Ultimate Headlamp Review Comparison!

FireFlies PL47G2 is a pretty good headlamp combined with the Armytek headband. Insane turbo levels and good combination of throw and flood for camping trips.

Mocarny, it’s not an Ultimate Headlamp Guide! cos most of those lamps sucks as a headlamps. They are front heavy and used headbands do not allow a stable mount on the head in any activity faster than walk.
Currently it can be only “ultimate angle light guide” ;).

I admit, currently it is…“pretending-to-be-ultimate-but-not-yet headlamp guide”

:frowning:
Guys…I hope it is helpful even a bit for now, I will be adding more headlamps, but you know, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.

Well done Mocarny, you almost smoked my laptop :smiley:

Headlamps are made for work and close up taks. Some people use them for mountaineering, caving or exploring abandoned buildings so they need to be reliable. Lumintop’s HL3A is merely a toy by having no stabilisation, an unreliable driver with a UI made for toying around and not suited for tasks I mentioned before.

Zebralight MkII and MkIII headlamps were great, their overall quality and reliability was higher then Armyteks but they are not produced anymore, and the newer Mk IV generation is till now on plagued with issues and UI bugs.

Olight has no interesting headlamps and the H2R has a lot of hidden issues and is to some degree dangerous to use.

YLP is interesting, maybe it could replace Skilhunt? But is has no moonlight mode.

Skilhunt used to have the best bang for the buck headlamp but in the last year their prices skyrocketed making them no so budget anymore.

The Convoy headlamp is obsolete.

Sofirn SP40 is nice for the money but the by fat better H03 used to cost almost as much.

The Armytek Wizard Pro WW is IMO the best general purpose headlamp currently available now.

BUT

Armytek is juggling with their prices which means they are screwing their customers.

Wizard Pro WW was for more than two months available in Poland for 55$, now it costs almost twice as much at a whopping 95$.

I wouldn’t give 95$ for a flashlight knowing that it’s worth 55$.

For 10$ more I bought my virence.com custom Nichia E21A Wizard.

Great suggestions!

This is a great beginning to a much appreciated comparison. Thank you for putting the time and effort into it.

Hi everyone, I’ve just updated my review!
Thanks to BLF user Agro we have Boruit D20 and Eagle Eye X1R… Agro, do you even remember you lent me those headlamps? :stuck_out_tongue: Yes I know it’s been a long time.

List of added headlamps in the #2 post.

:+1: keep going !

Yeah, I didn’t forget. I know it took a while but I didn’t need them in the meantime so I just waited. Thanks for the review, you have a nice collection of models already. :slight_smile:

This is fantastic job Mocarny, I read everything, days of effort, if not weeks and also putting it in such a summary. Superb job!

I would love to see the review of:

  1. NU25, similarly to Argo. This is the headlamp I observe for quite some time.
  2. FireFlies PL47G2, similarly to Nismo.
  3. Panda 2M CRI.

Personally, I use headlamps a lot in different mountain activities. From my experience I can echo most of Ryzbor’s comments:

H03 – I use it currently. It is a great lightweight headlamp. The disadvantages I see is 1) not a perfect interface (sometimes it is hard to change to preferred mode - through double click in gloves etc), 2) would prefer it to be a bit smaller and closer to the head, 3) no longer possible to buy in $22-$25 price range, approximately $10 more expensive than 2 years back.

HL3A – a bit heavier than H03. Thought of buying it as a second headlamp, but after reviewing the issues with the button, driver, lack of stabilization etc. I dropped the idea. I need a reliable light.

SP40 – a bit heavier than H03. Nice headlamp in a good money, but again 1) no stabilization, 2) brightness levels not for my needs.

H30 – a little heavier than H03, good headlamp, but personally prefer H03 because of a nicer tint and wider spill. H33 a bit too pricey.

H1 – too heavy for me and not up to the current market offering.

HL01 - way too heavy.

X1R - a bit too heavy, a bit too weak, but generally a decent light at its price range. Unnecessary power consumption in the illuminated button. Prefer H03 tint.

Zebras were great, but always a bit pricey.

H1R & H2R – dangerous and a bit pricey if compared to the overall experience.

Elf – a bit better performance than H03 from a user perspective (not lumens comparison), but heavier, bigger and at least twice as expensive as H03.

Wizard Pro – nice headlamp, but a bit too big, too heavy and way too expensive.

Thank you, it is nice to know you enjoyed it. That was weeks of effort, but I think it was worth it. Sadly, not many people are commenting and viewing, and it is a bit sad, but I will continue adding more headlamps.

About headlamps you mentioned…I am relying on manufacturers and friends, who can send or borrow me headlamps. They are a bit too expensive to buy.
In my list are: Panda (dont remember which exactly), SP40, Zebra and the newest Magicshine headlamp.

H1 is indeed a bit obsolete, but good news, Simon is working on a new H2

1 Thank

I can’t even imagine how much work it was. Definitely worth doing. Many people read it, be sure about that. I expect one out of every 10-50 people, who read, will comment. Not everyone is a flashoholic, not everyone is registered. When I look at myself - I often search internet for different things and read some forums but I need to be very interested in a topic to register and comment.

I understand that buying all these just for test is expensive, especially in our country. The prices of headlights went high recently as well. If I buy something that is not in the list we could arrange a shipment for testing :slight_smile: Currently I have just H03 and X1R, but you have both already.

Thanks! I have a Zebralight H502pr and H600Fc. The Armytek Wizard WR looks like a suitable replacement. :innocent:

Where did you discover that the red LED is a CREE XQ-E (photo red?)?

I tried viewing this on my phone and it crashes Firefox. :stuck_out_tongue:

It works on a desktop PC. :slight_smile:

Any more info about it? I skimmed the latest comments in the Convoy thread and I don’t see it mentioned there…

No, its not “Ultimate” in terms of the number of lights/brands, but it is certainly ultimate in terms of content that I need on a headlamp. All the beamshots are excellent. Those alone lead me, personally, to skilhunt and armytek… I like the mostly flood neutrals with no tint. 8, 9, and 11 look good to me.

@Mocarny Terrific work! I love angle lights / headlamps. Though not perfect, my Sofirn SP40 and Manker E03H are my most used lights.

Great work!

Next round needs some quality headlamps from Fenix, Olight and Zebra.

I asked Armytek directly :slight_smile:

Yes, I definitely should take less resolution pictures… :stuck_out_tongue:

Simon told me he is working on it, but the project is delayed due to some problems.

Sadly, those companies don’t want to support me. I only have borrowed Zebra. :frowning:

I see, thx for the info.