Wowtac H01 Headlamp Review

The Wowtac H01 headlamp has received much talk lately; it’s a 16340 right-angle light with micro-USB charging.  Read on for more info!

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Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Wowtac H01 Headlamp product page.

Versions

I believe there’s just one version of the H01.

Price

List price for the H01 is an incredible $19.99!  Including a cell and for the features it packs, that’s quite a deal!

$19.99 Amazon referral link and get 10% off with my coupon!

10H01zeroAir

Also, have a look at the whole of Wowtac on amazon.  They’re having a Father’s Day sale!  It’s a 20% sale on all WOWTAC flashlights and 30% off for A4 V2 on Father’s Day.  No coupon is needed; the final price has been discounted on Father’s Day.

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Short Review

Like I said above – for $20, this is a great value light.  The emitter being XP-G2 (and not XP-G3) is a choice I appreciate by Wowtac (ie thank you for not going with the universally bad tinted XP-G3).  The UI is good, the size is good, onboard charging works well, the headband is comfortable – there’s really very little if anything to dislike here!

Long Review

The Big Table

Wowtac H01 Headlamp
Emitter:	Cree XP-G2
Price in USD at publication time:	$19.99 Amazonreferral link! And get 10% off with my coupon! 10H01zeroAir
Cell:	1×16340
Turbo Runtime	High Runtime
LVP?	Impossible to ignore switch and main emitter warning
Switch Type:	E-Switch
Quiescent Current (A):	?
On-Board Charging?	Yes
Charge Port Type:	micro-USB
Chargetime
Power off Charge Port with no cell or body?	Very low output (just one mode) (and unstable – like “flickering”)
Power off Charge Port with cell present?	Very low output (just one mode), but usable.
Claimed Lumens (lm)	614
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	578 (94.1% of claim)^
Candela per Lumen	6.3
Claimed Throw (m)	97
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	444lux @ 3.002m = 4001cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	126.5 (130.4% of claim)^
All my Wowtac 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

• Wowtac H01 Headlamp
• Wowtac 650mAh 16340
• Wowtac headband
• Charge cable (USB to micro-USB)
• Spare o-ring (2)
• Spare charge port cover
• Manual and paperwork

Package and Manual

Build Quality and Disassembly

Build quality is good.  Probably build quality to cost ratio is a good number here – better built than most $20 lights.

It’s also small!  Which is a good thing because it rides very well on the headband.

The knurling on the body is well placed, useful, and good quality.

The threads are anodized, square-cut, fairly short, and very smooth.  These threads are nice.  Of note is that with the cell in place, you’ll have to squeeze the parts together to get the threads to grab.  Not a big deal though.

The tail end has a spring but no magnet.  The head has only a proud button.

The switch has an indicator, as seen below.

Size and Comps

Dimension: 66mm * 21.5mm * 21mm
Weight: 75g

This might be on the order of “too small” for hand use, and ideal for headlamp carry!

Retention and Carry

Not sure if ever featured here before but the way Thrunite and Wowtac package their headbands are both impressive and frustrating.  (Frustrating because there is absolutely zero percent chance of ever getting it secured back this way.)

Anyway, this is a headlamp, and that silicone holder in the headstrap is going to be the main way to carry it.  It slips in easily and the grooves on the body of the light make it sit securely.

The headband is a single axis band (no over-the-top band).  It’s stretchy and comfortable and adjustable.  With the lightness of the light, it’s a good setup.

The light fits into the band with the head on one side at well as well as the other.  Since the button is on the end, it won’t matter what direction you pick.  The holder is slightly directional though, as one side is a bit longer than the other.  Still, the light holds fine either way.

There is no pocket clip.  There is no magnet.  There is no other way to carry the H01.

Power and Runtime

The included cell is a 650mAh 16340.  It’s a button top, and nothing proprietary.  Any 16340 should work just fine in here.

Here are two runtimes.  Turbo essentially hits the claim and steps down after around 75 seconds as claimed.  Then the output drifts off from “High” toward the low voltage warning.  I’d like a little better-regulated output, but I am not really complaining here.

High looks exactly like Turbo does after the turbo steps down.

Charging

Built-in charging is via a micro-USB charge port in the head.  The port is covered by a press in rubber cover.  A spare is included.

An appropriate cable is also included.

Charging looks great, at just over half an amp, or approximately 1C for the 16340 cell.  This is good.  When charging, the indicator switch is red.  When complete, the switch is blue.  If something is wrong, the switch is a mix of red and blue (purpleish, but mostly “red and blue”).

I was asked if CR123 cells will work in the H01.  The answer is technically yes, but usefully no.  The voltage of those cells is below the cutoff for operation.  So right from the start, the “low voltage warning” action starts, on CR123 cells.  That is, the switch flashes red, and the main emitter flashes white (a very low output, too).  So if you need to use it as a beacon, then yes the cell will be great.  But for any other modes, no.

Modes and Currents

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
Turbo	614/197	75s/85m	578	1.89
High	198	90m	186	0.60
Medium	62	6h	56	0.16
Low	16	23h	10	0.04
Firefly	0.5	31d	–	0.02

Pulse Width Modulation

There’s PWM on the middle three modes.  It’s fast enough that I don’t really notice it.

For reference, here’s a baseline shot, with all the room lights off and almost nothing hitting the sensor.  Also, here’s the light with the worst PWM I could find.  I’m adding multiple timescales, so it’ll be easier to compare to the test light.  Unfortunately, the PWM on this light is so bad that it doesn’t even work with my normal scale, which is 50 microseconds (50us). 10ms.  5ms.  2ms.  1ms.  0.5ms.  0.2ms.  In a display faster than 0.2ms or so, the on/off cycle is more than one screen, so it’d just (very incorrectly) look like a flat line.  I wrote more about this Ultrafire WF-602C flashlight and explained a little about PWM too.

User Interface and Operation

There is a single switch on the H01 – an e-switch on the head.  This switch is proud (no tail standing) and has two two color indicators (red and blue).  It’s a big and easy-to-find switch.

Here it’s indicating blue.  The red indication is exactly like this – two emitters.

Here’s a UI table!

State	Action	Result
Off	Click	On (Mode Memory, except Firefly/Turbo/SOS)
Off	Hold	Firefly
On	Click	Off
Any	Double click	Turbo
On	Hold	Mode advance (LMH, excludes Firefly/Turbo/SOS)
Any	Triple click	SOS

LED and Beam

The emitter in the H01 is a Cree XP-G2.  This emitter is behind a TIR optic and provides a surprisingly tight beam.

I think it’s possible in my copy that the TIR isn’t seated right – see the images below.  The beam profile has a weir corona, is very square-shaped, and also has some square legs off to the top right.  In the pics, it’s not all that noticeable, but it’s pretty annoying in person.  I have a feeling putting a new emitter in here and making sure the optic is seated right will fix this up.

These beamshots are always with the following settings:  f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure.

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.

I compare everything to the KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!

Conclusion on the Wowtac H01 Headlamp

What I like

• Low cost
• Complete package
• Good charging
• Nice simple yet comprehensive UI

What I don’t like

• Beam shape with the possibility the optic is misseated.

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Notes

• This light was provided by Wowtac for review. I was not paid to write this review.
• This content originally appeared at zeroair.org.  Please visit there for the best experience!
• For flashlight-related patches, stickers, and gear, head over to PhotonPhreaks.com!
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