I dont agree with many of the points you made.
The anodization is what makes ArmyTek recognizable and unique. Its completely personal preference if you like it or not. I happen to love it.
The UI again is personal preference. I find it strange as well but it is also unique. I find that cool and unique. My opinion of course.
Lastly, not fair to showcase other lights while reviewing AmyTek. Leave that up to the reader to make those conclusions. Its equivalent to putting up pictures of my restaurant on the front door of your restaurant. Not fair.
Like I said, I dont agree with your review and more important I think you were not objective.
I also like Armytek’s chalky anodizing.
I do, however think comparisons are entirely fair in a review. Reviews are not advertisements and should serve to help the reader evaluate the product relative to the market in which it competes.
Like I said, I dont agree with your review and more important I think you were not objective.
Thanks for the feedback! I’m sorry my review style isn’t your cup of tea. If you’re looking for an objective review, I think all your points are valid. That’s not really my goal though.
My goal is to be subjective and highlight or critique what I care about. I also like to compare products directly against their competitors and name the competitors in the review. That’s the kind of information that I am looking for when I read reviews for other products, so that’s the kind of information I like to provide on top of the basic facts like performance numbers.
Thanks again for the feedback! I’m glad you enjoy your Armytek products!
Appreciate your honesty.
You definitely can use the clip in the headband. You just don’t put the clip in the slot on the body. I have carried a wizard daily clipped in a cargo pocket for many years. The light will frequently slide down so it becomes a very deep carry but that’s not a problem for me. And you might think it is going to scratch the anodizing constantly sliding up and down. It does a little tiny bit but so what. It is barely noticeable. On some models the clips are bent just slightly different so it protrudes a fraction beyond the tail (when in this location) so using the magnet on a flat surface can be a problem on some of them.
Also you can unthread the strap and remove the top piece if you want but I wouldn’t recommend it. And definitely take a picture of how the strap is routed before you do it. Here are a few pictures of pads or cushions I made for the headbands. I used pieces of that ShamWow material that used to be sold on television years ago.
Nice collection.
I really like the finish on the Armyteks I reviewed. It adds a lot of grip without resorting to knurling. I’m not a fan of slippery semi-gloss anodizing (ahem…Fenix, Sofirn, Wurkkos, Thrunite). It looks cheap and doesn’t do much other than add color. However the downside of brickish means it transfers (rubs off) softer materials and scratches easier. But i think the advantages outweigh that. The UI though…not a fan of the Armytek UIs.
Nice review, glad to see you review such a wide variety of mfg’s and models! I liked the couple of AT headlamps I owned (c2 pro nichia, c2 pro max 70.2). they are easy to swap LEDs on which is nice, but I sold them all as they couldn’t match the utility (light weight and size) of the ultimate 18650 headlamp (imo), the ZebraLight h600 series. It’s really the end all be all for me for that size HL. But AT still makes a nice light. And they’re far easier to modify then ZebraLight’s. I also like their switch placement more then the ZL H600.
Very thorough review!
I like the matte feel of the anodising but the raw threads are a bit annoying (they keep getting dirty).
thanks for the detailed review, full of useful info
I also like that you compare and contrast to the Skilhunt H300
regarding PWM, I would welcome some screenshots of the Opple Flicker Index and Raw Flicker Data.
here is an example of the Skilhunt H150 on the Opple Flicker Index test, really nice steady power delivery to the LED
I encourage you to include those two types of Opple screenshots in your reviews
thanks for all the info you share
also really appreciate your 2 part photos, in the review for the D2, it really helped me choose the optic… I went floody and really like it
cheers!
I’m kinda neutral about the Armytek HA. One thing I have noticed is that it seems to cause some kind of osmosis of lubricant migrating up to 1cm from the tailcap. It can be hard to notice, but you will notice a sheen. Its like dipping a paper towel in liquid, the liquid just goes up the towel.
The WR series doesn’t have the normal Armytek UI, it seems like a more primitive thing from an earlier era. Its simple enough, but you can’t switch from one channel to moonlight in the other channel (it always switches to the last memorized one when switching channels). Also there is no shortcut to turbo (useful in while channel anyhow).
Mode Spacing is quite poor. There’s a huge brightness jump between Firefly and Main1 modes, particularly on the white channel.
This is probably my biggest criticism of this model, is that there is a HUGE gap between Red Firefly (0.1 lm) and Main1 (18 lm) (via docs). The Firefly will appeal to the most hardcore moon aficionado, I use this in bedroom instead of lantern. But Main1 is too bright, and despite being red, gives your location away in tactics. An additional lower mode between Firefly and Main1, like 5 lm would be great.
Its closest competitor, which we don’t know much about yet, might be the forthcoming Skilhunt with 2 x 519A and 1 Red.