Review WowTac A2 Headlamp (formerly Atactical)

This is the WowTac A2 headlamp. (formerly Atactical)
This light was sent to me for my review and NO other compensation other than keeping the light.
This headlamp can be found on the main WowTac site …. http://wowtac.com/wowtac-a2-headlamp-550-lumen/
Or on Amazon site …. Amazon.com
For $19.99 at the time of this review.

I will start by saying the WowTac A2 Headlamp totally took me by surprise. I was not expecting to find the quality that I pulled from the package when I recieved this light to be honest , especially for $20.
This is a very well constructed headlamp with your basic features and easy to use UI. The threads are square cut , smooth and were lubed well , but not overly lubed. The knurling is all well done and the reflector and AR lens both look near flawless in the sample I received for my review. ( other than some water droplets in the still shots from rain that caught me suddenly). The switch is fairly firm but works very smoothly also.
This package comes with an instruction manual , spare O-ring , a lanyard , USB charging cable and a USB chargeable 2600 mAh cell , (as well as it can be charged on a traditional charger) with the tiny charger built right onto the top of the cell. There is also a tiny indicator light (red when charging and green when fully charged) on top of the cell.
The anodizing is all done well with no bare spots or thin spots that I found. There are NO sharp edges detected on the light.

The 550 lumens coming from the XP-G2 emitter also kind of surprised me in how much light the A2 is putting out. It has a fairly focused beam with a pretty smooth transition from the hotspot to the spill area , for a light with a smooth reflector in it. I can see at 100 plus yards away to make out larger objects with the A2 (although my cheap video camera dont show it too well) In the still shots of the slide portion , the pictures are much closer to what I actually see out there. The headband fits pretty comfortably and has the extra strap that goes over the top of your head so the light will not slide down as some tend to do without that strap.

The modes are well spaced on the A2 and for the fans of the super low Firefly or Moonlight this one should fit the bill as it is a very low one. The runtimes are also good for the 2600mAh cell that comes with the light. I did test several cells in the A2 other than the included cell also. All my protected cells seem to work fine in the A2 , as well as the unprotected button tops. The only ones that I had any problem with were the unprotected flat tops. Most of the unprotected flat tops will work as far as turning the light on and all , but DO loose contact with a good bump of the light.
Modes are a long press for Firefly , about 1/2 second to the next modes of Low , Medium and High , a quick double click to get into the turbo and when in turbo a quick double click for the SOS mode.
Or you can cycle through Low , Medium and High modes once the light is turned on by simply holding down the switch button and releasing when the desired mode is achieved. A quick click turns the light off from any mode and you can manually “lock out” the light with about 1/4 turn of the tailcap. There is also mode memory for the Low, Medium and High modes and the light will come on in the last used of those.
There is also the LVP or Low voltage Warning I guess we should call it , that blinks 2 times every few seconds when the cell is low.
Of course as with most lights any more there is the Reverse polarity protection also.

I would also like to note that WowTac does receive technical support from ThruNite , meaning they are getting some good advice from one of the top flashlight makers out there.

Overall I have NO negatives about this light at all , for the low price they are sold at and for the quality you get for that price , but I would like to see a choice of a neutral emitter added to their line in the future.

Here are the charts of the testing I did on the A2 with the included 2600 mAh cell………

For those who do not want to watch the whole video……… the still shots and beamshots start at 7:38 of the timeline and the outside live footage comparing the Thrunite TH-10 and Olight H1R start at 11:42 of the timeline.

Video followed by listed specs…………

•One USB rechargeable 2600mAh 18650 battery included which provides 550 lumens output.
•Cree XP-G2 LED
•Reverse polarity protection design to protect from improper battery installation.
•Aircraft-grade aluminum body.
•Toughened ultra-clear glass lens with anti-reflective coating.
•Low Power Indication: When the voltage of the battery is low, the light will blink twice periodically.
•Direct access to strobe mode: when the light is ON, long press to quickly access to strobe mode.
•Dimension: 106mm*30mm*23.5mm.
•30 days worry-free money back; 2 years limited warranty for flashlight; 1 year limited warranty for battery

What about PWM?about weight? About IPxx?
Could you disassemble it? Could you show a driver?
Is it works with flat top sell? At which voltage LVP begin to works?

Not trying to be a smart azz but it seems you didn’t pay a lot of attention to the written or video portions of the review?

At 6:38 in the video…………IPX 7 water resistant , 1.5 meter impact resistant.

I have not found the weight anywhere.

No noticeable PWM on the camera or shining at a fan.

I have not taken the light apart as I wanted to be sure it was working through the review. It IS glued , so there will more than likely be some damage when / IF I decide to take it apart.

EDIT: from the “written” part of the review above…………

I did test several cells in the A2 other than the included cell. All my protected cells seem to work fine in the A2 , as well as the unprotected button tops. The only ones that I had any problem with were the unprotected flat tops. Most of the unprotected flat tops will work as far as turning the light on and all , but DO loose contact with a good bump of the light.

Also if you look at the charts above you will see that the Low Voltage warning indicated at 217 minutes with 2.85 volts and 43 lumens.

Thank you.

Great review robo819!!! … Thorough & informative.
Thanks for sharing. :slight_smile:

Thanks Teacher ……. as always glad to do the reviews

Your welcome robo819…… :+1:

I believe that everyone that buys this light is going to be surprised by the good quality for the price.

Thanks for a great review, robo819.

Thanks jack……glad to do the review.

I agree about the quality. I think this light will match many in its class costing double the amount easily.

H03 cost 32$ .It has boost driver, clips, magnet, lanyard,twice more lumeen, smaller, lighter.
So I think 20$ is right price for this light.

I just bought the A2S version of this light for biking and camping duty and I have to say it really does well for both.
The light has a great balance of throw and flood that makes it up to the task for both activities.

In biking mode it does quite well in high mode for lighting up the road ahead (~450 lumens) and if it lasts anywhere close to 4.5 hours claimed it will easily go a week of work commute evening rides before requiring a charge. In a pinch, the turbo mode provides amazing lighting as well.

For camping/around the house the hotspot coronoa isn’t too bad in the lower settings and the output levels are pretty well spaced out to be used for up close duty. I found the headband holster to be passable for comfort - I don’t feel it too much when its on, but once I take it off I do notice a nice temporary indent on my forehead!

Some other notes:

  • The warm white isn’t too warm, and stikes a nice balance compared to some other warm lights I’ve used.
  • The battery compartment and contact springs are definitely tuned to accomdate the larger protected 18650 usb rechargeable battery it came with. If you use an unprotected 18650 that is smaller the light will shut off due to not enough pressure on the contacts.
  • The standard smooth reflector is much nicer in practice than an upclose beamshot will indicate. Upclose it has a somewhat squarish beam hotspot, but in practice this is not noticeable and I find it to be very useful.

For $29.99 with a 3400mah protected USB rechargeable 18650, this light has crazy value and checked off all the requirements for a light that I need for biking/around the house/camping. Will have to see overtime how reliable it is as it will be my go to light.

Does the A2 tail stand?

As you can see in the OP (picture showing the video) the tailcap is flat. If you take the light out of the holder it will tail stand fine , but it is also a 90 degree head as it is a headlamp.

Thank you!

Don’t mean to ask a question you probably answered. But I’m heavily invested in sony vtc6 batteries for vaping which are flat top. Do you think those would be problematic “fit wise” in this light?

I’ve just spent a couple hours researching this light and I want it to work with the batteries I already carry everyday.

Thanks

The A2 will not work with any of the flat tops. It even goes off and / or blinks with the unprotected High Drain cells if given a decent bump. Anything shorter than a Panasonic Protected is just not gonna work in this one I am afraid.

FWIW, I’ve been using flat top Samsung 30Qs with no issue in the A2S. Those are also my vape batteries. In fact, I purchased this light to replace a spare battery holder for my vape (not much bigger and way more useful). I should also mention that I have never installed the included (longer) battery in the A2S. I forgot that it came with one until reading this. That could be the reason I’m not having issues with shorter batteries. If it’s just a matter of pressing the springs down too much with the longer battery, though, that seems easily fixed.

The 30 Q is one cell I don’t have , so I don’t know if they are slightly longer maybe than most flat tops?
Have you tried bumping the light at one end or the other or shaking your head side to side with them?
If they work good then by all means use them but…………

I just tried the LG HE4 , LG HG2 and the Efest purple (all flat tops) in my A2S again , just to be sure…… and with all of those a bump on one end or the other of the light , or even a good shake of my head and the light blinks or goes off completely.

They all let the light come on and stay on , as long as there is not any big bump or shake to the light though.

EDIT: Also just rechecked with the LG HE 4 Button Top and the Efest Purple Button Top………Takes a little harder bump , but still the light blinks and / or goes off with those.

Wow, the battery really rattles when I shake it. Stayed on, though. If I slam the tailcap into the palm of my hand pretty hard, as if I were clapping for something that I genuinely enjoyed, the light goes off. For a quick and sloppy experiment, I stuck an additional spring on top of the existing one and was unable to duplicate the problem. No more rattle either. Given this, I think I’m going to swap out the spring with something a little more robust. I haven’t encountered any problems with this light in actual use, but this seems like a good preventative measure. I can’t believe that I hadn’t already noticed how much the battery rattled.

I don’t have any vtc6 batteries, but my 30Qs do appear to be about a millimeter longer than some older Sony batteries that I have. Half a millimeter longer than my eFest.

Edit: I tried the same as above with the shorter Sony battery and the light became more sensitive to bumps and shakes. However, problem was still solved with additional spring. A 4mm spacer between spring and battery achieves the same effect.

Thanks alot for the detailed feedback!
Right now I’m stuck between the Wowtek A2s neutral light and the Zebralight h600w Mkiii…I’ve gotten lost in the black hole of decision.