Review Olight H2R headlamp setup

[Gary W. Graley]

The good folks of Olight sent an Olight H2R for me to review, very kind of them and as always my reviews are as unbiased as I can make them so what I say is what I found/mean or think of the light. Fortunately for both Olight and everyone else, I don't have any negatives to say, otherwise I would.

Here are some images of the light as it arrived packaged in a very nice box, light and parts within were well protected and made the trip without issue.

The light itself has a plastic tab that you need to remove at the end of the light, it keeps the battery away from the end cap's contact point. The battery was charged but I used the charging cable, usb, to charge the light. The end of the cord has a plastic strain relief that will glow red during the charge and change to green once it is fully charged. The lithium battery included is a 18650 3000mAh by Olight or at least is marketed by them.

The light has a very diffused type of lens, providing a wide beam to light up a work area or a path through the woods/house.

Seems they make two versions a Cool White one that boasts up to 2300 lumens on Turbo and a Neutral white that has a max of 2000 lumens

H2R_box by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Can read more spec's here also;

H2R_specs by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Taking the box out of the box has all the goodies it comes with, there is also a small instruction sheet inside as well.

H2R_pieces by GaryWGraley, on Flickr


This head lamp has an over the top band, an addition from the smaller H1R, I didn't have any willing assistant to wear the setup, but you can see how it would fit shown here;

H2R_Hat by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

The base the light rests in has a magnet built in, which will hold the light in place even with out the pull down retaining cord. But you really need the retainer, as the magnet is not that strong to rely on for extended periods of time.

H2R_retaining by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Here is a shot showing the size comparison of their regular light model S2R to this H2R, obvious difference is how the light comes out the side as well as the switch is on the end by the lens instead of on the side. Also note the way the housing is machined, the S2R is checkered while this one is grooved.

H2R_compare_S2R by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

But also the ends are different as well, possibly a new layout with a silkscreened warning not to cross the streams, no wait...that's Ghost Busters but similar thought, as you might guess, they wouldn't go to this trouble if it had not been an issue some where down the line, but, I am just guessing that is the case. Myself I have not had an issue at all with the ends as they are. Also note the way the end is machined, a little different between the two.
Also note that the ends of both have strong magnets and can hold the light on ferrous material, with the H2R the light comes out at a 90 degree so that may be an advantage in some situations

H2R_End by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

and a shot of the types of cover lens used, the S2R on the left and this H2R on the right

H2R_compare_S2Rlens by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

End button for turning on/off the lamp

H2R_switch by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

and a shot with the battery removed showing the inside of the end cap

H2R_battery by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

The charger device is magnetically held to the end of the lamp, while they provide the cable, they do rely on you to come up with something to plug in the USB end of the cable in order to charge, not usually a problem as most will at least have a computer or some means to charge via a USB cable.

As to light output, I will see if I can work up some shots tonight showing how wide a field and how far it extends, but I've never had much luck in the way of shooting that as it's all relative to how you set the camera, but suffice to say for now, this is very bright if you need that much light, or can be reduced down to just 1 lumen called Moon and will provide enough light in very dark conditions without running down the battery quickly.

Thanks for checking it guys/gals, I'd recommend any of the Olight lights that are coming out today, solid performers.
G2

 

[Gary W. Graley]

To show what I mean by capturing the light out put, it is all relative to how the camera compensates, seen here this is a shot taken at the lowest output of the light mounted on a hard hat, shining down on a tool box of bits/drills now the lowest setting is called Moon and is quite low, rated at 1 lumen, but here the camera said 'Hey, I can help you really see the stuff' and made the necessary changes;

H2R_Moon_adj by GaryWGraley, on Flickr


I then worked the camera in Manual mode until the image was close to what I was seeing by my eyes and this is really what you'd see when looking at that kit on the table in the Moon glow;

H2R_Moon by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

as you can see, you still can 'see' what you need to but of course it is not very bright, a bump up on the light one notch, USING the same camera settings so you can see how much brighter from the 1 lumen to the 30 lumen is;

H2R_30 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

The camera would have made the corrections to get to a more optimal image, but apples to apples you can see the stark difference, did not even try to bump it higher as it would just be a big white spot on the table

So for me, this is one of the reasons I don't try to do examples of light throw or coverage, but will give my feedback as to how it really works and if it is enough light.

In Turbo mode my wife was NOT happy as it made the living room look like a nuclear blast happened, I can't imagine what the neighbors must have thought, now that we live in a suburb with neighbors close enough to care, I'm getting use to people near by, lived out in the boonies over 34 years it is something for me to get use to.

But, this rascal is amazingly bright to be sure!!!

The magnetic end works great if you put it onto a cabinet or fender of a car to shine into the engine, with the right angle output that helps a lot.

And the clip can be work in your shirt pocket too if you don't want to wear the head band, since the light comes out at that right angle it shoots forward for you from there.

While the clip has that reverse carry design, like on the S2R, it doesn't mean much when you already have the light coming out at an angle, where the S2R you can clip it to the bill of your hat, it's not quite as handy or as balanced as using a light intended for headband carry, it just works better for that.

Again, thanks for viewing these thoughts and I hope it's been informative.
G2

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Update on usage

Last night went to my daughters house that she bought to turn into her own tattoo shop, had to install 7 new lights replacing the old ones. Of course the room would be dark while taking out the old ones and installing the new ones. So I bought this head lamp for the job and worked great, just over 4 hours and still going great, and showing off to my son in law how well it worked out side amazing wide area was covered, I was impressed by it.

Nice light !
G2