*new* Fenix HL10

[MojaveMoon07]

Ordered on the 15th, Battery Junction tells me it won't be in stock until the 25th, come 25th and went... no order went out

Based on Fenix-Store's estimated shipping date of Feb 15, maybe Battery Junction was talking about February ?

"NEW PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENTS--Shipping Soon"
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?282565-NEW-PRODUCT-ANNOUNCEMENTS-Shipping-Soon

 

[Swedpat]

Interesting headlamp. I am doubtful about the AAA format, however. 1AA provides almost 3 times the runtime at same brightness, and is still more than enough compact. Just look at Zebralight: no reason for an even smaller size with so significantly shorter runtime as result.

Interesting to see the specifications: It's a knowned fact that alkalines perform bad at high brightness but are good at low. Here we see the clear difference at 70lm(half the runtime), but at 27lm alkaline is almost as good and at 3lm actually slightly better.

 

[erknjerk]

I put in a "preorder" last night (2/28/13) It says will ship 3/1/13!!! I hope this true.

I have been looking for a headlamp for awhile, and the multi function sold me on this light (price too). A Streamlight Microstream and this will be my first quality lights, I hope I don't get to addicted searching for a bigger AA/Cr123 light for work.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Interesting headlamp. I am doubtful about the AAA format, however. 1AA provides almost 3 times the runtime at same brightness, and is still more than enough compact. Just look at Zebralight: no reason for an even smaller size with so significantly shorter runtime as result.

Interesting to see the specifications: It's a knowned fact that alkalines perform bad at high brightness but are good at low. Here we see the clear difference at 70lm(half the runtime), but at 27lm alkaline is almost as good and at 3lm actually slightly better.

Don't feed nice lights alkalines.... just don't do it as they are alkaleaks and you will pay for being cheap in the end

 

[bobski]

I put in a "preorder" last night (2/28/13) It says will ship 3/1/13!!! I hope this true.

Nope. End of april now. It would be nice to know what the hold-up is.

 

[kj2]

DoingOutdoor has it listed as in stock

edit; just ordered one.

 

[kj2]

Shalogear just tweeted; "Rumor has it Fenix HL10 will be in stock tomorrow"

 

[ShaoloGear]

Indeed, they are in stock.

I put up some details on the product page. If anyone is wondering, dealers were told this would be available near the beginning of the year but are only now receiving shipments. I had one guy that has been waiting months for his. Happy to say it shipped today!

I've been playing with this light and I love it. 3lm, 27lm, and 70lm are more than bright enough for what this light is intended for. If you want something really bright that runs a long time, I would recommend the HL30 (I love that one too). When you have a chance to see how small the actual flashlight is, you'll understand why they went AAA and not AA. To get an idea of the size, the light is nearly identical to a tube of chapstick/lip balm. The light is maybe 1-2mm longer.

The body diameter is 13.5mm and the tail cap is 14.5mm. You can use an LD01 clip but it will require some effort and needs to be attached to the tail cap. It WILL scratch up the light. It's a very tight fit. Good for clipping the light to your pants pocket...

I haven't noticed any scratching on the body from rotating inside the headlamp retainer. It's a snug fit, but adjusts easily and the anodizing on this light is quite good.

Power modes cycle from low to medium to high. No unusual cycling as mentioned above.

You can NOT loosen the tail cap to "lockout" the light. This light is designed like most older lights. The tailcap has a spring but could be considered "one-piece".

Looks like a small light house when it's removed from the strap and tail standing on your desk.

The flood is beautiful and uniform. I personally find medium to be bright enough for most anything I would ever do with this light.

I did find it quizzical that Fenix includes a picture of the light attached to a keychain but they do not include a small split ring. Just a spare o-ring.

Happy to answer any questions.

 

[kj2]

Got mine underway from DoingOutdoor

 

[Flashlike]

Power modes cycle from low to medium to high. No unusual cycling as mentioned above...

So the mode sequence is L-M-H? I thought the initial specifications said that the mode sequence was M-H-L, but perhaps they've been revised or updated.

There has been some discussion concerning run time on this flashlight. On the current specifications it says "50 minute runtime on high with a Ni-MH battery
" but it also says "The headlamp will drop in to medium output mode after running in high output mode for 5 minutes". So maybe the true run time is more like 5 minutes on high followed by 45 minutes on medium??

 

[ShaoloGear]

So the mode sequence is L-M-H? I thought the initial specifications said that the mode sequence was M-H-L, but perhaps they've been revised or updated.

That is correct, it was probably a pre-production light in the original video. I can confirm it's L-M-H now.

There has been some discussion concerning run time on this flashlight. On the current specifications it says "50 minute runtime on high with a Ni-MH battery
" but it also says "The headlamp will drop in to medium output mode after running in high output mode for 5 minutes". So maybe the true run time is more like 5 minutes on high followed by 45 minutes on medium??

It's the same concept as the PD32UE. The HL10 will do high for 5 minutes and then drop down to medium save the circuitry and emitter from being damaged.

Total run time is dependent on the type of cell used. If you're on L, you'll get more time out of an Alkaline, if you're on M or H, you'll get more time out of a Ni-MH. The 50 minutes is 50 minutes of actual run time on high. You just can't do 50 minutes in one stretch. You'll get 5 minute intervals of high power. So essentially you can turn it on high for 5 minutes until it kicks down, turn it off and then do that all over again 9 more times.

 

[Mr Floppy]

The HL10 will do high for 5 minutes and then drop down to medium save the circuitry and emitter from being damaged

Like a lot of lights now it seems. Bit disappointed by the timed step down but no biggie given that I think that this will be a good close range headlight. What's the tint like on the LED? Can you confirm that it's an XP-E2? (i.e not a green board)

 

[ShaoloGear]

It has a green board. Packaging says XP-E so I'm going to say its not an XP-E2.

Tint wise, tough call.

Compared to a TK21 it looks yellow/warm, compared to a PD32UE it looks white.

 

[LEDconvert]

First impressions.

Got mine unexpectedly today (I thought they weren't out until May sometime??) so that was nice..
Anyhow, first impressions are overall, very good.

Of course I didn't read the instructions and had an anxious couple of minutes before I figured out the .5 second press to turn on/off. (I've been a Zebralight fan for years and guess I'm institutionalized by their UIs)

I've played with it a bit since it got dark and I like it. It's very very 'light 'if you'll pardon the pun.
Feels lighter than my Zebralight H50. The 27 lumen-mid range level seems brighter than that, but that's OK.

So far I've read a book with it for an hour or so on the low setting (3 lumens) which I found just about OK for my aging eyes.

The holder seems a bit excessive to me; metal clip housed in a large-ish plastic housing? Maybe that's just me. I would also be concerned that removing and replacing it in a metal clip would damage the finish.

I took it out of the headband holder thingy because the holder weighs 17grams on its own and I wasn't liking the feel of the plastic on my forehead; mainly because the elastic headband on its own -without even connecting the size adjuster - didn't really fit me ( in fairness I have to admit I do take an XL or frequently XXL hat size and that's with very short hair). I'm now using it with a ZL headband and silicone holder.


The light itself is very compact. The glass is nicely protected. It feels like a good quality item to open/operate etc.

Top: 47s P0, Middle: Fenix HL10, Bottom: Fenix LOD

The UI is straightforward; when its on, give a quick click to cycle through the modes L/M/H/L/M/H etc.
Last used mode is memorized.

The switch is practically silent and feels robust. It takes a little more pressure than I expected to depress it, but I imagine I will get used to that. The only thing that surprised me about the switch is that it is marginally above the rim of the switch surround, which means I can't candle-stand it head first on a surface without it leaning to one side (it stands on the other end just fine). I guess I thought it would be recessed in the head to avoid accidentally turning it on, which I did try to do by pressing the head down on a hard surface and its not that easy to do, so I'm sure it wont be a problem -but it is possible.

The beam spread is good. Being used to my H50 and H502D I'm more used to a little light thrown in the peripheries.

I'm not big on tints etc, so 'm not going to pronounce on that. You can get some idea of relative tints from picture. The HL10 is the one in the centre. ZL502D is on top, H50 on bottom.

There are some rings visible (if you look for them) when the light is about 18 inches from the wall, but I'm not very put out by that, I just mention it because I know some people can be.

The only other niggling concern I'd have is how strong the lanyard ring holder would be (see pics). My trusty LOD has taken quite a battering over the years, as ou can see, but I've never lost it. The hole on the HL10 looks pretty near to the edge - I'm not sure if that thin sliver of metal would survive too many 'incidents'.

Overall I have to say I'm very pleased, despite the criticizms I listed here. I am not sure yet whether it will displace my ZLs as my night-time light, but that might have a lot to do with how much I've spent on them over the years.
Would I have bought them if I'd had the HL10? Probably not.
So when you consider the cost of the HL10 it's an excellent light.

It was worth the wait.. 'cos lets face it, for those of us who pre-ordered when it was announced, it was quite a wait.....

 

[Backpacker Light]

Thank you for that review LEDconvert. I am very interested in this headlight.

It runs on a single aaa battery, which I also am already carrying extra aaa batteries for in my backpack for my Fenix LOD and EO1.

There are not many headlight's out there that run on one single aaa.

 

[kj2]

Mine just arrived

Only I noticed this with the headband;

it feels like sticky-tape.

The metal clip holds the light securely and if the amber plastic breaks, the light will still be in the clip

 

[ShaoloGear]

it feels like sticky-tape.

The metal clip holds the light securely and I don't think, if you break or lose the amber plastic part, the light will fall-out the clip.

The tape is there to hold the band together as it's put in to the injection mold.

The orange plastic cover is more of a visual accoutrement. It doesn't hold the light in.

 

[kj2]

The tape is there to hold the band together as it's put in to the injection mold.

The orange plastic cover is more of a visual accoutrement. It doesn't hold the light in.

Orange part is indeed only cosmetic
Had this light with me last night. Does a nice job on up-close working. Where I was walking I really needed the 70lumens mode.
To bad the lights runs out quickly on that mode, but that's what you get with the AAA format.

 

[Woods Walker]

"I took it out of the headband holder thingy because the holder weighs 17grams on its own and I wasn't liking the feel of the plastic on my forehead; mainly because the elastic headband on its own -without even connecting the size adjuster - didn't really fit me ( in fairness I have to admit I do take an XL or frequently XXL hat size and that's with very short hair). I'm now using it with a ZL headband and silicone holder."

I am surprised it would fit in a ZL silicone holder for a 1xAA? Isn't the 1XAAA light too thin?

 

[LEDconvert]

I am surprised it would fit in a ZL silicone holder for a 1xAA? Isn't the 1XAAA light too thin?

Just a temp measure until I can 'McGyver' a more permanent holder. It doesn't swivel easily in the holder.
(incidentally, I found out while trying to turn it in the holder that you can't lock out the light by unscrewing the tailcap. It doesn't go off until you break contact with the tail spring it seems)

I twist each loop of the holder the opposite way and insert the HL10 thin end first, like so: