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Olight has been a leader in the high-end flashlight industry for quite some time now, and they are continuing to improve their models in every category of use. Today, they're pushing forward in the headlamp realm with the H25 Wave, a hands-free headlamp with the ability to pump out 750-800 lumens for over 5 hours...


Thanks to Olight and GoingGear for providing the H25 for review.

I’ll be reviewing the H25 in two sections: first, I’ll discuss the light objectively (the facts about the light itself), then I’ll discuss the light subjectively (my impressions about the light's performance when used for specific applications). If you have any other specific applications you'd like the light tested for, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Video Review

Below is a video review of the H25. Due to my old image hosting site closing down, I've got new restrictions on image uploads and have replaced the "Construction" section of my reviews with a more detailed video review.

Прямая ссылка на видео YouTube

This video is available in 1080p HD, but defaults to a lower quality. To select the playback quality click the settings button (looks like a gear) after you've started the video.


Objective

Manufacturer's Specifications

Price: 120 USD




Product Manual




Dimensions



Plus, here's a few shots with some good detail.














User Interface

To see the UI in action, be sure to watch the video above.

The H25 is controlled either by the switch on top of the light, or by an infrared proximity detector, and has three brightness modes. The infrared detector is operated by waving your hand at a medium speed at a distance between about 1-12 inches in front of the head. The infrared detector function can be turned on or off by holding down the switch for about three seconds while the light is on (a quick flicker will indicate that it has been switched on or off).

Clicking the switch cycles the light through the modes High -> Medium -> Low -> Off. Waving your hand in front of the light turns it on or off, unless you have deactivated that function. You cannot change the output using the wave, it only turns the light on or off in the last output mode you used.


Action Shots

You can click on any of these shots to see them full size.

Light in Hand



Light on Head



MugShot


BeamSlice


White Wall
ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/20"


Indoor Shots
ISO 100, f/3.5, 1"


Outdoor Shots
ISO 100, f/3.5, 2.5"




Performance

Submersion: The H25 is rated IPX-6 ("heavy jets" of water, not submersion), so I fixed it near the shower head and let the shower run on it for about half an hour, clicking the switch a few times during that period. I could find no evidence of water entering or damaging the light or battery pack.

Heat: On High, the H25 gets hot after about an hour of use when not moving around, however being in a windy environment or moving around with it makes a big difference. Having such a small mass and possibly poor thermal connection to your body (if you're wearing a hat or hair) makes me concerned about heat dissipation away from the emitter if you use High for long periods of time.

PWM:

Drop: I dropped the H25 with battery pack from about a meter onto various surfaces (including grass, carpet, dirt, and hard wood), and found no cosmetic or functional damage.

Reverse Polarity Protection: Not an issue, included battery pack only connects in the correct direction.

Over-Discharge Protection: I can't find mention of any over-discharge protection built in to the battery pack, though on my runtime tests the light did cut out abruptly, so that seems to point to some sort of cutoff voltage built in to either the pack or the cells. You can use the voltage indication LED, which lights up green, yellow, or red when you press the button on the battery pack. The red indicates <20% charge remaining.


Spectral Analysis


All light that we see as white is actually made up of several different colors put together. The relative intensities of the different colors in the mix are what determine the tint of the white we see. For example, cool white LED's have a lot of blue, and warm white LED's have more red or yellow. This measurement was done on a home made spectrometer. The plot below the picture is corrected for the spectral sensitivity of the human eye. Note: the peak in the 900nm region doesn't really exist, it's a piece of the second-order spectrum that's showing up here because of the high intensity of the light source.

Output and Runtime


ANSI FL-1 runtime ratings are the time it takes for a light to fall to 10% of it's original output (counting from 30 seconds after turning the light on).

The vertical axis of the graphs below represents a relative brightness measurement using a home made light box. The horizontal axis is time in hours:minutes:seconds. Runtimes are stated in hours:minutes:seconds. These graphs may be truncated to show detail.

Mode Comparison

High



Throwing Distance

ANSI FL-1 standard for stating a light's throwing distance is the distance at which the peak beam intensity (usually at the center of the beam) is 0.25 lux. I calculate throwing distance and candela (lux at 1 meter) by measuring peak beam intensity at five different distances and using the formula lux*distance^2=constant.



Note: A calibration factor of ~6.88% has been added into my throw measurements starting on 9.11.14. To compare the throw of a light I reviewed previous to that date, multiply the candela value by 1.0688 to get the corrected value.


Subjective Review

Quick break down:

+ Hands-free
+ High capacity battery pack = long runtimes
+ Neutral tint
+ Surprisingly good throw
+ Lightweight head section
+ Excellent regulation
+ Battery indicator light
+ Can deactivate hands-free use
+ Simple UI
+ Charge devices with battery pack
+ Adjustable angle
+ Comfortable headband

- Bulky battery pack
- Cord a bit short
- Cord disconnects too easily
- Accidental hands-free activation or deactivation

I've never gotten the chance to use an infrared-activated flashlight before, but I have to say this one was a lot of fun. I've done a bit of research on the older H15, and it looks like Olight has made some good upgrades in the design since then. Most notably, aside from the significant output increase, they've changed the power source from 4xAAA to a (2s2p or 2p2s) 4x18650 li-ion battery back with the batteries already built-in to the pack, they've covered the IR emitters with visible-opaque plastic (similar to a TV remote), and they've lengthened the cord so that the battery pack can ride on a belt. Unfortunately, they took away the flip-down diffuser, which I consider a loss. Overall though, the H25 is a much more powerful beast than the H15 was.

First, let's talk about the hands-free feature, which is probably the big item for this light. On either side of the main emitter sit an infrared emitter/detector pair, which are used to turn the light on and off without touching it (the manual is a bit unclear on this point, bus as far as I can tell you cannot change modes with the hands-free function). Presumably, the emitters are constantly putting out some infrared light, and when you pass your hand in front of the light, some of that infrared light is reflected off you hand and back into the detectors. There is some sort of programming that determines what signal from the detector represents a true "wave event", because simply holding your hand or some other object in steadily in front of the light does not turn the light on or off. So, a brief pulse from the detector of certain approximate length and magnitude has been determined to be associated with waving a hand in front of the light, and when the detector sends this signal then the light will turn on or off. I'm glad it's been designed this way, otherwise the hands-free function would be extremely erratic, as the detector must be getting variable infrared signals quite often depending on the environment. From my testing, I've found the hands-free function responds to a wave of the hand at distances from about 1 inch to about 12 inches, and at certain moderate speeds. I don't have any simple way of measuring the speed necessary, but it is pretty comfortable for a hand wave in front of my head, and if you get one of these it just takes a bit of practice to train yourself for the right distance and speed. At first it can be a bit difficult to get the wave right, but after practicing it for about 15 minutes I was able to do it consistently, and now when I take it on a bike ride I can do the wave successfully without any conscious effort or distraction from what I'm focusing on. The downside to this is that the light's wave-event filtering algorithm isn't quite perfect, as when I am using the headlamp in close quarters I've had several accidental activations or deactivations. For example, I might reach above my head to grab something, or pull my backpack off my back, walk too close to a wall or doorway, bend over near a chair or table, etc. I can't think of any way the lamp could have been designed differently to distinguish between a hand and some other object giving a similar pulse, so I've decided you just have to turn off the hands-free function


Long Term Impressions
I'll fill this part in after carrying the light for a while. If nothing get's added here, either I find nothing else worth noting about the light, or I end up not using it often.