I recently bought one of these:
I passed it to my friend same day. Figured out that pics might be fine if I some day get the inspiration to post them here, since there are not too many headlamp reviews at all in here...
You can check the seller specs from DX link, astonishingly they are pretty much the true specs!
Probably I should have made this in same format as the real reviews but because of my laziness, I did not have the juice to make it. Try to deal with it!
Summary:
| Battery: | 1x18650 |
| Switch: | Regular, one in front, one in back |
| Modes: | Front: 20% -> 100% "infinite", back: slow strobe & continuous |
| LED Type: | Cree XR-E Q5 |
| Lens: | Flood to throw |
| Price @ Order: | $35,70 |
| From: | Dealextreme |
| Date Ordered: | 24/10/2011 |
Pros:
- Quite good runtime on Low and on High
- Variable brightness
- Backlight and with modes (good for outdoor and traffic)
- Excellent quality, I was really surprised
- Unlabeled battery also good quality!
- If it fails someday, battery can be changed easily
- Can be charged via USB or wall socket
- Can be tilted downwards
Cons:
- Can you stretch your budget? Not the cheapest one...
- Not the smallest or lightest either
- Tilting feels a bit unreliable. Might be the first thin to break.
- Zoom is rotary, not push/pull
- Manual in chinese only
When I got this packet an opened it, I was pleasantly surprised.
The overall look and feel on the packing itself gave a feeling of not the usual stuff but something better.
Everything was fitted nicely to its place. Package was quite small.
Battery was really basic-looking 18650 with thick wrap. Protected. On the long side, same lenght or even longer than Xtar 18700´s :o
I tested this one with 1A draw and it gave me just a tad under 2200mAh, for first cycle! Spec is not lying at all.
Really solid looking, flawless exterior. + button is big and flat, yet protruding.
I did not have time to test charger, this was delivered to one of my friends.
It has USB-charging cord which can be attached to wall socket adapter (does not include EU-adapter).
They also were really flawless, wall socket adaptor in plastic wrap. Sorry, can´t remember charging speed...
Now look at this!
A bit LedLenser -feel in there? Very clear-looking optics (plastic), no debris whatsoever.
The light threads were a bit dry when zooming, otherwise very classy and feel of quality in here also.
Emitter. Can´t really tell if it is Q3 or Q5 but I would bet my money on Q5 preferring the tint & output.
Small crack on plastic (yet a lot smaller than my LedLensers have had).
Tilting. The light itself can be tilted downwards. It has 4 different positions. The locking is a bit iffy, might be the first thing to break in this. Was working fine when tested, though. Headstraps are quite basic, nothing too special in them. I have small head but it could be adjusted to fit easily.
A bit larger battery on the back gives IMO nice balance to the headlight, it´s not "frontweighted".
NO BEAMSHOTS, sorry about that. I suck with camera.
Basically, this is pretty much the same case as Sipik´s. Throw is not that small spot as in Sipik, but flood is a bit wider. Beam was nice and even on flood. Flood is not as wide as for example with famous UF-H2.
From Flood to Throw, it takes 2,5 revolutions.
This is maybe not THE best for working long times when widest possible visibility field is required. This IMO comes to it´s own playgroung when walking or biking. When you need to look a bit further than 3 feet.
Output is generally moderate. I´d say it´s pretty much close to what is said on the specsheet.
It draw about 0,7A on High and on 20% lowest low it took only about 0,08A.
Sorry, did not measure backlight draw, should be irrelevant though with 18650...
Can be activated without frontlight.
So, I bet there will be very little heat issues (properly driven IMO) and it has really nice runtime. DX says 3h on High but throw in a Sanyo 3100mAh cell and you should have plenty more ;)
Operation is easy, one click: ON, full power.
Press down: ramping down begins. When lowest point reached, it stays there. PWM can be noticed.
Shut down -> press on again, same setting is used.
When off, press twice and to full power again.
Backlights are toggled: ON, Slow strobe, OFF. There are two small red LED´s in back aside the button.
Also one possible rant: front light button can be hard to access with gloves, see pic:
On the other hand, hard to press on by accident.
NOTE: Button is under the lamp.
Tilting:
Battery holder.
+ and - sticker, plastic clamp holds battery in place. The battery compartment door is made of softer plastic and sits tightly on its place yet easy to open if you want to use external charger. Plenty of room there, 18700 will fit no problem.
Backlight button. Red LEDs are not visible in pic but are located aside the switch.
The port for charging the batt internally.
Final thoughts:
This is for outdoor activities. For car repair, UF-H2 can be better. If your clunker has had a real bad day, 3h+ runtime can be nice, though...
Really solid feel, really felt like a more expensive one. Makes a great gift as the packaging is Good!
Specs not bloated at all.
If this was just a bit cheaper, flood a bit wider, it might get a full 5-star from me, now just 4 & 1/2.
It´s a good set.
