Review: Streamlight Strion HPL (Proprietary cell)

As the latest addition to the Streamlight Strion range, the Strion HPL, in Streamlights terminology, adds both High Performance (HP) and High Lumen (HL) in the same light; H P L. What this means is that the output is well over double the basic Strion and the large head and reflector increase the performance in terms of peak beam intensity and throw.






Taking a more detailed look:

The Strion HPL kit arrives in a sturdy retail box.




You can tell this is a 'professional' work light as the kit includes two wall/surface mountable clamp charger bases as standard, along with a mains charger and car charger allowing you to carry the light and charge it indoors or in your vehicle without having to relocate a charger.




The clamp charger bases are sturdy with hinged and sprung clamp jaws to hold the Strion HPL firmly when charging, yet allow it to be easily pulled out.




On the side of the Strion HPL there is a location triangle with the two charger contacts set into it.




In the charger base, there is a corresponding triangular cut out with the two sprung contacts.




The red charge indicator light which is steady when charging and flashes when fully charged.




The Strion HPL uses a proprietary Streamlight Strion cell. This has a double pole contact at one end, and a single contact at the other end.




With the different ends (one single pole, one double pole) the cell must be inserted the correct way round as shown on the label.




There is a single sprung contact on the tail-cap.




Standard threads are used on the tail-cap. These are very smooth and fully anodised.




With the Streamlight logo moulded into it, the Strion HPL has a single tail-cap mounted switch.




The large smooth reflector and 'C4' LED. The specifics of the LED are not provided, but it looks like an XP-L.




The reflector is very deep, and the Strion HPL uses a polycarbonate lens.





The beam

Please be careful not to judge tint based on images you see on a computer screen. Unless properly calibrated, the screen itself will change the perceived tint.
The indoor beamshot is intended to give an idea of the beam shape/quality rather than tint. All beamshots are taken using daylight white balance. The woodwork (stairs and skirting) are painted Farrow & Ball "Off-White", and the walls are a light sandy colour called 'String' again by Farrow & Ball. I don't actually have a 'white wall' in the house to use for this, and the wife won't have one!


The large reflector does its job of providing a highly focussed beam. The hotspot is very bright, and the spill is weak and narrow.




The tight hotspot gives excellent throw, but the spill beam narrows the view.





Modes and User Interface:

Streamlight have kept the Strion control very simple. Altogether there are three constant modes and a strobe.

The tail-cap switch is a very unusual forward clicky, unusual in that it seems to be a latching switch, but is not. I'll explain more:

From OFF, half pressing the switch operates the Strion HPL in momentary mode. No matter the number or speed of half presses, only High output is used.

From OFF, fully pressing and releasing the switch (so it clicks) turns onto High. Fully pressing and releasing the switch turns it OFF. When turned ON the Strion HPL will always be on High there is no memory.

From OFF fully pressing (so it clicks) and holding the switch will cycle through the modes High -> Medium -> Low -> Medium -> High etc. Once you have the desired mode release the switch. This is not memorised once the Strion HPL is turned OFF.

But…

From ON fully pressing (so it clicks) and holding the switch will ALSO cycle through the modes High -> Medium -> Low -> Medium -> High etc. Again once you have the desired mode release the switch.

So to choose Low, you can either:

Fully press and hold – then release
Fully press and release, then fully press and hold – then release
To change mode again Fully press and hold – then release

Which means a total of either one, or two clicks (the second click would normally turn a clicky light OFF), and the Strion HPL is still ON and in Low mode. This can actually be any number of clicks without turning the Strion HPL OFF if you change mode again.

This is what I mean by an 'Unusual' forward clicky switch.


From OFF to access Strobe the switch must have a rapid double click. It must be a fully press (with click) to get to Strobe.

To switch OFF from any mode use a single full press and release of the switch.



Batteries and output:

The Strion HPL kit comes with a proprietary 2200mAh li-ion cell. Only Streamlight's dedicated rechargeable batteries can be used in this light.

To measure actual output, I built an integrating sphere. See here for more detail. The sensor registers visible light only (so Infra-Red and Ultra-Violet will not be measured).

Please note, all quoted lumen figures are from a DIY integrating sphere, and according to ANSI standards. Although every effort is made to give as accurate a result as possible, they should be taken as an estimate only. The results can be used to compare outputs in this review and others I have published.


Peak Beam intensity measured 42800lx @1m giving a beam range of 414m.

There is parasitic drain at 5.2uA giving a time to drain the fully charged 2200mAh cell of 48 Years.

Though not fully regulated, the Strion HPL's output is pretty consistent for the majority of the runtime with a sharp fall in output once the cell is depleted. In this trace the protection on the Strion's cell must have activated as the output cut out.





Troubleshooting

This is a new section I am adding to mention any minor niggles I came across during testing, in case the information helps anyone else.

Nothing has come up during testing.

As per the description of this section, this information is provided in case anyone else finds a similar 'issue' that might be fixed in the same way.



The STRION HPL in use

The Strion range are rechargeable lights aimed at the professional user needing a daily work light, and this is reflected in the design of all the components.

The charger bases are amongst the best I've used, with a firm grip on the light (thanks to sprung loaded jaws) yet not so firm it becomes difficult to fit and remove the light. Streamlight have got this just right. You won't have the Strion HPL fall out of the charger even using it vehicle mounted and on rough terrain.

Output is a no-nonsense – basically on High - type of light. The other modes are there, but not obvious unless you know how to get to them. Despite all the interfaces I have used, the Strion HPL had me reaching for the instructions to find out how to get anything other than High or Strobe.

This mode set and interface points to its main use of a simple 'turn it on and get maximum output' for users that just want maximum output every time.

For its size and weight, the beam range is very good thanks to a deep reflector and solid 600lm+ output.

The Strion HPL, has some whine when using Medium and Low levels, and the charger base also whines when actually charging. As soon as full charge is achieved, the whine stops.

I found two aspects of the Strion HPL counter intuitive.

The first was the charging indicator light. In this case, when charging, the light is on solid, and once the Strion HPL is fully charged the light flashes. Just about every other device I've ever come across would use a flashing light to indicate charging and solid light to indicate fully charged (or solid, then off).

Secondly is the light's UI and that non-latching forward clicky switch. It feels like a standard forward clicky, but is not (see the UI section).


With the Strion HPL, you get a full kit, so you don't need anything else to get going with this light. By including both a mains charger and charging base, plus a second charging base and car charger, Streamlight have made this a very accessible to anyone who wants a light that will go with them between their base of operations and vehicle and always be ready for use.



Review Summary

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Nice job Subwoofer. I really like the looks of that light :twothumbs