# Fenix HL35 mini review w/ pics



## Tac Gunner (Dec 11, 2015)

First I off I really like it! I use it daily at school working on aircraft and at night when feeding my son and changing diapers. I will give a simple review in a few different sections. Modes, UI, Runtimes, General thoughts


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*Modes_
I have no problem with the mode spacing. I use moonlight the most out of all of the modes followed by low. The medium gets used in larger areas or when I'm trying to over come ambient lighting. 

This is a control shot of my bedroom with three 40W light bulbs in a ceiling fan fixture, ceilings are 8 foot. All pics of the headlamp modes are ceiling bounced with the headlamp on the floor




-Moonlight
This works great for me at night when the wife and son are asleep and I need to fix bottles, pick up toys, or do other general tasks. There is enough light to light up my 20ftx20ft bedroom with all white walls and white ceiling, I do ceiling bounce it. It isn't so bright to ruin my night vision and honestly if im eyes aren't adjusted its not enough to see by. Its just enough to be able to see to change a diaper. When I actually wear the headlamp I can see probably a foot in front of me and that's it. It's a small hotspot.







-Low
Most used mode for me. I do a lot of up close work and in confined spaces. 30 lumens is plenty for this work. I don't really need to see far away but if I need to there is plenty of light to see up to about 20 or 30 feet. This mode will light up my bedroom with ease and give plenty of light to see by for most tasks. 




-Medium
70 lumens is just kind if there. It's not much more than the 30 lumens and not much less than the 200. It is a noticeable difference between the three modes but not by much. I use this mode if I'm outside doing work or if I need to overcome ambient lighting. This mode will probably light up 30-35 feet.




-High 
Honestly I have probably used this mode a total of 10 minutes. I know it probably lights up an area about 50 feet long and 20 feet wide or so and makes for a great ceiling bounce but that is about my extent of experience. It's more than I need for up close work and outside I can usually get by on the 70 lumen mode. 




-Turbo
I'm only running the light on eneloops so the increase is only 60 lumens over high mode so it's really a pointless mode. You honestly cannot to see much of a difference when you go into turbo from high. I may eventually get a pair of 14500 but I myself see no need for the 450 lumens as it would be over powering when working up close. There are also no other benefits of running 14500s vs eneloops besides the turbo mode.

I forgot to take a pic of turbo, I will tonight

-Red
Way brighter than the moonlight mode and does nothing to preserve night vision. The most I use it for is when playing with my son as for some reason he likes looking at it. It does make a good location identifier light but that is about it.




-SOS 
Not much to say about it, it’s there and does its job the best I can tell lol. So far I have never needed to use sos on a light so I’m not sure how effective it is. It does appear to have an output comparable to the low mode 

-Red Flash 
Another mode not used much, it works as a personal identifier light when walking and that is about the most use it gets.



*_UI_
The UI is not bad in my opinion. Turning it on is no big deal, just click a switch. To turn it off there is a press and hold but it honestly is not a big deal, I have counted that it takes about 2 seconds to turn it off. Here is a better break down of the modes:

-White Modes
ML->L->M->H 
In any of these modes press and hold the bigger button on the bottom for 3 seconds to activate the 30 second boost mode. Once the boost mode runs out it returns to the level you last used. The light does turn off first and then turns back on it turbo but when the turbo shuts off it is just a step down into your last used mode. The white modes can be activated when using the special modes clicking the big button at any point, it will immediately switch to your last used white mode, aka there is mode memory.

-Special Modes
The special modes are Solid Red -> White SOS -> Red Flash
These modes do not have mode memory and uses the small button. They are turned on and off the same way the white modes are and can be accessed from any white mode by simply clicking the switch.

The top little button controls the special modes and the larger bottom button controls the white modes




*_Runtimes_
I have not done any formal runtime tests but I can say for sure that you can run moonlight mode for an awfully long time (the most I have run it between charges is probably around 8 hours) and it not change the battery condition. Low mode can be run for easily 4 hours and high mode I’d say 1 to 2 hours before it drops in to a lower mode. These times are just what I have used the light for between chargings. I do not know exactly how long it will run until it drops output in each mode as I do not often use it for more than hour at a time. I may use it for an hour or two in the morning, then in the afternoon another hour, the next morning I may use it for 30 mins, etc. The light will let you know when the batteries get low as it will step down to the next output once the batteries cannot handle the higher output. For instance if using high it will step down to medium and high will not be accessible anymore until the batteries are replaced. Once it starts to step down though it is a short time until the light will only work in moonlight or shust off. The one time I have experienced this I probably got another 10 minutes of runtime in medium until the light went to moonlight only.
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*General Thoughts_
I like the light pretty well and it seems to be worth the money, I can recommend it without any hesitation. The modes are pretty well spaced but probably could stand to be fine tuned a bit as you really can not tell much a difference when going through them. The medium mode is just kind of there, to close to the 30 lumen mode and only slightly lower than the high. The press and hold for off is not bad once you get used to it. The biggest issue I had at first with it was knowing when to let off the button so I didn’t turn on turbo. Hold it for two seconds to turn the light off, hold it for 3 seconds though and boom, 260 lumens of night vision ruining light. If you just pay attention though it isn’t bad. The 180 degree tilting is a nice feature and the mechanism seems like it will last for quite a while. It doesn’t take a bunch of effort to rotate it but it definitely won’t get bumped out of position by accident. The headband is comfortable and stays adjusted pretty well. My only complaint with it is the material the headband is made of seems to be a velcro magnet. If you accidentally get it stuck to velcro be very careful when removing it otherwise you end up with a frayed headband (happened to me the first time I put in my edc bag). The anodizing is nice and smooth, even all over and very robust. I have dropped it or hit something it on something multiple times and only have a few scratches in the end lip. The buttons are easy to find and differentiate from each other. 










Light below it is an Eagletac D25A2 clicky for size reference 



Nice markings for how the batteries should be orientated




The pin on the tail cap matches up with a whole in the body so the contacts match the batteries correctly and hold the contact plate still so the tail cap can spin. There are little nubs on the contact plate for reverse polarity protection.




I may have forgotten a few things and I will add them later as I think of them. Sorry if my thoughts are kind of scrambled at times, it’s my first in depth review of anything. I will add pics and a video in the second post once my wife gets home and I can use her iPhone, I love my galaxy tablet but the camera sucks compared to an iPhone lol.

*I did purchase the light myself from Fenix Outfitters*

admins please tell me if these pics are too large. I read the rules and they said no larger than 800x800, the photo resizer I used said these were 600x800 but they look larger. Also fyi so no one worries, my son is not allowed in my bedroom without myself or wife and the guns are not loaded.


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## Tac Gunner (Dec 11, 2015)

*Re: My thoughts on the Fenix HL35*

Reserved for pics


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## Tac Gunner (Aug 12, 2016)

*Re: My thoughts on the Fenix HL35*

So it has been several months since I posted this and I figured it was time for an update. I will post pics later of how it's held up but for now just some general thoughts.

I still love the light, by far the most versatile light I have. I rewired a semi truck a month or so ago and was wearing the light for anywhere from 6 to 9 hours straight in 80-90°F temp and it never really got uncomfortable. The straps still adjust well and aren't stretched out. Runtimes still continue to impress me, I have ran it 7 hours plus on a mix of the 30, 70, and 200 lumen modes before the batteries needed changing. The light has been dropped and hit multiple times and is still going strong. I still highly recommend this to anyone needing a headlamp.


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## KeepingItLight (Aug 29, 2016)

*Re: My thoughts on the Fenix HL35*

Thanks, Tac, for a great review. 

In another thread, I saw a complaint that the *Fenix HL35* headlamp does not support L91 Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries. 



Labrador72 said:


> I have 6 Fenix HL headlamps and all work very well but I'm starting to get very frustrated with their lack of support for L91.
> The HL23, and both editions of the HL30 lose their lower modes while the HL35 seems to be mistaking fresh L91 for depleted 14500 and triggers the battery warning...
> If you claim to design your headlamps for outdoor sports, this is a major, major oversight!




The discussion in the follow-up is worth reading. You can click the 

 symbol to open the thread. 

I have been halfheartedly researching AA headlamps with an eye towards stowing one in my vehicle. My plan is to install regular Eneloop batteries, and toss in a package of L91s as backup. I have a cheap 1xAA headlamp in the vehicle now, so I am not in a rush.

Have you learned anything new about whether this headlamp will accept L91s?


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## Tac Gunner (Aug 29, 2016)

*Re: My thoughts on the Fenix HL35*

I have not. I honestly forgot about testing them. I will try to get a pack tomorrow when I stop to get some alkaleaks for the TV remotes (sadly eneloops are to big of diameter to fit)


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## Labrador72 (Sep 13, 2016)

I never contacted Fenix but I'll do that soon as I want to give feedback on this issue.


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## Tac Gunner (May 29, 2017)

Well I still have not tried the lithium cells but the HL35 is still going strong and still my go to light. The headband has gotten a little stretched out from use but it still works great. Light has been dropped from different heights with no ill effects. Nothing has really changed since the original post or follow up post. I can say after comparing it to the HL60R a boy I know has, I prefer the compact size of the HL35 over that of the HL60R.


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## Loverofthelight (Aug 18, 2017)

Thanks Tac Gunner for the review! Very specific one


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## Tac Gunner (Aug 21, 2017)

You are welcome sir! Hope it was beneficial!


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