Review: Boruit D10 review

Other Types of Lights LED Headlamps
1

ok, so i was looking for a backup to my standard use headlamps… skilhunt h03 and nightcore hc50. i occasionally misplace them or forget them at camp, and need something to get me by till they turn up. i picked the Boruit D10 for the h03 and the BORUiT RJ - 020 for the hc50. this review is for the d10… ill get to the 020 after i use it more.

https://www.gearbest.com/headlights/pp_009648630372.html?wid=1433363
here is another review i saw that is, what i believe to be the same light, although it doesnt mention D10 anywhere.
https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/49717

this isnt a technical review. 100% amateur here. just some things i thought people should know… cause in general, im dissapointed. even for the money i spent.

PRICE: the d10 was $15.89. considerably less than the h03, and it shows. if i could do it again, i would have spent the extra money, but i also wanted something different.

PHYSICAL QUALITY: the first thing i noticed was the threads on the cap… idk the technical term, but they arent real threads. they are molded into the cap and the body. very wide, very shallow threads. in the 5x ive opened it, id say ive cross threaded it 3x. i fully expect them to fail.

STRAP: this is the second thing i noticed… its paper thin. about 1/3 the thickness as the h03 strap they really cheaped out here. i dont expect it to last long either. furthermore, the cams that are meant to keep it adjusted to your head… they slide on the strap so easily. if you have it on your head, it will stay put. but the instant you take it off, the adjustments flop around all over the place.

BATTERY: ive never seen a light that had so much horizontal play in the battery compartment. using my thickest protected 18650, i could take a business card and wrap the battery fully, even overlap the business card by 1/4”, and it would still slide in no problem. with just the battery in there, i can shake the light and feel the battery tap back and forth on each side of the compartment.

BEAM PATTERN: I wasnt to concerned about the beam pattern… as long as it put out light that is all that mattered. i do however, think the beam pattern is awful for headlamps. Its a reasonably narrow beam. a pretty solid hot spot in the middle, outside of that it is dim but usable light. that tapers off to the edge of the beam, and then right at the edge it actually gets brighter. lots of wasted light. id consider it a usable pattern for hiking around the woods, but for up close stuff, youre going to be turning your head a lot to keep it pointed where your eyes are looking, if that makes sense.

bottom line… IMO, it wasnt worth it. it might be worth 7 bucks. and im not picky… for a backup, i dont care about beam patterns, or max output, or internals(as long as they hold up). all i care about is durability for this light.

so what sums it up best is that i dont even trust this thing as a backup, and ill be getting another headlamp, possibly another d03 since i have such little faith in this thing.

2

holy crap. thanks for this review. I almost pull the trigger on this.

3

yeah, im kind of surprised so many people on that other thread dont really have much negative things to say about it. im definitely not an aficionado, but this thing is about 2 large steps down in quality from the d03.

we are talking $16 here though. compared to a $35 h03. that’s over double the price. so maybe i was expecting too much. idk though for illumination, i feel like that isnt a big price difference. $19 isnt that big of a deal if one is going to last and the other isnt.

i will also say that the headstrap i got does not match what is on the product page, or the referenced review.

4

I rather like mine. I've been putting off tearing it apart to find the driver. As for the beam, I believe in the thread you linked, other TIR options are discussed.

5

Yup, this light is sold under different names and brands, so it may have different “model numbers”.
On the thread you mention, we got it from different sources (mine was from a store in AliExpress).

I tend to agree that 7-9€ is the best price. It has pros and cons, some are “easily” solvable (beam, colour temperature), some are not (a better driver and UI would be nice).

For the price you paid, I’m sure you are disappointed - sorry to hear about that -, but for the price I paid for mine, I’m quite happy with it as a budget light!
BTW, for what you’ve mentioned, I guess that your model may have some differences (accessories included) when compared to the ones indicated on that other thread. :zipper_mouth_face:

6

hmm. im reading through it, but im not even sure what that really means. i was planning on tossing some dc-fix on the lens… something to scatter and even out the beam a bit more. if there was another/better way to do it, id consider that too.

7

thanks for the reply, and the clarification.

to be honest, its $7… so “disappointed” is relative, haha.

so i did a bit of research on TIR lenses. i think im going to go that route… because a wider more even beam would make this thing usable. i can baby the threads a bit, then my only real hang up is the strap. not sure how ill address that one. i plan on contacting banggood and doing a little complaining about the strap not being as shown. ill try to remember to get a photo tonight and show you all what i mean.

so what is the difference between the 3 linked tir lenses? and would i need anything else, like an o-ring?

do you think i should move this conversation to that thread, or even get the mods to merge the 2? i feel bad that my review thread is now turning into an advice thread.

8

TIR (Total Internal Reflection) optics can be designed to produce a pretty even, broad beam. Such designs are popular in headlamps, and some of the common sizes fit (more-or-less) in this light in place of the reflector.

TIR optics are cool and worth a google

9

I rather liked the D10 that I got, though I haven’t really owned a proper headlamp before. (I imagine my opinion of the D10 would lessen after experiencing a better one.)
I thought it had a really sensible UI, with how it grouped its modes to ensure you never had to perform too many clicks to get to any particular mode.
The on-board charging at the price point was pretty nice to have too. It does seem to undershoot the cutoff point, but that’s far preferable to overcharging a cell.

Definitely agree on the strap, that thing doesn’t keep the light steady for any kind of activity beyond a walking pace. The build quality did feel cheaper than other lights I’ve bought too, but I haven’t yet had the same threading issues as you did - perhaps it’s a manufacturing consistency thing…

But at $15.89, I can see why you felt you didn’t get adequate value for your money. I think AliExpress regularly discounts it to around $11, with the trade-off being significantly longer shipping times (and perhaps lousier customer support).

10

Just to share my experience. I run regularly with this headlamp, as do my coleagues, and it works fine.

It lasts a lot, it’s easy to use, doesn’t require aditional battery charger. The thing that i find more flimsy are the o’rings that ocasionally move out of place.

I’ve put a tir on it so the light is more evenly spread, but it works fine out of the box. I usually buy them in aliexpress at around 9-10 eur (without battery).

I also have the h03, i like the light output and the light weight, but the strap/rubber holder lets the headlamp move to much when running at higher paces. The build quality is much better, but the cost was also ~3x higher.

Regards

11

yeah, after another month ill be posting an update here. but the short version of it is that ive gotten used to all its flaws… put a tir on it(90deg) will be swapping to a 60 cause the 90 is just too wide. the strap, while lame that it doesnt stay in position, is actually pretty nice to adjust when you are taking hats on and off… the only thing i really dont like about it still is the UI. the click to turn off and hold to adjust is the opposite of every other light that i have. and after you try to hold to turn off and it goes to the next brightness level, you have to wait a second or 2 to click it off. quite annoying and idk that ill ever get used to it unless i stop using all my other lights.

overall, this light has basically redeemed itself. id get another for $10 or less. its nice to have as a backup for the times i loose my h03. like i did last weekend, and im still using the D10.

12

Wow. I’ve got their cheap, button cell headlamp. Build quality is actually ok, but electronics are not. The LEDs glow faintly when off, so parasitic drain is naturally very high. This is worse on small capacity, non rechargeable button cells. Looks like their quality isn’t as high as other brands.

13

I’m wondering if this model is made by different manufacturers?

On my 2 models the cap threads are fine. I haven’t crossed them ever.

I’ve had no issues with the strap, although if I take it on and off several times it’s not quite as tight. So the tension drops a little. I’m usually sitting down and not jogging, so it doesn’t get wiggled much.

I don’t remember the battery tube being overly large. The battery certainly doesn’t move around in my lights.

The parasitic drain was super low on my lights. I did swap in some nicer NW emitters, though. Maybe there is something about the stock generic leds that made them glow?

It’s really strange there can be so many differences. The only reason I can think of is maybe they’re manufactured by at least two different companies or maybe it’s one company but they have made several changes throughout the production run. IDK.

14

I got mine from the aliexpress link in the other thread from the Boruit store. I work in a filthy shop so hate to take in my more expensive lights.
I had a 5000k XM-l waiting for a host and I ordered one of the Convoy lenses, beam profile is beautiful. No hard lines of demarcation between spot and spill.
Often gets used for 8 hrs. UI works good for daylight use in a dark shop. There is light but never where I need it. One click turns it on in the middle output which might be blinding for nighttime use but fine at the shop. It just runs and runs at that level with a charged battery.
Internal battery charger stops short of 4.2V on mine, 4.1V or so. no biggie.
You can wallow out the inner edge of the bezel slightly with a Dremel sanding drum to accept the Convoy lens and there is a groove that the o-ring will fit into from the rear. The o-ring behind the lens seats fairly securely so it not only retains the optic but offers some protection from water or debris entering the light.

I think the point that Jason made about different manufacturers is something to consider when buying. If all of the comments made on both threads were about the Boruit model they may not apply to a knockoff. OTOH I don’t remember ANY branding on mine so probably hard to tell what you get!

15

I just bought a second one off of Ebay during their 3$ off sale so my total was $7.pleasantly surprised how well the ratcheting plastic holder works on these lights . I'd expected it to be a weakness. A year later I'm rebuying another because I still think it's a 2018 best buy best bang for your buck light .OTOH I'd say the Skillhunt h03 was a 2017 best bang light too...Buy both. better yet.... buy both twice :)

16

I just grabbed 5x D10 through Sofirn and it’s nothing like you’ve described.

- Decent headband, same thickness as the Sofirn SP40

- Beam is fine, no bright edges

- threads are the same as the D25S and there’s no issue there

  • no issue with battery movement

Must be made by different factories or maybe you received a poorly made clone

17

I agree, this has become my number one used headlamp. Far exceeded my expectations.