Tag: Headlamp

Posted on

Nitecore HC35 Review (2700 Lumens, Quad LED, 21700 Battery, Headlamp)

Nitecore has a new large format headlamp on the market, with 4 LED, and a diffused lens. It runs a 21700 battery, and has onboard microUSB for recharging. While designed as a headlamp I am going to come at this one from the angle of a worklight too. Thanks to Nitecore Store for sending this to me to look at and review. I will have a link to them in the description below. 

 

View this review on YouTube at:

Join the Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/LiquidretroReviews/ 

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liquidretro/ 

 

Packaging and Accessories

Packaging is a large yellow retail hanging box, with photos of the lights and lots of stats throughout. Inside the light and accessories site in a plastic shell.

Accessories include the HC35 with the Nitecore button top 21700 4000mAH battery (NL2140HP), pocket clip, Nitecore branded headband, spare o-rings, micro USB cable, manual, warranty, 18650 adapter. Somewhat strangely no extra USB port cover was included and I actually broke mine during testing. (My fault, not Nitecore’s)

 

Construction

The light is made from anodized aluminum, and machining here is pretty good. Starting at the tail cap, it’s flat, magnetic and labeled accordingly. The tailcap has shallow diamond knurling on it that doesn’t add a ton of texture but enough. 

The body tube features the same knurling and is not reversible. The clip only attaches at the head of the light. 

The light is attached to the headband on one side via a spring steel clip, similar to how a clip on clip works. It’s easy to take on and off and allows for the light to be attached without taking off the pocket clip (Nice) which makes charging easier but it doesn’t take a ton to make the heavy light come loose from an accidental smack or bump. For hiking or house work it’s ok, but I want to see something more secure ideally especially if you were caving/climbing with the light. That said when using this more as a work light rather then a headlamp it’s a handy feature to be able to remove it easily. I used it to change some brakes on a car recently and it was nice to pull off and use as an area flood light. For heavier duty situations a zip tie or even rubber band on the other end of the light would make it more secure.

The head features a fairly large lens, with the 4 LED’s under it. It has a optic sitting on top of the LED with a textured diffuser on top to really even out that beam pattern. Everything is surrounded by a silver aluminum bezel. On top there is a textured rubber button, with a pround silver bezel to help locate it. This does allow the light head stand. This button is a little hard to push if you have on larger gloves. On the back there are 3 deeply milled groves for heat dissipation. Lastly the microUSB port is on the light covered with a gray silicone rubber cover. The head has minimal labeling of just the serial number, model number and various regulatory symbols.

Size and Weight

I measured the length at 128mm, minimum diameter on the body was 26mm, maximum diameter at the head was 30mm. Weight with the battery, came in at 172.3g. The headstrap alone weighs in at 41g. This is fairly heavy. It’s a big headlamp, especially when you put it next it’s 18650 counterparts kind of like the Olight Perun I recently reviewed. 

Comfort when used as a headlamp is ok for a couple of hours. Past that the weight kind of starts to get to you in the forehead. Nitecore could add a bit more padding on the back of the bracket to help with this. I do like that the headbands webbing has ventilation holes. 

Retention

For me this isn’t a light I want to EDC in my front pockets, it’s just too big for that. The pocket clip can mount on either end of the light. When mounted nearest the head about 25mm of the light sticks up, when mounted at the tail, the clip extends past the tail and renders the magnet less useful. The balance point of the light is nearer the head so to keep from having to move the clip each time you mount the light to the strap, it really should go at the tail. 

LED | Beam Shots | Heat

The light is using 4x Cree XP-G3 S3 LED. Tint is pretty cool white. The S3 varient has less green tint, but at lower powers it’s still noticeable. The optics and diffuser here do a very good job of making the 4 leds one uniform floody beam. Perfect for this type of application. I didn’t detect any PWM via eye or my scope. 

Official modes and spacing are listed at 

  • 1 Lumen – Ultra Low
  • 40 Lumens – Low
  • 270 Lumens – Mid
  • 800 Lumens – High
  • 2700 Lumens Turbo, Strobe, Beacon, SOS

 

Runtime

This is really a light designed for longer outputs. Turbo starts decreasing at the 30 second mark and it declines pretty rapidly down to high at 800 lumens. This is disappointing that it’s so short, I would have hoped to get a couple minutes out of turbo output here given the size of the light and relative conservative heat values. From here it mostly maintains this while sagging a little for about 140 minutes, then over the next 20 minutes or so you see 2 large stepdowns and the light runs in low and ultra low for the remainder of time about 475 minutes, till it LVP kicks in at 2.947v. Heat was fairly well controlled, at 1 minute I saw 95F, at 5 minutes 97.8F, and at 10 minutes 101F. 

 

UI

UI here is different different, with fewer shortcuts. It’s a quick press to turn on, and then quick single presses to go up in brightness, and all solid modes are available, ultra low through turbo. Long press to turn off. You have short cuts to low when the light is off, a short press gives you 1 lumen. To directly access turbo from off press the button for more then 1 second. When the light is on there is no way to access turbo directly. 

 

To access the blinking modes double press the button when the light is off, then short presses changes the mode. Long press to exit blinking modes. 

 

Recharging

Charge time from LVP at 2.947V to Full at 4.12V on the included Nitecore 4000mAh 21700 battery was 2 hours and 41 minutes at a maximum of 2.1A via MicroUSB. Charge curve here looked normal, and I have no complaints. It’s nice here that with the included cell adapter the light will also charge an 18650 battery. During charging the blue LED on top will flash, and when charged it goes solid. This LED is also used as a voltage indicator when the light is in use. 

I do wish the light came with an extra port cover (my first time needing one due to my mistake). Also being a new design and a large capacity battery the light would see a benefit from USB-C.

 

Pro’s

  • Blinking modes are not part of the normal operating modes.
  • Very even diffused light but quite cool tint.
  • Direct access to low from off
  • Nice it can run off of 21700, 18650 and 2x CR123 with the included adapters. 
  • No proprietary cables or batteries needed, but it’s still MicroUSB 🙁

 

Con’s

  • Cree XP-G3 emitters isn’t what I would expect to find on something in this price range and I am not a fan of the tint.
  • Turbos 2700 lumen output has a very short duration, only 30 seconds.
  • Long press to turn off keeps tricking my brain. 
  • Wish it had an additional clip to secure the light in the headband for added security
  • Anodizing doesn’t seem to be the most durable, especially around the clip.

 

Conclusion

The Nitecore HC35 is a big bright light. I tend to think of it more as a worklight then a headlamp but it does both jobs fairly well. It’s a bit heavier than I want to use as a headlamp longer term, but what you pay for in weight you get in runtime. With the strong magnet and very floody beam it works good as a work light to stick onto a metal object or tail stand on it’s flat base. 

 

UI here is easy but different from a lot of other lights so I can see people fumbling a little around on this one initially. It’s different having turbo as part of your main mode. I do wish turbo could sustain itself for longer, 30 seconds just isn’t very long. Overall this is an interesting combination of headlamp and worklight. Let me know what you think of the HC35 in the comments. 

 

Full Image Gallery https://imgur.com/a/HWZh9yX

To purchase the Nitecore HC35 Headlamp, visit Nitecore Store at http://bit.ly/2HGp8rP

Posted on

Sofirn SP40 Review (Best Budget 18650 Headlamp of 2019)

Today I have a review of the Sofirn SP40 budget headlamp. Sofirn continues to bring out affordable products and take feedback seriously. I have had this one for a while and have been using it for various things around the house. Thanks to them for sending this to me to take a look at review on the channel. Let’s take a closer look at it. 

 

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

Join my channels Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/LiquidretroReviews/

YouTube Version of this Review: 

 

Packaging & Accessories

Sofirn’s packaging is very basic and I am ok with this as more money is going to the product and accessories then the packaging. Inside the basic brown cardboard box the light is protected with some foam and bubble wrap. Included accessories are the headlamp itself with the Sofirn branded 3000mAh 18650 battery preinstalled, pocket clip, 18350 tube, headband, and spare orings.

Construction

The light is made from anodized aluminium. Machine and finish are good for the price range here. The tail is flat, and non magnetic. The light comes into 3 pieces with the other spare body tube being the 4th. There is standard diamond knurling on the tail cap as well as the body. It’s a little more on the aggressive side and I expect it will pick up dirt over time. 

The headband is a 3 piece design, and while functional, the straps do feel a bit more lightweight and thinner then other headbands I have from Olight, Armytek, and Klarus. That said this light is a lot less expensive. The headband has 2 silicone loops in front to slip the light into. On the 18650 tube there are 2 areas milled in without knurling where these rest. For the 18350 tube you kind of just have to make it work, and for me the loops ended up sitting on the knurls. There is also a press on friction fit pocket clip thats included on the light. With the 18650 tube it can be oriented either direction. With a head up carry a lot of the light sticks up from you pocket so a head down would be the only way for me. On the 18350 tube the clip really only fits on in one direction to remain on the light. This isn’t my favorite EDC because of how it carries but I am glad they at least include it. One last thing to note is that you should remove the clip prior to putting on the head strap. 

The head is fairly flat but with rounded corners on the emitter side. The rear is rounded and there is minimal milling for heat and weight dissipation on the sides. The USB charging port is opposite and below the emitter but still on the head. ON top is the button for controlling the light, as well as being a charger status indicator. Red is charging, green is charged. It’s a clicky e switch covered with a translucent silicone cover. 

 

Size/Weight and Comparisons

I measured Length at 107mm, Body Width at 22mm and maximum head width at 27mm. 

Weight with the included battery is 105.4g, with the headband and battery it’s 141g. 

The Sofirn SP40 looks like other headlamps we have seen for the most part. Today I am going to do some quick comparisons with the Armytek Elf C2 I have here because it’s one of my favorites, is similar sized, and has USB recharging onboard. Length wise the Elf C2 is a bit longer but it’s tail is magnetic. It’s head is also a little wider, probably due to the button being on the side instead of  the top. The clip is a lot better for EDC in my opinion and is heads up, vs the SP40 would be best as a tail down carry. Both fit in their respective headbands in a similar way. 

LED/Beamshots/Heat/Runtime

The SP40 is using a XP-L LED in cool white but not super cool tint. I would guess something like 6000k. While I wish it was a neutral white this is ok for the price. The beam is pretty standard, with no major artifacts. ItThe reflector has orange peel and the lens is clear anti reflective coated. Since it doesn’t have a diffuser or TIR optic it does have a hot spot in the center and isn’t super even. The light does have PWM and I don’t notice it on any of the modes. 

Heat here isn’t too bad. During my runtime tests I measured the light at several intervals and found the following temps. 1 minute was 93F, 5 minutes was 115F, and 10 minutes was 111F. 

Official output is listed at the following

Low – 5 lumens

Medium – 90 lumens

High – 450 lumens

Turbo – 1200 lumens

 

UI

The UI is pretty simple, and straight down to business. From off and you turn it on and the light starts on low, if you long press while the light is on it will move up to the next brightest mode. If you hold it down the light will cycle between low, medium, and high. The light won’t go into turbo without a double click while on. The light does have memory for all modes except turbo. Lastly there are no blinking modes. 

 

Recharging

The light does have onboard micro USB charging on the head. From an empty cell at 2.76V where LVP kicks in, I charged the light to full in 4.8 hours at an average of 0.9A. This is an acceptable charge rate, and should be safe for any 18650 that’s installed inside, but you won’t be winning any charging races here. For an 18650 it’s safe but probably a little higher then I want to charge mine at typically. I have no complaints with the included 3000mAh Sofirn branded 18650 battery.

Pro

  • Great included accessories including the 18350 tube and 18650 battery
  • Fantastic value for what your getting with the kit, including the battery, USB recharging, etc

 

Con’s

  • Head Strap is a bit thinner than other brands.
  • Current regulation isn’t the best.
  • No tint choice available.

 

Conclusion

For the price, flexibility, and fast shipping if purchased from Amazon, I am not sure if there is a better value 18650 headlamp available for less money that includes USB charging. There are other headlamps I rate as overall better, but their prices are significantly more. The Sofirn SP40 provides a good amount of working light for most jobs in most situations, has onboard charging for convenience, and includes optional extras like the 18350 tube instead of making them an optional extra. This would be a good option for someone looking to grab a bunch of headlamps for work, or to loan out, or give as gifts as it’s a complete kit and easy to use.

Headlamps are something I think everyone should have as they are extremely useful around the house, and anywhere you are working on something where 2 hands are preferred. If none of that applies to you, this still makes a decent right angle EDC in the pocket too.

Get the Sofirn SP40 for $23.19 by using code D3BUSFJM at https://amzn.to/2ZrEY44

Posted on

Acebeam H30 Headlight Review (4000 Lumens, USB-C, 21700,XHP 70.2, Red, Green)

The headlamp lumen arms race takes another step with the newest release from Acebeam the H30 Headlamp. The previous brightest headlamp I had had has been the Thrunite TH30 at 3300 lumens. The Acebeam H30 is 4000 lumens, contains a 21700 battery, and has USB-C charging and can act as a power bank. Thanks to Acebeam for sending this to me to take a look at.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/qikUjn8
YouTube Version of this Review: 

Packaging & Accessories
The packaging is a compact full color retail box. The front advertises the big lumen number, USB-C and the 21700 battery. The back gives lots of stats. Inside The light came in a plastic bag on one side with the 21700 preinstalled. On the other side were the other accessories such as the headband, spare orings, and a USB A to USB-C cable that also has a place to plug a cable to charge your phone along with a warranty card, instruction manual, and certificate of authenticity. I do wish it came with an adapter tube like some other 21700 battery lights I have, so you can run an 18650 assuming the springs are long enough.








Construction
The light itself is made from aircraft grade aluminum and is hard anodized in a satin black. Starting at the left end cap, this is the one that gives access to the Acebeam branded 21700 button top battery. It’s got markings indicating it’s where the battery is and which way to twist for open and close. The knurling on the outside of the cap is more for looks then grip. Each end is spring loaded. The cap end has a large stiff spring. Threads were well greased, anodized, and square cut. The bore for the battery is not perfectly centered in the body of the light, with a bit more mass being on the emitter side. This is similar to how the Jetbeam HR30 that I reviewed this year was. The right side cap is similar in appearance however this is where the USB-C charging port lives and the cap is notated as such, again with directions. You must fully remove the cap to access the charging port. There is a little pin in the center under the clear plastic cover which must be for grounding? When the light is charging a red LED comes on. When being used as a powerbank you get a blue LED.






The central body is where the business is. On top are the two UI buttons, an orange square that is an on/off mostly, and a black domed circle. The back of the light has some shallow ribs for cooling. The front has the main emitter in the middle, It’s a big XHP 70.2 emitter in what’s a fairly shallow orange peel reflector. The front glass is just 19mm in diameter. Above and to the left and right of the main emitter are the colored emitters. On the left is red, and on the right is green. These are behind frosted plastic lenses. The front aluminum piece is held on with 3 recessed hex screws.




It may seem like a simple thing but I like that the headband on the H30 came pre assembled and ready to use right out of the box. On the outside band Acebeam is written in several places, it does contain a over the head strap too. On the inside of the band there are silicone strips all the way around to help keep the light in place on a helmet or something like that. It’s a nice step over not including any or a partial. The holder for the light itself is made of a silicone rubber. It has too large hoops that go over each end of the light when the caps are off. This is a pretty tight fit and not the easiest to take on or off, but holds firm for rotation. Pretty nice headband.




Size/Weight/Physical Comparisons
Overall length is 89.5mm, at it’s narrowest on the end caps are 29mm, and the widest at the center tube at 39mm. Weight with strap, and battery came in at 182g which makes is on the heavy side. This weight is noticeable but carries fairly well with the top head strap adjusted.

LED/Runtime
For the main emitter the Acebeam H30 uses a Cree XHP 70.2 LED in cool white at 6500k. It sits behind a piece of anti reflective coated glass, and a shallow orange peel reflector. The beam pattern is similar to other XHP 70.2 but without the donut at short ranges. It does have some Cree rainbow on the corona of the hotspot, it goes a bit warmer. As you keep going further out into the spill it cools off. It looks like a few other LED options may be coming, like a 5000k main emitter, and a Nichia UV emitter, or Nichia 219C for High CRI for the secondaries.


White is available in the following lumen spacing. 3 lumens, 120 lumens, 380 lumen, 1100 lumen. Turbo is good for 2200 lumens for 5.5 minutes then it drops down to 1000 lumens for about 2.4 hours. The light also has Turbo Max which has 4000 lumens for 1.5 minutes then drops to 1000 lumens for 2.5 hours.

White runtime had a total of 150 minutes from turbo max down to low voltage protection kick in. I saw a little more length in runtime for Turbo max, about 2.5 minutes before it decreased. The decrease is quite substantial. Down to about 25% relative output from those 4000 lumens, so about 1000 lumens. Still a ton of light for a headlamp. The light as able to maintain that 1000 lumens for the remainder of the 147 minutes. That
is a long runtime for 1000 lumens. The 21700 5100mAh battery shows it’s advantage here over an 18650. Heat was pretty well controlled. The light gets on the upper end of warmish but never uncomfortably hot when on the head.

The Red Emitter is a Cree XPE2-R2 emitter at 630nm. Red has only one mode at 50 lumens but is diffused very well. It’s runtime is 10 hours. It has no hotspot. I would prefer a dimmer red mode for up close map reading because 50 lumens is fairly bright.

Green Emitter is a Cree XPE2-G3 emitter at 530nm. It’s rated at 70 lumens for a runtime of 11h. It’s diffused very well and has no hotspot.

UI
The H30 has 2 buttons on the top a circle and a square next to each other for UI control The Square is flat, and the circle is domed a bit. Depending on what color mode you are in the buttons do slightly different things. For normal white operating modes, the orange square is On/Off. When the light is it comes on in the last previously used mode. Use the circle to go up in mode up to Turbo (Not Turbo Max). Double click the square to go to Turbo Max (Full 4000 lumens). Triple click to go into the Red SOS mode. When in any mode long pressing on the circle (about 1.5 seconds) will go into the color modes. A short press of the round button will switch color modes (Red to Green, Green to Red), and a long press of the circle will move back to white mode at low output.
Moonlight mode is also available if you hold the square for about 1 second when the light is off. Overall the UI takes a little getting used to. I think 2 buttons make sense.

Recharging And Powerbank
*Recharging: *This light has a USB-C port under the right side cap. You must completely remove the tailcap to access the port. Maximum charging rate I saw while charging from an empty battery was an even 2A. This is great to see and speed the charging process up but it still took 3 hours and 23 minutes to charge the battery to completely full. While charging there is a red LED in the center of the light that goes solid when completely recharged. The included Acebeam branded battery is a button top but flat top cells work too, for all functions of the light. Standard USB A to USB-C cables work or the cable that’s included.

What was odd and I am seeing on more and more USB-C flashlights are that they seem to have a problem charging with USB-C to USB-C cables/power sources. The H30 is no different. I tried charging it using an Anker USB-C to USB-C cable and a couple of different charger I have that support USB-C and none work. If I used a USB-A to USB-C charger it works without an issue.

*Powerbank: *This light can also be used as a powerbank. Included was a special USB-C cable that has a female USB A port on it to allow you to plug in another cable (Not included) to charge your phone or other device. I was able to pull 2.5A from a full battery for a while, but the light is happier pulling 2A for a longer time. When using as a powerbank you get a Blue LED under the plastic cover showing which way the power is flowing.

Pro

  • Preassembled headband with silicone all the way around.
  • Pretty good heat control for such a bright light
  • Really long runtime for 1000 lumens 147 minutes)
  • Ok beam profile for an XHP 70.2, Great beam profiles for Red and Green
  • Good charge/discharge speed.

Con

  • On the heavy side – the top band helps when on the head.
  • I would like an additional lower power red mode for map reading.
  • USB-C to USB-C charging doesn’t work.

Conclusion
Acebeam has built a flagship headlamp with the H30 that ticks a lot of boxes. The XHP 70.2 isn’t my favorite emitter due to the Cree Rainbow and beam pattern but if your not super picky I think you won’t mind. They have made a light that can sustain 1000 lumens for a substantial amount of time and burst up to 4000 lumens for short duration. The penalty you pay for this is weight. At 182 grams it’s on the heavy side but I got used to it, especially after adjusting the top head strap. I am glad USB-C is becoming more common on lights, and the extra powerbank feature here is a nice bonus. I think the Acebeam H30 is best for someone who needs a high output headlamp for a long amount of time, it certainly has significantly better runtime then some of it’s 18650 based counterparts.

Posted on

Thrunite TH30 Headlamp (3350 Lumens, XHP 70.2 LED)

Today I have the new Thrunite TH30 Headlamp on my review table. This is a fairly slim profile headlamp that can also double as a EDC type light. It has a impressive 3350 lumen turbo mode, is USB rechargeable and ships with a Thrunite IMR battery. Thanks to Thrunite for sending this to me to take a look at.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/zuZo4rz
YouTube Version of this Review:

Packaging
Packaging is typical of what we are used to from Thrunite, simple, and functional. It’s a small brown cardboard box with minimal details printed on the outside. Unfolding it from the front cover reveals the headlamp packed in white foam. The battery is preinstalled with a protection disk. One of the nice things is that the head strap is already assembled and attached to the light. Underneath are the accessories which include a Micro USB cable for charging, pocket clip for the light (Can’t be used while in the headlamp mount), extra head mount, usb cover, manual, and branded black and red 3 piece head strap.





Construction
The TH30 itself is made from aircraft grade aluminium and is anodized a fairly shiny black. The light comes into 3 basic pieces, the head, body tube, and tail cap. Starting at the tail cap, the bottom is flat, and non magnetic. Knurling matches the body tube in a fairly aggressive diamond pattern. Threads under the cap are ACME style, and were lightly greased. The body tube has a pretty minimal diameter, and it has the same knurling as the tail cap. The pocket clip can mount onto the body tube either near the head or tail. Unfortunately the clip isn’t very deep carry when mounted near the head , but is reasonable when at the back of the light.


The head itself is fairly typical of a right handed light but it has been slimmed down where possible. As a result it only has cooling fins opposite of the emitter, and the sides are flat which is where the writing on this light are located. The only button is on the top of the light surrounded by an uncoated aluminum accent bezel. It’s a large, domed textured silicone rubber button that is semi transparent. Underneath are charge status indicators. The button stands a little proud and as a result the light won’t slit flat on it’s head.

The mount and stap were nicely preassembled. The mount itself is made from a black silicone rubber and is the style where you pass the light through silicone rubber hoops. This means the light stays put pretty well and isn’t the easiest to remove or add back. The head strap bands are black with red Thrunite lettering woven into the fabric. It’s a fairly basic strap and doesn’t include any of the silicon strips on the inside to keep the strap in place on helmets.

Size/Weight/Water Rating
I measured length at 106.5mm, minimum diameter at 23.6mm and maximum diameter at 28.2mm. Weight of the light with the included cell and head strap was 172.3g. The light is IPX8 water rated.


LED/Runtime
This light uses a Cree XHP 70.2 LED available in both cool and neutral white. My example here is in neutral white which is my preference. The LED is quite large but nicely centered in the reflector. Lens is glass and anti reflective coated, the reflector has a orange peel on it that does a good job of smoothing out the beam.

Runtime on the included 3100mAh IMR battery totaled 110 minutes from Turbo. When starting on high the light really steps down after about 5 minutes due to heat and is only running at about 25% relative output where it ran for the majority of the time. I saw very little difference when I ran a cooled output for 20 minutes compared with uncooled as well suggesting it’s a timed/voltage decline. Stepdowns were smooth. The last 10 minutes of runtime the light will start flashing to let you know the battery is depleted and ready to shut down.
Total Runtime

Uncooled 20 Minutes

Cooled 20 Minutes

Heat is a bit of a concern with this light on turbo since it produces up to 3350 lumens. During my test, the head easily reached 120F while on turbo within about 3 minutes. This is hot, but it won’t burn you. When being warm as a headlamp the silicone rubber mount does a good job of insulating your skin from the heat. The manual does say for the safety battery, driver and LED they recommend not using the light at the maximum for more than 10 minutes.

The beam is mostly flood and quite smooth. The center is slightly hotter but it’s nicely diffused thanks to the orange peel reflector. This light really isn’t a thrower but because of it’s power it does a decent job out to about 100 yards or so.

Battery and Recharging
Included in the package is a 3100mAh Thrunite Branded high drain, button top IMR 18650 battery. While not officially mentioned, given the performance characteristics it’s believed this battery is a rewrapped Sony VTC6 with protection. Working voltage of this light is 2.75V to 4.2V so 2x CR123A batteries will not work in this light.

Recharging is accomplished via a microUSB port on the very top of the head of the light. I like this location as it’s out of the way. The usb cover is attached with a decent amount of material as well and an extra is included in the packaging just in case. A red LED is under the main operation button will let you know the light is charging and it turns blue when charged. I measured max draw during charging at 1.5A which matches ThruNite’s claims, and a full recharge took 2 hours and 34 minutes. The light can be powered on to low mode during charging via USB.

UI and Mode Spacing
Changing modes in this light is easy. When the light is on pressing and holding the button will cycle through modes. The light starts on low, and progresses linearly though Low, Medium Low, Medium, High, and SOS. To get to turbo at anytime double click, and to use firefly when the light is off just long press. The light will remember the mode you were last in except for Firefly, Turbo, or SOS.

Turbo (3350 lumens for 1.5 min then 1050 lumen after step down)
High (1275 lumen; 90 minutes)
Medium (352 lumen; 5 hrs)
Medium-Low (130 lumen; 14 hrs)
Low (25 lumen; 60 hrs)
Firefly (0.5 lumen; 32 days)
SOS (645 lumen; 305 minutes)
The light can be mechanically locked out by just breaking contact with the tail cap or body tube. Given this lights power I would recommend doing that.

Pro’s

  • Available in Neutral or Cool White
  • Mode spacing is nice, and it has a simple UI but I wish strobe was not part of the main group.
  • Very smooth floody beam, not much noticeable tint rainbow to me.
  • High quality included battery that is non proprietary.
  • 2 Year free replacement warranty, with a limited lifetime warranty after that

Con’s

  • Pocket clip is reversible but not very deep carry
  • The button cover protrudes a little so it won’t stand on its head very well.
  • Wish it had active thermal controls

Conclusion
If you have followed my reviews for a while you will know I am a fan of headlamps, for me it’s probably in the top 3 types of flashlights everyone should own. The Thrunite TH30 is a very nice high lumen headlamp option. Understandably Turbo doesn’t last too long, due to the immense amount of heat 3350 lumens creates, but the lower modes are sufficient. I really like that this headlamp uses non proprietary batteries which makes getting extra’s or a replacement easy and less expensive than some other brands. I like that the light comes with an excellent and safe battery as well, I think it’s an extra layer of safety to have a protected cell when your using one on your head. I think it’s safe to say this is my favorite headlamp of 2018 so far.

Posted on

JetBeam HR30 Headlamp Review (USB-C, 20700 Compatible, Red+White LED’s)

This is my first light from Jetbeam that I have reviewed. It’s a new headlamp design from them and the first light I have tested with USB-C recharging. It’s really nice to see USB-C starting to make it’s way to flashlights as it’s the new standard. Thanks to Jetbeam for sending this to me to look closer at.

Full Image Gallery for this Review: https://imgur.com/a/pps2Oqk
The YouTube version of this Review:

Packaging
My packaging got a little mangled in international shipping but the just of it is a relatively large box with images of the light front and relevant info on the back regarding ratings and runtimes. Inside is a large plastic try housing the HR30 Headlamp, Jetbeam branded battery (2600mAh), unassembled head band and bracket, pocket clip, 2 spare O rings, a USB 3 to USB-C cable, relevant paperwork (Manual, warranty card). This is on par with Nitecore packaging but not up to Olight standards as of late.






Construction
The body of this light is built with aircraft aluminum that’s hard anodized. The part around the front with the button and LED is black plastic with a hexagon pattern in it that’s visually nice. It is held in place with 4 very small 0.050 inch hex screws. The button is rubber coated and clicky, the lens and main LED extend a bit. It’s a relatively small lens and reflector. The red LED are flush.

The body tube is flanked by two nicely machined end caps that are asymmetrical. They have spiral knurling that’s one direction and go in different ways from each other. This looks great but isn’t very grippy. The larger end that has the USB-C charging under it is magnetic enough to hold up the light and battery but not with the strap attached as well. The other end the tail cap has a spring under it to hold the battery in place and allow for the 3 types of batteries to be used in the light. Threads under each tail cap are standard design, relatively small and well greased from the factory. The central section of the light is ribbed. This when in the head strap is what holds the light in place and allows for rotational adjustment. The light has markings on each tail cap and some on the body. Each are helpful and less about marketing or legal phrases.




The head strap on this light is 3 strap design. The top strap is not removable due to the fused clips at each end. It comes partially disassembled. It’s a black and gray elastic with no additional reflectors or branding other then what look like flames. The front that actually holds the light is interesting. It’s built fairly stiff plastic with the strap providing the only padding on your forehead. The two hoops are injection inserted and a much more flexible rubber. To attach or detach the light remove each end cap and it slides on with some force. Not the easiest thing to do and it’s definitely a two handed job. The little triangle in the center is what holds the light in place as it rotates in the holder a full 160 degrees.



This light includes an optional clip. Less for EDC and more for clipping on to a pack or bag. It’s pretty stout and stiff and works well. The only negative is that you have to remove the headband prior to attaching the clip.

Weight as shipped with the included battery without strap or clip is 110G, with the 20700 battery it’s 124G.

This isn’t the lightest or smallest in it’s class but it’s not extreme either. I think it’s solidness and ability to take a 20700 make up for the additional weight.

LED + Runtimes + Temps
This light uses a Luminus SST40 N5 LED. No color temperature is given by jetbeam. It’s on the warm side but there is a pretty strong green tint to it. Inside this bothers me outside, especially against grass or trees with leaves it’s less noticeable. Not my favorite tint. From reading about this LED CRI is about 70. It’s not an LED that is in use much.

The beam is pretty smooth after about 10 feet and really throws well for how shallow the reflector is.

UI
The UI of this light could stand a bit of tweaking in my opinion. To turn it on from off you have to press and hold about ½ a second to come on. If you do a quick press from off you get battery check mode. I found myself getting into this alot at first. Once on in normal mode you are presented with memory of where you last were. By default it starts off in Eco = 5 Lumens, then to Low at 50 lumens, mid at 150 Lumens, High at 400 Lumens and Turbo at 950 Lumens. Last mode up in the normal group is a red. I found red to be just the right brightness. Enough so you could see your feet and 1-2 feet in front of you but dark enough to no feel like it was too bright to read a map.

The light does have low voltage indication where it starts blinking the Red LED’s when power drops below 20%. Problem is this is hard to see unless you have something up close.

I would like to see some shortcuts added, double click to turbo and triple click to red. Take red out of thee normal modes and maybe quad click for battery check instead of a fast press.

Battery Compatibility
This light can take 3 different battery types. It comes with a button top Jetbeam branded 2600mah battery. When in use with this cell there is an included small plastic sleeve to keep things from rattling. You can also use 2 CR123A cells which I suspect will rattle a bit due to the smaller diameter. The light can also use an unprotected 20700 battery without the sleeve. THe battery tube itself isn’t in the center. It’s off axis and slightly cam shaped.

Parasitic Drain was measured at 4.0uA.

Runtime on the included 2600mah
I tested runtime with the included JetBeam branded 2600mah battery. Turbo predictably ran for 3 minutes before falling rapidly to about 55% of relative output for a large bulk of the time. For the next 130 minutes it was fairly stable. At the end I saw one more large decline in output to 20% relative output and then the light shut off due to low voltage protection. During the batteries last 20% the red LED’s flashes letting you know the power was low. Total runtime was about 145 minutes on 2600mah.

Runtime on a 20700 battery
Thanks to reddit user /u/mcfarlie6996 for sponsoring a 20700 battery for me. I didn’t have one (Or have any lights that took them) and it was great to test how much more runtime you can get with minimal size and weight differences between an 18650 and 20700. Total runtime with the 2600mah 18650 that was included was 145 minutes, The total runtime on the Panasonic 4000mah battery was a very impressive 260 minutes. Thats 44.2% more run time for only an additional 14 grams in weight. Output curves were pretty similar between the two batteries with the main difference being that 55% relative output was about 220 minutes in length. With a 20700 battery it makes the JetBeam HR30 be the longest duration headlamp I have by a large margin.



Charging
This light uses USB-C for recharging. The port is built into the threads on one of the ends. To get enough clearance you must remove the cap. It would be nice if there were more threads so you could leave the cap attached. A nice heavy duty USB 3 to USB-C cable is included with the headlamp for use when recharging.

The charging status indication isn’t my favorite. First you have a small LED near the USB-C port itself that is always green. This tells you when electricity is flowing but that’s all. During charging the light comes on in Red mode on the main LED’s and for much of the time it’s a slow flashing red mode. When finished the flashing goes solid charging is complete. Having the main red mode LED’s come on is just too much. Not only does this consume a decent amount of power it’s also very bright and annoying. It would prevent you to charge in a bedroom overnight, or in a tent if you were camping. In my opinion it would be better if they put a multi color LED at the port instead of the green and used it to indicate status.

Pro

  • USB-C charging but the charging indication via the main red mode is goofy. * Multi Cell capable including 20700 support!
  • Huge runtime on a 20700 battery, just at 260 minutes.
  • 160 degrees rotation inside the head mount
  • Beautiful machining on the end caps.

Con

  • Charing indication status is too much, just use a multi color LED near the port.
  • For a light of this price range 2600mah battery is low. 3500mah or a 20700 would give the light a good bit more runtime for minimal additional cost and make the runtimes listed on the box accurate.

Summary
It’s nice to see USB-C make its way to flashlights offering onboard charging. It’s the connector of choice for easier to use, higher power capabilities in this application. It’s also nice to see a headlamp add the capability to run a 20700 battery in addition to the 18650’s, and CR123. This is an application where the little bit of extra size doesn’t matter much to me but that additional runtime is valuable. 42% more runtime with a 20700mah battery over the included 18650 for only 14 Grams in additional weight is well worth it in my opinion. The HR30 has engineered this pretty well with the included spacer for 18650’s.

The UI of the HR30 takes some getting used to, with battery check being so easy to activate when you want a continuous mode instead. If you switch between a lot of different lights like I do you will probably activate it accidently. I hope that Jetbeam decides to move the red mode out of the recharging indicator and go with a multi color LED in the port instead. A few UI shortcuts to Red mode, and turbo would really improve the light too.

I would advise JetBeam to hire a native English speaker to proofread their manual and marketing materials. It seems like a basic thing but it would polish their image to be free of grammatical errors and mistakes. In today’s gig economy this is easy and inexpensive to do.

I like the HR30 headlamp and think it’s best in an outdoors setting due to the tint of the UI and the runtime that a 20700 can add. It’s built well with very good machining and a pretty attractive design. In my opinion it’s too big to use as an in pocket EDC but with the clip it could easy attach to a bag or backpack strap to light up whats in front of you.

I will have a link to the Jetbeam website on where you can see more about the light. It’s available at many retailers online too.

Posted on

Klarus Titanium H1A Headlamp Review

Today I have a new headlamp the Klarus Titanium H1A. This is Klarus’s first headlamp, and as you can see this is is a multi emitter headlamp, with multiple buttons. It’s a dual fuel headlamp running on the included LIthium 14500 cell or alkaline/rechargeable AA batteries. Thanks to FlashlightZ(link is external) for sending this to me to further look at.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/GQwEL(link is external)
The YouTube Version of this Review:

Construction
The front and side shell of the headlamp itself is made from Titanium. It has a brushed finish and seems to have a clear coat applied over top. On each side there are little rubber notches that are glued on/molded on that give it a little extra grip. On top the buttons are silver plastic and are different sizes that correspond to the different LED’s.




The light pivots at the bottom and has 5 points of defined stops and a full 90 degrees. This is the easiest way to open the battery door and replace a cell. It clips on here at top. You can remove it from the strap which I like but I question if the all plastic pivot and mechanism can stand up to doing this repeatedly.

Inside the screws and springs are gold in color. The battery compartment thanks to the spring can accommodate longer 14500’s but you do need a button top battery.

Klarus markets the titanium in the outside of this light as being super durable, and very heat dissipation. While titanium is a strong and durable material it’s not the best for heat dissipation. Titanium has a relatively low thermal conductivity rating. For example Titanium has a rating of 19 watts per Meter C, Aluminum is 205-250 w/M C, and Copper is 386w/M C. In this the higher number is better means the material has better thermal conductivity and in this application that means it dissipates heat more efficiently. The benefit titanium has is that it’s very high strength for its very light weight which is why I suspect it was chosen here instead of it’s thermal properties. Klarus should just stress it’s high strength and lightweight instead of thermal properties.

The head strap band is one of the nicest I have seen on a headlamp. It’s very elastic, and two tone. The outside is a gray with the Klarus name weaved into the fabric. On the Inside the band is bright orange which might aid in finding it in the dark or in low light. There is also a thin strip of silicone embedded into this inside of the strap. This helps you keep it on your head, and would help it stay put on a clean hard hart or similar helmet.

Weight with strap and battery comes in at 96.6 Grams. Water rating is IPX6 rated. This means it will be just fine for rain and dust but not full submersion.

LED + Runtimes
This light takes a little different approach to others I have looked at recently by having 3 different LED’s. The main brightest emitter is a Cree XP-L V6 LED in cool white with a maximum of 550 lumens. It has 3 modes, High at 550 lumens, Medium at 100 lumens, and low at 30 Lumens. This emitter is almost all flood and even under the lens. The second white emitter is in the middle of the light, and is a Cree XP-E2 R2 LED with a warmer 4000k tone. It’s output is 50 Lumens on medium and 10 on low. This LED also has a Strobe feature at 50 lumens Lastly there is a Cree XP-E2 P2 Red LED that has one mode at 10 lumens and strobe at 10 lumens in red. I wish red had a lower lumen mode as it’s decently bright. On an alkaline or rechargeable AA battery the lumen outputs are the same except for Turbo which is 186 lumens instead of 550. You can run the main emitter and one of the smaller emitters at the same which is a little different.

Main emitter

Secondary emitter

Both

Red

Runtimes are timer based it seems. The light doesn’t get beyond slightly warm when in use for long periods of time. This is disappointing on turbo since it only lasts for about 3-4 minutes You can bump up again but it requires a manual trigger. Runtimes in the middle mode with the main emitter on the included Klarus branded 750 mAh was much longer at about 55 minutes before it dropped off significantly with runtimes ending at the 80 minute mark. The light does have low voltage protection and working voltage is 0.9V to 4.2V.

On a standard Enloop battery the output isn’t as much in Turbo and it’s shorter too at only about 2 minutes. But that middle output 100 lumens ran for nearly 115 minutes before a sharp decline over the next 20 minutes.

UI
On the main LED, the light starts off in high mode in a nice slow fade in, with another press it goes to low, and press again it goes to medium. I would prefer it start out in low, then go to medium and then to High mode. One could argue that if you want low mode you could use the secondary white LED instead of the main one for less output but I think it would be simpler UI wise if they all started in low and left it to the user to bump up in light as needed.

On the secondary LED’s the UI is similar. From off if you press and hold the secondary button you get the lower white output on the secondary warmer LED. Press again to get high output. To get red long press from the light being on to activate red medium mode, and to turn off press and hold.

The light also has a strobing red feature double click the secondary button from off to get into strobe and double click to exit. Lastly there is lockout and to lock/unlock press and hold both buttons for 3 seconds.

Charging
The included Klarus branded 14500 battery is a button top, it’s rated for 750mah, the protection cell on my charger didn’t care for this battery and I was unable to run a capacity test. The built in Micro USB charging on the 14500 is pretty slow. In my testing it was 0.34A for pretty much the entire length of charge. This results in pretty long charge times via USB, in my test it took 3 hours go go from full to empty. For a 750mah 14500 battery this is slow. When charging via USB you get a red LED at the top of the cell that goes blue/white when full. You can always throw it in a charger and charge at 1A faster. I wouldn’t recommend charging faster then 1A though.

What’s in the Box
Packaging is small and compact. The box is nice and designed for retail. Inside is a black and red zippered case, that contains the headlamp, strap, and battery. The battery was preinstalled and mostly precharged. The manual had no major translation issues and is available online from Klarus as well.


Packaging error?


Conclusion
I ended up liking this headlamp more than I thought I would at the beginning. The 3 different emitters are a nice way to give this headlamp alot of ability to cover a variety of situations. For me I this is going to go in my Go/Tornado bag because of it’s dual fuel capability. I generally prefer 18650 headlamps and have a 18650 based flashlight in the bag too, but from reading about peoples experiences after disasters the general consensus there are usually lots of AA batteries available. This headlamp gives me the ability to utilize those if I needed to and give me a headlamp which I find really useful. The case keep everything in one place and all together.

While I personally love Titanium and a large part of my EDC is all titanium, It’s really not necessary in this headlamp from a functional standpoint. It does give it more cool and style points though. FlashlightZ has told me an aluminum version is coming out later this year which should be a little less expensive. I think it would be cool if Klarus did some anodizing on the titanium version to make it a little more special and help justify the increase in price.

To find out more on the light visit Flashlightz.com

Posted on

Olight H16 Wave, Hands Free Operation

The Olight H16 wave headlight, looks and shares many components with the HS2 that was released last year. The HS2 was a light designed for running, and the H16 Wave is designed more for every day normal use and features a no touch on/off ability. Thanks to Olight for sending this to me to review, let’s take a further look at the H16 Wave.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/hc07d(link is external)
YouTube Version of this Review:

Construction
The construction of the H16 is pretty similar to the HS2 but with a few changes. It appears the battery packs being used are the same in terms of design and capacity. They are encased in black plastic, have the 4 LED battery indicators and charge via microUSB with a silicone cover for the USB port. The straps are stretchy black elastic material with Olight printed on them and silver reflective aarrows. The cable the runs from the battery to the headlamp is one piece which differs from the HS2 where it was two pieces with a connection in the middle. It has a coil that’s allows the cable to stretch to adjust for different size heads.


The Head of the light is made mostly of plastic except for a metal heatsync behind the LED’s. I believe it’s anodized aluminum and it has cooling fins. The front side is plastic and houses the two LED,s and the lenses. Below it is the single blue button covered with a silicon cover. The wave feature I believe is either side of this. The blue button does illuminate when the wave feature is turned on.The light is removable from the strap but the battery is not. There is a bit of foam on the back of the light housing that combined with the strap is plenty of padding. Overall I find this to be adjustable and comfortable as a headlamp to use for several hours due to it’s low weight and padding.



Size/Weight
Weight including strap and battery is 120 grams. Size of the headlamp portion is nearly square at 40mm by 39mm and 25mm in maximum thickness.

LED/Runtime
The H16 Wave uses two Cree XP-G3 LED’s in cool white and places two different optics in front of them. The LED’s work together and you can’t use one at a time like you could on the HS2. For the optics you have a traditional TIR style optic for a beam that throws a bit and has a large hotspot. Mine does exhibit some oddities that I can pick out on a white surface. The other optic is checkered diffuser which creates a flood beam.

TIR Optic Beam Shot

Flood Reflector Beam Shot

Together (How it operates)

Runtimes on this light were good on the included 2000mAh battery pack. It was able to run starting out in High mode at 500 lumens for the 5 timed minutes and stepping down as the timer kicked in down to 350 lumens for another 130 minutes, and then down to medium at 100 lumens for about 15 minutes and then it went low at 5 Lumens for the remaining time. Total run time in my test was right at 140 minutes which is good in my opinion.

The light does have 4 small LED on the battery pack that when battery check button is pressed alert you to the charge status. It also has an audible beeper that will beep when the battery hits 10% and it will continue beeping for 10 minutes. You can stop the beeping by pressing the battery check button.

Charging
Charging the non removable battery is accomplished via microUSB. The light charges at a maximum of 1A and takes quite a while. From empty to 100% in my test it took just under 3 hours. The light will run while it’s charging but not on Turbo.

UI/Wave
The UI on the H16 Wave is simple, like most Olights. From off click the switch and you get High, click again and you get medium, click again and you get low. Starting in high is unfortunate, and I wish it started in low instead.

The wave feature allows you to turn the light on and off via a wave of your hand in front of the light. You need to be reasonably close to the light for this to work. Closer then 2 inches. The wave feature only turns the light on or off, and doesn’t change the mode. I would love to see a mode of the light where you could configure Wave to change modes instead of just on or off. To enable the wave feature when the light is on you long press on the single button and the light will very briefly flicker. You do the same to turn it off. The wave feature will reset to a default of off if it isn’t used within 1 hour.

Packaging
The packaging is similar to Olight’s other 2018 products. It came in a white retail box that was narrow and long. The sides have a few bits of information and the back has most of it. Inside the light is housed in plastic tray with a clear lid. Included in this was the headlamp itself already attached to the strap, the manual, and a nice long microUSB cable.





MSRP at the time of review is $59.99 with a 2 year warranty.

Conclusion
If you have read my previous headlamp reviews, or watched my videos you know I like headlamps and think everyone should have one. The H16 is a slight rethink on the HS2 and I think it makes it better for general users. The wave feature works better than I expected it to and I can see some situations where your hands might be dirty and you want to turn on the headlamp. This would require thinking ahead though and having it already in that mode. Instead of using the wave for on and off I think it might be more useful as a way to go from one mode to another. Like other Olight headlamps I have reviewed this one is built well and I don’t expect problems. I would have preferred a neutral white or warm white option but Olight seems to prefer cool white on most all their products instead. This would be a good headlamp to add to a hiking pack, to use around the house or for all you home mechanics as I showed earlier. Pick it up on Amazon or Olight Store.