I have finally been able to pick up the HS21 from the post office. Thank you Sofirn for the Giveaway!
Here are a few first impressions. Measurements and outdoor beamshots will follow. As I am currently at home with a cold, it may take a few days…
The overall quality is good. There are minimal abrasions on the edges, but since these are free review samples, I don’t see a problem there.
The switches are good. Both the buttons and the rotary switch feel good. The button has a crisp pressure point and clicks audibly. The rotary switch clicks into the individual positions with a good feel.
The IR gesture feature is not really that useful. Sometimes I get incorrect switchings (unintentional change of light levels) or the switching does not work. Sometimes visible light can trigger the IR sensors, which can potentially be problematic at times (for example, if someone is wearing a headlamp and occasionally shines it on the HS21).
There is a groove in the battery tube, but I cannot say why.
The USB charging port is on the side. The IR gesture sensors are also on the side. The plastic cover around the charging port was not mounted evenly:
The recesses for LEDs in the optics are covered by the texturing. Unfortunately, there is no front glass to protect the plastic optics.
The beam is good, both for the main and the close-range LEDs. At most, there are artifacts in the form of barely visible rings, although this is not noticeable on the whitewall. Thanks to the texturing (which is not shown in the Sofirn images in the opening post), the beam from the flood LEDs is absolutely uniform and wonderfully suitable for close-up use.
Throw LED (SFT-40)
Flood LEDs:
The tintshift of the flood LEDs is interesting - with increasing current they turn slightly green, at least seen with naked eye. On two lowest modes they are just perfectly neutral.
The UI is Muggle-compatible and can be used even without any instructions. I would have liked stepless ramping a little better, but the light modes are well tuned and usable. Unfortunately, there is mode memory regardless of the selected light mode. This means, for example, that High could be saved for the main LED, while the flood LEDs could have Moonlight saved. This can lead to unpleasant surprises, as you can temporarily blind yourself while changing light mode… A mode memory for all levels except possibly red would be better.
Speaking of red: There is no way to directly select the highest light level for red, as double-click activates a “flasher” for red, which simply flashes every 2 seconds.
Red flood LEDs, the beam is just fine.
At first glance, there are no Photo Red LEDs installed. In direct comparison to an XP-E Photo Red, the light of the HS21 appears slightly more orange-red.
The tint-shift for the SFT-40 is okay, and it is not annoying green.
Summarized: a good headlamp, with good features and easy UI. Seems to be a good choice for everyone who just needs a headlamp for closest range and even for some throw. I can imagine that the red light can be used to mark things or as a kind of “tail light”.