Greetings,
This review will be dedicated to the newest headlight from Olight, the H2R Nova
Link to the flashlight on Olight website
So, what is this flashlight about?
Since the announcement of the highly successful H1/H1R flashlight, it was only a matter of time till a bigger brother, powered by 18650 batteries will arrive. So, here it is.
Here are some of the key features
* 2300 lumens of brightness
- TIR optics
- Build-in charger
- Magnet in tailcap and headband with magnetic assitance
- Low battery warning
- 5-year warranty
Not bad, isn’t it?
A small comparison with the competition
Well, it does have a record-breaking brightness, but it comes with a price - the flashlight is the largest among other L shaped flashlights (Zebra-like’s)
Shall we begin?
The flashlight comes in a small black box.
There is another black box inside the first one, a real gift package.
The flashlight comes with a headband, magnetic charging cable, and some adhesive and plastic part. The headband has a strong magnet, which can be removed and replaced by the dummy plastic. The flashlight also comes with a proprietary battery and a rather large clip.
The magnetic charger got updated, now it features tho little holes of unknown purpose. The charger lits red when it’s charging, and green in any other case. The charger can be used while the flashlight is on, prolonging the life of the battery. Regular protected batteries can be used, but not charged using the build-in charger. Another limitation - you need a really high quality cells in order to utilize the turbo mode - none of my batteries could provide the high current needed for the turbo mode - protection circuit tripped. If you are willing to risk and use unprotected cells - you need to use magnets, because flat-headed won’t do because of the contacts design.
The battery (like on many other recent Olight flashlights) comes with negative pole first. The battery can be charged using a regular battery charger.
What what? You can’t short circuit those contacts?
Well, first of all the flashlight survived the water-resistance test. Second - I tried to short-circuit the contacts on the tailcap and nothing happened, it just kept working.
The headband is of high quality, it has magnet just under the Olight logo.
A very nice looking piece of flashlight.
Looks really nice, but not as charming as H1.
The TIR optics are different from the one used in H1. The difference is not only in size, H2 TIR has a flat surface (covered in some pattern), but H1 has a reflector-like profile. We will see later how it affects the beam.
The headband can be used for many other flashlights as well.
The button has a similar feel to H1. It’s not too firm and not too soft.
A bit about controls…
Short click will turn the flashlight on and off. There is a mode memory, also for turbo and moonlight modes, but the turbo and high modes will only be memorized for 10 minutes.
Keeping the button pressed while the flashlight is on will switch brightness modes in the following order : min~~med~~>high->min . moonlight and turbo are out of the main line.
In order to enable turbo mode you need to double click the button, from any mode. Triple clicking the button will enable the SOS mode.
If you will keep the button pressed for more than one second the flashlight will enter moonlight mode. Keeping the button pressed for more than 2 seconds will enable electronic lockout feature - in order to disable it you should keep the button pressed for more than 2 seconds as well.
Here is the charger. It charges the battery regardless of the flashlight status.
Kitty-shot
Let us see the light
Moonlight
guess what it is
На моем мониторе разница преувеличена, но оттенок желтоватый - чему лично я рад. Холодный - чисто белый, как обычно. Отличный сам по себе, пока не начинаешь с нейтральным сравнивать. Помещения, цвет кожи, еды, травы - с нейтральным очень правдоподобно, с холодным - ближе к ощущению нахождения в “ужастике”. Повторяю - по сравнению с нейтральным, сам по себе неплох и через какое-то время мне кажется мозг адаптируется.
A comparison between the NW and CW models. The camera over-emphasize the differences, but I personally like the NW light better. It’s more natural, the CW is just too cold, NW has the colors and skin tones rendering much more natural.
A bit more
H1 NW
H2R NW
H2R CW
H2R CW+NW
control shot
H1 NW
H2R NW
Impressions after using the flashlight
1. Just tons of light. I don’t think that a more powerful flood headlight would be needed bu someone. There are just tons of light all around you.
2. The light is much brighter and has much more throw than the H1.
3. The light spread is very different between the H1 and H2. H1 has a huge hotspot, a sharp transition and not much of a sidespill. H2 does not seem to have a hotspot, just a lot’s of light in the middle, that gradually become dim at the sides.
* all the pictures were taken in manual mode with WB set to “daylight” and fixed aperture and shutter.
Some measurements (lux in the middle, a meter distance)
Surprisingly, the NW model is brighter than the CW, but it should not be like it - Olight claims that CW is rated at 2300 lumen, and NW at 200 lumen. But I re-checked, and the numbers did not change. Other reviewers also saw it, so it’s not a mistake in measurements.
Conclusion
Another winner ? Definitely. Not as cute as H1, but it got all the features to be chosen as the next headlight for a lot of people.