the upgraded NU25 headlamp to see what I thought of them. As with the Lifeventure bottle I replied back to say yes please because it was a product I already used. I had no idea a new version of my perfect headlamp was coming out though so I was really interested to see if they could improve on what I already thought was a perfect product, or had they gone and messed it up and might it instead be a sort of advance warning so I could panic-buy a few more of the NU25 2017 versions to last me until I am able to fish no more? So that is how I ended up getting hold of this new version of the NU25 headlamp, and because I think it’s of interest to any of you who go night fishing or dog walking (or running or cycling etc.), here goes with my thoughts……………
First off, if you already own the NU25 2017 version (Veals Mail Order or Amazon) and it’s working just fine then you categorically do not need to buy this NU25 2022 version. If I had never got that email from Nitecore I wouldn’t have found out about an upgraded version until much further down the line. I wasn’t looking for a replacement, not with how perfect the NU25 2017 is for me. If you are after a second NU25 then I think there’s a potential problem here as well. You know how you get completely used to how a certain product works and how useful that sort of muscle memory can be when turning headlamps on and off at night when you’re trying to be all ninja? For some reason Nitecore have made the way the lights and functions on the 2022 version work a bit differently than on the 2017 version. In some respects I think this is bloody annoying, indeed when I first started using the 2022 version I got pretty cross with how different things were and I very nearly put the thing down and went online to panic-buy a bunch of the 2017 versions for when they eventually become unavailable……………..
But I am glad I didn’t because the 2022 version is really rather brilliant. You need to RTFM (Google it), and the manual can be found here. I am loathe to say it’s better than the 2017 version because of how perfect I believe the original to be, but if you can find some patience within you and you actually take time to read the manual (RTFM) and learn what the buttons do and how to properly work them then in some respects I think the 2022 version is better than the 2017 version. It’s marginal mind, and as I said, I could quite happily fish and dog-walk with the 2017 version for evermore, but it’s not going to be around for much longer and I’d have been a bit gutted if the new version wasn’t at least as good.
The buttons on the NU25 2017 version
The buttons on this new NU25 2022 version
And in my opinion it is - he breathes a sigh of relief - but it only is if you give it a bit of time to essentially relearn how the two buttons work and commit it to a sort of muscle memory. The two versions work differently and I simply am not good enough to remember how differently the two versions work to be able to seamlessly swap between them. Part of me wonders why Nitecore over in China made it so that the 2022 version was slightly different to use than the current 2017 version that some of us know and love, but I don’t make headlamps and I have no idea what the technology might dictate etc. The NU25 2017 is exactly what I want from a bass night fishing headlamp, and over a number of flawless years as well, so what on earth am I getting from the upgraded 2022 version?
One again - RTFM, and if you don’t know what it means, Google it. You seriously need to, loads of information about this new headlamp can be found here. I didn’t at first, and I will admit to randomly pressing the two buttons a few times and initially thinking oh no, Nitecore have gone and messed the new version up. A big part of the reason for me liking the 2017 version so much is because you don’t have to cycle through a bunch of different options to get to the red light especially. Press the small Mode button on the 2022 version for two seconds and the red light comes on. There isn’t a second, less bright red light option like there is on the 2017 version (which I never use to be honest because it’s so dim as to be pointless), so I like the fact that the red light output is about the same as on the 2017 version but there are now two bulbs and the coverage feels a bit more substantial. When the red light is on you can then cycle through with the little Mode button to get to a few specific white light options if you want to (with the brightness of these options being controlled via the Main button. I don’t though because I prefer accessing the various white light options which are accessed via what I am calling the larger Main button - and leaving the Mode button as my red light on and off button.
What annoyed me to start with before I RTFM was this - I initially thought that if you had switched away from the red light onto one of the single white lights then that would be the light which came on when you next long-pressed (2 secs) the Mode button. This would have really pissed me off because I want that one button which I know will turn the red light on when I 2-second press it. I very nearly jumped up and down on the NU25 2022 until I did RTFM and realised that whatever mode you cycled through to on the little Mode button and then turned the light off, when you next 2-second pressed the Mode button it is always the red light which comes on first. Phew. Problem sorted. I now use the Mode button purely as a red light on and off button now because I access the white lights I need from the Main button. Short press the Mode button when the headlamp is turned off and there are four tiny little blue lights on top of the headlamp which give you an indication of battery charge remaining. Again, RTFM for the numbers of blue lights versus charge, it’s very logical - or scroll down this page here.
So the Mode button is the red light button for me. I know how it works, I have committed it to muscle memory because it’s a bit different to how the NU25 2017 works, and I have come around to really liking it - not that there was or is a single problem with the 2017 version as I keep saying. I know that companies need to keep refreshing and upgrading their product ranges, and you get the far more preferable USB-C charging with the 2022 version together with a couple of different head strap designs which I like and sort of don’t like that much. They have gone with a mixture of elasticated strap and elasticated cord with a simple tensioner at the back for one version, and then lightweight elasticated cord for another version which I don’t personally see the point of but which Nitecore are marketing as being the lightest to wear (called the NU25 UL). The 2022 version is a whole 1g heavier (57g) than the 2017 version (56g)! I’d have preferred to see a complete strap version like we get with the 2017 version and my preference out of the two new ones is the strap/cord mixture. It’s comfortable and easily adjustable and it doesn’t move.
As I said, the white light settings which I use on the NU25 2022 are accessed via the larger Main button. A quick double press gets you a dim white light which is good for changing lures and slowly moving around rocks if you don’t like a red light for this (6 Lumens for 45hrs). There are two white bulbs on the front of the headlamp (Spotlight and Floodlight, access them individually from the little Mode button, you can cycle to them after the red light as I talked about previously) which come on together via a 2 second press on the Main button. The dimmest two-light setting is pretty bright (60 Lumens for 10hrs 30mins) and I can’t see myself needing anymore than this for walking to fishing spots or clambering down cliffs etc., but a second press on the Main button gets you brighter again (200 Lumens for 4hrs 40mins), and then a third press gets you stupidly bright (400 Lumens for 2hrs 40mins) which I have no need for. There is also an SOS light setting which yet again I would urge you to RTFM to learn how to turn on. Same with locking the headlamp so it can’t turn on by mistake in your rucksack and so on. Being able to lock the headlamp buttons so they can’t turn on accidentally in your rucksack or pocket is part of the reason for me liking the original NU25 2017 version so much.
I need to apologise for what has turned out to be rather a long review of what is a relatively simple item of what I am calling fishing tackle. But that’s just it in my book. Something so relatively simple but so easy to overlook if you go night fishing, and especially with how night lure fishing for bass is so different to all the night bait fishing I used to do. I could not do either without a headlamp of course, but these days I want a tiny little headlamp which permanently lives in my rucksack, holds its charge, I can tell how much juice is left in it, it’s not going to get switched on in my rucksack one day and run down without me realising, and which I know is going to work perfectly for me every single time whatever the weather. I also want different kinds of lighting for getting to the mark or potentially wading out to a rock or for changing lures and hopefully landing fish and so on. The older Nitecore NU25 was just that headlamp, and thankfully so is this new version.
I didn’t need a new version but a new version is here and I believe the 2017 version will be phased out. I really like this 2022 version, and the more I use it the more I get used to it, and the more I like it (some fishing but lots and lots of dog walking in the dark). I think back to my bait fishing days and if they were now to be perfectly honest I’d just buy two of these pretty cheap little headlamps and carry both of them with me in case one ran out of juice during the often longer sessions when I would use a headlamp far more than when I am bass fishing. Hell, these headlamps offer so much for such little money I guess there’s an argument for carrying a couple of them when you go bass fishing if you are not into checking the charge levels and keeping them topped up. Amazing little things and wow am I glad I did reply to that Nitecore email. Is there anybody out there from Citroen who wants me to test a new electric version of the Epic Berlingo?!
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