Lumintop GT Nano Review

Online, the Lumintop GT Nano has a reputation as one of the longest-throwing lights and is comfortable to carry on your keys or in your pocket. If you aren’t familiar with flashlights, no, throwing doesn’t mean how far you can physically throw the light. This review will illuminate what it means and how well the GT Nano performs while traveling. Let’s dive in!

The Rundown

First things first, this thing is tiny. It’s just 54mm (2.12 inches) long and 18 grams (0.63 ounces) without the battery (or 22 grams with it). The exterior is aluminum, which is durable, and, as you just read, lightweight. The button to turn the light on is a rubbery material that’s easy to find and press.

The button is backlit with a faint red light, which can help you find the light in the pitch black. However, it can be hard to see in some low-light situations because the light is so faint.

The light has an IPX8 rating, which means it wasn’t tested for dust and particles, but it will still work after being submerged in water for up to 30 minutes. This makes it ideal for camping, outdoor adventures, or a pub crawl after the power goes out. Although it wasn’t rated to resist dirt and dust, we’ve had no issues with that in our testing.

The lens on the end of the light is glass. From our research, glass has a higher transmission capacity than plastic, which means there’s less loss between the light itself and whatever you’re trying to reach with it. Glass is typically less durable than plastic. Still, we dropped this thing numerous times, and the glass remains intact.

There are five brightness settings:

• Moonlight—1.5 Lumens
• Low—30 Lumens
• Medium—170 Lumens
• High—365 Lumens
• Turbo—450 Lumens

The higher the brightness, the less battery life you’ll get. The light isn’t meant to be on Turbo for long and will sometimes get hot when used for too long on higher settings. We only recommend using the Medium setting for extended periods, especially considering the brightness of that mode.

Okay, it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Throw, regarding flashlight power, is how far the light beam will reach in good conditions. This light has a maximum throw of up to 300 meters or 984.252 feet. That’s nearly a fifth of a mile, which is astounding considering this light will fit into your pocket. The only thing more impressive than that is if you could physically throw this thing that far!

To use the light, you hit the button. When you turn it on, it defaults to the last setting that you were on. To save battery, we tend to turn the light to the lowest setting before powering down, but if you forget, it’s no big deal. Be careful never to point the light at someone’s face when turning it on in case you accidentally leave it on high.

Once the light is on, if you hold the button, the light slowly begins to power up to the highest setting. Once it gets there, it will flash. Let go and hold it again, and the light will slowly power down to the Moonlight setting. If you turn on the light by holding the button, it’ll automatically start at Moonlight and gradually get brighter. This is an excellent way to quickly get the brightness you want without overdoing it.

From the on or off position, a double button tap will turn the light’s power straight to Turbo. Another double tap will send you into Strobe mode, ideal for being seen. If you tap the button once after entering Strobe mode, it’ll filter through other strobe settings. However, you have to be fast. If you have the light on Strobe mode for longer than a second or two and click once, it’ll turn the light off.

Overall, the functions of this light are helpful and easy to use. However, for some, the button may be hard to hit, especially in the fast manner needed to jump into Turbo and Strobe modes.

The Lumintop GT Nano comes with a 10180 Li-ion battery. This option will give you moderate battery life but may leave some things to be desired, especially on the brighter end of the light. You can upgrade to a 10440 Li-ion battery, which is much longer. If you opt for that method, you’ll also need to upgrade the tube that holds the battery, as the stock option isn’t large enough. This makes the flashlight a lot longer, but not unmanageably so.

Another option is to snag a few extra 10180 Li-ion batteries. They’re readily available online and aren’t very expensive.

One of the strangest things about this light (except for how far it throws light on a clear day) is the charging method. Although it does come with a Micro-USB cable, you can’t just plug it in. It comes with a separate charging device that you have to use to juice up the battery. While it’s very small and won’t take up much space or weight, it’s easy to lose on a trip and is another reason to upgrade the battery or bring spares.

While charging, the unit is red. Once it’s fully charged, it will change to green. This is much easier than some electronics we’ve dealt with, which we appreciate. It’s impossible to miss, and the red and green colors are hard to forget.

Packability

As we’ve mentioned, this thing is tiny. It doesn’t feel too large to put on your keys, throw in your pocket, or attach to some wallets, like the Chums Surfshorts. The head is larger than the rest of the device, which can feel awkward in tight pockets, but overall, it fits well.

Its size also lends itself to fitting inside a tech pouch, organizer, sling, or daypack liner pocket. While traveling, we take the battery out to ensure we don’t waste any juice with accidental button hits.

The package has a clip or a small wrist lanyard. The clip works well, but the wrist lanyard isn’t adjustable and doesn’t function as nicely. However, you can hang it onto things easily with this attached. You can also attach the strap to the O-ring on the metal clip to get the best of both worlds.

It’s hard not to think about the charging method while discussing packability. This light is tiny, but you must bring a separate charger or a few extra batteries to ensure you won’t run out of juice on a trip. This isn’t a big deal if you have other devices that use 10180 Li-ion batteries. For the most part, they’re used in keychain flashlights, so that might not be the most helpful thing in the world.

Quick Comparison

Another popular keychain flashlight that we’ve thoroughly tested is the NITECORE TIKI. This is going to get technical, so buckle up.

NITECORE TIKI (Lumintop GT Nano)

• 11.9 grams (22 grams)
• 54.86 mm (54 mm)
• Plastic (Aluminum)
• IP66 rating (IPX8)
• 300-lumen max (450-lumen)
• Additional UV & CRI white LED lights (no additional lights)
• 40 hours max battery life (5 hours 55 minutes)
• Top throw of 70 meters (300 meters)
• Micro-USB port on the light (Separate Micro-USB charging)

These lights do well for specific uses, but the Lumintop GT Nano has a leg up in most categories. It’s more durable, water-resistant, and has a higher output level and throw distance. On the other hand, the TIKI is lighter, has additional lights, can last longer on a single charge, and is easier to charge once it dies.

For a seasoned backpacker who will plan ahead and bring extra batteries and a solar charging system, the GT Nano makes sense for its power and throw. However, the TIKI might be better for a casual urban traveler who wants something to work better than their phone in a pinch. Regardless of the selection, you can’t go wrong with either of these lights.