Skilhunt H03 Review

Skilhunt H03 Review

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Hey folks today we will be reviewing the Skilhunt H03 this is my first Skilhunt light but I have read many great things about this light and the brand itself. I was keen to test the H03 my self. My testing includes the usual fishing trip! Really any old excuse to go fishing will do! Also any excuse to wear a headlamp. My usual headlamp wearing exercises include working on other lights and cleaning in spots where there isn’t enough light. Did I ever tell you how much I love headlamps? They are so awesome I currently have 7 headlamps that are in rotation. Now this light will also be added to the list.

This light was sent to me for review by Gearbest I can not put the selling price here but I will say its dirty thirty three maybe? Just ask me for the coupon you will love the price. If I was to go by price to performance hands down this has already won. Way cheaper then the HC30.
Purchase Link: Skilhunt H03
Coupon: Ask me or check for the link under my Youtube video when it is up. The price is way under MAP.

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I am kind of tossing up to whether i should do a shorter review for the H03 seeing as there is already a few reviews outs and heaps of members already have this light. I have not seen many threads listing problems with this light that is good thing. Especially when every second person has one.

The Skilhunt H03 is a general purpose flashlight/headlamp. I think skilhunt was trying to go for a few markets with this flashlight. It is a headlamp but you would have no problem to EDC the H03. When I first got my Nitecore HC30 I did EDC that light for a while. These style lights are good for EDC use they offer a relatively high output and small size. Like all headlamps the Skilhunt H03 doesn’t have the overall mass to make it as full sized flashlight. In this way I mean your drop resistance will not be the same as a bigger flashlight these lights will take a fall harder then other full sized lights. This show in the 1 meter drop resistance rating you do still get the usual IPX8 rating but no measurements so I am not sure what the rating is which is strange to not say how waterproof it is. IPX8 is a minimum of 1 meter I think I will have to look further into this to see what is going on.
The H03 weights 44 grams without the battery it is super lite weight. The overall length is 99.9mm lets just call it even at (10cm) shall we? Head diameter is 23.5mm (2.35cm) and the body diameter is 21.6mm (2.16cm). As you can imagine it is super small and lite weight.

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Output on the Skilhunt H03 is about average for a high end headlamp nothing amazing but more then enough with a single 18650 you get 900 lumens max output (Turbo 1) on the highest mode. Using 2 16340s you will get 1000 lumens max output (Turbo1) on the highest mode but you will lose run time. The 900 lumens is more then enough light but you also have to account for the fact that the H03 is using a neutral white tint and optics which makes the light seem not as bright. The main reason for this isn’t the tint because its still 900 lumens its the fact that the beam is so flood heavy and spread out and there is no visible hot spot.

Please note Skilhunt left the run times out for the following modes Turbo 1 and mode 2 low with both batteries i am not sure why? I will do my own testing when I get time. I find this weird even if they where to include the step down why not just list the run times? The H03 uses a thermal step down so all testing will vary from person to person.

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Before we start this UI isn’t confusing so much its just massive its fairly easy to access and are you really going to use all these modes? Think of the UI as using a Nanjg driver that lets you chose your modes and outputs. Or as the bistro style driver where you have different sets of modes to chose from. I am a simple person I only use one mode group on both drivers.
The Skilhunt H03 uses a range of different cells 18650s and 16340 and there primary counterpart the CR123 so you can use store bought of the shelf batteries for this flashlight. Great for EDC purpose.

Run times and outputs are as follows for use with 18650

  • Turbo 1: 900 lumens @ Unknown (stepdown)
  • Turbo 2: 490 lumens @ 3.5 hours
  • High 1: 365 lumens @5 hours
  • High 2: 160 lumens @ 11 hours
  • Medium 1:70 lumens @ 25 hours
  • Medium 2: 20 lumens @ 75 hours
  • Low 1: 3 lumens @ 450 hours
  • Low 2: 0.5 lumens Unknown

Run times and outputs are as follows for use with

  • Turbo 1: 1000 lumens @ Unknown ( step down)
  • Turbo 2: 500 lumens @ 1.5 hours
  • High 1: 370 lumens @ 2.5 hours
  • High 2: 160 lumens @ 5 hours
  • Medium 1: 70 lumens @ 10 hours
  • Medium 2: 20 lumens 35 hours
  • Low 1: 2 lumens @ 200 hours
  • Low 2 0.5 lumens @ Unknown

That was a pain to type out I am not sure what format to use! lol I wish I could use a column but I can not find the options.

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To achieve these output figures the H03 uses a Cree XML2-U4 so a fairly new LED. Most lights are still using a U2 or U3 unless you buy the high end lights. Even then i do not see the U4 being used in every light.
The Skilhunt H03 uses a very neutral tint. It appears to be more neutral then most of my neutral tint flashlights. This would be a good time to insert a picture I guess. I would be thinking the tint is some where around 5000k. For most people this NW tint would be the main selling point also the fact that the H03 uses TIR optics. There are different versions of the H03 if you do not want the TIR optics but they all have a NW tint There isn’t many other options out there for a headlamp with a neutral white tint and TIR optics. Even more so in this price point. The button on the Sklihunt H03 kind of lights up well it does but it uses the light from the LED so it only lights up when the H03 is turned on. The button gets brighter and dimmer when you change modes accordingly. The H03 does actually have a proper red LED in the switch this is ued for lockout mode which activates the beacon mode at the same time.
Skilhunt say the H03 has a copper LED board (MCPCB) which would be needed in this situation as the light is so small that should help keep the light cool. Plus the H03 comes with intelligent temperature control. Yes this headlamp will step down when it is to hot the H03 has a big step down curve but most good headlamps do. Or else they will make you sweat some thing bad!

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The modes are plentiful on the H03 you can access them doing the following.
Press side switch once to access standard (group 1) Low-Mid-High-Turbo, cycle. Quickly double press the side switch to access Sub-level (group 2) . Quickly triple press the side switch to Strobe (S1), then double-click to switch S1/S2/S3 mode, Press side switch back to previous brightness level. You have to push and hold the switch to turn of the H03. Easy enough right?

The H03 also has a lockout mode which is why they used a clear switch cover because the H03 has a location beacon that flashes red in the button. It looks cool. When the H03 is turned off press and hold switch for 1.5 seconds. The location indicator will then switch on and lock-out function will be activated at the same time, If you simply push the button it will not unlock the H03 it will only turn the location beacon of. You have to push and hold the switch for 1.5 seconds to unlock the H03.

The threads are great and you can see the magnet under the spring on the tail cap.
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Overall the build quality of the H03 is awesome it has a much more premium feel to it then most other lights at this price point. Every thing sits in place and works well together. The button feels great not to hard or to soft the knurling has a really good amount of grip and looks awesome it has a really unique pattern. When i first got the my Nitecore HC30 i was a bit disappointed with the finished but it is still a great light. The H03 just look so good straight out of the box.

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The threads are very well cut and came lubed always a bonus or else I have to add my own. No comment! Looking at the H03 its more finished then the Nitecore HC30 it look more well rounded and more polished overall. The TIR optics are frosted so that looks cool the light uses a stainless steel bezel and screws which give the H03 a very premium feel. There is also stainless steel used around the switch added bonus.

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The H03 utilizes double springs one on the tail cap and the other on the head of the light this is needed for the use of 16340 or else they may rattle. The magnet in the H03 is removable and Skilhunt even give you a part to fill in the hole where magnet would be once removed. The tail cap spring has to be removed to get the magnet out but that is no big issue because it is so easy to do. The magnet itself lives up to my expectations it hold the light very well and firm even when used side ways. I am a big fan of magnets on an EDC flashlights so this may come in handy depending on how you will use the H03. The anodizing is the usual type 3 hard anodizing but this color looks awesome its not to slick its more matte if that is the right word. My art sense and wordings are horrible.
I love my HC30 by far that has the most hours of use on it compared to all my other lights. Every where I go outdoors at night time it comes in handy even to hang the washing out. Yes I some times hang washing out at night. On nights like tonight where is it 21 degrees it drys good. I now have TIR optics in my HC30 so this should be a really good line up against each other. Line up for the boys maybe? I have now found a new go to light this light seem just better. The clip on the H03 is awesome it holds the light really firm and doesn’t budge its big enough but also small enough to not get in the way.
The headband on the H03 has a premium feel its even better then the HC30 of the HC50 headband. Its much thicker and more comfortable and has heaps more padding the rubber rings that hold the H03 to the headband are no joke 3 times as thick as the HC30 rings. This headlamp legit has changed my mind and won me over i wish i got one sooner. The one issue is you have to build the band your self Ikea style put it together your self where the Nitecore bands come ready made.

What do you get in the package?

  • Silkhunt H03
  • Silkhunt Headband
  • Clip
  • Lanyard
  • Spare O-rings
  • Magnet already in the H03
  • Magnet replacement piece
  • Instructions
  • Setup manual
  • Warranty card

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Summery Overall you can not fault the H03 it does a lot of things and it does them all very very well for the price it matches up against the best and it comes out on top easily. Its small and lite and compact if you need to use the H03 for EDC purpose its size to performance ratio is amazing. If you want to use the H03 as a headlamp it has a great set of modes and features and the headband is amazing quality overall i can not see any faults in the H03. The price it is going for is a steel which makes this deal way to hard to resist.

Beam shot time yay.

Low mode 3 lumens
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Medium mode 70 lumens
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High mode 365 lumens
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Turbo mode 900 lumens
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Skilhunt H03 left on turbo and Nitecore HC30 with TIR optics on the right you can not tell them apart both to floody
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Skilhunt H03 left on turbo and Convoy S2+ on the right this one is modded with a 5000k tint i think some where around there
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Turbo mode looking at the tint it is way to over exposed i wonder what my neighbors would think if they seen me staring at a tree at 2am?
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Thanks for taking the time to read.

Regards Chris

Thanks for the review man. This light has been in my maybe list quite some time now. I still don’t own any headlamps yet… The red locator light in the button is sweet as well…

Thanks mate! I love headlamps it all depends on what you will use them for. For me they come in handy while fishing and bush walking at night its great to have two hands free.

Nice review Chris. One of my favorite things about this light is the button location on the side of the head vs end of the head. Much more natural to pinch the light to change modes.

True, sometimes you really want to have both your hands free. A ten dollar headlamp is so much more useful in such a situation than a 200 dollar flashlight… Indeed, the H03 is a headlamp that you can EDC as well unlike other full fledged headlamps; it’s so much more versatile. The great thing about tail standable angle lights is that you can place it on a surface and aim it away from you to use the bounced light. Really got to get myself one of these soon… :slight_smile:

I’m still waiting mine from GB (which I had at the aforementioned price of thirty three you ace dee) but I’m glad I choose this one !
Thank you very much for the review !

Thanks mate yea for that price its hard to beat. I Think we paid like 45 USD for the HC30 when it first came out. I thought that was awesome lol

The magnet in the tail cap is good and strong too.

I remind paying 30$ for the HC30…thanks to M4DM4X of course

EDIT : 33.90$ sorry

Mine was more lol i had the discount also maybe i am thinking Aussie dollars it was ages ago now.

Yea the magnet is awesome i forgot to take a picture of it in use.

One thing i find weird is the IPX rating. I took the light apart and there is no front O-ring where the optics sit so i wet it with the hose that will be in my video and it still works but i find it odd that there is no O-ring and no proper IPX rating? Like i sprayed the optics with the hose on full blast so i am sure it will be fine.

I noticed this too in a tear down… So we have no ring under the metal plate, and no ring under the TIR optic either? Hmmm… I do believe that checking the waterproofing by hosing it or putting it in a bucket of water for ten minutes and checking whether it still works is not the right way; the light might still fail after a day or so. I would take apart the light to see whether there is no water inside.

Okay i could be blind lol I stuffed up! Do not mind the mess i was just eating! I’m a mad grub lol

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Good news! Thanks a lot mate! And enjoy your meal (if you’re still eating)!

I will add this there is only a red LED on the switch. So i was right that time lol
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I just got my H03 in the mail three days ago. So far I really like it. The tint is really good, and so is the flood/TIR beam pattern.

That said, there are two things I’ve noticed that could be improved:

  • Magnet could be stronger - the light sticks really well if you’re sticking it to a really thick piece of metal, but not so well to even medium-thin metal. A body panel on my car is barely enough to hold the light, and a tiny touch will make it fall.
  • I would like a lower profile or recessed switch. I EDC’d the light in my pocket the second day I had it, and it turned itself on (I only noticed when my thigh started to get hot).

Thanks for the review. PMing you for the coupon,

Has anyone been adventurous to take the light apart yet? I just got the light and I like it but I wouldn’t mind tweaking it in the future.

Yea but that happens with all magnets on flashlights its more so the metals fault? It happens in my shed also i think the weight of the light is to much for the metal surface. Had the same issue with the Olight S1R and the Rofis TR20.

Thanks folks!

I just added a video if your interested. I think i need to trim my beard!