Nitecore NU33 headlamp review (a bit bigger and more powerful than the tiny and perfect Nitecore NU25) - around £50 here in the UK

I don’t need a new headlamp for my night time bass fishing, not with how perfect either of the tiny little and very lightweight Nitecore NU25 headlamps are - the 2017 version and the new 2022 version which I reviewed recently. But thanks to Nitecore in China I have got my hands on this very slightly bigger and somewhat more powerful NU33 headlamp, and I thought it might be of interest to some of you here……………

Nitecore NU25 2022 version on the left, Nitecore NU33 on the right

I don’t know if anybody at Nitecore over in China goes fishing, but find the right headlamp from their extensive range and to me it’s as if they have made them specifically for anglers. The little NU25 (Veals Mail Order and Amazon.co.uk) which I love so much would have made a really good headlamp for my bait fishing days when I used to do a hell of a lot of night fishing, but with how the brightest light setting (obviously) drains the battery down faster than the less bright settings - really?! - I’d have carried two with me to be safe. Not that I would have needed the brightest light setting very much for bait fishing - and definitely not for ninja bass fishing - but when I was way down some ropes at the bottom of some lonely cliff, I’d have liked the backup of an extra little headlamp in my rucksack. No need with this Nitecore NU33 though.

This slightly larger and heavier Nitecore NU33 (96g as opposed to 57g for the NU25 2022 version) has a much higher capacity rechargeable battery (2000mAh li-ion, 650mAh li-ion for the NU25 2022) and whilst I categorically do not even realise when I am wearing the NU25 because it’s so light and almost insignificant, I can feel it on my head when I am wearing this NU33. Give me ten minutes though and I have forgotten it’s there, indeed I think back to my bait days and some of those heavy, mining-style headlamps we used to wear and carry around and I give myself a talking to because we have got it so good these days!

For the sort of night fishing I do these days - bass fishing, very little headlamp use ‘coz it’s ninja innit bruv - I am quite simply not going to run out of juice on my little NU25, and especially if I remember to check the battery level and charge it up when required. This NU33 seems to keep going forever with the sort of light settings I would use these days, and whilst I would have had a headlamp switched on a hell of a lot more when I was bait fishing at night, with how efficient this thing is it still would never have run down on me during the longest sessions I’d have fished. The spotlight-style Primary White Light Turbo (700 lumens) brightest white light setting on this NU33 which is quoted at 4 hours runtime is so bright I can’t see any angler needing it save for something going wrong and you need to really light everything up. The next one below that sear your retinas setting is the Primary White Light High (200 Lumens, still seriously bright, spotlight), and it’s quoted at 9 hours runtime. The more than adequate Primary White Light Mid (60 Lumens) setting on this NU33 is quoted to run for 38 hours (again it’s a spotlight white light). I still think it’s pretty bloody amazing how much rechargeable lighting power and flexibility we get in these tiny little packages which really don’t cost much at all compared to what I used to spend on headlamps, rechargeable batteries, and those sodding little halogen bulbs that blew if you merely looked at them wrong.

So not that I really need a more powerful NU33 for my bass fishing, but if I did to be honest I find the wider-beam Auxiliary White Light Low (50 lumens) setting the most useful for yomping down the cliffs or walking various footpaths. I use this the most for early morning dog walks as well. This is meant to be able to run for a staggering 47 hours like this, and then the much less bright Auxiliary White Light Ultralow (6 lumens) is really handy if you need to change lures or move from rock to rock and you prefer a dim white light to do so. You would have to go some to run this setting down at a quoted 147 hours runtime!

There is also a good red light setting on the NU33 which is quoted as being a little bit brighter than on the NU25, but I think it’s marginal and I don’t really notice a difference. I like a red light for changing lures and trying to be all ninja, but I don’t tend to move around trickier rocks on a red light because I think one’s depth-perception isn’t quite right with a red light. Fine for a level beach, but I feel better moving around on tricky rocks with the dimmest light white setting which I know messes up your night vision for a bit. I’ll live with it though.

This NU33 is a seriously good headlamp that I would have been completely happy with if I hadn’t come across the tiny little NU25 a few years ago - and now the newer NU25 2022 version. What I do really like about this NU33 is that it shares the same button configuration as the NU33 so I know my way around it and I don’t get confused and switch the wrong light on etc. I really like the head strap, and my wife noticed that it’s reflective when we were out on a dog walk. I also like the USB-C charging, so whilst this NU33 is so powerful you don’t need to charge it up very often, the actual charging process is as quick as you’d expect. As with the NU25 you can press the Mode button to get an accurate battery level, plus you can lock the headlamp by long-pressing both top buttons simultaneously. I always do this so I know my headlamp can’t switch on where it lives in my rucksack.

I cannot think of a single thing I don’t like about this amazing little NU33 save for the fact that I already have and love the even smaller and lighter NU25 and it’s completely perfect for the sort of night fishing I do these days. What I do wish is that I could have had headlamps like these back in my bait fishing days, indeed if I do ever get back into say ray fishing at night then without a doubt this NU33 would be my headlamp of choice. For the time being this NU33 has become my early morning dog walking headlamp and my NU25 2022 version lives in my waterproof rucksack for my bass fishing ninja stuff.

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