NEXTORCH UT41

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NEXTORCH UT41 specifications

Brand/model	NEXTORCH UT41
Flashlight category	EDC / Bike / Helmet lamp
LED	Multi color
Max. output	20 Lumens
Max. beam distance	? meters
Max. beam intensity	? cd
Battery config.	Built-in 500mAh
Onboard charging	USB-C
Modes	6 + flashing
Blinkies	Flashing
Waterproof	IPX8
Review date	September 2023

NEXTORCH is known for their tactically oriented flashlights and law enforcement gear. They supply many products to over 100 countries and agencies around the world.

However, their “TU” lineup is relatively small compared to their more popular “EC” or “TA” lineup. And currently, there are only a handful of options available in this category, including the UT10C, UT22, UT30, and this UT41.

Package quality.

The UT41 is shipped in a white cardstock box with the NEXTORCH logo and a photo of the light in front. The back has specifications and some pictures of the light. And since the flashlight has no replaceable battery, you don’t need to buy a separate charge. Just charge the UT41 with the included cable, and you’re ready to go.

This is what you can find inside the box:

• NEXTORCH UT41
• USB-C cable
• User Manual

That’s not much, but it’s enough to get you get going.

The UT41 is made of translucent plastic, and with a clip on the rear to make it attach to anything thin and flat. However, that’s not all, because it also allows it to be mounted on a MOLLE or helmet with ARC rails. It’s not meant to be used in hand.

I tried to clip it to my pants, and that worked perfectly. You can also clip it to the bill of a baseball cap, or actually on any thing that is thin, including a belt, or even a coat. And I could imagine it to be used while hiking or biking, since you can easily spot the person wearing it. It’s not really mean to illuminate anything (except for probably a map or something up really close) but to be noticed in the dark.

The clip is pretty stiff, and right where the clip touches the plastic, there are some type of knurling for extra grip.

There are 2 switches, located on top of each other. The top one is for power and protrudes, and the bottom is for changing colors (and protrudes less). But the power switch is also used to switch between solid color and blinking.

The NEXTORCH UT41 is made of plastic, and therefore much less durable than something made of aluminum. And since this is not your average flashlight, I wouldn’t worry about that too much.

There are no removable parts, so there is no threading or anything, and the only thing that can be opened is the USB-C charging port. It’s covered by a translucent cover for protection.

Warranty:

NEXTORCH® guarantees our products to be free from any defects in workmanship and/or materials for 5 years. If products are found to be defective we will replace them at our sole discretion. NEXTORCH® reserves the right to replace an obsolete product with current production.

NEXTORCH® provides free maintenance service for products with quality problems under normal use within 5 years since the purchase date. Please note, quality problems do not include regular wear and tear or things like the lamp burning out, batteries draining, or switches wearing out. Nor does it cover damages resulting from abnormal use, abuse, neglect, battery damage, use of non-NEXTORCH® brand batteries or accessories, unauthorized modifications or repairs.

The above warranty excludes accessories, while chargers and rechargeable batteries are covered within one year.
In the event that any issues with a NEXTORCH® product are not covered under this warranty, NEXTORCH® can arrange to have the product repaired or replaced for a reasonable fee.

What makes the UT41 unique is the use of 5 colors and 1 infrared LED. The colors used are:

Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, White, Infrared (hard to see).

And each of these colors can blink… so you can switch between a solid red, and a blinking red, etc.

But after you run through all the normal modes, there is also a Red and Blue flashing mode. This does look a lot like something not allowed in certain areas, because it does look like a police light.

INFRARED:

Infrared mode is hard to see by eye, especially in a bright environment.. You better make sure you turn the flashlight off in a normal mode, because it may appear that the flashlight is off, while actually using IR.

Dimensions: 

NEXTORCH UT41	Millimeters	Inches
Length	56 mm	2.2 in
Width	27mm	1.1 in
Thickness	23 mm	0.9 in

Dimensions are rounded to the nearest millimeter, and to the nearest tenth of an Inch.

Weight: 

NEXTORCH UT41	Weight in grams	Weight in oz.
Weight	28 g	0.98 oz

Weight is rounded to the nearest gram, and to the nearest tenth of an Oz.

NEXTORCH UT41 comparison

Size compared to other tiny flashlights

From left to right: Wuben X0, NEXTORCH UT41, Olight Perun 2 Mini, Nitecore TUP

Available modes: 

• Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, White, Infrared (hard to see).

Available blinky modes: (blinks about once ever 1 second)

• Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, White + red and blue flashing

From OFF:

• Top, Power switch 1 click: Turn on in last used color, continuously
• Top, Power switch 2 clicks: Turn on in last used mode, blinking
• Bottom, Mode switch 1+ click: Nothing

From ON:

• Top, Power switch 1 click within 3 seconds after turn on: change to blinking mode
• Top, Power switch 1 click after 4 seconds: flashlight turns off
• Bottom, Mode switch 1+ clicks: runs through all the colors

Mode memory:

• Yes, there is. It remember the last used modememory mode. The first setting is always High.

Shortcuts:

• To Strobe: Double Half Press for momentary or Half Press and Click to lock in that mode.

Low voltage warning:

• When turning on the flashlight, the battery indicator will show the charge status:
• Blue: 75-10%
• Blue flashing: 50-75%
• Red: 20-50%
• Red flashing: 0-25%

Strobe/blinkies

• There is only a police strobe, where blue and red will flash. The other bliny modes are just blinking once every 1 second. Great for locating people.

Lock-out mode: 

• There is no lock-out mode

PWM

• No PWM was visible

The UT41 uses a built-in battery with a capacity of 500mAh according to specs. The battery can be charged with a USB-C cable, however it does only so with a USB-A to USB-C cable, like the one they included in the package. It does not charge when using a USB-C to USB-C cable.

The total charge time was 2 hours and 8 minutes from empty to full, and had a charge current of about 300mA at 5V.

The manual also states that the battery should be recharged every 3 months to

This is the gear I use for testing:

Gear	Purpose	Link to buy
Hagner E4-X	Measuring beam intensity (throw)	Inquire at Hagner.se
2* Extech SDL400	Lumens and logging runtimes	Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk,
Leica Disto D2	Distance for throw measurements	Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk,
Sekonic C-800	Spectrometer for LED measurements	Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk
Uni-T UTi260B	Thermal Image camera	Amazon.com,

Lumen measurements:

How Lumens are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards How Lumens are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards: The ANSI FL1 standards specify that output in lumens should be measured 30 seconds after turning on, as this is the standardized time for measuring brightness according to the industry standard. This is why we focus on this part in our measurements. The ANSI FL1 standards require an ambient temperature of 22 ± 3°C. We record the ambient the ambient temperature to identify potential reasons for any observed discrepancies.

The output measurements in this review are based on my homemade integrating spheres, each equipped with an Extech SDL400 Lux Meter. For consistency and accuracy, a calibration light (Convoy S2+ with 249lm and a Convoy S2+ with 261lm) is measured prior to each set of lumen measurements.
For high-output lights, one of the lux meters uses an ND camera filter to prevent the lux meter to max out. This is either the Kenko PRO1D ND16 up till about 80,000 lumens or Gobe ND32 for anything above.

The measurements were taken manually at turn on and 30 seconds. The 10 minute numbers are taken from the runtime graph.

And I only measured 3 colors, since I am not sure how accurate the others would be, measured by my luxmeter. Here are the Lumen output numbers:

NEXTORCH UT41	Specs	Measured at turn on	30 sec	10 minutes
White	20 lm	21 lm	22 lm	21lm
Yellow	9 lm	11 lm	11 lm	–
Red	3 lm	3 lm	3 lm	3lm

I ran 2 runtime tests, for white and red to see if they were close to specifications.

NEXTORCH UT41 Battery life and runtime

How Runtimes are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards About ANSI FL1 runtime standards: The runtime is measured until the light drops to 10% of its initial output (30 seconds after turning on). This does not mean that the flashlight is not usable anymore. The last column shows how long the light actually works till it shuts off. If there is a + symbol, it means that the test was stopped at that particular point, but the light was actually still running. This happens on certain occasions, with certain drivers, firmware, or batteries.

The runtime test was done with the 50cm integrating sphere, including the Extech SDL400 data logging Lux Meter.

Mode	Specified runtime	Measured runtime (ANSI FL1)	Time till shut off
Red	18h	20h 33min	20h 33min
White	12h	12h 49min	12h 49min

This means that the runtimes were better than advertised

The shed is about 65 meters / 71 yards away, and the reflective fence about 200 meters.

Disclaimer: This flashlight was sent to me for review at no cost by NEXTORCH. I have not been paid to review, nor have I been holding back on problems or defects.