The flashlight was sent to me by YPLlight for review.
Here's the product's link: Panda 3R
The flashlight comes in a nicely designed box.
Here's the basic features of the flashlight.
1100LM, Dual emitters (XP-G3, XPL-HI) with different optics, rechargeable, IPX8
As expected,the headlamp comes with a nice headband.
The band is adjustable both ways.
I especially liked the translucent, silicone-like stripes along the inner part of the headband which greatly increase grip.
The headlight is mounted onto the band through two rigid silicone loops.
The loops are fitted into the two grooves which prevent the flashlight from shifting horizontally or vertically during use.
Two e-switches mounted next to each other are used to operate the flashlight.
The back side of the flashlight has some heatsinking grooves, while the e-switch covers are textured.
In order to cover a broader ranges of uses, the Panda 3R is equipped with two pairs of emitters and TIR optics.
Left: XP-G3 + Diffused TIR (Flood)
Right: XPL-HI + Clear TIR (Throw)
Both ends of the headlamp can be unscrewed.
The left one gives access to the battery tube.
Its threads are anodized, which means that the flashlight can be mechanically locked out.
The right tail-cap has a USB logo imprinted.
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Unscrewing the cap gives access to the charging interface, which uses a plain microUSB connector.
A built it indicator LED allows the user to get information about the charge's state.
The panda 3R also comes with an 2600mAh cell included.
The YLP branded cell is button top while the YLP logo is visible on the negative contact.
In order to test the capacity of the battery I did a couple of charge/discharge cycles with the Opus C3100.
It turns out that indeed the actual capacity matches the manufacturer rating.
Being a headlamp, it's super important that the overall weight of the flashlight is kept as low as possible.
The bare flashlight weights 58gr, while the total weight including the battery is 105gr.
User Interface
For ease of use, the Panda 3R comes with two e-switches (Grey, Black).
Here's all the supported actions:
Turn on/off: Single press (grey).
Mode cycle: Long press (grey). Low -> Mid -> High -> Turbo -> Low ...
Change emitters used: Single press (black). Left ( XP-G3 + diffused TIR) -> Right (XP-L HI + clear TIR) -> Both
Turbo (Both emiters): Double press (black).
Turbo (Throw): Long press (black).
Low (Flood): Long press (grey).
Battery check: Triple press (black). Causes the flashlight to flash 1-5 times.
Performance
In order to test the flashlight's performance I used the YLP cell that came with it.
Here's the brightness I measured on all the available modes.
At least according to my measurements, the flashlight seems to be pushing 200 lumens less than the advertised value.
I am pretty sure quite a bit of light is lost due to the small TIR optics that are used, but I am not totally sure.
And here's combined Turbo compared to my other flashlights:
Thermal Regulation
It seems that the flashlight can withstand full output for around 10 mins, which is pretty good.
After that, it stepped down to ~470 lumen.
It's worth noting that the unit got quite hot but nothing too crazy.
Thanks to the thick rubber that the mount it made of, the heat wasn't much noticeable on my forehead!
Beamshots
Flood (XP-G3) -> Throw (XP-L HI) -> Both
at 10 meters
at 20 meters
at 30 meters
Overall a very versatile headlamp. Its weight is kept to a minimum while the dual TIR allows for a broader range of usage.
During the upcoming week I will do some testing regarding the thermal performance of the headlamp and will update the thread.
