So, here is the thing. I bought my car mechanic friend a headlamp and now he is hooked.
Until now he had sofirn HS40 but id died fast. After that Sofirn HS20 (he bought few pcs)
Generally he is satisfied with HS20, but he is using it 5 hours a day, every day and lifespan is not too long (already 2 pcs are not working good), but his bigger problem is that it dims too soon for him. He use it both LED on max. So, here is few cinditions and let me hear the experts:
budget is up to 70 euro including shipping to EU but it can be streched for good product that could last few months of torture
UI simple as possible. It wuld be best if it was on and off only but of course that is impossible
it can be 18550 or 21700 single unit
center LED would be best.
of course, wide beam, for mechanic work, long distance is not important.
USB-C charger if possible
None of theese demands are not written in stone, but some guidelines.
For now, from what I searched, Nitecore NU53 is interesting
If by centre led you mean the emitter is in the middle of the body, then check out the new Sofirn HS21. It has easy mode of operation with a dial switch, decent driver which gives good consistent sustained output.
However it is another Sofirn and given your original post mentioning previous Sofirns failing I understand you may not want to go with another one. I think it’s too new at the moment to get wide consensus and understanding of it’s long term durability.
Yes, emitter should be in the middle. Headlamp only, since he does not use other functionality like magnet and similar witch is great on HS40 and other angle lamps.
And don’t get me wrong, Sofirn is great product, extremly good value for money. HS20 is great headlamp, just they are not meant to be used 5-8 hours a day, every day at the strongest possible power.
I found on EU market Scangrip i-view , it is advertised as proffesional, but battery is about 2-3 hours total and I did not seen graph, but my friend says it dims in maybe 1hour.
Battery is built in doesent have fast charge and price is about 80Eur so he would need to have 2-3pcs and that is lot of money.
The centering issue is a non-issue. At half arms length or arms length you cannot see this. When you put any headlight on you look at the beam in front of you and you aim it so that the beam is pointing straight ahead on a wall or the floor or some other object. So it might be technically turned a half a degree when you place it on your head and aim it but that’s not going to affect real world usage.
Perhaps it’s more a case that a headlamp with a centre LED is less likely to get hooked on things when working under a vehicle, or in confined spaces? (Compared to one with a 90 degree angled piece sticking out on the end.)
Working on my car, it’s common in close-up work/inspection to find myself often looking down a narrow sight line of crisscrossing hoses, pipes, etc. and the off-centered light gets blocked by a hose while my dominant eye is a few cm away. Then I have to take off the L-type headlamp and hand direct the light. A centered light can also be blocked in that situation but it’s easier to line up. It’s fair to say a centered light is better for a car mechanic.
I have also often had to remove the headlight or pull out a handheld light to look into narrow spots. It has always been because the headlight is mounted above my eyes by 2+ inches, not because it only lines up with one eye versus the center.
Yes, that’s why my dentist was using a light between her eyes my last visit. The hit/miss rate for close work is still better centered for me, particularly since when I’m trying to get a good look at something, I often try both eyes. (I have a monovision near/far setup with my contact lens that which eye works better depends on the working distance.) The eye farther from the L-type light is 1.5" farther away than the near eye and much easier to get blocked. Having to take off the headlamp a little more frequently might not really matter, but I do notice it happening.
I bought this headlamp at a hardware store for the equivalent of some $12 for my 5-year old nephew for Christmas:
While small and simple, it has a nicely diffused, decent CRI COB and a less-decent CRI spot. Probably unregulated, with 1200 mAh battery. And it has an optional on/off motion sensor on a chosen mode (I find it more useful than Sofirn HS21 motion sensor for intensity).
You’re going to have to stretch your budget to get a good one. I usually recommend Fenix headlamps for hard use, Acebeam or Olight. They run $95+ USD though (not sure in Eur). Sofirn is great for occasional use, not pro use.
Fenix HM70R
Runner up Cyansky HS6R
My favorite headlamp is the BioLite 800 Pro
There’s good ones from Nitecore too, and Acebeam has some real nice ones also: H50, H35, and H50 are all t-type headlamps (center LED).
