Just a little update on my experiences. Been using it around the house for a while but tonight I took it out for a rainy walk down to the lake. While I do really like this little light, I must reemphasize my disappointment in the emitter. Even after driving 3 hours with “6500k” LED headlights this thing looks too far on the cool white/blue spectrum. Certainly not 6500k but far too cool for my taste. Is it 90CRI? Can’t tell with my eyes, everything just washes together though to be fair rain will do that. Ordered the 2700k for a radical alternative but I might have to get myself a 219B SW45 in this one. Just to keep the warm vs neutral theme while still improving the quality of light.
Not that a 14500 has a ton of capacity but does anybody know if you can set this keep the button light on or even breathing when the light is off? Would be a nice combination with the lock out tailcap.
Great Reviews and information. Sofirn is now offering these in 2 versions: 4,000 and 5,000 K. I read in an German forum that the beam profile is very floody — to an extend that the reviewer remarked he had light spots on the nose. But I don’t know which version this refers to and assume the different tints have a different beam profiles? Thanks for hints on this.
Background of the question: I absolutely hate an overly wide beam profile in headlamps (with light spots on the nose). I seem to be one of the few people who prefer less floody headlamps. My good old Zebras offer a great combination of 80 degree spill and 12 degree spot… perfect for me.
LOL. Yeah I pictured Pinocchio too, when I read that the first times in reviews. However, I have a normal nose size and suffered from those spots too with a couple of headlamps in the last year. Trustfire MC12 and Fenix HM51R are two examples (both with TIR lenses I think). Trustfire advertises a 170 degree beam as a feature on their page for the MC12.
IMHO those “170 degrees” are not such a great idea for headlamps since that is much wider than our real field of vision of roughly 120 degrees. Seems a waste of energy and runtime to me. But I don’t do close up work / mechanical repairs or use my headlamps for reading. I need them for running and hiking at night only. For running purposes 18650 lamps are too heavy / “bouncy” for me (is that an English word?) thus my interest in the HS05.
If I don’t find good alternative I will keep using my good old ZL H52w… but for some irrational reason I could really do with a new lamp!
I think this problem is more common on angle headlights than those with the classic emitter on the center l.Hope to see one small and lightweight AA or 2AAA also with plastic bodty from Sofirn with ramp and fireflies
So… usual end of the story. I bought the lamp. And like it!
I can see why a “wide” beam was mentioned in that German forum — there is a small outer reflection in the beam that is almost 180° … but it’s not strong and hard to notice. → see photo HS05 beam
Overall the beam seems a good compromise between a relatively wide spot and surrounding spill / flood.
The battery indicator turns red at about 3,75 V and starts flashing around 3.15 V which is too low for my taste. My (few) protected 14500’s shut off at 3 - 3,1 V which leaves you with close to zero warning. Still a good feature… as long as the light is green you are ok to go for a 45 min run e. g.
The modes are very good. There’s no “real” moon / sublumen mode and the 1 Lm mode feels more like 3 or even 5. But that means you can do a lot in that mode which is supposed to last for 128 hrs (14500). The “low” mode (10 Lm) is certainly enough to night-hike even in difficult terrain and 30 hrs runtime is excellent for that. The turbo mode is certainly bright … but I really won’t use any modes above medium much.
I checked with a fan and noticed no PWM on any modes. And yes. I have lamps with bad PWM and know what it looks like (discovered the effect years ago in snowfall…).
Tint: I ordered the 4.000 k version. If I received the right one it seems very warm… more like 2700 and certainly warmer than my ZL H52w. But that’s no issue for me.
Strobe Modes: I know some people hate strobe modes, but I find these very reasonable. Fast Strobe - SOS - Beacon. Nice!
UI: Very good! Click on, click off with memory mode for low / medium / high — but with the option to always start with moon mode (long click) and switch to low from there (long click again) which means you never have to go over high (and kill your night sight) when you try to reach a lower mode.
Battery can be cut off with a minor twist of the tail cap. Good.
Overall nice lamp… I don’t understand the concept of 2 threads though (lamp can be dismantled at two points). This seems to make the lamp heavier than necessary (it’s heavier than some of my 18650 lamps, but you save weight on the battery of course…). The only reason I could see would be the option of a different tube. But what would that be on a 14500 / AA-lamp?
Can anyone tell me what kind of thread HS05 has? square cut thread or diamond cut thread?
thank you.
I had this flashlight but i can’t know which kind of its thread.
