LED Lenser MT14 Review

LED Lenser MT14 – 5 stars

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Summary

The relatively compact and very well engineered MT14 from LED Lenser is highly recommended. It maintains it’s maximum brightness of 1,000 lumens for a stellar 9 hours on one charge.

That’s impressive for it’s size. It’s simple to operate, has an excellent variable spot & flood beam and charges via it’s built-in micro USB socket. Good looking, comfortable in the hand, it’s an excellent all-rounder. A top choice in our handheld torch group test.

Brightness

The brightness of the LED Lenser MT14 is 1,000 lumens. In the photos below, taken on Datchworth Green, the first photo is with no torch, the second showing the MT14 with the spot/flood twist set fully to spot. The village sign on the right, about 10 metres away, isn’t really visible but the white building about 100 metres away (The Plough) is clearly visible because of the MT14’s impressively narrow spot beam. Usefully, the MT14 can maintain it’s highest brightness of 1,000 lumens for 9 hours as there is no thermal cut-out on this torch. That is very impressive for a torch this size.

Useful for

I use this torch to walk to the pub, in pitch black conditions, along a narrow country lane in the winter. The long throw of it’s beam set to spot re-assures me, and makes it bright enough for cars to see me coming from a long way off. Compact enough to put in a bag for a long weekend away, a single charge lasts me the whole trip. The LED Lenser MT14 lives on my desk where I can pick it up for a number of tasks: to go out to the freezer in the garage, to look down the street at the car house alarm going off, or just to go for a walk in the evening. My partner Joanna particularly likes it’s size and brightness of it, and it’s comfortable size in the hand. This is a torch I would definitely take hiking (as well as a head torch) due to it’s combination of long battery life and relatively compact dimensions.

Notable features

The on/off button protrudes out of the handle, making it easy to locate without looking. The button has a travel lock as well, so it won’t switch on in a bag in the boot. It has a reassuring click when pressed, and the button itself doubles as a battery indicator, just after the torch is turned on, showing green or red depending on whether the battery needs a charge or not.

The spot to flood beam control, by pushing the head out (spot) or pulling it back (flood), is particularly smooth, with a well engineered, damped feel. Twisting the head clockwise locks it in position. On beam, there is hardly any light flooding out to the side and on flood there is a perfectly even spread of light. The engineering quality of the torch is apparent in the flood to spot feature.

There is a micro USB charging socket on the MT14, so no need to carry a battery charging cradle. The USB socket is covered by a rubber cover, that I sometimes worry could come off, but it hasn’t in 3 years, so I’ll trust LED Lenser’s designers that it’s OK.

The MT14 has 4 functions: high, low, Eco, strobe, accessible via 3 function sets: The default function set is:

• High: 9 hours on 1,000 lumens
• Low: 20 hours on 200 lumens
• Eco: 192 hours on 10 lumens

To access these 3 functions, turn on the torch with either 1 click, 2 clicks or 3 clicks.

Design

The stubby dimensions of this torch are a result of it’s huge 26650 rechargeable battery. That girth gives it a comfortable hand grip you can properly keep hold of. The surface of the hand grip, though not totally smooth, has less grippy groves/knurling than most other torches, but it’s never slipped out my hand with or without gloves.

An attractive, easily identifiable LED Lenser product, it is relatively minimalist in design, all black apart from the silver button and silver band at the top of the torch. And as mentioned several times above, it’s also a reassuringly well made product that inspires confidence and reliability. Typically LED Lenser.

In a further nice design touch, when the torch is turned on the intensity grows over a period of about one second, rather than instantaneously. So if someone is looking at it, there’s a chance to look away rather than get blinded. And it’s just more calming.