# Olight H1 or H1R?



## Mchipman (Feb 1, 2017)

So I am going to buy a new Olight and am torn between the H1 and the H1R. The 100 lumens difference doesn't bother me and the price difference is not a factor. 
Just thought I would ask what you all think to help get me off the fence.


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## rookiedaddy (Feb 1, 2017)

Olight H1R, it's Olight H1R Neutral White FTW.


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## Tachead (Feb 2, 2017)

I would go with the neutral white H1 personally. 

The H1R only charges with Olight's proprietary battery and charging cord and the built in charger charges at 750mA which is an extremely high charge rate for 16340/RCR123's imo. Charging at such a high rate will likely impact the capacity over time and service life of the battery. It also appears that the built in charger has a late termination and slightly overcharges cells(judging by rookiedaddy's review)which will also affect their life/performance. 

If you go with the H1 you can pick your own cells(Olight's RCR123's are not know to be the greatest performers) and charge them at a reasonable rate(250-350mA or whatever the cell manufacturer recommends) in a quality charger. You also get a much nicer carry case with the H1 and it is likely slightly lighter and smaller due to the lack of built in charging and different tailcap. And, it is $12 cheaper which is a bonus if you already have a charger.


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## rookiedaddy (Feb 2, 2017)

Tachead said:


> I would go with the neutral white H1 personally.
> 
> The H1R only charges with Olight's proprietary battery and charging cord and the built in charger charges at 750mA which is an extremely high charge rate for 16340/RCR123's imo. Charging at such a high rate will likely impact the capacity over time and service life of the battery. It also appears that the built in charger has a late termination and slightly overcharges cells(judging by rookiedaddy's review)which will also affect their life/performance.
> 
> If you go with the H1 you can pick your own cells(Olight's RCR123's are not know to be the greatest performers) and charge them at a reasonable rate(250-350mA or whatever the cell manufacturer recommends) in a quality charger. You also get a much nicer carry case with the H1 and it is likely slightly lighter and smaller due to the lack of built in charging and different tailcap. And, it is $12 cheaper which is a bonus if you already have a charger.


LOL! :laughing: you gave me a scare when you quoted my review saying somehow my review make you draw a conclusion of the "charger has a late termination and slightly overcharges cells". I had to re-read my review and the updates to make sure I didn't intentionally do that.  The MCC does not have late termination and do not overcharges cell. The 4.22V reading is acceptable and is well within the tolerance of different measuring equipment. I may get that 4.22V with my meter, while others may get 4.18V with their meter measured upon termination (and Olight's Engineer is getting that perfect 4.20V). It's all in the calibrations... well, I do wish I have the sophisticated test equipment setup like HKJ tho... haha...
the important part is it terminates correctly (which I can't say the same for the Olight R50 Pro LE Kit, and which I'm still pestering Olight for an answer ).

to @Mchipman, I still think Olight H1R Neutral White FTW. the MCC charging system has been in used in most of Olight rechargeable system of late, although some may concern about the 750mA charge rate, with the 30+ cycles that I've already put into the cell, it still performs without issue :thumbsup:. just for your information in case you are interested, it doesn't charge the cell at 750mA all the way, in fact, it doesn't even charges at 750mA if your cell is half full. If your cell is fully drained, it spend 1/3 of the charging time at 750mA to bring the Voltage up and gradually lower the current, that's standard CC/CV charging.
for full disclosure, the only Olight cell that I'm having problem now is the ORB-163C05 IMR cell where I did a few cycle (err... more like 10+) of deep discharge testing (overdischarge) in S1R where I tricked the S1R into thinking the IMR 3.7V cell is actually a fresh 3.2V primary CR123A cell.
and I do agreed with Tachead if you decided to go with H1, the Neutral White H1 is the one to go.

Edit: 
Oh, just to be clear and not cause any confusion, H1R can also use primary CR123A and other rechargeable RCR123 cells, but you can't charge those cells in H1R. The included 650mAh ORB-163P06 cell can also be charge in your normal cradle-charger if you choose to do so. 
but... come to think of it... with our CPF flashaholic spirit, you could actually get both... :devil:


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## Tachead (Feb 2, 2017)

rookiedaddy said:


> LOL! :laughing: you gave me a scare when you quoted my review saying somehow my review make you draw a conclusion of the "charger has a late termination and slightly overcharges cells". I had to re-read my review and the updates to make sure I didn't intentionally do that.  The MCC does not have late termination and do not overcharges cell. The 4.22V reading is acceptable and is well within the tolerance of different measuring equipment. I may get that 4.22V with my meter, while others may get 4.18V with their meter measured upon termination (and Olight's Engineer is getting that perfect 4.20V). It's all in the calibrations... well, I do wish I have the sophisticated test equipment setup like HKJ tho... haha...
> the important part is it terminates correctly (which I can't say the same for the Olight R50 Pro LE Kit, and which I'm still pestering Olight for an answer ).
> 
> to @Mchipman, I still think Olight H1R Neutral White FTW. the MCC charging system has been in used in most of Olight rechargeable system of late, although some may concern about the 750mA charge rate, with the 30+ cycles that I've already put into the cell, it still performs without issue :thumbsup:. just for your information in case you are interested, it doesn't charge the cell at 750mA all the way, in fact, it doesn't even charges at 750mA if your cell is half full. If your cell is fully drained, it spend 1/3 of the charging time at 750mA to bring the Voltage up and gradually lower the current, that's standard CC/CV charging.
> ...



That's funny, I have a few different DMM's(from cheap to high end), and built in voltage readout on one of my chargers, and none of them read over 4.20V after a charge cycle finishes on any of my chargers or cells. In fact, they generally read lower(4.16-4.18V) by the time I get the cell out of the charger and it has a chance to fall to resting voltage. You could be right though rookiedaddy and you could have a very inaccurate DMM but, I doubt it. 

Have you ran capacity tests on the cell before and after the 30 cycles and compared? Cells loose capacity over time as they wear and that would show how much it degraded(not that 30 cycles is very many on a modern Li-ion). Like you said "that's standard CC/CV charging". The charger is still charging at 750mA just like it would be on any separate charger(although likely less accurately because built in chargers are usually fairly rudimentary and inferior to stand alone units), most of them reduce as the charge cycle progresses. 750mA is too high of a charge rate for standard 16340/RCR123's imo(especially a non-IMR cell like you claim this is) and my opinion is backed by the charging recommendations given by the manufacturers of many 16340/RCR123 cells(the Olight ORB-163P06, for instance, has a recommended charge rate of 325mA and max charge rate of 650mA). Although it may not be dangerous charging at 750mA, it is still going to have an effect on the cells life and will likely greatly reduce it compared to a more conservative charge rate. Most people, that I know anyway, like to charge their 16340/RCR123's at 250-350mA to maintain good cell health and longevity.

The included cell is the ORB-163*C*06. The fact that the H1R can only charge this one proprietary cell is one of the biggest reasons I would go for the H1 instead. Being bound to only one cell from one manufacturer can be a pain and like I said in my first post, Olight's cells are not know to have the greatest performance(the ORB-163P06, for instance, is one of the lowest performance cells in HKJ's tests). I don't see the point in spending the extra money and missing out on the nicer carry case if you aren't going to use the built in charging. 

Anyway, good luck with your decision Mchipman and I hope you enjoy your new headlamp:thumbsup:


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## proceed5 (Feb 2, 2017)

Tachead said:


> I would go with the neutral white H1 personally.
> .



+1. Just in my opinion, I would have to agree with Tachead on this one, IMO, go for the H1. 
(a 16340 battery is small and lightweight, one could anytime pocket some spares when using it on trails, for example).. 

I have the H1 and H1R both in NW tints. Practically from my layman's perspective, I could neither feel nor see the 100 additional lumens projected by the H1R. 

Just last weekend (January 30th, 2017) I went caving with the H1 using the H1R's/S10RIII's batteries .. I double pressed for Turbo but the Turbo couldn't be activated any longer than a split second.
This happened after I have turned On my H1 constantly on the brightness setting one below the Highest brightness level (i believe 180 lumens) for about approximately 30 - 40 mins. 
I would like to believe the reason for the inability to turbo was due primarily to the battery being more than half done. . . I don't believe i have had any such issues when I ran my S1 with AW or KeepPower batteries for example. So, this case with my H1 with the H1R battery was at odds.

Just my 2 cents worth & Cheers


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## Tachead (Feb 2, 2017)

proceed5 said:


> +1. Just in my opinion, I would have to agree with Tachead on this one, IMO, go for the H1.
> (a 16340 battery is small and lightweight, one could anytime pocket some spares when using it on trails, for example)..
> 
> I have the H1 and H1R both in NW tints. Practically from my layman's perspective, I could neither feel nor see the 100 additional lumens projected by the H1R.
> ...



I recommend you try one of the Zebralight H600 series 18650 headlamps. I think you will be very happy with not only the added runtime and output but, all the extra features, increased CRI, better tint(especially on the c&d versions), and even better fit and finish. I am super happy with my H600Fd & c MKIII's.


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## proceed5 (Feb 2, 2017)

Tachead said:


> I recommend you try one of the Zebralight H600 series 18650 headlamps. I think you will be very happy with not only the added runtime and output but, all the extra features, increased CRI, better tint(especially on the c&d versions), and even better fit and finish. I am super happy with my H600Fd & c MKIII's.



Yes Tachead, 
I would be absolutely pleased to get my hands on the new Zebralights. And I would aspire to make an online order for one and this aspiration will be a works in progress. Anyway, I have ran out of Lights to buy from my local distributor.


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## rookiedaddy (Feb 2, 2017)

ah yes, my bad, my typos, the included cell is *ORB-163C06*. it's basically the same cell as the ORB-163P06 with Olight customizing it to be able to recharge in the H1R/S10RIII. thanks for correcting that.
we are not "being bound to only one cell" tho to using the included ORB-163C06 non-IMR cell, the 550mAh ORB-163C05 IMR can be purchase and use in place, which I wish they'd included that instead of the ORB-163C06. also 0.02V is "very inaccurate"? :thinking: hmmm... nah...
haha, I guess I'm not most people then, I don't think I've ever charge any of my RCR123 below 500mA. in my experience, my biggest disappointment with these smaller cell is the inability to deliver high discharge current as the cell aged instead of capacity loss.

to @Mchipman, imo, the biggest advantage of going with H1R or any of Olight recharging system flashlight (with the exception of R50 Pro) is the convenient of recharging in light via the MCC or Micro-Dok III without removing the battery. Even if we don't need that extra 100 lumens, the recharging system is there when we need it and the options of using other manufacturer's RCR123 cell (including primary CR123A) is still available... 
geez... I'm starting to sound like trying to hard-sell this Olight H1R... 
Well, whichever route you go, Neutral White option is what Tachead and myself agreed on. :naughty:


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## proceed5 (Feb 2, 2017)

rookiedaddy said:


> ... geez... I'm starting to sound like trying to hard-sell this Olight H1R...
> Well, whichever route you go, Neutral White option is what Tachead and myself agreed on. :naughty:



LOL rookiedaddy, good on ya mate !


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## Tachead (Feb 2, 2017)

rookiedaddy said:


> ah yes, my bad, my typos, the included cell is *ORB-163C06*. it's basically the same cell as the ORB-163P06 with Olight customizing it to be able to recharge in the H1R/S10RIII. thanks for correcting that.
> we are not "being bound to only one cell" tho to using the included ORB-163C06 non-IMR cell, the 550mAh ORB-163C05 IMR can be purchase and use in place, which I wish they'd included that instead of the ORB-163C06. also 0.02V is "very inaccurate"? :thinking: hmmm... nah...
> haha, I guess I'm not most people then, I don't think I've ever charge any of my RCR123 below 500mA. *in my experience, my biggest disappointment with these smaller cell is the inability to deliver high discharge current as the cell aged instead of capacity loss.*
> 
> ...



Try using a more conservative charge rate. I bet you will see an improvement and the cells will last longer in this aspect as well. There is a reason why most 16340/RCR123's(including the ORB-163P06) list the recommended charge rate at 250-350mA. Charging beyond that rate is harder on the cells and will shorten their life. This isn't a concern for Olight because then you will just have to buy more cells from them


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## Mchipman (Feb 2, 2017)

thank you all for the input and suggestions. I went with the H1R in NW and it should be here this weekend :thumbsup:


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## FDP (Feb 2, 2017)

I just got my H1 in NW tonight. Very happy with it so far!


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