NITECORE P27iX Review | GearJunkie Tested

I stepped off the short trail from my campsite above Granby Lake in Colorado and pushed the tailswitch of the NITECORE P27iX. The smooth, modest light I’d used to navigate the rocky slope exploded in output, suddenly zapping into the night with an astounding 5,000 lumens.

I quickly traced the shoreline, looking down 100 feet to the water’s edge in the drought-lowered reservoir. I scanned the beach for hundreds of feet to my right, finally losing sight of it where a ridge blocked my view. Satisfied I was alone on the shoreline, I tapped the front “duty switch” button and the light returned to a soft glow that lit up my immediate area.

That was just the beginning.

In short: The NITECORE P27iX ($160) is a wildly versatile, powerful flashlight with a fantastic user interface. You can carry and control it in both an overhand tactical grip and an underhand duty grip. It has a true white light that renders color well and three beam patterns — spot, mid, and flood — that you can instantly change with the press of a button. This versatility, coupled with long runtime, great build quality, and IP68 water/dust resistance, makes it one of the best tactical flashlights I’ve used.

Compare the P27iX in the guide to the best flashlights.

Nitecore P27iX Review

I’m quite fortunate in that I love flashlights and get to test many of the best you can buy. And still, the Nitecore P27iX shocked me with its versatility and power. Yes, it’s technically a tactical flashlight. But it has a broader appeal that a wide swath of outdoor users will appreciate.

First and foremost, I love the user interface. The P27iX has dual tail switches that let you turn it on or off and adjust power output from an overhand grip. You can also access “What the heck is that!?” power — dubbed the “Lumin-Shield” — which blasts a 5,000-lumen flood, with a single press of either button, whether the light is on or off.

Alone, the tactical grip controls are great and intuitive. But even better is the nuanced control you gain from the duty grip control, located near the front of the cylinder. This second button also allows you to turn the light on and off and adjust the power output. But you can also adjust the beam focus, from a long-throw spotlight to a very wide, soft flood, with a long press. Again, it’s very easy and intuitive.

The light has a long runtime of 100 hours on low (15 lumens) or 6 hours on high (400 lumens). The turbo mode’s 1,500-lumen claim lasts 2 hours and 30 minutes, though it will step down significantly as the light heats up over about 10 minutes.

The 5,000-lumen mode, designed for blinding self-defense or briefly identifying objects at a distance, dials way down after about 30 seconds.

I love almost everything about the user interface, but there is one UX flaw I’d note. It’s relatively easy to activate Lumin-Shield, and if you do so in a confined space, such as while looking for a jacket in a cluttered car, you can expect to be briefly blinded (ask me how I know).

Physical Lockout

This flashlight’s physical lockout switch is simple and effective. Flick the robust button toward the tail, and the light won’t turn on. Flick it back, and it will. It’s similar to the safety of a firearm.

While it’s certainly possible to engage it accidentally, the button is very solid and takes a decent amount of force to move. It should work well in backpacks to prevent your light from turning on by accident.

Tactical Features

The tactical features in the P27iX are quite useful in many scenarios. They include a high-strength stainless-steel strike bezel with silicon nitride ceramic tips, capable of quickly breaking glass; Lumin-Shield, which activates an extremely high-output beam with a single, continuous button push; momentary-on rear buttons that allow variable power output with deeper press; and a very aggressive texture.

While designed for law enforcement and other tactical uses, I can see many times I would use these in outdoor scenarios, from walking a property at night to lighting a port entry on a boat to trying to figure out what made that stick crack off in the distant woods. And while you likely won’t need it often, a glass breaker is never a bad thing to have around in case of emergency.

Variable Beam Pattern

The P27iX offers what Nitecore calls a “variable beam pattern.” That means it has a floodlight, spotlight, and mixed light built into the lens. In the real world, this offers some of the benefits of a zooming light, but without the downsides, such as moving parts that can leak.

In practice, the variable beam is easy to adjust and makes a huge difference in the light output. In spotlight mode, the P27iX has a range of 163 m at the 400-lumen high setting. That drops to just 85 m in the flood mode, which spills light across a broad area. This is not a gimmick. The easily adjustable patterns offer a range of uses and a ton of versatility for camping, hiking, hunting, mountaineering, and more.

Customization

The P27iX allows customization of output levels on the tail switch. In its default settings, half-pressing or full-pressing either button grants access to four different brightness modes.

The user can customize which mode each button press activates. This allows specialization for tasks such as ID checking (low power needed) or high-powered searches. Mostly, it gives the customer the power to make the flashlight exactly what they need. The process is not terribly complicated, but it’s best demonstrated rather than explained.

Room for Improvement

There isn’t a lot I’d change about this flashlight, but one small criticism is that the front duty-grip button is very difficult to find without turning on the light to see the LED battery and power-level indicators that bracket it. It feels very much like the rest of the light, and could use a tactile differentiator, such as an indent or more aggressive bumps, to help a user find it with their thumb in the dark.

Battery & Accessories

A very cool aspect of this flashlight is that, while it ships with the optimal 21700 i Series Li-ion Battery, it’s also compatible with widely available CR123/RCR123 batteries with an included adapter. It performs best with the included 21700 battery, but by supporting CR123s and other cells, it makes it easy to carry backups if desired. The included battery charges to full power via USB in 2 hours.

The flashlight comes with a nice, rigid plastic holster, a USB-C lanyard (a clever feature that lets you strap the USB-C cable directly to the light), and a pocket clip. I tested without the pocket clip attached. The flashlight has an aggressive texture, and I found that it sat nicely in a pocket and was easily retrievable without a clip. NITECORE gives you options here, so there’s really no downside.

Who Should Buy the Nitecore P27iX

The NITECORE P27iX is an exceptional flashlight aimed at professional users. The clear target market is military and law enforcement. But this light flexes well into recreational or professional outdoor or industrial use.

At $160, it is expensive. But for those whose safety and capability depend on a reliable light source, the investment is well worth it. The P27iX is a high-performing flashlight that won’t weigh you down. Its versatility is out-of-this-world good, making it a top choice for anyone who needs a powerful flashlight that can flex into many uses.