Accessory Reviews

Nitecore Intellicharger i1

Nitecore is a name synonymous with quality chargers. Their Intellicharger series perhaps being the most well-known within vaping circles due to its competitive cost and premium performance. Their latest charger to come to the market is the Intellicharger i1, a single battery charger specifically designed for vapers.

by Dave Junglist
Feb 1, 2016

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Nitecore Intellicharger i1

Nitecore is a name synonymous with quality chargers, and possibly the biggest brand within the vaping industry for battery chargers with their Intellicharger series perhaps being the most well-known within vaping circles due to its competitive cost and premium performance.

Their latest charger to come to the market is the Intellicharger i1, a single battery charger specifically designed for vapers that can charge a multitude of different battery sizes, that also has a dedicated ego charging port, a USB power outlet for external charging, 1000mAh fast charging option, built in safety features for peace of mind when charging as well as the ability to autodetect the battery type and charge accordingly. With a maximum output up to 1000mA Nitecore claim that the i1 boosts its charging twice as fast as most dual-slot chargers.

Designed for absolute safety the i1 is made from fire-retardant materials and is globally insured. The i1 offers and fast, safe and reliable way to charge your batteries. Is it any good? Let's find out!

Specs

Automatic switching between constant current / constant voltage charging modes.
Automatically stops charging upon charging completion.
Activates depleted batteries (with protection circuit only).
Reverse polarity protection.
Short circuit protection
Automatically detects battery type and selects the appropriate charging currents.
Dedicated ego battery charging port
Capable of charging both IMR & Li-ion batteries: 26650, 18650, 17670, 18490, 17500, 17335, 4500, 10440 & 16340 (RCR123).
Up to 1000mAh charging output
Optimized charging for IMR batteries
USB port for charging external devices
Made from durable fire retardant and flame resistant ABS
Designed for optimal heat dissipation
Certified by RoHS, CE, FCC, CEC and KC
Insured worldwide

What's in the box?

Inside the ubiquitous black and yellow branded Nitecore packaging you will find:

1x i1 Intellicharger
1x Power Cable
User Manual

Take time to read through the user manual as this does contain important information on the safe operation of the Intellicharger i1, the compatible battery types and different options at your disposal, as well as information on the inbuilt safety features and how they protect you.

Intellicharger i1 - dw1986’s feedback

The Intellicharger i1 is really simple to use, you only need to insert a compatible battery and it does the rest for you, automatically setting the optimal charging setting for your selected battery. It charged up batteries much faster than any other charger I have used yet, I mainly use 18650 batteries and I was amazed that these were being charged to 4.2v in a couple of hours maximum, compared to 4-5 hours in other chargers I have used. An LED indicator on the outside will tell you the current status, with green being displayed when your battery is ready for use, and the Intellicharger i1 will also stop charging automatically once it detects your battery has charged to guard against overcharging.

Using the external USB slot, I was able to charge my Efusion mod in no time at all as it was drawing just under 1A from the Intellicharger i1, which meant it charged at double the rate my PC was able to charge it at. That's real high quality performance which not a lot of other chargers can match. Charging higher mAh 26650 batteries also drew much better performance than any other charger that I used yet, with these battery types charging rapidly too.

Safety features are built into the charger too, as well as the above mentioned overcharge protection, short circuit protection is built in as well as reverse polarity protection, which guards against any issues arising from inserting your battery the wrong way. It can also resurrect depleted batteries, if they have a built in protection circuit, and it's designed from flame resistant and fire retardant ABS. It is also designed to dissipate heat, so it stays cool during operation.

Intellicharger i1 - VapeMaster’s feedback

I have used an Intellicharger i4 for over two years now so I think it is fair to say that I am very familiar with Nitecore’s products. In all that time the i4 has been extremely reliable and if one day it fails I will simply replace it with a newer Nitecore charger. The i1 in my opinion looks to have the same excellent build quality and I feel that this is an equally reliable product.

The i1 is extremely simple to use and there is no unnecessary complication that will confuse new users. While there is certainly plenty of technical information on offer regarding this product the question I am sure the typical user will ask is does it work properly? The answer to that is yes it certainly does and it will reliably charge your batteries for you.

In terms of actual charging time it will depend a lot on how old your batteries are and their capacity. To test the i1 I charged one of my Sony VTC4’s (18650 Battery). In total it took about one hour and forty minutes to complete charging. I also charged one of my IMR 18650 Efest LI-MN batteries and this battery took two hours and twenty minutes to charge. I think it is fair to say that the reason the Efest took longer to charge is firstly because they aren’t fantastic batteries and secondly because I have had this particular battery for quite a while.

Clearly if you have newer batteries then they will likely charge much faster but even so I wouldn’t expect an 18650 battery to charge in less than ninety minutes.

The charger does allow you to charge EGO type batteries which is admittedly useful and a nice extra but I do wonder how many people are still using that kind of set up. I personally upgraded my own vape gear long ago and I would assume new vapers gravitate to at least an Eleaf iStick or an Innokin Cool Fire IV these days or some other alternative non-EGO product. Of course it is entirely possible that a lot of people still use EGO batteries so perhaps this feature is valuable.

The fact that the charger also features USB charging is also useful but sadly it will not charge a battery and a USB device at the same time so I ask myself why I would make use of it when I could simply attach the USB device to my PC and charge it that way. I suppose the logic goes that this could be a useful feature if you travel often and are away from home because the charger itself is very light weight and takes up very little space.

While I do feel that this is a well-made product and inexpensive at the price, typically costing about £10, I think that if you plan to be charging a lot of batteries then the i1 is of limited use and I would recommend that you spend a little extra and invest in the i4 instead. If you are also someone who uses dual 18650 devices or plans to in the future then the i1 will be of no value to you because you will need to charge your paired batteries together and this charger can only accommodate one battery at a time.

I guess it really depends on your individual requirements because if you only ever need to ever charge one battery then this a reliable product that is priced extremely reasonably.

Conclusion

This is a reliable and well-made product that comes with plenty of safety features. It is simple to use, lightweight and will be highly useful if you travel a lot and need something compact to take with you. The only downside to this product is if you need to charge more than one battery at a time and if that is the case then you would be better served by looking at one of Nitecore’s other products such as the Intellicharger i4 which for a small increase in price will allow you to charge up to four batteries at once.

A particular highlight is how rapidly the Intellicharger i1 was able to charge batteries ready for use. The build quality is really solid and stays cool even under heavy usage.

The dedicated ego charging port on the Intellicharger i1, it gives those that are new to vaping, and perhaps not as clued up on battery safety as others, a safe charging option to recharge their ego battery rather than running the risk of using an unsuitable and therefore unsafe charger and adds an added layer of safety. The USB port is also a great addition allowing you to safely charge external devices too.

The Intellicharger i1 is a great little single battery charging unit, available at a great price. It's got all of the features you need, and it's available at a great price too. Definitely well worth a look!

We have also been made aware that some counterfeit chargers which bear the NITECORE mark are circulating on the market. These chargers are being sold by unauthorized third parties. All genuine Nitecore chargers are affixed with a sticker with product ID, a scratch code and QR code on packaging.You can validate the code on the validation page on their website or scan the QR code with your mobile phone. More information can be seen on the Nitecore site here - http://charger.nitecore.com/counterfeit-alert-to-nitecore-charger-buyers and they have also produced a guide for helping to identify counterfeit products here - http://charger.nitecore.com/identification-guide-nitecore-charger-users.

Many thanks to Nitecore for submitting this product to Planet of the Vapes for review. We are giving away the charger that we were sent in for review - the competition is open until the 10th February and you can enter here.

Dave Junglist

Reviewer at POTV

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Dave Junglist is co-owner of Planet of the Vapes and has been vaping since 2015. He spent his early years with his head in a bass bin and was a very committed and experienced smoker. He had his first cigarette at the age of 13 and just knew it was for him. He did stop briefly with the aid of patches but reverted quickly and became a ‘secret’ smoker, working hard to keep his weak will from the attention of his family. Vaping made an honest man of him and for this he is forever thankful. He has been involved in websites since completing a degree in Environmental Science in the late nineties. At that time there was pretty much no contact with computers but on joining the regular workforce and deciding that the world-wide-web was the future he blagged his first job as a web designer and never looked back. As you would expect from a junglist, Dave likes his beats and is most comfortable when the bass is wobbly.