# Energizer 1 watt (Rebel) headlight at Target



## Hooked on Fenix (Jul 24, 2008)

I was curious about a headlight I saw in Target for $20. It only claimed to be a 1 watt l.e.d. headlight and said it was 12x brighter than standard 5mm l.e.d.s. Looking in the center reflector of the light I noticed it clearly had a Lumileds Rebel l.e.d. inside. It had a Rebel l.e.d. for high, two red l.e.d.s for low, and two 5mm l.e.d.s for medium flood light. It switches settings in that order and unfortunetly, you have to go through all three settings before turning off the light. Obviously, I bought one and I don't regret it. The rebel l.e.d. in mine has a warm white tint and has a few artifacts around the spot, but it doesn't have gaps anywhere in the beam like Cree lights do. It actually has one lens that goes over all the l.e.d.s with a reflector for the rebel and two reflectors for two sets of white and red l.e.d.s (one white and one red in each reflector). Somehow, this setup does a decent job of evening out the beam, limiting artifacts, and maintaining some throw in the 5mm l.e.d.s. The red l.e.d.s have the most artifacts and the narrowest beam. The 5mm l.e.d.s are surprisingly bright as they are brighter than my PT Quad headlight on medium. They are at least as bright as Nichia CS l.e.d.s and may be Nichia GS as Energizer has started putting these in other lights already. The rebel l.e.d. is plenty bright for hikes, though it's hard to tell how bright it is against my Fenix P3D Q5. The headlight's beam seems dimmer than the Fenix on medium but only because the headlight's beam is twice as wide. A ceiling bounce test seems to show the headlight is brighter than the Fenix on medium. This isn't the brightest headlight and isn't above 100 lumens, but I think it should have a decent balance of brightness vs. runtime for hiking. The light is advertised as lasting 5 hours on high, 50 hours on medium (white 5mm l.e.d.s), and 75 hours on low (red). For $20, I'd be very surprised if it was regulated. The light is a little bulkier than usual, but not that bad compared to other lights with two or three different kinds of l.e.d.s in them. It isn't advertised as being water resistant, however I think it could easily survive a rainstorm. The one lens seals up all the l.e.d.s pretty well, the rubber switch seems water resistant, there is what seems like a hard rubber gasket on the battery cover, and most of the battery cover is recessed under a lip on the bracket when the light isn't tilted down. So far this seems like a well made headlight for $20. If you try to buy one, they are at Target. Energizer didn't change anything on the packaging from the previous Luxeon 1 model. You have to look for the little Rebel l.e.d. in the center reflector to identify it. So far, I like it better than the 105 lumen Coleman Max Cree headlight. It's easier to open the battery compartment, is more water resistant, the switch will probably last longer, it has white l.e.d.s for throw and flood, and has a warmer tint for the bright l.e.d. I haven't had the chance to test it on the trail or for runtime yet since I just bought it today.


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## beautifully-stupid (Jul 24, 2008)

Nicely done!

how do the energizer and the coleman compare, output/ beam pattern wise?


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## Hooked on Fenix (Jul 24, 2008)

Hotspots are about the same size. Both have good even spill light. The Energizer has a brighter hotspot so it will have more throw. The Coleman has more light distributed in the spill light. The Energizer has a slightly wider beam (spill light lights up more area). The beam pattern of the two white 5mm l.e.d.s is similar to that of a single l.e.d. (one hotspot in the middle with spill light around it). Using them in practical use, you can't even tell that it's two l.e.d.s. It's hard to tell which one is brighter because of how the light is distributed, but if the Coleman is brighter, I don't think it's by much. I've been wanting a light like this for awhile. I tried the P.T. EOS: decent levels, decent spotlight, good runtime, but no floodlight and it hasn't been updated. I still use P.T. Quad headlights. They are great floodlights (this is what you need for backpacking), they have decent levels, I like the regulation on both of the P.T. lights, and they have low battery warnings. I was waiting for the l.e.d.s to be updated to Nichia GS l.e.d.s. and for them to use better plastic. Both my Quads have cracks in front and behind the switch. I used silicon sealant to waterproof both again, but one has a crack going through part of the lens. I can't fix that. I thought the B.D. Spot headlight would replace both headlights. Nope. The Spot has the thinnest, weakest plastic that I have ever seen in a headlight. Mine has stress cracks all over it and a broken lens from just putting it in a backpack pocket (nothing else was in the pocket and it wasn't under any weight). I haven't abused it or used it nearly enough to warrant such wear and tear. They updated the Spot recently with a better l.e.d., but I refuse to buy another since it is too delicate to take backpacking and has no waterproofing (they should have been sued for false advertising for calling it stormproof and putting all fine print about what that means inside the package). The energizer headlight has updated l.e.d.s with good throw, good flood, good quality beams, seems water resistant, and is built tough enough for everyday use. The only things I'll complain about is the bulk of the headlight (It's almost twice the size of the Coleman), lack of regulation (I'm assuming), the user interface (you have to push the button 4 times to go from the first on to off (on high, low, medium, off), and ease of battery change (opening the battery cover is easy, but the batteries have to be pried out because of how far down they are). Overall, I like this light a lot. It has the best attributes of the top headlights on the market. Good floodlight (Quad), good throw (EOS), updated l.e.d.s (Spot), and strong plastic (Petzl Tikka lights), while being water resistant (PT lights) at about half the cost of the Spot or EOS ($20 vs. $40).


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## avusblue (Oct 16, 2008)

I bought this light today (at Target for $20 bucks  ), tried it out tonight, and have to say I am impressed. Well worth the money. The progress our lights have made in a few short years is really great! 

Cheers,

Dave


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## OceanView (Oct 16, 2008)

Is this a 3xAAA headlamp or 3xAA ?

Hooked on Fenix, I sincerely thank you for all that feedback, but a huge block of solid text with no breaks is really tough on the eyes! :mecry:


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## purduephotog (Oct 16, 2008)

When you were at target did you see the River Rock LED lights? Are you able to compare the brightness there?


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## Marduke (Oct 16, 2008)

OceanView said:


> Is this a 3xAAA headlamp or 3xAA ?




3xAAA

Last I saw one the beam patter was


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## Hooked on Fenix (Oct 17, 2008)

The beam pattern of the Energizer headlight is nice on all settings. The rebel l.e.d. has more flood than the 5mm l.e.d.s. All settings have one hotspot and decent flood. In practical use, the rebel l.e.d.'s beam is more useful and the other settings seem to have a tighter beam. 
I've already moved on to better and brighter headlights as I now have the updated PT EOS and Quad (and the EOS II). I got two EOS headlights on sale at REI for $30 each and used a 20% of coupon on the Quad to get it for $24. At those prices, they blow the Energizer headlight away in every area including value. However, for a $20 headlight, it's well worth the cost. The beam pattern seems floodier on a wall than on the trail. I think it's better for working around a house than for trail use.


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## geepondy (Oct 17, 2008)

Where did you get a 20 percent off coupon for REI?



Hooked on Fenix said:


> I've already moved on to better and brighter headlights as I now have the updated PT EOS and Quad (and the EOS II). I got two EOS headlights on sale at REI for $30 each and used a 20% of coupon on the Quad to get it for $24. At those prices, they blow the Energizer headlight away in every area including value. However, for a $20 headlight, it's well worth the cost. The beam pattern seems floodier on a wall than on the trail. I think it's better for working around a house than for trail use.


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## Hooked on Fenix (Oct 17, 2008)

I'm a member. They give members a 20% off any one item coupon on some of their sales. I didn't have much money to use it on something more expensive and I didn't want to waste it.


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## Bobpuvel (Oct 18, 2008)

I'm glad someone did a overlook kinda thing on this light because I always see it at my lowes, but never buy it...

Great overlook!


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## adirondackdestroyer (Nov 8, 2008)

I think I saw this headlamp at Target yesterday with a Cree in it.


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## Hooked on Fenix (Nov 9, 2008)

adirondackdestroyer said:


> I think I saw this headlamp at Target yesterday with a Cree in it.



You weren't seeing things because I saw it too. Unfortunetly, it wasn't a Cree XR-E but only a Cree XR-C. I had a Coleman XR-E headlight and a 85 lumen crenelated bezel Coleman XR-C light to compare in the store. It was definitely an XR-C in the headlight.


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## Turbo DV8 (Dec 21, 2008)

Lowe's is selling the Cree version on sale now for $12.97. I picked one up today. Not sure if it is a keeper, though. 

On the plus side...


Very bright, wide, well defined spill with minor artifacts unless white wall hunting. Really nice.

Actual white low-power LED's for close-up work. (Are you listening, Ray-O-Vac?)

Nice run times, especially compared to the Ray-O-Vac 1AA headlamp.



On the down side...

A really hulking beast to wear on your forehead. (Or am I just spoiled by the Ray-O-Vac?)

Hot spot has pretty severe artifacts and dark areas.

That switch is very difficult to activate. It's a mechanical switch with stiff spring, not an electronic switch. Which also means now you have a stiff switch that you have to click through all the modes to turn off. Combined with the angled head, it is very awkward and difficult to operate. It doesn't help that the switch is pointy. It left a deep, red impression on my finger tip. The white 5mm LED's are fairly purply.


Just some preliminary observations for those wondering before buying. Decide which points are important to you or not, and this light may float your boat.


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## Turbo DV8 (Dec 22, 2008)

I did the Glad Press-N-Seal thing over the Cree LED which, naturally, smooths out the artifacts. However, doing this reduces one of this headlamps few redeeming qualities, which is output. With the Glad over the Cree, it has scarcely much more output than the ROV 1AA in flood mode, and it eliminates any possibility of quickly converting to a thrower, like the ROV's sliding diffuser does. 

So, what does this leave in the Energizer's favor over the ROV 1AA? They both have red LED's. The Energizer is a bit brighter. Yawn... The ROV doesn't have a dedicated low-level LED like the Energizer, but sliding the diffuser all the way over the Luxeon on the ROV suffices, with teh ROV being a much more pleasing tint and much floodier output, which seems to be what one would be seeking for close-up work using low-level illumination. So what's left in the Energizer's favor, really, is only longer run time, but using a less desireable 3AAA form factor. On three NiMH, the Cree draws 200mA, good for four hours or so. The red and 5mm white LED settings each draw 40mA, good for about 20 hours. 

The more I use it, the less point I see in it over the ROV 1AA. Sure, the ROV leaves you fumbling in the dark for a fresh battery every two hours as it blinks off. But, if I need really low levels of light with long run times, if I am going to be saddled with AAA cells, I can as easily throw in my 2AAA River Rock headlamp. The RR and ROV both combined take up less space than the Energizer, and either is much, much more comfortable to wear on the head than the Energizer. I find it incongruous that the RR 2AAA headlamp, as feather-light as it is, uses a very secure feeling three-strap head band, but the Energizer, as heavy and bulky as it is with the center of battery mass hanging so far away from the headband, uses only a circumfrential headband. 

But I want to love the Energizer, so what I need is somebody to pick up the Rebel (or at least non-Cree) version at Target and compare the beam to the Cree version... so I don't have to. Someone in another thread characterized the beam of the non-Cree version as being a bit more palitable, and if so, may be enough to tempt me to spring for the non-Cree version.


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## Turbo DV8 (Dec 22, 2008)

Turbo DV8 said:


> ... what I need is somebody to pick up the Rebel (or at least non-Cree) version at Target and compare the beam to the Cree version... so I don't have to.


 

Never mind, I broke down! I just had to see if the Rebel(?) version at Target was better than the Cree version I got at Lowe's. The packaging is virtually identical, except the Cree version doesn't state run times on the package front. The SKU's are different, even though everything about the headlamp is identical except for the 1 watt led. I confirmed that both Cree and Rebel versions draw identical current from the batteries, in all modes.

Here's the simple scoop: the Rebel version I got at Target is superior to the Cree version in every respect, and not just because of the high power LED. Before I even opened the package, I could see the Rebel phosphor reflect in the reflector much more uniformly than the Cree. The Rebel has a much, much smoother hot spot than the Cree. The Cree spot looks downright putrid in comparison, full of dark splotches and a jagged periphery. The Rebel hot spot is wider than the Cree, and transitions from spot to spill much more smoothly. The Cree throws a tiny bit more, but with that nasty, splotchy beam, who cares? The Rebel has a more pleasing neutral tint, whereas the Cree leans toward noticebaly green. The Rebel also has fewer artifacts in the spill. The Cree does produce slightly brighter spill than the Rebel, though. 

The icing on the cake is both the red and white LED's are better, too. Note, however, it could be chalked up to simple unit variances. The white LED's in my Rebel version is less purply than those in my Cree version. The red LED's in the Rebel version are aligned much better, and converge to produce a unified, bright beam, not a cross-eyed, divergent dim beam as my Cree version does. 

This Reb version is a keeper, and the Cree goes back with no regrets. Is it a sin if the Cree specimen accidentally slips into the Rebel package before it's returned to Target?:shrug:


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## Woods Walker (Dec 22, 2008)

I think the Rebel is a good LED for a headlamp. However don't own any Cree based ones to compare but overall based on my Cree flashlights the Rebel has a better tint. Tint for me is more important than a few extra lumens.


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