Olight H1R Nova...Head lamp light, rechargeable

Gary W. Graley

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 2, 1999
Messages
27,472
Greetings folks, Olight has sent yet another light for me to do a review on, they never fail to impress with their quality and this was no exception. This is their H1R Nova, a departure from their usual lights in that the beam comes out perpendicular to the housing, much like those 'really' old flashlights of yester year, but of course much larger and not quite as bright nor as convenient as this light.

Here is a brief run down of the specs of this light;

2 3/8" long it comes as a very compact light, weighing 51.5 grams including the RCR123A battery and charging cable that Olight provides and powers the CREE XM-L2 LED through a TIR bead lens. The charging cable attaches to the end of the light by a magnet and the USB connects to any USB source to recharge the battery. The end of the cable at the cap has a plastic strain relief that glows Red while charging and Green indicates, yes you guessed it, Good to Go. This is the first of the Olights that had a protective cover over the USB connector.

It also has a soft pouch to carry the light, cord and head strap. On the side of this pouch is a cloth bit that you use to help remove the clip off of the light, for when you use the head band. To remove the clip, just slip the clip down into this bit of cloth, then grip tightly next to stitched area so as not to pull any stitching, and pull the clip free from the light. The light then slides into the retaining rubber holder of the head band.

Back to the specs

Power, everyone loves power, this is Bright, boasting Turbo Mode of 600 lumens that can shine at that level for 3 minutes before dropping down to 180 lumens which can run for 80 minutes with a full charge.
From there the light has several levels to choose from, using the button which is on the END of the light vs the side, since the light might be inside the head band holder and a side button would not be as easy to get to.

High is 180 Lumens for approx. 100 mins (that's if you go right to this instead of dropping down from Turbo)
Medium is 60 Lumens for approx. 5 hrs

Low is 15 Lumens for approx. 20 hrs

and Moon is 2 Lumens for approx. 6 days ( switching to moon you would go from off and hold the button down until it comes on in this lowest setting, handy for some things that would not require a great deal of light)

Distance is stated at 72meters

Water proof to the IPX8 standard, looking that up I found that it means it is protected against water submersion - The equipment is suitable for continual submersion in water limited by the manufacturer and Olight has a 2 meter depth listed on this one

The end of the light does have a magnet that you can attach the light to any metal object to hold during use, also a nice and handy feature. The head band I used a little around the house and found that it is also as you might imagine, handy to have, where the other Olights with straight out the end you can clip to the bill of a hat, this is designed more for that use and works well. Also you could clip this light to your shirt pocket or shirt to wear it that way as well.

Here are some shots of this light and parts that come with it, I have a Fisher Space Pen in a couple shots for a size reference;

Olight_H1R_box by GaryWGraley, on Flickr


Olight_H1R_light by GaryWGraley, on Flickr


Here you can see the clip as well as the switch at the end of the light

Olight_H1R_button by GaryWGraley, on Flickr


With the clip removed and installed into the head band

Olight_H1R_hat by GaryWGraley, on Flickr


On low setting it easily takes you through the dark in case of emergency to say the power panel of your house

Olight_H1R_panel by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

All in all this is a very capable light and has a great use for a great deal of interests and safety, be it in your house, the woods or your near by bat cave, this will help light your way!

G2

here are a few other reviews I've made for Olight flashlights that might be of interest;

follow this link to see my review of the S10R iii

follow this link to see my review of the Olight S1A, S1R and S2R

follow this link to see my review of the Olight X7 Marauder
 
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Another great review sir. When I got the H1 one of the first things I did was throw the S1R tail cap on it, looks like Olight did it for me. They keep pumping out great stuff.
 
Thanks sir, it's a pretty nice light, retro seeing it with the right angle look, BUT that helps in several ways, when you use the magnetic base it can direct light easier if you need to, such as working on a car if you didn't want to wear the band on your head.

G2
 
I really love my olights, but I wish they would make better use of their XM-L2s. You can drive the light up to close to 1200 Lumens at only 3A. I understand heat is a concern, but I wonder why oLight continues to play so conservative with this LED. If I'm in the woods tracking, I need something better then 60 lumens for 5 hours. I really really really would love to change my tracking light to an olight, but just haven't seen something yet that will suit my needs. If they would just give us something between this new H1R Nova and the H35 Wave with a light power pack on the headlamp strap itself I'd be tickled pink. The H35 Wave is a great option, but if you're in the thick woods like I am constantly that strap will catch every branch and limb in the forest.

Thank you for the review Gary, I can see this being a great light for around the house and mild woods settings for short amounts of time, but in cases where you need some serious lumens for an extended period of time like thick woods I don't think I'd consider this a great option.
 
Thanks for the insight on that, maybe Olight will take that to heart and include it in an upcoming release. Otherwise it does seem quite handy, as you say around the house and shorter stints of use, but for my needs I am not going for long jaunts that need that kind of burn time, but I can understand the desire to have that if the situation required.

G2
 
Just for a bit of background, I have some very high end LED fish tank lights and I also have a few that I have custom made myself. One of the things that is great about the Cree LEDs compared to some of the others is the combination of efficiency and reliability. They are designed to be driven up to their extremes. As I said though, this comes at the cost of needing to find ways to dissipate that heat or you seriously increase the risk of burning out or significantly shortening the lifespan. The way OLight is driving these to only 600 lumens for 3 minutes is kind of under-kill (it's a word now :P ). For Example I have a headlamp by a different manufacturer which is using a Cree XM-L T6 which is only capable of 1000 lumens at 3 amps, but the manufacturer is actually running the chips at close to 3A. I think the biggest difference is Olight is trying to run the 5200mah/7.4V LI packs instead of just running two 2200mah/3.7V batteries. Either way though both can be configured to run close to 3A, I just don't understand why OLight refuses to do so for their headlamp models. AS30R Baton III wired into a battery pack with 2 of OLights 18650s would just be tits. Maybe they're just struggling with the thermal management side of the house?

Sorry for going off on a tangent. I'm just really frustrated and perplexed with who they are aiming these lights towards. Hopefully the H1R Nova is a sign of things to come and they'll start taking some of their heavier duty lights and strapping those onto headbands. Then we'll be in business. I think OLight makes great products and have a i3e on every keychain I own as well as a S1 Baton.
 
Another excellent review Gary! I have the H1 Nova in neutral white and carry it with me daily. Had I not had this one, I would definitely be picking one of these up. Though, the higher lumens and charging cable option might make me go for a "backup" if some funds become available. ;)

Amoo said:
I really love my olights, but I wish they would make better use of their XM-L2s. You can drive the light up to close to 1200 Lumens at only 3A. I understand heat is a concern, but I wonder why oLight continues to play so conservative with this LED. If I'm in the woods tracking, I need something better then 60 lumens for 5 hours. I really really really would love to change my tracking light to an olight, but just haven't seen something yet that will suit my needs. If they would just give us something between this new H1R Nova and the H35 Wave with a light power pack on the headlamp strap itself I'd be tickled pink. The H35 Wave is a great option, but if you're in the thick woods like I am constantly that strap will catch every branch and limb in the forest.

Thank you for the review Gary, I can see this being a great light for around the house and mild woods settings for short amounts of time, but in cases where you need some serious lumens for an extended period of time like thick woods I don't think I'd consider this a great option.
Click to expand...

Amoo said:
Just for a bit of background, I have some very high end LED fish tank lights and I also have a few that I have custom made myself. One of the things that is great about the Cree LEDs compared to some of the others is the combination of efficiency and reliability. They are designed to be driven up to their extremes. As I said though, this comes at the cost of needing to find ways to dissipate that heat or you seriously increase the risk of burning out or significantly shortening the lifespan. The way OLight is driving these to only 600 lumens for 3 minutes is kind of under-kill (it's a word now :P ). For Example I have a headlamp by a different manufacturer which is using a Cree XM-L T6 which is only capable of 1000 lumens at 3 amps, but the manufacturer is actually running the chips at close to 3A. I think the biggest difference is Olight is trying to run the 5200mah/7.4V LI packs instead of just running two 2200mah/3.7V batteries. Either way though both can be configured to run close to 3A, I just don't understand why OLight refuses to do so for their headlamp models. AS30R Baton III wired into a battery pack with 2 of OLights 18650s would just be tits. Maybe they're just struggling with the thermal management side of the house?

Sorry for going off on a tangent. I'm just really frustrated and perplexed with who they are aiming these lights towards. Hopefully the H1R Nova is a sign of things to come and they'll start taking some of their heavier duty lights and strapping those onto headbands. Then we'll be in business. I think OLight makes great products and have a i3e on every keychain I own as well as a S1 Baton.
Click to expand...
With regards to this model (H1/H1R Nova, or the S10/S Mini variations), the limiting factor will be the capacity of the li-ion batteries that are used to power these lights, and possibly heat. With battery capacity, there is just not a lot there to keep it maxed out for long while keeping a long or somewhat long runtime.

I do understand that you mention Olight having a battery pack with 2 18650's and that would definitely allow for longer runtimes at higher outputs, but then that would be more bulk than what this headlamp offers. Not saying that would be a bad thing mind you. There are advantages and disadvantages with either choice. What I like about the Olight H1/H1R or S10/S Mini series is that they are small enough that it would not make sense to not carry one on you or in your pack. An S 10/S Mini disappears in your pocket, as would an H1/H1R would that is out of the silicon holder, free of the headband. Keep it on a headband in your pack and you have hands-free illumination in a small package if the need arises. And if you are storing for a long period of time, slightly untwist the tailcap to lock the light/headlamp out and cut off any small parasitic battery drain.

But as Gary mentions, maybe Olight will be open to the possibility of expanding their headlamp offerings. From what I understand, they are open to customer input and suggestions.
 
Hey Gary, once again thank you for your great review. I own the H1 and absolutely love the light. I mainly use it as poop lantern for nightly diaper changes and bathroom runs, but it is a very capable light that I occasionally also carry as edc.
Been looking forward to the H1R version ever since the release of the non rechargeable, sadly it is not yet available here in Germany.

Gesendet von meinem SM-T813 mit Tapatalk
 
Thanks guys appreciate it.

Hope they get some into Germany soon for you!
G2
 
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