Nitecore HC33 Headlamp Review
The Nitecore HC33 headlamp is an interesting 18650 headlamp, offering a Cree XHP35 HD emitter and an e-switch. Read on for thoughts and testing!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the Nitecore HC33 Headlamp product page.
Versions
I believe there’s just one version of this light.
Price
MSRP on this light is $64.95. Buy yours at Amazon through this referral link!
Short Review
An angle light that pulls an impressive 5 amps on turbo…. It has nice build quality and good modes. It’s a nice little headlamp!
Long Review
The Big Table
| Nitecore HC33 | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Cree XHP35 HD (-) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $64.95 Buy yours at Amazon! |
| Cell: | 1×18650 |
| Turbo Runtime | |
| LVP? | ? |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (A): | ? |
| On-Board Charging? | No |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 1800 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 187 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 274lux @ 4.69m = 6027cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 155.3 (83% of claim)^ |
| All my Nitecore reviews! | |
^ Measurement disclaimer: Testing flashlights is my hobby. I use hobbyist-level equipment for testing, including some I made myself. Try not to get buried in the details of manufacturer specifications versus measurements recorded here; A certain amount of difference (say, 10 or 15%) is perfectly reasonable.
What’s Included
- Nitecore HC33
- Headband
- Spare o-rings (2)
- Pocket clip
- Spare rubber switch boot
- Manual and papers
Package and Manual
A black and yellow cardboard package is the typical Nitecore package, and this is no exception. The light is held in place in a plastic tray, with the goodies in their own bag.
The manual covers the usual specifications and things, as a manual should.
Build Quality and Disassembly
The first thing I notice when I hold this light is the great knurling. As I’ve said repeatedly, this is my favorite knurling. Diamond pattern, but flat. Very comfortable to hold and provides a reasonable amount of grip.
Behind the emitter, there are ample fins, which are very deep and should provide ample cooling. The light will need it since the turbo runs at around 5A (though it does step down quickly).
The tailcap unscrews with near-Zebralight quality. The threads are anodized and square, and fairly fine. They’re very smooth. There’s also a magnet in there!
The head unscrews with relative ease as well. See that the head has no spring, but the tail does have a spring. It’s a fairly beefy spring, but not incredibly tight.
Below is a better shot of the threads on the tail end of the light. Hard to tell because they’re fine threads, but they’re square-cut.
As … separable … as this body is, I’d love to have a shorty option!! Come on, Nitecore, give me a 18350 tube for this light!!!
Size
Officially 105.3mm long and 25.5×24.2mm in the head, and 23.8mm in the body, weighing in at 51.2g. Very likely not the smallest 18650 headlamp out there (clearly not smaller than the venerable Skilhunt H03!), but still reasonably sized.
Below, observe the HC33 beside the H03. The HC33 has a reflector and head switch, and also outputs grossly more lumens.
Retention
Included is a pocket clip, which can mount in either direction, neither of which allows for a very deep carry. However, whether intentional or not, the body tube here is reversible – working either orientation. So the pocket clip can be moved by means of flipping the body tube. In the orientation opposite what’s seen here, the HC33 can ride almost flush with the pocket, in a bezel-down orientation. This is a fairly well-considered layout.
However, as you can see below, flipping the body tube will likely make your light unbalanced in the headstrap. So you’ll probably want to have the tube in the “normal” (or “as shipped”) orientation if you plan to use the headstrap exclusively (or often).
The headband is very nice. The light slips in very easily – the loops are silicone and stretchy. And the light twists easily for pointing toward your task.
The tailcap also has a magnet, which I consider a form of retention.
Power
The HC33 is powered by a single 18650, two CR123, or two 16340. I tested the light with only a Nitecore 18650. That’s for a few reasons, not the least of which is that the HC33 doesn’t reach it’s Turbo mode with any 2-up cell option.
The below runtime data was with the Nitecore cell (not provided). Note the heavy stepdown from turbo. This is actually visible and happens within just seconds of the light being put into turbo…. So one might say that the turbo mode is academic – yes, the light draws 5A on turbo, but does so for approximately a split second, and then steps down to ~3A. It’s possible to reset the light to turbo, but this turbo isn’t as high as it starts (likely due to the capability of the cell to provide 5A). I’d much rather have a slightly lower turbo for slightly longer.
The light has reverse polarity protection, and upon tightening the tailcap, a cell voltage indication. This is a great feature – When a 18650 is installed, the light blinks the “ones” voltage, then pauses, and blinks the “tenths” voltage. So 4.2V is four blinks, pause, two blinks. When using 2-up cells, what’s reported is the average voltage between the cells. As far as I can tell in the literature, there’s no low voltage protection. (I’ll look back into this to be sure.)
User Interface and Operation
There’s a single switch on the HC33: A head e-switch. It’s a nicely clicky, easy to identify, and fairly textured button. The user interface is also … maybe not intuitive, but it is versatile (by that I mean there’s easy access to many modes).
Here’s a trusty user interface table.
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Click | Ultralow |
| Off | Hold (~0.6s) | Mode Memory |
| Off | Hold (>1.5s) | Turbo (Mode memory at 0.6s, then Turbo) |
| Off | Double Click | Strobe (FAST) |
| Strobe | Click | Strobe group advance (Strobe> SOS> Beacon) |
| Any | Hold | Off |
| On | Click | Mode advance (L>H direction) |
As far as UI’s go, that’s not all that many entries in the table. But still, quite full-featured.
Modes
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Mode Measured Lux | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 1800 | 30m | 31800 | 5.00 |
| High | 780 | 1h30m | 16300 | 1.10 |
| Mid | 240 | 5h15m | 4820 | 0.31 |
| Low | 70 | 15h | 1279 | 0.07 |
| Ultralow | 1 | 300h | 33 | – |
LED and Beam
Nitecore has opted for the Cree XHP35 HD in this headlamp. It’s a solid choice for a huge output light. And operating at 5A on turbo, that’s clearly the goal here!
Low is fairly respectable in this light. I could use lower, but this is pretty good.
The reflector is smooth, and the beam has a broad spot with moderate spill. I’ll note that there’s a bit of a donut pattern in the beam on higher modes at close range, but not enough to put me off.
Beamshots
These beamshots always have the following settings: f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure. These photos are taken at floor level, and the beam hits the ceiling around 9 feet away.
Tint vs BLF-348 (KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b version) (affiliate link)
I keep the test flashlight on the left and the BLF-348 reference flashlight on the right.
Random Comparisons and Competitive Options
Here’s a relevantly filtered page on parametrek.com. There are a bunch of lights similar to this, but notably, the Zebralight H600/H603 series lights compete. The HC33 boasts a much higher total output, but it’s very likely that the stepdown puts it into the range of the Zebralights anyway.
Notably, the build of the HC33 is very similar to that of the Concept 1. It wouldn’t surprise me if they shared parts. And again, we need a shorty tube for this series!!!
Conclusion
What I like
- Build quality
- Total output is ridiculous
- Magnet in the tailcap!
- Pocket clip versatility
- Multiple cell options
What I don’t like
- The highest output is too short
- No “extra Turbo” with 2-up cells.
Notes
- This light was provided by NitecoreStore for review. I was not paid to write this review.
- This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
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