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Klarus GL1 Review (600 Lumen, Small weapon light, Micro USB)

Today I am taking a look at Klarus’s first Pistol light the GL1. It produces 600 lumens for 1 minute, has an adjustable rail to fit a variety of different sized pistols and is MicroUSB rechargeable. Thanks to Klarus for sending this to me to review. 

 

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Packaging & Accessories

The GL1 comes with a retail hanging box, and it’s basically what you would expect. It does have a runtime chart on the backend. Inside you get the GL1 itself, a MicroUSB charging cable, and a manual. You also get a replacement rail piece and a couple of small screws to lock it down once get it in place for your firearm.

 

Construction

The GL1 is made from aluminum and IPX6 water rated. It’s a one piece design and fairly slim up front with it getting a little wider as the taper flares out to the back. The front has a fairly deep bezel to protect the lens. On the right side (when mounted) it has a to show an LED, useful when charging, and to give power level indications. ON the bottom is the MicroUSB charging port covered by a silicone cover. Unlike the Olight it’s non magnetic which some will like.

At the back you have two plastic switches that hinge down slightly to turn on. There is a small rubber piece here to give you some give. It’s fairly stiff and at least for me on the glock platform it’s a littler further reach then the Olight PL-Mini 2. What I don’t like is the contour they have chosen for these buttons. For me I find the steep angle uncomfortable because my finger hits the sharper angle using less of the available finger pad to press the button. It works a little better if I come in from the top/side and not directly from top. I think I may file these down a little for better ergonomics.

 

Mounting

The GL1 uses a more traditional screw mounting system and a spring loaded mount. You can loosen the screw by hand or with a coin or spent casing and then push on it to expand the jaws of the pickitniy rail section. The rail piece is adjustable. It slides on a stepped plastic track. The little rail section is spring loaded so once you lock it onto your firearm it won’t go anywhere. Its a mounting system that works pretty well, it’s a little slower than the Olight PL-Mini2’s system especially when switching between guns but overall it’s a pretty good design.

As far as holster options I know of no one yet supporting the GL1 to buy something off the shelf. This means if you do want to use this on a carry gun, you will need to have something custom made. I think it would be super smart for light manufactures to partner with a holster manufacture in advance or come out with something on their own when lights launch. 

 

Competition

The Olight PL-Mini2 is the light that’s the closest competitor in basically all stats and even the size. As you can see from the photos here they are very similar looking from the front with the Olight having a slightly larger diameter bezel. The differences is the mounting systems, with the Olights being quick disconnect and a little easier to use. For comparisons of the beam be sure to check the video version of this review.

Olight on the Left, Klarus GL1 on Right

 

LED & BeamShot

The GL1 is using a Cree XP-L2 HD LED in cool white and powered by an internal 260mAh liion battery. No exact tint data is given but it’s not super cool. The LED sits behind a smooth fairly small deep reflector. 

The beam quality here is good for it’s intended purpose. It’s fairly spotty but the focal point is medium size. There is a good amount of tint shift from the emitter in the center with it being warmer in the middle the the edges. The Olight throws just slightly further according to the stats but to my naked eye I can’t tell a difference. 

 

Heat and Runtime

The GL1 produces it’s maximum of 600 lumens for right at 1 minute and then starts stepping down from near 100% relative output to 10% over the next 11 minutes. It was at 2:10 we see maximum heat at 35C which is fine. The next 50 minutes or so the light maintains that 10% and then the light is running at near moonlight outputs for the next 2 hours. Output here was a bit disappointing since it lost so much output so quickly. While most firefights won’t last very long I want more then 12 minutes of more then 60 lumens and the last 2 hours are near useless. It’s possible I have a bad battery here but I would rather see a more regulated driver and a few more step downs to better control things. 

UI

UI here is easy and straight forward. There is one mode, on with the light. Both sides switches work the same on the light. A quick press locks the light on. If you press and hold the light comes on in momentary mode. Strobe is available if you click both the left and right buttons at the same time. 

 

Recharging

The GL1 uses a a 650mAh lithium ion battery internally that’s sealed in the light. The bad here is that it’s non replaceable but that’s to be expected on a light of this purpose that’s so small. Recharging is accomplished via a MicroUSB port on the bottom of the light. While slightly less convenient the Olights Magnetic system the pro is that it’s a standard cable and easy to charge pretty much anywhere. It’s a trade off I will gladly take.

I measured recharging as taking just 56 minutes and the maximum speed I saw was just under 0.3A so a very safe charging speed for this size of battery. On the side of the light there is a LED that will be red when charging and green when charged.  

Pro’s

  • MicroUSB recharging means no proprietary cables needed here.
  • Strobe is available if you want it.

 

Con’s

  • 1 minute of 600 lumen output I wish was a bit longer
  • No holster options are on the market that I could find.
  • Actuation buttons need revised ergonomics

 

Conclusion

My conclusion is the GL1 is a good first attempt from Klarus on a pistol light. Physically they did a great job, I think. It’s not really much of an original design but it’s enough to be different. The mounting system works pretty well for not being a QD mount. I do wish they would rethink the ergonomics on the rear buttons a bit for their future models.

Performance here needs a bit of work. A more regulated driver with stepped modes is important here, A shorter runtime is ok if the light produces more light while doing it, because we have to remember the use case here, you’re unlikely to have a pistol light in use for hours at a time. It’s much more likely to have it out for minutes at time. 

 

I give this light a pass as it’s better then other brands first attempts at a pistol light. The use of MicroUSB here over a proprietary cable is smart. The UI is good and simple for it’s purpose. Lack of holster options will prevent this from being a cary or duty light but that won’t prevent it from being a good companion for a night stand or desk gun. It will be fun to watch where Klarus goes from here with their GL series of lights. 

 

Pickup the Klarus GL1 at https://klaruslightstore.com/products/gl1-pistol-light-600lm-rechargeable-compact-and-solid-built?_pos=1&_sid=e33c4603b&_ss=r

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Olight Odin Dedicated Weapon Light Review (2000 Lumen, 21700, XHP 35.2 LED)

The Olight Odin is Olights first purpose built long gun flashlight. It’s using a Scout mount, has a pressure pad and is capable of 2000 lumens. There have been a fair bit of sponsored Odin reviews, I strive to be different here and tell you how I see it. Thanks to Skyben for sending it to me let’s take a look and get to the review.

 

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Packaging & Accessories

Olight once again does a very nice job here on packaging. It’s very appleske with a white magnetic fold out box and a full color photo on the front with specs on the back. On t he inside everything is packaged very nice inside little boxes, etc. Opening the front cover you have the quickstart guide along with the light and all the accessories. There are quite a few accessories with this light including the light itself and the 4 direction mount. You also get the 5000mAh 21700 proprietary battery, the MCC2A magnetic charger cable, and the new locking pressure switch. Lastly you get a few small zip ties to help mount the pressure switch, a small allan key, and a few extra screws and manual.

 

Construction

The Olight Odin is made from aluminium and hard anodized in a fairly glossy black. Starting at the tail cap, you have a very similar recharging point that was on the Olight Warrior X Pro, with the longer lugs to help you find the tail switch with gloves. It’s a two stage switch with a half press being momentary and full press locking on the light. Around the rear button is another ring and what looks like a space for an o’ring this is for the included pressure switch to lock on to the light which I will explain later. On the sides of the tail you have some tear drop areas milled in place for grip and style. Inside there is a large spring loaded brass contact. 

Threads are anodized, square cut and robust. It does take several turns to get them off. This is one of the few Olights where the positive terminal of the battery faces the head. The body tube is smooth except for the Scout mount. That’s fine, remember this isn’t an EDC light or designed to be handheld, it’s designed to be mounted primarily. 

The head you can tell was milled as one piece but it’s glued on to the tail and is non removable. It has a little larger ring which I assume is to help with thermal for the electronics. Styling wise you have two milled away tear drops, about the size of an endmill. At the front there is a black bezel with small almost saw tooth shaped crenulations. The edges are reasonably sharp. The lens is glass (Good for cleaning powder residue off) and underneath that is a TIR optic. 

Mounting 

This light uses the “Scout” mounting system that Surefire pioneered with the scout series of lights. It provides a 2 post mount thats about 7.75mm off the body of the light. It’s an extra piece that’s screwed to the light with 2 small hex head cap screws with locking compound on them. When I backed the screws out with a 1.5mm Hex key.

Olight included their locking mount that is designed to fit onto a standard picatinny rail. It can mount on the left or the right, and face forward or backward. It utilizes two hex head bolts and comes with the appropriately sized hex allan key. I would recommend once you get it to where you like it, to put some blue locktite on these screws, to make sure nothing backs off during use. This mount has 2 positions on where you can mount the light either on what I will call the bottom or the side. In addition to this light can mount either direction.This mount also locks once the light is in place to help secure it. Lastly the light does have threaded screw holes in it so you can use other 3rd party mounts like my favorite offset mount by Arisaka Defense. You may have to get a little creative with these in the order you mount them to tighten down all the screws depending on what your mounting it on. The big thing here is you have a lot of options.

The pressure switch is an evolution of what we saw on the M2R and Warrior series of lights. It’s designed to go on a picatinny rail as well and is rubber so it can slide on top and to secure you can use the included zip ties. The big difference here is that the end that attaches to the light has a locking mechanism. Simply push the ring forward to engage 4 small detent balls to grip onto the light, pull this ring back to unlock. It’s pretty secure for normal use and won’t break free under normal conditions. I did see a few posts in the Olight Facebook group where people had the lock come loose during extreme combat type situations so your luck might very. I would recommend disconnecting the pressure switch during transport in a bag to prevent the light from coming on accidentally. Cable length on the pressure switch is 165mm.

Size and Weight

I measured the overall length at 136.6mm, maximum diameter on the light (not including the mount) is 29mm, minimum diameter is 24.16mm. Weight with the battery was 174.1g, adding the pressure switch it’s 222.3g. 

LED & Beam

Olight has recently gotten into the nasty habit of not defining the LED they are using on some lights, and the Odin is one of them. With the TIR optic in place you can’t see the LED either. What I can tell you is it’s a fairly neutral white tint at the Turbo setting and in lower modes it’s a bit warm.. The beam is almost all throw with the focus in the center. There is just a very slight spill and there are a few artifacts here, which I think are the edges of the bezel showing. This is perfect for it’s intended use as a weapon mounted light where you want a tight focus. 

Heat & Runtime

The Odin produces upto 2000 lumens on turbo and this lasts 2 minutes before it steps down to 52% relative output. I saw maximum heat at 60C at 2:40 of runtime. Normally I would say this is too hot to hold but since this light is designed to be placed near the muzzle end of a hot firearm it’s not really an issue. We saw one more step down at the 12 minute markand the light ran at a fading 42% output for 2 hours. At the end it had one more step down before stopping right at 3 hours of runtime. I would have wished to see Turbo last longer here but suspect the time is thermally regulated as we can see the temps heat up some after cooling off initially. Overall runtime is the best out of a 1” weapon light that I have tested.

UI

The UI here is pretty simple. On the light itself, the rear button has a half press which gives you the lower lumen mode, and a full press gives you the full 2000 lumens. If you press and hold in either mode the light is in momentary. If you do a quick press in either mode the light stays on. When the pressure switch is connected you only have the full 2000 lumens but the same press and hold gives you momentary and quick press gives you constant light. There is no strobe mode on this light. 

 

Recharging & Power

The Odin uses Olights Proprietary 21700 5000mAh battery which is required for this light. It’s one of the only recent Olights I can remember where the positive terminal goes in facing the head. Proprietary batteries are one of the things I dislike the most. This probably won’t be something you swap out a lot but if you want extra power be sure to buy one and keep properly stored in your kit. Olights MCC3 charging system here is a winner because it’s super easy to recharge and leave the light mounted on your weapon. It’s red when charging and green when charged, and this version charges up to 2A. Total charging time here was 2 hours and 7 minutes which seems pretty quick.

Pro’s

  • Use of the Scout mount meaning you have tons of mounting options to fit your application.
  • Complete Kit with a decent mount.
  • Good Beam for the purpose.


Con’s

  • Only is compatible with 21700 batteries, CR123A’s are not an option if your out in the field and need more light after several hours. 
  • Some possible durability issues with the locking pressure mount system.
  • LED used is unspecified but is Neutral White.

 


Conclusion

For me this is going to be the light I plan on leaving on my 16” build. The way I have it configured now it’s easy enough to remove if I want to, but I feel pretty confident in it’s ability to perform to leave it. I may end up picking up an offset Arisaka mount to get it a little closer to the hand guard. 

 

Overall I think this is a good light for most citizens and hunters. Before I would trust my life to it in a police or military role I would want to do more durability testing. With the current pandemic and ammo shortage of 2020, I didn’t put that many rounds through my AR during range testing but what I did shoot the light held up without issues. 

 

Pickup the Olid Odin on Amazon at https://amzn.to/2E2JxZN

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/v50nRek

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Acebeam L17 Review (160,801 Candela, 1400 Lumens, Awesome Thrower)

Today I have a new compact tactical thrower from Acebeam. They boast that the L17 which easily fits in your hand will throw out ot 802 meters. It runs off an 18650 and features a Osram LED. Thanks to Acebeam for sending me this new model. Let’s take a detailed look. 

 

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Packaging & Accessories

The light does come in 3 different versions, a white or Green LED version both capable of 800 and 820M of throw respectively, and a Red LED version that’s capable of 460M of throw. T

The standard package is a nice retail box with a line drawing of the light and the LED lumen and distance ratings on the box. On the back side there is a lot of stats and detailed info, good for any retailer looking to sell this. Accessories that are included is the light with the clip and tactical ring installed on the light. It comes with a lanyard, spare button cover and 2 spare orings as well as the standard paperwork and manual. You also get a nylon holster that’s branded Acebeam that has a D ring and belt loop with a button. 

Acebeam offers a couple of additional accessories on their website that will work with the L17 but are not sold in the standard version. First is a 10A rated 18650 battery with microUSB charging and a remote pressure switch for only $10 which is a good price. 

 

Construction

The L17 is made from aluminium and is hard anodized in a flat black. In the tail is the e-switch for the light and it’s truly silent. The cover is a rubber boot that has medium texture that sits just under the bezel. Internally, the tail has a single stiff gold coated spring and then an additional contact to the inner tube of the light. Threads are anodized, square cut and smooth. 

There is a tactical ring on the body which serves as a cigar grip point, the lanyard attachment point and adds reinforcement/lock for the clip on pocket clip. Both the tactical ring and pocket clip are removable should you wish. It’s a nice way to add quite a bit of security to the clip without making it permanent. The body tube itself is plain and features no knurling, I would like to see a little more grip here or closer to the head. 

The head itself is glued to the body. The head has some decorative milling around it and it helps dissipate some heat. The bezel is aluminum and has some modest large crenulations for a tactical light. The lens is glass with a Carclo TIR lens inside designed to enhance the throw. 

Size and Weight

I measured the length at 140mm, minimum diameter of the body tube at 25.5mm, and maximum diameter of the head at 40mm. Weight with an 18650 battery is 196.9g,

 

 

Retention

You have a couple of retention and carry options with the L17. It does come with that nylon holster for belt carry. It’s a basic holster but does the job well. You also have that pocket clip. The clip is 1.4 inches from the top of the light so it’s definitely not deep carry. 

LED & Beamshot

Acebeam doesn’t specify which LED exactly is in the L17 only that it’s an Osram. I asked my contact for clarification and they said it was an Osram KW CSLPM1.TG which is a mouthful but good to know exactly whats in it. It’s a very throwy LED that Acebeam has put a TIR optic on top with a glass lens. It’s different looking than your traditional optic and this is designed for all throw. 

The result is a light that has virtually no spill, it’s all focused on the center in a tight pattern. The combination of the optic and LED choice explain the claimed 160,801 candela rating here at 1400 lumens in Turbo mode. Tint here is cool white but I don’t detect much blue in the beam. In my night shots it stands up pretty well to some of the competitors using different LEDs but this has a tighter more focused beam. I didn’t notice any PWM here.

Specs below are for the White Version I have. The Green version throws slightly further. 

  • Turbo – 1400 Lumens – 160,801 Candela
  • High – 370 Lumens – 42,025 Candela
  • Mid – 150 Lumens – 23,409 Candela
  • Low – 50 Lumens – 11,025 Candela
  • Ultra Low – 15 Lumens – 3,600 Candela

 

Heat & Runtime

I did all my runtime and heat tests with the supplied (optional) Acebeam 3100mAh battery that was sent. It’s a 10A battery so keep that in mind for what you decide to put in this light and choose something with at least htis rating. Total runtime was 4:35:00. In my runtime tests I saw Turbo last for 3:30 before stepping down to right at 50% relative output. This is also where I saw maximum heat at 64C (147F) so this definitely gets hot and that thermal protection kicks in to limit output. The light maintained this 50% output for a total of 1 hour before stepping down again to about 4% relative output. My advice would be if you plan to use this light on Turbo for more then once past step down is to wear gloves. It only takes exposures above 60C for more then 3 seconds to get 1st degree burns.

 

UI

The L17 uses a pretty traditional and simple interface. When Off long press on the rear tail switch for ultra low (15 lumen), single click to turn off. Single press to turn on to low, long press to cycle modes. Double click to go to turbo, and triple click to go to strobe. 

 

I will say mode spacing here isn’t super common. Ultra low is 15 lumens and throws really well for not much light. Next is low at 50 lumens, Mid is 150 lumens, high is 370 lumens. Acebeam says this will go 410 meters. Next is Turbo the full 4500 lumens or 160,801 candella. 

 

Pro’s

  • Nice to see colored LED’s being offered here instead of just a filter. I could see this being popular with a hunter with the green tint option. 
  • Very tight and compact beam with great throw
  • A fairly compact bezel which makes this more accessible.
  • Silent Tail Switch & good vibration resistance.

 

Con’s

  • The light gets incredibly hot during turbo before step down. Wear some gloves or hold the back of the light.
  • Big steps between High and Turbo. 

 

Conclusion

I can recommend the Acebeam L17 if you’re in the market for a fairly compact 18650 powered thrower with basically no spill. I am typically not a big fan of tactical lights but the UI on this light is pretty non-tactical so it works out well. 

 

This isn’t the light to take with you when hiking, or for EDC or for walking the dog to see right in front of you. It would be great for a security guard who was needing to point out a specific spot on a house or inspect something from a distance. It’s also just a lot of fun to impress your friends or significant other, it’s a lot of power and so focused. It’s probably the next best thing to a LEP light.

 

https://www.batteryjunction.com/acebeam-l17.html

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Thrunite T2 Review (3757 Lumens, XHP 70 LED, USB-C, 21700)

Today I am taking a look at Thrunite’s newest model, the T2. It’s super floody light, producing a whopping 3757 lumens out of a Cree XHP 70 LED, a 21700 battery, and is rechargeable with onboard USB-C. Thanks to Thrunite for sending it to me to review. Let’s take a closer look. Be sure to see Thrunite’s deal on the bottom of the page for the T2.

 

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Get the Thrunite T2 on Amazon at the links below. 

Neutral White https://amzn.to/3jVEcUm

Cool White https://amzn.to/30gZeVE

 

Packaging and Accessories

Packaging here is Thrunites standard good quality brown cardboard box with minimal information. The side lists the model and emitter. Inside the light is protected well with foam. Accessories include the light, a 5000mAh Thrunite branded button top 21700 battery, a nylon holster, USB-A to C charging cable, 2 extra orings, a spare charging port cover and a branded lanyard along with a manual. 

 

Construction

The T2 shares many similar visual features to the smaller Thrunite T1 I reviewed earlier this year. The T2 is made from 6061 aluminum and has a fairly flat tail cap, that is non magnetic, but has a place milled in the side for a lanyard. The tail section and body are a one piece design. The clip only attaches at the tail and is non captured. The body section has a rectangle/rib pattern milled in oti. It’s similar to the Olight M2R which is a competitor light. The T2’s millings are deeper and the rectangle sections are a little larger. It’s a nice amount of grip.

Threads on the body tube are anodized, square cut and nicely greased. Inside the head it has a single brass post up front to fit the proprietary battery. On the outside there is a silver metallic button covering the eswitch with a hole in the middle for the LED indicator. The sides have some milled fins in them. Opposite the button is the silicone cover for the USB-C charging port. I had no trouble here with access to any of the cables I tried. The port is nicely recessed and out of the way.

The aluminum bezel has a grey accent that’s slightly tapered. Inside is a AR coated piece of glass, a wide but very shallow orange peel reflector and the giant Cree XHP 70 LED. 

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length at 112mm and maximum diameter on the head at 30mm and minimum diameter on the body at 26mm. Weight with the included battery and clip was 167.8g. 

 

Comparison

The light that i will be comparing this to is the Olight M2R. Now the M2R is a little more tactically focused but quite similar in over all size. The T2 is shorter in overall size and hardly grows in diameter. That said the M2R does have a bit more reach. The T2 seems to sacrifice it’s throw performance for the overall length of the light in the hand.

Retention

The T2 comes with a basic nylon holster, with a Dring and belt loop. The T2 fits inside just fine. You also have the option of a branded lanyard. These are basic options but do the job just fine. The T2 has as very deep carry pocket clip that only attaches at the tail of the light. It bends out and then up almost flush with the tail but on my example here that upper loop is hard to attach onto a pocket due to the step and small amount of space up top. Other than that it’s a decent clip and once you get it down over your pocket lip it carries well for a 21700 light.

LED & Beamshots

The Thrunite T2 is running a Cree XHP 70 LED and is a available in cool and neutral white. I have the neutral white and it has a bit fo green to it, not uncommon for a Cree emitter. It’s a big LED in a very short and wide reflector. The result is a very floody beam with a good amount of tint shift unfortunately. At 

When the light is dropped on it’s tail it flickers slightly but stays on. I didn’t detect any PWM with my oscilloscope. 

Official Outputs are listed as the following.

  • Firefly  – 0.3 Lumens
  • Low – 30 Lumens
  • Medium – 366 Lumens
  • High – 1712 Lumens
  • Turbo – 3757 Lumens

 

Heat & Runtime

With big output numbers from a big LED comes heat and output stepdowns. Turbo on the T2 started to step down at 1:10 and then ran at 38% relative output till the 8 minute mark, stepping down another 10%. FL1 was at 3 hours 12 minutes. Total runtime was 3hr 20 minutes. Peak heat was 49.9C at 1:30

I did a bit of comparison to the Olight M2R Pro also running a 5000mAh 21700 battery and you can see the Olight has a little brighter mid range but ends about 5 minutes shorter. Overall both lights are pretty comparable in terms of runtime even though their beam patterns are really used for different purposes. 

 

UI

The UI on the T2 is what Thrunite uses on most Thrunite and Wowtac models. Long press to go to Firefly, single click to go up in modes from L, M, H, and double press to go to Turbo. Triple press to go to strobe. There is a memory mode on all normal modes, and a lock out if you press and hold while the flashlight is off. Mode spacing here could be improved, with just 3 modes you see some big steps up, Medium to High is 366 to 1712. I would like to see another mode in the middle.

 

It’s kind of a bit of a shame they didn’t decide to use the T1’s ramping mode as I liked that quite a bit. For a more high end light like this, it’s almost becoming the norm to have a stepped and ramping mode that the user can switch in and out of. 

 

Recharging

The Thrunite T2 has onboard USB-C recharging, and it ships with an A to C cable. They advertise the light as having fast charging but doesn’t really say what that is. I had my hopes up that it would be compatible with C to C  charging via USB-C PD but at least in my testing that doesn’t seem to be the case. Charging the 5000mAh battery from LVP at 2.948V to Full at 4.199V took 3 hours 30 minutes. Maximum charging rate I saw was right at 2A. It didn’t ramp up but instead started right at 2A and then ramped down as the battery filled. The LED Indicator on the button displays power levels in real time. Greater then 21% is blue, between 11-20% red, and flashing red is less then 10% power remaining. When charging they go red and then blue when charged.

I was a little worried about the included 5000mAh battery as it has both the positive and negative terminals on the positive side, it looks identical to the battery Olight uses in the M2R Pro and in fact the Olight and Thrunite batteries are interchangeable in either light. What’s a little strange here is that Thrunite doesn’t have a contact point in the head for that negative terminal on the top of the battery so a standard button top 21700 works and charges in this light just fine. 

 

Pro’s

  • Compact High Lumen Flood
  • Neutral white tint is available
  • Even though it looks like a proprietary battery, standard batteries charge and work just fine.

 

Cons

  • Not USB-C to C Compliant, no USB-C PD support
  • Pocket clip need a little bit of tweaking to fit most pants for deep carry
  • Mode spacing is spaced out quite a bit. 0.3, 30, 366, 1712, 3757 lumens. 
  • Timed Step Down

 

Conclusion

The T2 a pretty good all around floody light with a lot of output from it’s Cree XHP 70 LED. It’s nice to see Thrunite continue to offer tint options on their lights. I find the overall design here a little boring to look at but in this case it’s form over function and functionally it’s pretty good. 

 

I would make a few small changes on a revised model if I could, another mode between medium and high to split the difference between 366 lumens and 1712 lumens. I would tweak the top loop of the clip to allow for it to fit over thicker pants easier, and I would make it compatible with a USB-C to C cable so it could be charged with many laptop and smartphone chargers. The USB-C to C cable is the one universal cable to make your life easier, we are just not there yet with most flashlights. It would be nice to see active thermal management on a light in this price range instead of a timed step down.

 

The battery here is really interesting, that Thrunite went to the expense of putting that negative contact on the positive end but doesn’t use it on this light. It makes me wonder what they might have coming out in the future. It’s nice here that you don’t need a proprietary battery though. 

 

Overall I can recommend the T2 if you need a high output flood light in a small package with a choice of tint. It even EDC’s and carries in a front pocket pretty well which I was not expecting for a 21700 light. 

 

Get the Thrunite T2 on Amazon at the links below. 

Neutral White https://amzn.to/3jVEcUm

Cool White https://amzn.to/30gZeVE

 

Thrunite is also running a promotion for the T2, limited to the first 50 people. 

1 – Buy ThruNite T2 & leave your unbiased experience on Amazon

2 – Contact review@thrunite.com to get a customer edition T1 – dark green ($45.95 on Amazon?for free, limited to the first 50 people!

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Meote FM1 Review (Dazzler or Dud?)

Meote is a new flashlight brand on the market a collaboration between Banggood and one of it’s affiliate marketers. It’s first light is the FM1 and it features quad LED, available in multiple tints, multi color auxiliary LED, an attractive exposed copper and black body and running an 18650 battery. Thanks to Banggood for sending me this light for review. Let’s see if their first light is a dazzler or a dud. 

 

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Packaging and Accessories

The packaging here is pretty nice. It’s a black retail hanging box that looks pretty sharp with a picture of the light on the fron. Inside the light is shipped with foam surrounding the light. Accessories that come with the light a nylon holster that’s branded with Meote’s logo, It clips on to your belt with a clip, and doesn’t have a d-ring. Other accessories include 2 o’rings and a simple manual. The print is very small and I would suggest just going to ToyKeepers website to get a larger copy of the Anduril manual. 

 

 

Construction & Build

There are 2 versions of this light. First is the version I have here with the LH351D LED (Other LED’s are available), coated copper head and Andruil firmware. There is then the aluminum alloy version with anodized accents (Blue and Green), with NarsilM firmware.  The version I have here is available with the black anodizing, blue or sand. 

 

This light is built a little differently than other lights, it takes design elements from the FW3A but puts it’s own larger spin on them. Starting at the tail the mechanical switch has a metal button with the Meote logo etched in. It’s a loud button, probably the loudest I have. Inside it features a dual spring but they are rather weak which causes the light to shut off if bumped moderately when on. Inside the body section there is an inner tube that’s not secured one either end. Threads are square cut, raw and a bit rough. 

Body section has some basic grooves cut into it. The body section doesn’t split where you think it should when lining up with the head, instead it’s just behind the copper part of the light. The head itself has a large outer copper sleeve with fins milled in. They are coated to prevent oxidation. On mine it seems to be missing an oring but there is a place milled for it. Inside there is an anodized aluminum large retaining ring holding the pill in. The bezel is aluminum and crenulated holding in the quad optic. 

 

It’s worth noting here that at least with my flat top, unprotected high drain VT6 battery, it’s very easy to bump the light and have it turn off. A stronger/longer tail sprint would fix this.

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length at 110mm, minimum diameter on the body at 21.4mm, and maximum diameter on the head at 30mm. I measured the weight with a Sony VTC6 battery at 185.5g. It’s not a light light.

Retention

The light does feature a reasonably deep pocket clip with large cap screws with a 3/32 hex head. Not typical of other flashlights. My clip was originally bent out from the body of the light and didn’t make contact. I was able to bend it back fairly easily as it’s soft steel. It also comes with a nylon case that’s decent. It has a clip on the rear instead of D-Ring.

 

LED & Beamshots

The FM1 is available with a number of LED’s, the one I have here is running Samsung LH351D at 5000k. I think it’s a bit warmer then that in my eyes and when compared with other lights. SST20 at 4000k and XPL-Hi at 6500k are also available. Meote claims the light produces 4980 lumens and that number is probably with the XPL-Hi LED’s but testing on BLF has said otherwise. I don’t have a current method I trust to accurately make a lumen claim myself.

Beam pattern has a decent amount of artifacts that you notice on the edges of the spill. I think it’s the crenulations that are causing most of this. Out of my D4 and FW4A it’s what I would consider the most undesirable beam shape. It’s mostly a floodly light and at a distance you don’t really notice a hot spot. 

There have been several reports of the driver on this light flickering during high output uses. My example doesn’t have that problem at least when I am running a Sony VTC6 battery. It’s worth noting here that at least with my flat top, unprotected high drain VT6 battery, it’s very easy to bump the front or back of the light and have it turn off. A stronger/longer tail sprint would fix this.

 

Heat and Runtime

No big surprises here in the heat and runtime category. It’s a quad LED light without a ton of thermal mass so Turbo output starts stepping down almost immediately and at 30 seconds it’s 3.5 times less light then when it started turbo. It does have active thermal regulation so we saw it step up and down slowly during the total 2 hour and 40 minute run time. Most of this was spent between 25%-40% relative output. FL1 was at 2 hrs and 32 minutes. Maximum heat I saw was 47C at the 12 minute mark. LVP came in at 3.02V.

UI

The Meote FM1 is using the Andril firmware we have gone over before with several other lights I have reviewed like the Lumintop FW3a, FW4a, FireFlies E07 and others so I will be brief. It provides the ability to run in a nice ramping mode, stepped mode, and has tons of extra features. Do seriously check out the diagram and practice with it so you use the light to the full potential if you decide to get one. I would also recommend doing a thermal config if you plan to use the light seriously. 

 

One thing some of the other lights I have reviewed have not had are the RGB auxiliary LED’s that this one does. You can adjust the brightness to low, high, or in a blinking color mode by 7 quick clicks when the main led are off. You can also adjust the color of the LED, with 7 click then hold from off. It can do static colors R, Y, G, C, B, V, W, rainbow which I have it in here, and volts mode which gives you a quick flash of the previous color then fades to the next. 

 

Pro’s

  • Use of the Samsung LH351D LED’s is nice
  • Exposed copper even though it’s coated
  • Auxiliary LED’s

 

Con’s

  • Internal Build quality 
  • Beam Pattern
  • Easy to bump and have the light turn off
  • Clip is easily bent

 

Conclusion

On paper I wanted to like ths light, It’s a little bigger than I typically want to EDC in the summer but I just liked the look of the exposed copper, it had a pretty good deep carry clip, high CRI LH351D led’s that are warmer, and aux LED’s are always fun too. So this had the potential to be a good light, but when I got my hands on it turned out to be a light I just didn’t enjoy very much. 

 

I have a hard time recommending this light. There are better options like the Lumintop FWXA series and Emmisar D4V2 for lights that do similar things. These don’t have the issues like this FM1 has, like a bump shuts the light off, the interior build quality, a flickering power issue some people on BLF have reported, a clip that’s not touching the body, and an undesirable beam shape. 

 

To me it feels more like a prototype than a finished product. A lot of these issues should have been caught during the development process and worked out before bringing it to market. Instead we are left with a light that just isn’t as good as it should have been.

 

Banggood is offering 20% off the Meote FM1 using https://ban.ggood.vip/Ugny and coupon code BGCP1PC

See Banggood’s other July Flashlight sales https://bit.ly/3jGzsSl

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Sofirn SP33 V3 Review (3500 Lumens, Multi battery compatible, $32 price tag)

Sofirn has made an upgrade to their SP33 light after taking feedback from the flashlight community and come out with the SP33 V3 edition. It can use a several sizes of batteries such as a 26650, 18650, and even 21700’s. It features a Cree XHP50.2 at 3V LED and produces 3500 lumens in a pretty compact light and a very budget friendly price. Thanks to Sofirn for sending this to me to check out.

Sofirn is offering 36% off the SP33 V3 that’s available from Amazon by using the coupon LiquidRetro combine that with the click off coupon to save a total of 36% brining this to $32.24 before tax. Get it at https://amzn.to/32M5SoH

 

Thanks to everyone who is already following me on Instagram, and on this channel’s Facebook page, It really does help the channel grow. 

 

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Packaging & Accessories

 The SP33 has a bit of a more retail looking box then we have seen from them in the past. It’s a black and orange hanger box but it doesn’t have a photo of the light on it, just a night shot showing a very bright flashlight. Accessories that are included with the SP33 V3 Kit are The 5500mAh 26650 battery, 18650 battery adapter tube, USB-A to C charging cable, manual, and a lanyard with a couple extra o’rings. 

 

Construction

The SP33 V3 is made of 6061 aluminum and hard anodized in black. Machining is good for the price range, with no major concerns. Starting at the tail cap, it has a crown and one side has 2 holes for a lanyard attachment point. They are just a little to small to easily fit paracord in, but you might be able to if you are patient and creative. Knurling is straight and there are a few flats in place for style. This is different from the rest of the light but provide function. Inside there is a single short fairly stiff spring that provides compatibility with the many different battery types this light supports. Threads are ACME cut and were dry in my example.

The body tube is reversible and has a decently thick walls. There isn’t a place for a clip but that’s ok for a light of this diameter in my opinion. The knurling is standard diamond knurling and is done in four panels around the light and is of medium texture.

The head is a solid piece. In the center you have the flat plastic e-switch button with an LED in the middle used for power indication. Around the hexagon there are small areas milled in to help with cooling and give style. Opposite the button is the USB-C port for recharging. The silicon cover here is a bit large and does protrude slightly from the lights back, enough so it won’t sit flat on this port but in the hand this works fine and stays out of the way.

The V3 features a deeper stainless steel bezel with a few short but long crenelations. This has been lengthened on the V3 version. The lens looks to be uncoated mineral glass and is fairly thick. The reflector underneath is deep with an orange peel.

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length of the light at 126mm, maximum diameter at 37.5mm, minimum diameter at 32mm. Weight with the included battery is 229g. 

I don’t have a lot of other great 26650 lights that are similar sized to compare it to. What I do have is the Wowtac A4 V2 I reviewed recently. It’s similar in length and diameter but the head is much larger. I also have the Sofirn SP36 I reviewed last year, its similar in length but has more diameter due to it’s 3 18650 batteries. 

Retention

Not much to say on retention here, there isn’t a place for a clip on the light, and it doesn’t come with a holster. The tail cap does have a place for a lanyard to attach if you wish. The light does tail stand without an issue.

 

LED & Beam Shots

V3 of this light is using a Cree XHP50.2 LED at 3V instead of the 6V version of this led. Tint is listed at between 6000-6500k, so cool white. On lower powers I do notice a bit of green tint shift on my example but it’s minimal. On higher powers you do notice tint shift across the beam. I would categorize the light as an all purpose beam, It’s fairly wide and the hotspot is so broad it’s not a thrower, yet it goes a good distance as you can see in my night shots. Sofirn quotes a throw of 275 meters and I think that’s a good number that’s in the ballpark.

V3 is using a FET driver instead of boost driver meaning it’s drawing more current from the battery thus the higher turbo output that’s seen here. You are going to want to use a good high quality high drain flat top battery with this light for maximum performance. It can accept 26650’s of all types, 18650’s of all types with the included spacer, or unprotected flat top 21700 batteries. The light has PWM on all modes according to my scope and solar cell setup. That said it’s pretty fast and my eyes or camera don’t notice it. 

 

Output is listed as:

  • Turbo 3500 Lumens
  • High 1600 Lumens
  • Medium 450 Lumens 
  • Low 150 Lumens
  • Moon 1 Lumen

 

Heat and Runtime

The SP33 V3 features Advanced temperature regulation without timed step downs, instead output will decline with the drivers internals reach 55C. Brightness will increase again when temps decrease, and we can see this in the runtime graph, as it’s a very seesaw motion. On average you’re seeing maybe a 20% swing in relative output over the life of the battery after the initial turbo step down. I didn’t notice it unless I was really focused on it on a 25 minute walk with the light. Turbo did start stepping down due to heat at 1 min 45 seconds, taking a little over a minute to step down to 18% relative output to cool. From here you can see on the graph it went up and down in terms of output as the flashlight regulated its own heat.

Total runtime on the included 5500mAh battery was 3:24:00. FL1 was at 3:11:00 and the maximum temp I saw during my runtime on the exterior was 48C or 118F so definitely very warm. All temps were taken at my ambient room temp of about 25C.

 

User Interface

 This light has 2 UI modes, default mode (mode 1) is a stepped mode that works logically. It has moonlight, low, medium, and high modes with memory and Turbo without. A single click turns the light on from off, and holding the button down cycles through modes. Long press when off turns on Moonlight mode and double click goes to Turbo. Triple click to go to SOS/blinking modes.

The second UI mode is a ramping mode. To switch between the 2 modes when the light is on do a quick quad press. Ramping is like many other ramping modes with a flash on both the top and bottom end. For me while I like being able to set brightness exactly where I want it, I don’t love the speed of the ramp here, it’s a little on the slow side. 

There is an electronic lockout when the light is off just quad click quickly. You can also mechanically lock it out with a slight twist of the tail or body tube. This is useful for such a powerful light os you don’t burn a hole in a bag or coat. 

 

Recharging

The light isn’t picky on the size of batteries used in the light diameter or size wise. It can accept 26650’s of all types, 18650’s of all types with the included spacer, or unprotected flat top 21700 batteries. The later having the most slop in the tube due to not including an appropriately sized spacer. I used the supplied 5500mAh Sofirn 26650 battery for my charging tests. LVP came in on the light at 2.895V, so a little lower then I prefer but acceptable. The battery measured as fully charged at 4.15V. 

The light does use USB-C for recharging which is nice to see. However it requires a USB-A to C cable (Supplied) to charge, and isn’t compatible with a C-C cable. When charging the small LED in the center of the button blinks red, and goes blue when charged. From LVP to full the light took 3 hours, 30 minutes. Maximum charging rate was 1.7A. 

 

Pro’s

  • Great budget friendly price for a lot of light in a good overall package.
  •  Is available in a few different versions, and battery options.
  •  UI is more “beginner friendly” than Anduril firmware.

 

 

Con’s

  • Still not fully utilizing USB-C to C, requires a USB-A to USB-C cable to recharge.
  • Very active thermal controls, with a good amount of change in output. 
  • No Neutral White tint option.

 

Conclusion

The Sofirn SP33 V3 is a low cost light with a lot of Output. Sofirn lists the light as making 3500 lumens. It runs on 26650, 18650 and some 21700 batteries so it’s widely compatible with the 3 most popular battery sizes today. 

 

It has features not usually found in this price category like USB-C charging (not compatible with USB-C PD (C-C) charging), active thermal controls, and a stainless steel bezel. The active Thermal controls are pretty reactive but they are smooth and I don’t notice it with my eye as much as the graph shows. I wish it was more widely available in Neutral white, they list it as an available option on their AliExpress store but I don’t see these available from other retailers. 

 

For the money especially with the discount Sofirn has provided makes this a really great value for the complete kit. It fits well in my hand and produces a ton of light. I can easily recommend this as a great high output budget light to pick up.

Sofirn is offering 36% off the SP33 V3 that’s available from Amazon by using the coupon LiquidRetro combine that with the click off coupon to save a total of 36% brining this to $32.24 before tax. Get it at https://amzn.to/32M5SoH

 

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Olight Perun Mini (Special Edition) Review (1000 Lumen, 16340 Headlamp, Velcro Mount)

Today I have the Olight Perun Mini, a smaller sized version of the Perun I tested earlier this year. The mini I have here is the limited edition in the Orange color which I love. It uses a 16340 battery and doesn’t have have proximity sensor. Thanks to Skyben for sending this to me to look at and review. Let’s take a closer look at this lightweight headlamp. 

The Olight Perun Mini in Orange (Special Edition) https://amzn.to/32bCVlO

The Olight Perun Mini in Black https://amzn.to/3fu8cEs

The Olight Perun Mini in Black with headband https://amzn.to/3gVjsts

 

Special thanks to Zeroair for allowing me to use a few photos. See his review of this light at https://bit.ly/30iih0T

 

Thanks to everyone who is already following me on Instagram, and on this channel’s Facebook page, It really does help the channel grow. If you’re not already following links to everything will be in the description below. 

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Packaging & Accessories

The package stays consistent with Olights white textured boxes and color printing. Since this is a limited edition it shows the orange off nicely. On the back it’s full of features and specs. 

Several accessories come with the Perun mini, first you get the light itself with the clip preinstalled, the proprietary Olight 550mAh battery, a lanyard and lanyard threading tool/clip removal tool, the MCC magnetic charger, and then the velcro duty patch and manual.

A headband is available for the Perun mini, but it’s an optional extra and I don’t have it here for review. I talk a bit more about it in my retention section.

 

Construction

The light is made from Aluminum and in this special edition anodized in a lovely bright orange color. I really do love the orange and it makes sense for a headlamp. It’s not going to be as durable as black as colored anodizing is typically softer but I am ok with that. A Lot of the design ques here are from the larger Perun. You have a flat magnetic tail with Olights recharging system built in, and the slotting for the included lanyard. 

The body is the same milled pyramids that’s been on some other recent Olights, I like it, it’s a little different and a nice amount of grip. Internally the threads are anodized and fine square cut. There is a small spring in the head, and remember because this has Olights recharging the battery goes in positive down. The head itself trades out Olights typical blue accents for black. The clip and how it mounts is a little different on this and I mention that in my Retention section. The button is fairly large and sits flat in the head of the light. I had no issues with it getting pressed accidentally when pocket carried. 

 

 

 

Size & Weight

I measured the overall length at 61.5mm, maximum diameter at 21.5mm at the head, and minimum diameter at the body at 20.5mm. Weight with the included battery and clip was 51.8g.

 

Size wise it’s very close to the Olight H1R, Wowtac H01 I reviewed last week, and about half the size as the Olight Perun I reviewed several months ago.

Retention

As an EDC in your pocket the Perun mini carries very similar to the S1R or the H1R. The one big difference is how the clip. It’s a little different design in how it attaches to the light. It’s a friction fit, and captured but the ends have a little bulb on them to help reinforce that. To remove it though you need a small tool like a screw driver or blunt butter knife to just get it started and then it comes off. It carries deep in the pocket, it’s dual direction and there is a good amount of space for material at the top of the loop.

As a Headlamp this is where things get interesting. It comes with a hoop velcro patch I will call it. On it is a tube that rotates, the clip of the light goes into this tube and it secures the light. The idea is this could be put on a hat that has a place for a patch or a uniform, plate carrier, vest, etc and wear it on your chest. None of these are things I actually have at the moment so for me it’s not the most useful but I could easily sew Velcro onto something if I needed but it’s really a specialized application.

As I mentioned earlier the traditional around the head strap isn’t included with this light, it is sold as an optional extra and I don’t have one this time. But from looking at ZeroAir’s review you can see in the photo below (Used with permission) it looks like a decent strap. Instead of having a silicone set of loops like the H1R Nova or full size Perun had it has the soft side of velcro sewed on. The idea is you take the patch mount and stick it on the headband but when your doing this it doesn’t cover all of the hook side of the velcro so it’s left there scratching your forehead. With the light being as light as it is I think the patch mount is just too big, and the best solution would be to just cut the mount up a bit where not needed. Or use the mount from another light, the mount from the H1R works fine.

 

LED & Beamshot

Olight has gotten into an unfortunate cycle here where on some lights for one reason or another they don’t specify the LED they are using. That’s the case with the Perun Mini, all we know is that it’s cool white but I would guess about 6000k so not too cool. If I had to guess this might be using the same LED as the full size Perun so maybe the Cree XHP 50.2 LED. There wasn’t any PWM that was noticeable to me.

 

The beam out of the plastic TIR optic is all mostly flood, there is a hot center but it’s spread out over most of the beam, and there is minimal spill out the rest. This works well as a shorter range headlamp and short range EDC, I have no complaints, Olight does TIR optics well. The optic itself is plastic and textured as a way to diffuse the light.

  • Turbo – 1000 Lumens then step down to 250
  • High – 250 Lumens
  • Medium – 65 Lumens
  • Low – 16 LumensMoon – 2 Lumens

 

Heat and Runtime

I did my runtime tests with the included Olight High drain 16340 battery. Turbo starts stepping down after 1 minute exactly suggesting it’s a timed stepp down and by 90 seconds it’s at 25% of relative output or around 250 lumens. Here is tuns out for 1 hour and 25 minutes where it hits the FL1 standard. The light keeps running out to 1hr 47 minutes before Low Voltage Protection kicks in at 3.156V. Maximum heat I saw was 38C at just at 2 minutes. 

When I compared it to the full size Perun I was a little surprised at the results. The full size light doubled the amount of time in turbo (2 minutes) but high output although it was brighter it was exactly the same.Total runtime can be compared at 1 hr 47 minutes to 2 hr 47 minutes. 

 

UI

The Perun mini features Olights standard UI. It does not have the proximity sensor that the full size Perun had. So when off long press gives you moonlight mode. When off a single press will give you low, if you keep holding the light will cycle through low, medium, high. Double press at anytime to get turbo, and triple click to get SOS. It’s a basic no frills, low feature UI that anyone can understand. I would love to see Olight make an advanced UI that’s switchable like some manufactures are starting to do now. 

 

Recharging

The Olight Perun Mini includes a proprietary 550mAh 16340 battery. It has both the positive and negative on the traditional positive end of the battery. This is so Olight’s magnetic charging system functions when the battery is installed in the light. This is down on power slightly from what other rechargeable 16340 headlamps are shipping with by about 100mAh.

It also includes the MCC 1A charging cable, I do wish Olight would make the bases or USB side different colors as there are several version now of this cable. Charging for me took 1 hour and 5 minutes, and the fastest charging rate I saw was 0.75A, so just slightly over 1C for this battery. Charging stopped at 4.237V so slightly higher voltage then I would expect to see. 

Pro’s 

  • Limited Edition Orange
  • Nice deep cary captured clip for pocket use
  • Mode spacing is pretty good, turbo is a big bump up

 

Con’s

  • No LED is specified officially, it’s sad to see Olight go to this. 
  • The mounting system to use it as a headlamp isn’t a fully tested idea since it leaves exposed velcro where it’s likely to scratch you. That said it works well when mounted on your chest.

 

Conclusion

The Olight Perun mini is a nice update to the H1R as a light itself. I do wish they would possibly considering making a 18350 version to give double the available power without much increase in diameter. Maybe we could call that the Perun Short. 

 

As for the mount I think the light would have a larger appeal with a better more traditional head strap with the silicone mount like what has been used in the past, and then include the velcro mount as the optional extra. Instead Olight decided to do the opposite and compromised the lights functionally to fit this niche market. From a sales standpoint it doesn’t make a ton of sense to me as a way to launch the product but I am just happy we have a nice special edition orange from Olight too.

 

Overall not a bad headlamp if the mounting options fit what you need or you have a silicone mount you can use from another light. It’s more expensive than some of the low cost, small headlamps I have reviewed this year but the beam is probably one of the best, if you don’t mind cool white. I can recommend it as long as you are aware of the mounting options. 

 

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/cp3VG8e

 

The Olight Perun Mini in Orange (Special Edition) https://amzn.to/32bCVlO

The Olight Perun Mini in Black https://amzn.to/3fu8cEs

The Olight Perun Mini in Black with headband https://amzn.to/3gVjsts

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Wowtac H01 Review (Headlamp, $16, 16340, USB Rechargeable)

Wowtac has a new headlamp on the market with the H01 and it’s been getting some positive buzz in the flashlight community for it’s low price and high value. It’s running a Cree XP-G2 LED, a 16340 battery, and has onboard recharging. Thanks to Wowtac for sending it to me to take a look at. Wowtac has provided a discount using my code below for the month of July, so if you like this one be sure to check that out and save a few dollars.

Wowtac has provided a discount code to get 20% off the H01 for the month of July by using code 20LiquidRetr at https://amzn.to/3iKFu3Q bringing the final price down to $15.99.

 

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Packaging & Accessories

Wowtac’s package is a small cardboard box with everything packed in tight. Good luck getting it to fit like it arrived ever again. The outside has just the brand, model number and emitter. In this case it’s a cool white. Included in the package is the light itself, a Wowtac wrapped standard 16340 battery, a basic Wowtac head strap, microUSB cable for recharging, 2 extra orings and a spare usb cover, and the manual.

 

Construction

The light is made from aluminum and machining is pretty good for the price, my only small complaint is the milled heat syncs in the rear of the head still have slightly sharp edges. The tail allows for it to tail stand but there is no magnet. There is nuzzling in the body section that’s pretty standard. Threads between the head and body tube are anodized, short and square cut. There is only a spring in the tail of the light with the head having a small brass post. 

The head has the microUSB charging port directly to the left of the emitter when looking at it head on. The port cover sits flat but the little pull tab does stick out more then I would like. On top the semi transparent silicon covers the button and sits slightly domed and smooth. There are LED underneath that are used to indicate the battery charge level and during recharging. The lens is a deeply recessed TIR style optic held on with a exterior retaining ring. 

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length at 67mm, diameter of the body at 21mm, maximum diameter of the head at 22mm. Weight with the battery was a light 47.7g. The light is IPX8 rated.

 

Comparisons to other 16340 sized headlamps.

Retention

 

No clip is included with the H01 which is a little disappointing but I can see why they did this given the price point and it would have been a tail down carry most likely given how the body profile is cut. The headstrap itself has a silicone mount with 2 loops and the light will mount in either direction. The straps are black with Wowtac woven into them. There is no silicone grip strips on the inside of the around the head design. I found the headband comfortable with how small and light this light is.

 

LED & Beamshot

The H01 is running a Cree XHP G2 LED in cool white. No specific tint is given. This does the job pretty well without any undesired tint issues like the XHP-G3 LED has so I appreciate Wowtac making this selection. My beam pattern here has a centered hot center from the TIR with a good amount of spill. There is a big of a square pattern to the spill of the beam, it’s especially noticeable at shorter ranges. There is some PWM in the middle modes, but it’s not anything I notice or my eye does. 

 

Specs

  • Turbo – 614 Lumens
  • High – 198 Lumens
  • Medium – 62 Lumens
  • Low – 16 Lumens
  • Firefly – 0.5 Lumen
  • SOS – 176 Lumens

 

For my nightshots see the video version of this review.

 

Runtime & Heat

For my runtimes I ran the light with the included 650mAh 16340 battery. Turbo in my tests lasted for 70 seconds, a little shorter then what Wowtac quotes, from there it continues running in the 35% relative output while slowly falling over the next 80 minutes following the decline of the batteries voltage. It’s a regulated driver but the regulation isn’t’ the best. The FL1 standard comes in at 1 hour and 27 minutes of total runtime but the light continues making light out to 2 hours and 13 minutes. The last 30 minutes of runtime the light does flash on and off every  few minutes, it’s impossible to still notice if you’re using the light at the time. When the light completely shut off I measured the voltage at 2.895V. Maximum heat I saw was 42C.

I did try to run this light with a CR123A battery as it physically fit’s in the light but the driver isn’t designed for the lower voltage range and you end up getting the low power warning which is the light flashing on and off in kind of a beacon mode.

 

UI

UI here is pretty standard from WowTac and Thrunite. Long press from off to get to the firefly mode. From off a quick press gets you low, and holding the button down then starts the light progressing up it’s 3 available modes. The light does have memory mode in the normal L-M-H modes. Double press takes you to Turbo, and Triple press gets you to the only blinking mode SOS. 

 

Recharging

Recharging the light is accomplished via the onboard MicroUSB port on the side of the light. The LED’s under the switch turn red when charging and blue when charged. While it would have been great to see USB-C here, but this light was built with a low target price so MicroUSB it is. I measured the total recharging time to take 1hr and 33 minutes, maximum charge rate was 0.52A, so just below 1C. I measured the charged battery at 4.15V.

Pro

  • High value, small and lightweight
  • Standard 16340 Battery
  • Neutral white may be available in the future.

 

Con

  • Unlike many other headlamps it’s not designed for pocket EDC use, there isn’t a pocket clip or tail magnet. This does help save cost.
  • Driver isn’t designed to use a CR123A battery and gives a low voltage warning if one is used. 
  • A bit of a square pattern to the spill of the beam

 

Conclusion

If you have watched my reviews before, you know I am a headlight proponent. I use a headlamp often around my house and car when cleaning, doing home repair projects, and just other stuff, because it allows me to have both hands free. The Wowtac H01 offers a good, low cost, basic headlamp that gets the job done. It has enough runtime on the lower modes for moderate sized tasks and is a great value for getting a complete package here with the battery included, and fast shipping from the US. If you want longer runtimes of light with a larger battery it’s going to be better suited.

 

My con’s list isn’t that big of a deal given the cost here and the focused headlamp only use. It’s been a while since I have seen a light with this square of beam pattern, it’s not my favorite for sure but something a non flashaholic won’t notice probably. I can recommend the H01 if you’re looking for a small low cost, rechargeable headlamp with decent runtimes, it’s certainly a much better option then genetic headlamp options from brands you have never heard from that’s available on Amazon.

 

Wowtac has provided a discount code to get 20% off the H01 for the month of July by using code 20LiquidRetr at https://amzn.to/3iKFu3Q brining the final price down to $15.99.