# Olight H2R Nova Quick Review (New Improved Tailcap Available Now! See post #32)



## rookiedaddy (Jul 14, 2017)

*Pros:*
Maximum 2300/2000 lumens
Good runtime on High mode (600/550 lumens)
Improvement to the included headband

*Cons:*
Same old Olight's slow magnetic recharging system

For those who thinks you have read all there is to read about H2R Nova, you can stop right here and move to another thread because what comes next is gonna be boring or you might actually find my review quite offensive if you are a fan of Olight (as a matter of fact, just for your information, Olight recently launch their Friends of Olight fan-club).

Gonna try a different approach for this review, less pictures... hehe




After Olight released H1R Nova back in January 2017, approximately 6 months has passed and no new releases from Olight. Between showing up at trade-shows, moving their Head Quarter and celebrating their 10th Anniversary, it's no wonder new releases been slow and repeated missed dateline... M1R, M2R, X7R, X9, etc...

H2R Nova is Olight's attempt to waken the market as it's touted as the brightest headlamp in the market today. While this is true to a certain extend, it does comes with a few "perks".

*About that 2300/2000 lumens*
Yea, it's bright as daylight if you lit it in a small room and need it for just about a minute. Other than being marketed as the brightest headlamp in the market because they can do it and they are doing it, well, I don't know about you, but it serves me no real practical purpose. Oh! I'll spare you the need to school me on that Turbo mode is for short burst when you need that extra output. Well, tell you what... if I've been running the H2R for an hour+ on high mode, and I absolutely, positively, urgently and immediately needed that Turbo mode, IT IS NOT AVAILABLE!!! Yup! It Is Not Available if and when needed in most of my outdoor usage scenario!
Honestly, it would be more practical if it is made to 1000-ish lumens and is truly available as short burst output.
Moreover, running at 2300/2000 lumens, the heat is unbearable even if you wear it on your head with the included headband. It is burning hot if you hold it in your hand, I measure the head in excess of 60 degree Celcius after 30 seconds.
*here you will find your first perk for the survivalist in you: you might be able to *lit an ember from charcloth*





*About the rest of the modes*
Now, this is where H2R really shines, compare to H1R, due to H2R bigger body, the high mode on H2R dissipate heat faster and doesn't run as hot as H1R's 600 lumens maximum mode. Having 2.5 hours runtime on the 600/550 lumens high mode is really sweet too. For those who think the 2 lumens moon mode is too bright on the H1R, Olight has lower the moon mode to 1 lumen. Which is still plenty bright and not as glaring as the H1R moon mode.
There is electronic lockout, activated from OFF mode by holding the switch down for >= 2 seconds. To get out of this electronic lockout mode, repeat the same holding the switch down for >= 2 seconds. Alternatively, you can get out of this lockout mode by loosening the tailcap, wait for a few seconds, and tightening it. The electronic lockout will be released. Note that engaging lockout will slowly drain your battery ever so slightly.






*About the Neutral White H2R tint*
Good news for the incandescent tint lover like myself... the Neutral White version of H2R Nova is not really Neutral White, it's warmer, much warmer than Olight's usual Neutral White tint...
Bad news for those of you who hated the yellow incandescent tint... because it's warmer, much warmer, much much warmer... so stay away... :nana:
Oh, btw, the picture above, from left, Olight H2R Nova Neutral White, Olight H2R Nova Cool White, Olight H1R Nova Neutral White.






*About the H2R Nova headband/head strap*
The head strap included in H2R Nova is a vast improvement over the older H1R, not only have Olight lengthen the head strap, but the inclusion of magnetic-based mount is very useful and convenient. The magnet is really strong and even without fastening the silicone strap, I doubt you will have much trouble in your everyday use. Of course, if you are using H2R Pro for night hiking or night running races, it's highly recommended to fasten the silicone strap. But on a side note, this H2R is really hefty and will likely weight you down in your races.






*About Olight Magnetic Charging System*
Olight SxR, HxR (including this new H2R Nova of course) that's release between 2016-2017 all uses the same magnetic charging system. Most includes a USB Magnetic Charging Cable to charge up the customized battery (read proprietary) that's included in the light. For smaller 16340-size battery with less than 800mAh, I think the USB Magnetic Charging Cable is fine as the maximum charge rate is 750mA and it usually doesn't' charge at that rate unless your battery is empty, but for bigger 18650 light with 3000mAh and above, charging at 750mA is just too slow.
With the Magnetic Charging Tailcap, you will find your second perk for the survivalist in you: if you ever found yourself with a damage H2R switch, and can't switch on the H2R, you can use the tailcap to light up a bi-pin bulb or LED, provided you carry some in your BOB or GHB... heck, *a user even manage to power up a Astrolux S41*! Now that's impressive hidden feature... isn't it.
As your third perk for the survivalist in you: pairing it with fine steel wool, and you can *use Olight's Magnetic Rechargeable Tailcap as a fire-starting tool*, this has been proven to work 100% of the time. Yes, it works on your *S1R, S2R, H1R, S10RIII, S30RIII too*... except the R50 Pro Seeker.






*About the Ultra High Drain 3000mAh ORB-186C30 LiIon Battery*
Some potential users are concern that Olight using such a high drain battery that connects to exposed contact at the tailcap may cause a thermal runaway when shorted. I honestly don't think shorting the tailcap will cause a catastrophic event/failure to the H2R Nova... but on the other hand... the hidden feature as a fire-starting tool is a real concern.

For some reason, Olight decided to remove what I think is a protection feature that's available in the older light, that is, if you shorted the exposed positive and negative contact point, the light will just switch off and required breaking the tailcap contact (loosening the tailcap and tightening it back) to work again.

Following video shows the difference of shorting the tailcap between H1R Nova and H2R Nova.


Did you notice the small sparks in the second part of the video? Yea... there is that...

_OK, a bit of grand-mother story from this points onwards... skip this if you are not into gossiping or more into grand-daddy story... please skip this... else... be warned...
These review units are the second delivery from Olight, first delivery was asked by Olight to hold back on the review due to some cosmetic imperfection and it was kept with my local distributor. A month passed and I finally received the new batch, but shockingly, what they updated is just the user manual, 




however, confirmation from my local distributor is that they have indeed fixed the switch boot cosmetic issue.




In multiple occasions since the S1R, Olight was contacted to explain the exposed live contact issue and has been shown with picture the live Voltage reading as well as the side-effect of the exposed contact lighting up a 5mm LED and a bi-pin bulb. the only consistent answer from Olight is they are aware of what we can do and do not think it's an issue... well... not until a user posted in their facebook early this year showing how his S2R "accidentally" cause some steel-wool to burn and the magnetic tailcap was "actively" attracting metal dust/particle and was heating up the S2R tailcap.
I was a "little" disappointed to say the least that they continue to release H2R with the same Magnetic Charging System. After some follow-up (including the R50 Pro LE R Dok issue), I finally see lights (pun intended) at the end of the tunnel. With a pretty reliable source from Olight, they've confirm that the coming MxR series already fixed the issue. Now, as a sceptical nerd, I guess we will have to see it to believe it... LOL!
_
*Links to other Olight H2R Nova Review:*
Budda: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?434927-Review-Olight-H2R-NW-and-CW
Muakka: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...H2R-review-(Headlamp-right-angle-18650-XHP50)
mhanlen: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?435542-Olight-H2R-Nova-Video-Review
Mr. Baz: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?434574-Olight-H2R-A-quick-unboxing-and-preview


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## proceed5 (Jul 14, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

Thank you for your straight-to-the-point overview Rookiedaddy. 

+1 Rookiedaddy for sharing your frank opinions and vid links.


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## scs (Jul 14, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

Thanks for the update. Decided to pass on this one because the modes are few, it uses PWM, and now the potential dangers of the tail cap. It annoys me when makers and users alike stick their heads in the ground rather than admitting the problem.


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## Zak (Jul 14, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

I'd like to point out that I don't think being able to use the H2R as a backup means to power an S41 or start fires is a good thing. I think those references were tongue in cheek, but it doesn't always come through in a text-based medium. To be clear: I made those videos to demonstrate that the H2R's hot tailcap is dangerous.

There's a thermistor in the tailcap, so a dead short will throttle to about 400mA. It's not a pipe bomb as I originally suspected, but it's definitely a fire hazard. It can output at least a couple amps sustained with a higher peak.


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## rookiedaddy (Jul 14, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

@proceed5, thanks for the kind words mate.

@scs, yes, the PWM (or it could be the so called hybrid PWM where it's does not reach OFF-ON sequence instead some claim it's the "noise" in circuit, but to me it's all the same) in Moon mode is quite low in frequency and one can easily detects the presence by just waving in front of the eyes.



Zak said:


> I'd like to point out that I don't think being able to use the H2R as a backup means to power an S41 or start fires is a good thing. I think those references were tongue in cheek, but it doesn't always come through in a text-based medium. ...


@Zak, tongue-in-cheek is exactly what it is. Thank you for making the videos so I can reference to it. :twothumbs


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## proceed5 (Jul 14, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*



Zak said:


> I'd like to point out that I don't think being able to use the H2R as a backup means to power an S41 or start fires is a good thing. I think those references were tongue in cheek, but it doesn't always come through in a text-based medium. To be clear: I made those videos to demonstrate that the H2R's hot tailcap is dangerous.
> 
> There's a thermistor in the tailcap, so a dead short will throttle to about 400mA. It's not a pipe bomb as I originally suspected, but it's definitely a fire hazard. It can output at least a couple amps sustained with a higher peak.



Hi there Zak, 
Yup, thanks for the frank honest video. We users need these kind of video information to alert us of potential hazards.


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## noboneshotdog (Jul 15, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

I think that it would be better to have a High 1 of 1000 lumens and a High 2 of 2300 lumens instead of the 2300 lumens only, which as you stated is only available when the battery is at full capacity. 

I am happy that they do have a pretty reasonable mid mode of around 600 lumens though. 500 to 600 lumens is my happy spot for most uses. 

With good mid mode and nice neutral to warm white tint, this is a keeper. 

Still not sure why they took a step backwards with the magnetic charging system compared to the H1 which seems safer.


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## Zak (Jul 17, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

The H1 uses essentially the same charging system as far as I know, though it has a less potent battery. The original S20R and S30R (but not the S30R II and III) used a different system that supported standard batteries and did not have live contacts on the outside of the light. I believe they had reliability issues with those lights though, and rather than refining the design, they replaced it with something too crude to be unreliable.


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## rookiedaddy (Jul 18, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*



Zak said:


> ... they replaced it with something too crude to be unreliable.


Hahaha... Zak! I like how you put it... the double negative is really funny!


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## proceed5 (Jul 25, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

Hi rookiedaddy, 

My H2R seems a bit weird. Not sure if you can help. 

Query 1: 
I turned my unit to Turbo and then switched back to high mode and left it on high mode, and it got fairly hot and i noticed after another minute or so, the brightness reduced substantially on its own .. would this be due to the Temperature Control management system ? or is my unit sick or the weather here is too hot for H2R to handle. 

Query 2: 
I pressed the switch button to off and immediately i pressed again to turn back on, but the light did not power up ? It seems as if a few seconds time gap is needed between off and on presses.

Query 3: 
I used unit on high and felt quite hot and then the unit suddenly turns off by itself while i was walking ?? 

Should I send my unit back to my favorite distributor for a 1-to-1 warranty exchange ?


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## rookiedaddy (Jul 26, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*



proceed5 said:


> Query 1:
> I turned my unit to Turbo and then switched back to high mode and left it on high mode, and it got fairly hot and i noticed after another minute or so, the brightness reduced substantially on its own .. would this be due to the Temperature Control management system ? or is my unit sick or the weather here is too hot for H2R to handle.
> Query 2:
> I pressed the switch button to off and immediately i pressed again to turn back on, but the light did not power up ? It seems as if a few seconds time gap is needed between off and on presses.
> ...


may I know which version are you using? Is it Cool White or Neutral White? 
For query 3, do you know (or can you guesstimate) how long have you been running on high mode? The default behavior for H2R is it will turn itself off when battery runs down. But if you are running on High mode for anything less than 2 hours after fully charge and it turns off abruptly, you either have a defective battery or a defective light.
your experience with Q1 and Q2 sounds like a battery problem to me. if you have tried another high discharge/IMR battery and the problem persists, then the light definitely warrants to be send back for replacement.
btw, fwiw, between the CW and NW, the NW seems more efficient from my testing/usage...


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## proceed5 (Jul 26, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*



rookiedaddy said:


> may I know which version are you using? Is it Cool White or Neutral White?
> For query 3, do you know (or can you guesstimate) how long have you been running on high mode? The default behavior for H2R is it will turn itself off when battery runs down. But if you are running on High mode for anything less than 2 hours after fully charge and it turns off abruptly, you either have a defective battery or a defective light.
> your experience with Q1 and Q2 sounds like a battery problem to me. if you have tried another high discharge/IMR battery and the problem persists, then the light definitely warrants to be send back for replacement.
> btw, fwiw, between the CW and NW, the NW seems more efficient from my testing/usage...



Thank you Rookiedaddy for your prompt reply, 
I got the NW version. 

Referring to Q3= Last night I used the H2R NW on high mode for at least 45-60 minutes, with Turbo bursts (turbo few seconds only and not the full 1 minute turbo timer) at several intervals and every time i do that when i switch back to high mode it shuts down completely. This seemed too odd. 
That being said, Last night's walk was terrible. Because my H2R and R50 both completely shut off. The R50 showed Red light on switch. ... This is why I really dislikes Customised and/or Proprietary batteries 

Ok, noted on your advise for Q1 and Q2, tonight I shall re-try with VTC6 . 
And Ok, also I shall send back a rotten Olight 3000 mAh C-IMR battery to the favourite distributor in exchange 1-to-1 with a fresh brand new battery tonight after work.


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## proceed5 (Jul 27, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

Hi Rookiedaddy, 
Favourite Distributor has 2 prototype H2R's that were meant for the Reviewer, swapped the tail cap from the Reviewer's unit to mine and this worked with no problems. 
Fitted the tail cap from my unit to the Reviewer's unit and after a several presses of on- off and it did not respond for a few seconds. 

Tested another brand new unit with almost fully charged battery and this unit also proved problematic i.e. no response after several on-off presses. 

I fitted my Olight batteries from my X7 into the H2R and it worked like a gem.
I tried VTC6 button tops and faced similar issues of having no response. hmmm. oh well, lets see what I'll do to my unit. 
I fitted my S30RIII's tail cap to my H2R and it worked like a gem (albeit the o-ring from H2R was exposed)

Ok, back to more testing. If all fails, its going back to the O factory. Wont be bother to ask Distributor for 1-to-1 exchange. 
Or perhaps I will go take those Revierwer unit while in transit. LOL


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## rookiedaddy (Jul 27, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

@proceed5, thanks for reporting back.



proceed5 said:


> I fitted my Olight batteries from my X7 into the H2R and it worked like a gem.


you mean the X7 battery works fine with your unit's tailcap? 
Strange, tailcap issue never cross my mind coz I thought Olight had already addressed the magnetic tailcap contact issue (some tailcaps were having intermittent connectivity issue between the center button and the outer ring to make contact with the body). :shrug:


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## proceed5 (Jul 27, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

Got back from a 1 hour + 20 mins walk. 
During the walk I have put my H2R unit to the test. Standard battery that came with the light being used.

Started with a direct Turbo and let the unit's turbo timer kick in. Obviously the unit's preset timer dimmed the light nearing 1 min. 
After 5 mins Turbo again and after another 5 mins turbo again and again ... well even after 50 mins it could still hit turbo. 
However, I noticed when the light is very very very hot (no where near as hot as my Manker E-14-II) after pushing several turbo outputs, a slight touch on the button (i.e. not necessary pressing the switch all the way) the light will somewhat shut off. Wait about 2 secs and press to turn on again. 
When I got home, I fan cooled the battery and put it to charge, the voltage was 3.7v. 

My observation for my H2R: i cannot press the power switch too fast from On-off-on. 
Stop playing around with that blardy switch. The respond from my H2R's switch feels as if there is a lag. My other Olight's switches could hit the On-off-on without pausing too long in between of On-off-On. 

Yap, correct, I also believe my unit has an irregular connectivity issue, but am not sure whereabouts the connectivity fault is. I could say with longer batteries it seems to work just ok. 
I will disassemble the tail cap this weekend. If it fails, well then, its time to my unit back to big O for surgery. ROFL. 

Man-0-man, this is Olight.


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## rookiedaddy (Jul 27, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

I also tested my sample with shorter battery -- button top VTC6 and it works OK. It looks like Olight may have a new issue to look into.
Still holding my hopes up their new tailcap design with M2R will address all the short-comings of the existing magnetic rechargeable tailcap, but last heard it will not be available until possibly... maybe... some time in September together with a micro-usb rechargeable R18/Pro (XPL-HI/XHP50).
There are also rumours that a new headlamp HS-something and X7R is near the August sky... well... rumoured that is...


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## noboneshotdog (Jul 27, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

^^^^^
Nothing like a good rumor to get the mind dreaming about flashlight goodness. 

I am hoping as well that the magnetic tailcap problems will get worked out. I will probably hold off on purchasing any more Olights until they are worked out.


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## proceed5 (Jul 28, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*



noboneshotdog said:


> ^^^^^
> I am hoping as well that the magnetic tailcap problems will get worked out. I will probably hold off on purchasing any more Olights until they are worked out.



Haha, I initially was supposed to hold off purchasing any more Olights ... but you know what, that blue ring and warm tint was a 'lil over tempting  
And for that, I got myself into this crap 'connectivity' issue of either the tail cap OR customised battery is not well. 
Sometimes I really asked why ...


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## proceed5 (Jul 28, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*



rookiedaddy said:


> I also tested my sample with shorter battery -- button top VTC6 and it works OK. It looks like Olight may have a new issue to look into.
> Still holding my hopes up their new tailcap design with M2R will address all the short-comings of the existing magnetic rechargeable tailcap, but last heard it will not be available until possibly... maybe... some time in September together with a micro-usb rechargeable R18/Pro (XPL-HI/XHP50).
> There are also rumours that a new headlamp HS-something and X7R is near the August sky... well... rumoured that is...


Yes Rookiedaddy, 
The R18 would be very nice. I hope the USB charging system is not those used on the R50 which is incredibly slow in recharging.
The HS2 would be ideal for my jogs. 
The M2R ... I am speechless, big O have kept us waiting for 7 months already ...
The X7R - nope, not going for this one, I am bored with soda can sized 12k lumen lights. It is pointless for me to add another 1.5 minutes wonder of flood

OK mate, going out for my nightly walk. And to further abuse my H2R, this time with VTC6. Gonna be carrying 4 Olights tonight, SR52UT + SR-Mini-II + H1R (back-up for H2R in case it decides to go black again)+ H2R


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## proceed5 (Jul 28, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

Hi Rookiedaddy, 

The problem I faced with my H2R:
Problem always occurred:
- at the switch area when Hot. You know, double click to enter Turbo and unit gets Hot and double click to disengage Turbo, this is when problem always occur, when unit is Hot AND only problematic after 45 minutes of usage;
- to double click, I use 2 fingers to rest on head of light and 1 finger to press the rubber cover above the switch button, but before I could even physically hit the button underneath the rubber cover, the light shuts off completely for a few seconds.

There seems to be some kind of interference problem or connection issue that caused the light to shut down.


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## rookiedaddy (Jul 28, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

@proceed5, Thanks for reporting on the problem and how to replicate it. 
Will forward the report to Olight and see if I can replicate the issue with my sample.
Thank you Sir.


*Update 3pm:
*testing my sample twice by:
1. fully charged the H2R.
2. double click the button to bring the unit to Turbo.
3. leave it running for >50 mins
4. double-click to enter Turbo again (H2R already stepped down).
5. double-click to enter high.
6. repeat step 4 to step 5 five (5) times.
7. click to off.
8. click to on.
9. repeat step 7 - step 8 ten (10) times.
10. seems OK.

@proceed5, note that the above does not discount the issue with your H2R, as it only shows 1 way of testing by myself using a different unit. results could be very different if you are using my sample as there are variables like speed of double-clicking, speed of click-on and click-off, operating temperature, etc.

also, I can't hold the head with my 2 fingers after 50 minutes of continuous runtime as it's running hot, really hot, really burning my finger kind of hot.


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## proceed5 (Jul 29, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

Hi Rookiedaddy, 
Thank you for your efforts in testing as well. 

I ain't kidding, my H2R has been behaving like what I have typed above since I purchased it from the Favourite Distributor. 

You see, in Headlamp mode, while walking, due to the "press and hold" and "double click" methods of changing modes and disengaging from turbo, I needed 2 fingers to rest on the body and another index finger to press the switch, if I use only one finger to press the switch the headlamp would move from its position. 

That is why I have said to Favourite Distributor, for a Headlamp, I really dislike lights with "press n hold" functionalities. For me, while walking, I prefer to change modes by just clicking like a Fenix or Nitecore.

Haha, the H2R's heat generated after Turbo or repeated Turbos are still bearable  

Ok, I shall try out the H2R again tonight.


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## rookiedaddy (Jul 29, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*



proceed5 said:


> I ain't kidding, my H2R has been behaving like what I have typed above since I purchased it from the Favourite Distributor.


yup, I believe that. will talk to the local distributor too.



proceed5 said:


> That is why I have said to Favourite Distributor, for a Headlamp, I really dislike lights with "press n hold" functionalities. For me, while walking, I prefer to change modes by just clicking like a Fenix or Nitecore.


I kind-a dig the dual button and the dial (e.g. SureFire, Petzl) for mode changing with headlamp. 



proceed5 said:


> Haha, the H2R's heat generated after Turbo or repeated Turbos are still bearable


You obviously have a higher tolerance of heat resistance than me... hahaha... 

I've reported the issue to Olight and asking for assistance to forward to their engineer for further findings, will update here upon receiving any feedback...


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## proceed5 (Jul 29, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

Hi Rookiedaddy,
Thank you for your assistance, much appreciated. 

I used my H2R earlier tonight. Started on high mode, after a couple of minutes I had to turbo for short periods, double clicks to turbo and double click again to get back to normal high mode = no issues. 
Most of the trail required high brightness and the usage of turbo were short to identify moving subjects ahead and then switched back to high. 
At approx 40 minutes, similar problem occurred. I turbo the unit and let it be on turbo for a while and double clicked to return to normal mode. But the first click had switched the unit off. As such, I had to click again to turn on the light, but this time round the light turned on to Turbo (last used memory) ... and the unit started getting very very very hot (quote you as saying "burning hot") and it somewhat just shut down completely . 
The unit could not be reactivated for approx 20 seconds, I had to - from off, Long press to enter Moonlight and Press-n-hold to get back to normal mode. 
Seemed like some kind of thermal protection or some thing somewhere tripped . 

Query:
Would it be possible that the unit has built in some kind of protection circuitry need be thermal protection and/or over-discharge protection ?


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## Lampas (Jul 29, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

Apparently someone ignited steel wool with the tail. you can find it on youtube, if you like! 
I think its quite unlikely that something shortens the thing in your pocket, still makes me a little uncomfortable just to think it could happen. 
In maukkas review he writes that there is Over Current Protection at 27 amps according to Olight.


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## proceed5 (Jul 29, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*



Lampas said:


> Apparently someone ignited steel wool with the tail. you can find it on youtube, if you like!
> I think its quite unlikely that something shortens the thing in your pocket, still makes me a little uncomfortable just to think it could happen.
> In maukkas review he writes that there is Over Current Protection at 27 amps according to Olight.



Thanks Lampas, 
Yes watched that igniting steel wool video.
I have been using my H2R as a Headlamp.

27 amps over current protection. Hmm, it would be impossible for my stock standard unmodded unit to hit 27 amps, correct ?
So, something else must have tripped.


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## rookiedaddy (Jul 31, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

@proceed5, reply from the engineer, he suspect it could be the battery problem as it cannot supply enough power to H2R.

some explanation from the engineer about the H2R "normal" behavior.





translate to English (NOT using Google translate): H2R model's firmware has built-in secondary (or 2-level) low Voltage alert, when battery power is low and close to depleted, it will flashes to alert the user. It will either flashes once every minute or twice every minute, for details please refer to attachment. Do confirm with customer that before flashlight turned-off, does the unit flashes? if there are, meaning the battery power is low.

and following is the attachment...




translated to English...
Battery low Voltage alert:
<= 3.2V, flashes once every minute (off 0.5S)
<= 3.0V, flashes twice every minute (off 0.5S)
<= 2.7V, light will shut-off.

So the question is did you notice any flashes?
I've also inform them that battery is fully charged.

You may want to consider sending your unit back for them to troubleshoot further... :candle:


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## proceed5 (Jul 31, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

Hi Rookiedaddy, 
Thank you so much for your kind help in sending the message to Big O. It is very good to have you to troubleshoot because you speak their language and could easily communicate with them.
Big Xie Xie 

Confirmed, no flashes. 
It shut down immediately and the duration of the shut down was approx 20 secs before I could reactivate the unit to turn On (please refer to my post on Sunday 30th July 2017 - 01:52AM). 

Ok I will arrange with the Favourite Distributor to have my H2R sent back to Big O. No other alternative. 

By the way, earlier tonight I borrowed the Distributor's First set of Reviewers H2R (that you were supposed to review a month back), and the reviewers unit's NW LED is so much nicer in Warm White tint, as compared with my unit's NW. Mine is more Neutral than Warm (think of H1R kind of tint temperature).

And, I have borrowed the Reviewer unit's H2R tail cap to test. I am now waiting for the battery to fully charge.

Will inform you of the result of my test.

H2S = I want !!!
R18 = I want ! 
M2R = after reading the products' brochures again = at this juncture it is not my cup of tea, because Turbo only delivers 750 lumen and Turbo-S 1500 lumen for less than 1.5 mins.


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## proceed5 (Jul 31, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

Hi Rookiedaddy, 

My report after tonight's test of my H2R with the other Tail Cap from the reviewers unit:
I am going to type this message to you in total disbelieve !! ... 
Swapped to the other Tail Cap = result = P E R F E C T H 2 R !!! 

Finally tonight I was able to enjoy a very bright 2000 lumen headlight ! (without the unit shutting down by its own at approx 40 minutes mark).
Started on high, and minutes later, I could operate the light with double-clicking to enter turbo, could double-click to exit turbo, and repeat, and all the while the unit performed flawlessly. Turbo was On Demand.

How on earth could a tail cap make it or break it ? ... its like W.T. Crap is going here Olight ?

Remark: Dear Olight & Favourite Distributor, I desperately need a New H2R Tail Cap. Otherwise this tail cap from the Reviewer unit will not be returned .


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## rookiedaddy (Jul 31, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*



proceed5 said:


> ...reviewers unit's NW LED is so much nicer in Warm White tint, as compared with my unit's NW. Mine is more Neutral than Warm (think of H1R kind of tint temperature).


hehehe... I know, right? :naughty:
btw, I normally communicate with manufacturers in English too (hey, me no speak nor write good English, me grammatically sucks), only occasionally when it comes to technical info, in fear of loss-in-translation, I ask to communicate in their native tongue. 



proceed5 said:


> ...My report after tonight's test of my H2R with the other Tail Cap from the reviewers unit:
> I am going to type this message to you in total disbelieve !! ...
> Swapped to the other Tail Cap = result = P E R F E C T H 2 R !!!
> 
> ...


Glad you manage to troubleshoot the light. :thumbsup:
Hopefully this is the exception and not the norm.


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## elcidroyale (Aug 1, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

Wish they sold the headband separately. The design with magnet and minimal strap is ingenious! I don't want a new headlamp, just the strap!


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## rookiedaddy (Aug 24, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

Met with Olight representatives today and received an updated H2R tailcap that addresses the "shorting" feature. I brought some fine steel-wool along to test and I can now confirm with certainty that the new improved tailcap can no longer spark-start a fire using steel wool!
I also believe the new improved H2R tailcap is available from Olight's distributors worldwide upon request.

side note: using this new improved tailcap, it "seems" that the charging is also slightly faster. This is after my first charge using the new tailcap observations on the Micro-dok. So will probably need more test and other reviewers to chime in to verify... so far so good! :thumbsup:


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## proceed5 (Aug 24, 2017)

Oh good . 
Finally I will be able to get new tail cap so that my unit operates correctly without shutting off.


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## rookiedaddy (Aug 25, 2017)

proceed5 said:


> Finally I will be able to get new tail cap so that my unit operates correctly without shutting off.


yeah mate, I hope it solves the soft-touch-to-off issue too.


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## proceed5 (Aug 29, 2017)

rookiedaddy said:


> yeah mate, I hope it solves the soft-touch-to-off issue too.



Hi there rookiedaddy, 

I have returned the best Tail-cap for my H2R which was the "Reviewer's Unit's Tail-cap" That worked so fine with my unit.
And, since the Olight Engineers flew in to the country last week and handed to the distributor a bag load of newly re-designed H2R tail-caps, I have swapped to the new H2R Tail-cap ... 

here's my report after having used the new so-called redesigned tail-cap ... 
I have just finished my hour-long walk and found that, 
hmmm, the problem got worst. 

As usual, I switched on to high brightness and walked. While walking, I wanted to switch brightness and hence all I did was to touch the Blue Ring next to the power switch and the unit switched off. 
What is going on with my H2R. 
I am speechless 

Need your kind help. Could you please do me a favour and write to Olight again on this. 
What should I do ? 
(a) send my unit back to the Distributor and have the Distributor send it back to Olight China for a thorough check up or replacement, I pay for the DHL Express courier to China and back from China; OR
(b) just give my existing unit to charity ? 

Thank you so much and Best regards

p/s.
Oh and, in your email to Olight, could you highlight to them that, even 1 rotten unit would severely affect the goodwill and trust their users have in the brand, and I have had so much confidence in the past with this brand and in just 1+ year, I bought in excess of 40 units of Olight flashlights and this H2R is the only good unit that is giving problems.

Its a shame that a bling nice blue striking flashlight could switch itself off by just touching the blue ring.


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## rookiedaddy (Aug 29, 2017)

proceed5 said:


> (a) send my unit back to the Distributor and have the Distributor send it back to Olight China for a thorough check up or replacement, I pay for the DHL Express courier to China and back from China; OR


very sorry to hear that you are still having problem with your unit.
Agreed. I do think the unit needs to send back to distributor and in turn in the hands of Olight for further investigations.
Yes, will communicate with Olight and the distributor and highlight the issue.
Thank you for reporting back and sharing your use case. :thumbsup:


small update:
@proceed5, spoken to Olight and the distributor, you have a new replacement unit waiting for you with the distributor. You can leave your current unit with the distributor and they will take over from there.


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## ScottJ (Oct 10, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*



rookiedaddy said:


> Met with Olight representatives today and received an updated H2R tailcap that addresses the "shorting" feature. I brought some fine steel-wool along to test and I can now confirm with certainty that the new improved tailcap can no longer spark-start a fire using steel wool!



Thanks for all the help here. I have an H2R on the way, it should show up in today's mail. Thanks to your info I've e-mailed Olight to ask for the new safer tailcap. Since my light is brand new, is it possible it shipped with the new tailcap already installed? Is there an easy way to tell the new type from the old, visually?

Scott


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## rookiedaddy (Oct 10, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

Hello ScottJ, there are no visible differences between the old and the new H2R tailcap, not sure if Olight will make any visual changes to the packaging or the light itself. A more reliable method is using an amp-meter (or a multimeter with DCA) to check the current reading at the tailcap (the new tailcap should be ~3mA) or use the steel wool to see if it lights up the steel wool... I'm using a bi-pin 2D Xenon bulb (3D/4D will do fine) to short the contact to see if the bulb lights up... if it doesn't, you are using the safer tailcap.


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## wrcsixeight (Oct 11, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

I have had the h2r nova for about a month, and have used it a bunch in the natural white. 

Having had a NitecoreHC-50 I was used to sswapping out batteries and having the separate chrger nearby, but found the tailcap charging to be a nice feature. Take light off move tailcap near charger and snap, charging.

I primarily have been using mine in a workshop, with all sorts of magnetic things laying around.

The charger portion will often get stuck to a razor blade or a hacksaw blade, and the green light turns turn red. I try to avoid this but .... I make more of an effort to keep the light itself away from ferrous objects.

I was wondering about my tailcap, and stuck my tongue on the contacts. Certainly not like sticking one's tongue on a 9v battery, but can definitely taste the current. Got mine through Amazon.

I've noticed the occassional flash off/on for a half second when put on turbo, but have had no issues with the switch not responding. The modes did take some getting used to after the Nitecore hc-50 though.

I do kind of miss the red led option, but moonlight mode seems to preserve nightvision pretty well.

Turbo is employed regularly, and sometimes, though rarely, even needed over 'high'.

I much prefer it to the HC50 and it can certainly maintain high for much longer than the HC50 could provide its 585 lumen turbo.

The light color also does not make wood look greenish like the HC50 does, when it decides to actually work.

I've used other 18650s inside of it but not tried to charge them within it. Not sure how it would know the difference but I am no pro.


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## khaleeq (Oct 18, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

Excellent review. Some have reported the NW as 5000Kish. Is there a way to know before hand if the NW version will turn out to be Warm or Neutral? Apologies if it has already been answered above, as I have skipped the majority of discussion. I will buy right away if I am sure I will get the warm tint version.


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## maukka (Oct 18, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

No way to know what you're going to get, but I think the current NW versions have a color temperature of 4500-5000K.


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## rookiedaddy (Oct 22, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*



khaleeq said:


> Excellent review. Some have reported the NW as 5000Kish. Is there a way to know before hand if the NW version will turn out to be Warm or Neutral? Apologies if it has already been answered above, as I have skipped the majority of discussion. I will buy right away if I am sure I will get the warm tint version.


+1 to what maukka said. 
the serial number on my unit is NH05251169, perhaps if you can find something close, you may have a greater chance of getting a warm version. another option is asking the seller to check for you, tho only a handful of seller will do that. Good luck.


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## ScottJ (Oct 23, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*



rookiedaddy said:


> ... there are no visible differences between the old and the new H2R tailcap, not sure if Olight will make any visual changes to the packaging or the light itself.



Thanks for that and the description of the test. I'd surmised that'd be the way. My light arrived last week and I'm quite pleased with it, though I have occasionally run into the same thing others have described ... a light touch at the rear of the blue bezel around the switch will SOMETIMES (but not always) shut the light down. I've also confirmed I have the old tailcap.

I sent an e-mail to the distributor asking for the new one, and I thought my e-mail had been ignored since I never received a reply of any kind. But today, the new tailcap showed up! Indeed it does look exactly like the old one. Clearly they've inserted a diode into the current path from the center pin, because while it still charges normally, only a few milliamps will flow the other way. I feel much more comfortable with that safety feature.


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## rookiedaddy (Oct 26, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

@ScottJ, thanks for reporting back. It's comforting to hear you have no problem getting the new tailcap. :thumbsup:

the "light touch at the blue switch ring will sometimes shut off the light" is an issue Olight is aware of as they did ask if I experience the same thing, for which I told them Yes and it's intermittent as I cannot reproduce the exact scenario when will it occur. The only thing consistent about this issue is it seems to occurs when the light is in High and Turbo Mode. I suspect it "may" be due to static... or some mysterious gremlins working inside the switch... ...


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## iroast (Oct 31, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*

Thanks for the information about the tailcap. Olight has a really cool method to cover the USB port of the X7R; twist tail to review USB port. If they can do that for these magnetic charging system, then that could solve the issue. Just don't make the batteries non-removable like the X7R


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## Fire/medic (Dec 8, 2017)

*Re: Olight H2R Nova Quick Review*



khaleeq said:


> Excellent review. Some have reported the NW as 5000Kish. Is there a way to know before hand if the NW version will turn out to be Warm or Neutral? Apologies if it has already been answered above, as I have skipped the majority of discussion. I will buy right away if I am sure I will get the warm tint version.



I bought the NW and it's definitely more 5000k. My NW zebralight h600w makes this light look blue-ish. But I have other cool white light that make this look neutral. The brighter the mode, the more neutral is looks tho. The power and beam pattern smoothness it freakin amazing!


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