This is just my obligatory good quality remark. I've had no issues with it at all. Nitecore makes some solid lights.
Design wise, this light is a lot different than most flashlights. This rectangular form factor seems to have become more popular in the past year or so. I wanna say that it all started with Nitecore and the Tube, but I could be wrong. This form factor is better than I expected, yet it's not a AAA. I'd much rather EDC a AAA light, as they are a lot slimmer. This is a neat looking light, and I like that it won't roll around at all. It's still a surprisingly nice size for EDC. I thought it'd be a lot bigger, but luckily it is much more manageable in my carry. It'd be too bulky to put on a keychain in my opinion. It's a good size to just throw loose in your pocket. It does come with a plastic clip, but I took it off immediately. It kind of sucks and doesn't seem that durable. I love that Nitecore made the body aluminum opposed to plastic. It feels better in the hand and will probably last longer. It can also be taken apart easily with Philips screws on the top and bottom. Nitecore has done a really great job putting their lights in different colors recently, and the TIP is no exception. I dig the green!
As far as ease of use goes, this light is relatively easy to use. Nitecore went with a dual-switch system to "maximize the ease of use." I've never had a light with two buttons: one for the power and another to switch the modes. It's a interesting idea, but I don't like it all. I always seem to click the wrong button. I'm sure over time I could get to used to what button does what. I think they're too easy to mix up and make the light less user-friendly. I do like that this is a clicky light. The buttons are slightly raised and have a rubberized texture to them, which feels good. I haven't had any issues with this light turning on accidentally, as the buttons do take a decent bit of pressure to push. I thought this light was supposed to have a lock-out mode to prevent the light from turning on at all, yet I didn't see anything about it in the instruction manual. One annoyance I had to deal with was changing the mode to "constant-on" or daily (not sure which. Nitecore calls it different things in their manuals) instead of the demo mode. The light kept turning off after 30 seconds, and I couldn't figure out why. I then read the manual and saw that the demo mode is the default. To change the mode, you have to hold both buttons down for a few seconds until there are two flashes. It's not hard to do, so it's only a minor gripe in the grand scheme of things.
The beam has a nice tint. I don't know what specific tint you'd call it, but it's not that cheap purplish color. The beam has more of a hotspot than all flood. I would've preferred a beam with all flood, but that's just a personal preference. The beam is fine overall. I'm not that much of a flashlight expert to know all the ins and outs of the beam/emitter, so just know it works fine for the average person.
The output on this light is impressive for the size. There are four modes: low (1 lumen), medium (35 lumens), high (150 lumens), and turbo (360 lumens). I like that there are no strobe or SOS modes. Those are always such a waste to me. Runtime is not as important to me, because I always use my lights for a few seconds at a time that seem to make it last forever. The max run time is 46 hours on low, while turbo will kill the battery in 30 minutes. I believe you can only have turbo on for 30 seconds before it ramps back down to high. I tried leaving it on for a while and didn't notice it ramp down. I might have missed it, or maybe it was more of a gradual change. I haven't noticed the light getting too warm. Most of my usage comes in the low or medium mode, so that's to be expected.
The UI is mostly good. My preferred way to use this light is to turn it on with the power button and then cycle through the modes with the mode button. I've always liked the idea of pressing for each individual mode, so this works for me. If you don't like to individually click, there's a couple ways to do press and hold. If you press and hold on the power button, the low mode will come on. If you press and hold on the mode button, you get access to turbo. This is the main way to get to turbo. For the middle modes, you'll have to go through the power and mode buttons. This light does have mode memory, which works exactly as it should. There's supposedly a way to do momentary on, but it's not that easy. For most AAA lights, you can half-press the button, but that's not the case with the TIP. If you do pick this light up, I recommend you read the manual to figure it all out. The UI does work well for the most part. I like that you're not required to do any sort of press and hold unless you want turbo.
My favorite aspect to this light is that it is USB rechargeable. It's convenient to charge and less expensive than having to buy batteries all the time. I've only charged it once or twice since getting it, so the battery life is great. I'm happy more companies are starting to do rechargeable lights. The light doesn't take long to charge at all, maybe 2 hours max. There are red lights under the buttons that flash to indicate how full the battery is and turn from a solid red to green to show when it's done charging. That's pretty neat. My only complaint regarding the USB port is that it has no rubber cover to protect. I find that odd, since Nitecore's two other similar lights, the Tube and TINI, both have covers for the USB port. It's not the end of the world, but it did surprise me. It did not come with a charging cord in the package. If you order it on Amazon, most of the sellers throw in a cord.
This light goes for about $30, which I think is a fair price for what you're getting. Most lights that are multiple hundred lumens go for this much or more. The fact that it's rechargeable for the price is also great. Olight does quite a few rechargeable lights, but I believe all those go for at least $50 to $60. The aluminum body will last a lot longer than plastic too. It's definitely worth the $30.
I honestly don't like this light as much as I thought I would. The form factor is not as convenient as a AAA to me. It's a cool light, but not one I've fallen in love with. The mode switching button is not something I particularly like. It's got an impressive output for the size, yet it's not a light I would personally recommend. They do seem to be very popular though, so check them out if they interest you. If I were to put a light on my keychain, it'd be the Tube from Nitecore, not the TIP. Ultimately, I'm drawn more to AAA lights for EDC. There's nothing majorly wrong with this light by any means. It more so came down to personal preferences for me. If you'd like to check the TIP out on Amazon, here's a link. Thanks for looking!
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