[candle lamp]

Reviewer's note : Olight H15 & H15S were provided by Olight for review.

Olight's first H15 Wave headlamp was introduced in July 2012, which can be configured to either use the switch or infrared hands-free sensor to turn the light on/off and to change the output mode. A built-in diffuser makes you easy to use for close-up work and it can instantly be flipped out of the way to project the beam far. The light source is Cree XM-L and the power source 4xAAA batteries.
August this year, Olight has released H15S Wave (i.e., the upgraded version of the H15) with a Cree XM-L2 and the 1x3.7v Li-ion battery source in addition to 4xAAA. This thread is a quick comparison between the H15 Wave and H15S Wave.
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The H15 comes in a clear inner plastic packaging with a cardboard outside. The H15S comes in a clear inner plastic packaging with a different plastic box outside. Both headlamps came with the battery case (connected by cable), headband, top strap, two cable clips, user manual and warranty card. The H15S came with the 3.7v Li-ion battery and USB charging cable additionally.
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The H15S came with the main headband attached, and you only need to connect the top strap to the headlamp and the battery case. For the H15, it's not hard to assemble and fit the headband and the top strap to the lamp and battery case without difficulty, because you can check the pictorial description.

Manufacturer Specifications from Olight website & manual :

1. Common Spec.
• Dimension : Headlamp (70x53.5x22mm), Battery box (55x42x27mm)
• Reflector : Orange peel reflector
• Lens : Ultra-clear tempering glass with anti-reflective coating
• Diffuser : PCV flip up-down
• Water resistance : IPX6
• Impact resistance : 1m

2. H15 Wave
• Light source : Primary (1xCree XM-L cool white LED), Auxiliary (φ2x5mm red LEDs)
• Battery : 4xAAA Alkarine or Ni-MH
• Output and Runtime
- Primary light :
150 lumens / 3 hours (High)
127 lumens / 3 hours (High with diffuser)
5 lumens / 72 hours (Low)
4.2 lumens / 72 hours (Low with diffuser)
- Auxiliary light :
4 lumens / 60 hours
4 lumens / 220 hours (SOS)
• Peak Beam Intensity : Primary light (1050cd), Auxiliary light (52cd)
• Beam Distance : Primary light (213.25ft, 65m), Auxiliary light (47.57ft, 14.5m)
• Weight : 3.31oz (94g)

3. H15S
• Light source : 1xCree XM-L cool white LED
• Battery : 4xAAA Alkarine or Ni-MH, 1xOPB-H15S (1200mAh) 3.7v Li-ion
• Output and Runtime
- Primary light :
250 lumens / 3 hours (High)
200 lumens / 3 hours (High with diffuser)
100 lumens / 5.6 hours (Medium)
85 lumens / 5.6 hours (Medium with diffuser)
15 lumens / 36 hours (Low)
12 lumens / 36 hours (Low with diffuser)
• Peak Beam Intensity : 1805cd
• Beam Distance : 85m
• Weight : 98g (excluding battery)
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It doesn't seem there is a distinct difference between the two. Both headbands are good quality, and the top straps are removable easily. Also they have a good weight of elastic.
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Put away headband, then let's check out the main headlamp unit and battery case only.
Both are the headlamp and battery case structure. The main headlamp unit is connected to the batteries case by a cable.
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You can see the front, bottom, rear and top of the headlamp. The rear of the headlamp is the headlamp holder which has two headband fixing points and one top strap fixing point. There is an angled gaps in each fixing points.
There is no difference between the main headlamp units from the appearance. Build of the headlamp is plastic. The diffuser cover for the emitter is held in place by a small clip on the base of the headlamp unit.
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There are two upper infrared sensors and two lower auxiliary red LED emitters on either side of the primary white emitter in the H15. But there are lower red infrared indicators in the H15S. You will see the diffuser cover right in front of the white emitter.
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The diffuser cover is a same good elastic spring-mounted structure, and gives you to diffuse the beam. If you need throw beam, press on the clip on the base of the headlamp unit to release the diffuser.
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The H15 uses a XM-L emitter, and the H15S uses a XM-L2 emitter. Both have a light orange peel reflector.
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The two auxiliary red LED emitters have two brightness (i.e., fairly bright light and very dimmer light) in the H15. This red light will glow dimmer red when the H15 is in wave-activated mode. H15S, however, has only dimmer red when the H15S is in wave-activated mode.
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You can see the lamp adjust angle in the black plastic holder. The total angle adjustment in both headlamp units is about 70 degree and is not moved at any point during use.
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Both diffuser flip up to about 120 degree angle from the front of the white emitter. So both diffusers do not throw shadows on the top of the spill beam.
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There is a difference between the main headlamp units from the appearance. The H15S has a round metal plate on the back of the main unit. I think this will help heat dissipation, which is identical to the cooling fins. The H15S has much more initial output on High than H15.
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Build of the battery case is plastic in both H15 and H15S. The H15 has not only a secondary red LED indicator that can be used for constant on or beacon mode, but also a red main on-off switch on the battery case. When you click the red switch on the battery case for activation (i.e., when on), the red light on the battery case will illuminate to a constant dim red. If you press and hold the red switch more than one second, the constant dim red will be changed to a beacon mode. The H15S has neither red indicator nor switch on the battery case. The H15S is controlled only by the switch on the top of the headlamp unit.
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The battery case can be opened by rotating the endcap counterclockwise. There is an auxiliary connection piece that rotates slightly on the endcap. There is an o-ring around the connection piece for waterproofing. I found the H15S's o-ring is a bit thinner than H15. But according to the manual, both H15 and H15S have same IPX-6 water resistance rate. This connection piece has a black connecting cable to prevent you from losing the endcap. You will see four labels on the plastic connection piece and indentations on the metal contacts for proper battery installation. Also you will see the spring contacts in the case. But you don't worry about inserting the battery into the battery case in the wrong polarity. The user manual says the headlamps have reverse polarity protection to protect from incorrect battery installation.
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Once you insert the batteries as above, that's fine. Note that 4xAAA's are connected in series (4S).
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The H15S uses 4xAAA's or a 3.7v Li-ion (1200mAh) battery pack came with the headlamp. There is a micro USB connector on the battery pack, so you can charge it connecting the USB port from your PC to the micro USB connector on the battery pack directly. When the battery pack is in plugged in and charging, the LED indicator beside the micro USB connector comes on constant red. Once charged completely, the LED indicator goes off.
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You can compare with other battery packs in size. The four sides of a square are similar to the LG's old cell phone battery pack in length, and the thickness is about the same as the Samsung's new smart phone.
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You can put the battery pack into the case, and close the endcap as above.
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There is a transparent pull tab on the bottom of the battery pack to make you pull it out of the battery case with ease. If you want to stay out of the trouble, you would not remove the tab from the battery pack.
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The headband with top strap worked well in my testing. The headband goes around the head and the top strap keeps it securely in place. The overall weight balance of the lamp is good. I feel secure and nice when putting the H15 or H15S on my head. The overall build quality in both headlamps is very high.
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From left to right, Olight H15, Fenix HP25, Olight H15S.
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The main unit size & weight excluding battery are as follows :
H15 - 64.5x42.2x27.1mm / 98g, HP25 - 70.4x55.5x30.0mm / 190g, H15S - 64.5x42.1x27.1mm / 100g.
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User Interface

1. H15

On-off is controlled by the battery case switch and output mode switching is controlled by the switch on the top of the headlamp unit.
To activate the H15, click the red switch on the battery case first.
When on, the red light on the battery case will illuminate to a constant dim red. This indicates that the batteries are working correctly and the H15 is ready to be used. If you press and hold the red switch more than one second, the constant dim red will be changed to a beacon mode. Click the red switch on the battery case to turn the H15 off.
There is no mode memory. The headlamp always turn on Low (white LED).

With the battery case turned on, click the head switch to cycle through Standby -> Low (white LED) -> constant output (red LED), in a repeating loop.

Wave your hand within 10 cm of the sensors on the headlamp to turn the H15 off-on in any mode of the white LED and red LED. You can also switch from Low to High (or High to Low) on the white LED by quick double wave of your hand. Also quick double-wave will move you from constant output to SOS (or SOS to constant) on red LED. There is no Med. on white LED.

To deactivate the wave mode and lock the given mode level you are in, press and hold the head switch for more than two seconds. To reactivate the wave mode or to advance to the next mode, click the head switch.
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2. H15S

On-off and output mode switching are solely controlled by the switch on the top of the headlamp unit. Turn the healamp on by clicking the head switch. Click again to advance through output modes in the following repeating sequence : High -> Med. -> Low -> Standby. When on, wave your hand within 10 cm of the sensors on the headlamp to turn the H15S off-on in any given mode. There is no mode memory. The headlamp always turn on High.
Unlike the H15, there is no quick double wave function of hand for switching to other mode.

Like the H15, to deactivate the wave mode and lock the given mode level you are in, press and hold the head switch for more than two seconds. To reactivate the wave mode, press and hold the head switch for more than two seconds. or to advance to the next mode, click the head switch.
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Standby Current Drain

1. H15

A standby current drain is inevitable on the H15, due to the electronic switches on the headlamp unit and the battery case. I measured a drain in two cases as follows :
1) When the batteries are installed : 5.0 uA
2) When the switch on the battery case is turn on : 1.44 mA
Assuming 4xEneloop AAA (750mAh) capacity batteries, that would give you 17 years and 21 days for the above case respectively before four fully charged batteries would be completely drained, given the cell arrangement in series.
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2. H15S

A standby current drain is inevitable on the H15S as well, due to the electronic switch on the headlamp unit. I measured this current as 5.4 uA. Assuming 4xEneloop AAA (750mAh) capacity batteries, that would give you 15.8 years before four fully charged batteries would be completely drained, given the cell arrangement in series.
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Measured Dimensions & Weight

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PWM

1. H15

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2. H15S


Both H15 and H15S show no sign of PWM at any output level. Both headlamps are constant current controlled as claims. I notice there is no buzzing sound at any levels.
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Runtime

1. H15


Regulation on High on both Ni-Mh's and Alkarines is very good. Just curious that after about 129 mins (2hr and 9 mins) into the run on the Alkarines, the H15 shut off automatically. After around 13 mins rest, I restarted on Hi, and saw several more minutes of High and shut off again. I restart on Hi again, and saw very few more seconds of High and shut off again. However the H15 didn't restart any more. Similarly, after about 171 mins (2hr and 51mins) into the run on the Ni-Mh's, the H15 shut off automatically. In my view, H15 has a function to be turn off automatically at certain low voltage.
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2. H15S


The H15S on High on Ni-Mh's & Alkarines is about 60% brighter than H15. There is a timed step-down after 6 mins on Hi on all battery types. Regulation on High on all batteries is very good. Unlike H15, there is no shut off on Ni-Mh's & Alkarines. But you can see the automatically shut off on Li-ion battery pack after gradual output decrease as the battery run down. I assume this Li-ion battery pack has a protection for overdischarge.
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3. H15 & H15S

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4. H15 & HP25 & H15S

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Beamshot

1. White door beamshot (about 50cm from the white door on Max. output on Sanyo Eneloop)
1-1. H15 (XM-L)
- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/100sec, Auto white balance

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- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/200sec, Auto white balance

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- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/400sec, Auto white balance

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1-2. H15S (XM-L2)
- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/100sec, Auto white balance

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- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/200sec, Auto white balance

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- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/400sec, Auto white balance

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1-3. HP25 (XR-E R4)
- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/100sec, Auto white balance

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- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/200sec, Auto white balance

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- ISO100, F/3.5, 1/400sec, Auto white balance

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2. Indoor beamshot (about 4m from the target) on Max. output on Sanyo Eneloop
2-1. H15 (XM-L)

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2-2. H15S (XM-L2)

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2-3. HP25 (XR-E R4)

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3. Indoor beamshot (about 7.0m from the target) on Max. output on Sanyo Eneloop
3-1. H15 (XM-L)

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