This is NITECORE's first headlamp, and first impressions are very good. The HC50's box proudly states a maximum output of 565 lumens, but a nice surprise is that during testing (using NITECORE's NL189 3400mAh cell) the measured output was 627 lumens.
Taking a single 18650, or two R/CR123s directly in the lamp unit (ie, without a separate battery pack), the HC50 is relatively large, but not overly heavy.
The large rubber mount and headband looks comfortable and easy to adjust and has a top strap for added stability.
There is the option of either white or red light giving a lot of flexibility and choice of output.
Taking a closer look:
Out of the box, the HC50 comes fully assembled with the strap and light together, ready to go. Also included are spare o-rings and the instructions.
Looking straight at the LEDs, there is the central white XM-L2 and each side a red LED.
The rubber mount is easy to remove and the HC50 can be used like this as a separate light. Shown next to the HC50 is a NITECORE NL189 3400mAh 18650.
All of the strap buckles use the same C-clip shown in this photo, which allow you to easily disassemble the strap and take it off for cleaning or replacement. This is a very well designed strap with plenty of adjustment.
Looking from the side, the cooling fins protrude more near the top.
The cap has plenty of grip for easy removal, and inside the cap, there is a rotating circuit board with a locator pin that engages with the main body to align the contact spring.
The battery tube is a snug fit for most protected 18650s and edges of the end of the tube are crisp and sharp. Due to this you need to watch out as you fit the cell not to damage it. One of the NL189s was slightly larger than the other and the wrap over the protection circuit strip down the side of the cell was scratched and nicked in one spot even when trying to insert it carefully.
Looking inside the battery tube at the positive contact, the physical reverse polarity protection can be seen. This means it is not possible to use flat top cells.
The threads are trapezoid, cleanly cut and fully anodised. A single o-ring provides the seal.
The HC50 is on a cm scale grid to show the size.
Like many other NITECORE lights, the HC 50 uses a two-stage button and this has either green or red illumination to indicate the battery condition. Here the HC50 is very happily green.
Modes and User Interface:
There are 5 steady white output levels (Lowest, Low, Medium, High and Turbo), and two flashing modes (SOS and beacon).
After fitting a new battery, the HC50 will first come on in Medium.
There are two output modes for the red LEDs, steady on and flashing.
From off, to switch onto white output, fully click the switch. To cycle through the modes, half press the button.
To switch off, fully press the button. – One observation here is that if you do not 'stab' the button fully very quickly, the mode will be changed before it switches off. With the light on your head, it is not as easy to do this quick click as the button is awkwardly placed.
The button also has a loud click, so you won't be very stealthy using this light.
When switching back on, it will be in the last used mode, unless you have changed the battery, in which case it will come on in Medium.
To access the white flashing modes, when 'on', a quick double click (fully pressing the button) will give you SOS mode. A half press changes this to beacon. A full click switches the HC50 off.
To access the red output, from 'off', press and hold for about two seconds. It will then come on in steady red mode. A half press changes to flashing. A further full press will turn the HC50 off.
The button is also illuminated. When fitting a cell, the button will flash the full volts first, then the 0.1 V, so 4 flashes followed by 2 indicates the cell is at 4.2V. When fitting a freshly charged 18650, I have seen 4.3V reported (when I know the cell is at 4.2V or less), so this reading can be slightly high, but is a good enough approximation.
Every time the HC50 is switched on the button lights up either green to indicate more than 50% charge, or red, to indicate less than 50% charge.
Batteries and output:
The HC50 will run on 1x18650 or 2x R/CR123. The R/CR123 refers to both CR123 and RCR123.
Keeping this test 100% NITECORE, the HC50 was powered using the NITECORE NL189 3400mAh 18650 protected cell charged with a NITECORE i4 charger (both kindly supplied by NITECORE.co.uk for this review).
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.
With an electronic switch, there is parasitic drain. This measured at 0.165mA meaning with a 3400mAh 18650 it will take 2.35 years to deplete the cell.
When carrying out the runtime test I always use a cooling fan. A static runtime test is carried out in very unrealistic conditions in that a light would not be left indoors in a clamp running at full output for a long as the batteries last in normal use. To counter this unrealistic scenario, forced cooling is used. Even with a cooling fan many lights hit 60° C or more.
This runtime trace is on Turbo output mode and using a NITECORE NL189 3400mAh 18650. The trace is cut off at the ANSI rating point but following this cut-off, the HC50 continued to output light for a further 2 hours and at this time had dropped to around 2lm.
The beam
The indoor beamshot shows the HC50's beam has a very wide flood beam with a soft edged outer spill and a slightly brighter hotspot area.
The red beam is not as wide, but is surprisingly smooth and even despite using 5mm type LEDs.
Moving outdoors shows just how good an area light the HC50 is, nicely filling the area with light.
Wrapping-up
NITECORE have drawn on their experience in making lights to produce a very effective headlamp. The beam is ideal for close range work, but also has the power to extend this range to a much larger area.
So far I've found for indoor use, and general outdoor tasks that the Medium, is more than enough and sometimes I use Low, with High and Turbo held in reserve for when you need more range.
The headband is incredibly comfortable, and makes the HC50 virtually disappear even on long periods of use.
Personally I find there are a couple of issues relating to the switch, and switch position. The switch has a very loud click (compared to most lights) so even having the Lowest mode you might wake up a sleeping partner. The switch operation is quite stiff for the full press, this combined with the position (when worn on the head), makes it a bit awkward to click it fully. If the switch were on the top of the light it would be easier to pinch/squeeze it with either hand. Finally, connected with the stiff operation and awkward placement, when trying to switch the light off, I find that frequently I end up changing modes and then switching it off. This means when I turn it back on it will be in a brighter mode. If I concentrate on stabbing the button in this does not happen
The HC50 may be a little battery fussy due to its relatively tight battery tube. All protected 3100mAh cells I have fitted without issue, but as mentioned earlier one of the two NITECORE NL189 3400mAh cells suffered some minor damage on inserting it into the HC50.
Regarding the UI, the issue described above leads onto a comment about the mode changing. As you have to cycle through all modes to go down in brightness, this starts to become annoying when coupled with the accidental mode change. Take the example of using the light in Low; Switching it off but accidentally changing to medium, now I have to switch it back on, cycle through High, Turbo, Lowest to get back to Low. Not a problem as such, but more noticeable thanks to the switch design leading to accidental mode changes.
Another observation which I need to investigate further is that having left the light off for several hours overnight, I have found the white LED glowing very very dimly. Much dimmer than the Lowest mode and something you only notice in complete darkness. Switching the HC50 on and off again removed the glow. I will be keeping an eye on this.
Despite the critical comments above, the HC50 is a very good light. The wide flood beam is excellent, with well-spaced output levels makes it really easy and comfortable to use. Optional red light output adds to its versatility. The flashing modes provided are excellent, with the red flashing working well as a rear warning light when walking/running/cycling at night and the white beacon mode being one of the best beacons I've seen with a brief snappy flash at a short interval. The headband is one of the best I have seen and remains comfortable for extended periods. Use of the 18650 provides a high energy density and plenty of power in a compact package. A gradual fading of output with no sudden cut-off means you won't be left in the dark.
Overall the HC50 works very well, and is going to be getting a lot more use. It looks like it will be deposing my previous favourite headlamp from its throne.
Since getting the HC50, strange, unexplained lights have been seen floating around. Will they be coming to an area near you soon?
NITECORE HC50 test sample provided by NITECORE for review.
NITECORE NL189 3400mAh 18650 and Intellicharger i4 kindly provided by NITECORE.co.uk
Taking a single 18650, or two R/CR123s directly in the lamp unit (ie, without a separate battery pack), the HC50 is relatively large, but not overly heavy.
The large rubber mount and headband looks comfortable and easy to adjust and has a top strap for added stability.
There is the option of either white or red light giving a lot of flexibility and choice of output.
Taking a closer look:
Out of the box, the HC50 comes fully assembled with the strap and light together, ready to go. Also included are spare o-rings and the instructions.
Looking straight at the LEDs, there is the central white XM-L2 and each side a red LED.
The rubber mount is easy to remove and the HC50 can be used like this as a separate light. Shown next to the HC50 is a NITECORE NL189 3400mAh 18650.
All of the strap buckles use the same C-clip shown in this photo, which allow you to easily disassemble the strap and take it off for cleaning or replacement. This is a very well designed strap with plenty of adjustment.
Looking from the side, the cooling fins protrude more near the top.
The cap has plenty of grip for easy removal, and inside the cap, there is a rotating circuit board with a locator pin that engages with the main body to align the contact spring.
The battery tube is a snug fit for most protected 18650s and edges of the end of the tube are crisp and sharp. Due to this you need to watch out as you fit the cell not to damage it. One of the NL189s was slightly larger than the other and the wrap over the protection circuit strip down the side of the cell was scratched and nicked in one spot even when trying to insert it carefully.
Looking inside the battery tube at the positive contact, the physical reverse polarity protection can be seen. This means it is not possible to use flat top cells.
The threads are trapezoid, cleanly cut and fully anodised. A single o-ring provides the seal.
The HC50 is on a cm scale grid to show the size.
Like many other NITECORE lights, the HC 50 uses a two-stage button and this has either green or red illumination to indicate the battery condition. Here the HC50 is very happily green.
Modes and User Interface:
There are 5 steady white output levels (Lowest, Low, Medium, High and Turbo), and two flashing modes (SOS and beacon).
After fitting a new battery, the HC50 will first come on in Medium.
There are two output modes for the red LEDs, steady on and flashing.
From off, to switch onto white output, fully click the switch. To cycle through the modes, half press the button.
To switch off, fully press the button. – One observation here is that if you do not 'stab' the button fully very quickly, the mode will be changed before it switches off. With the light on your head, it is not as easy to do this quick click as the button is awkwardly placed.
The button also has a loud click, so you won't be very stealthy using this light.
When switching back on, it will be in the last used mode, unless you have changed the battery, in which case it will come on in Medium.
To access the white flashing modes, when 'on', a quick double click (fully pressing the button) will give you SOS mode. A half press changes this to beacon. A full click switches the HC50 off.
To access the red output, from 'off', press and hold for about two seconds. It will then come on in steady red mode. A half press changes to flashing. A further full press will turn the HC50 off.
The button is also illuminated. When fitting a cell, the button will flash the full volts first, then the 0.1 V, so 4 flashes followed by 2 indicates the cell is at 4.2V. When fitting a freshly charged 18650, I have seen 4.3V reported (when I know the cell is at 4.2V or less), so this reading can be slightly high, but is a good enough approximation.
Every time the HC50 is switched on the button lights up either green to indicate more than 50% charge, or red, to indicate less than 50% charge.
Batteries and output:
The HC50 will run on 1x18650 or 2x R/CR123. The R/CR123 refers to both CR123 and RCR123.
Keeping this test 100% NITECORE, the HC50 was powered using the NITECORE NL189 3400mAh 18650 protected cell charged with a NITECORE i4 charger (both kindly supplied by NITECORE.co.uk for this review).
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.
NITECORE HC50 using NL189 18650 | I.S. measured ANSI output Lumens | PWM frequency or Strobe frequency (Hz) |
---|---|---|
Turbo | 627 | 0 |
High | 414 | 0 |
Medium | 199 | 0 |
Low | 38 | 0 |
Lowest | 2 | 0 |
Red | 2 | 0 |
SOS flashes | 695 | N/A |
Beacon flashes | 126 | N/A |
With an electronic switch, there is parasitic drain. This measured at 0.165mA meaning with a 3400mAh 18650 it will take 2.35 years to deplete the cell.
When carrying out the runtime test I always use a cooling fan. A static runtime test is carried out in very unrealistic conditions in that a light would not be left indoors in a clamp running at full output for a long as the batteries last in normal use. To counter this unrealistic scenario, forced cooling is used. Even with a cooling fan many lights hit 60° C or more.
This runtime trace is on Turbo output mode and using a NITECORE NL189 3400mAh 18650. The trace is cut off at the ANSI rating point but following this cut-off, the HC50 continued to output light for a further 2 hours and at this time had dropped to around 2lm.
The beam
The indoor beamshot shows the HC50's beam has a very wide flood beam with a soft edged outer spill and a slightly brighter hotspot area.
The red beam is not as wide, but is surprisingly smooth and even despite using 5mm type LEDs.
Moving outdoors shows just how good an area light the HC50 is, nicely filling the area with light.
Wrapping-up
NITECORE have drawn on their experience in making lights to produce a very effective headlamp. The beam is ideal for close range work, but also has the power to extend this range to a much larger area.
So far I've found for indoor use, and general outdoor tasks that the Medium, is more than enough and sometimes I use Low, with High and Turbo held in reserve for when you need more range.
The headband is incredibly comfortable, and makes the HC50 virtually disappear even on long periods of use.
Personally I find there are a couple of issues relating to the switch, and switch position. The switch has a very loud click (compared to most lights) so even having the Lowest mode you might wake up a sleeping partner. The switch operation is quite stiff for the full press, this combined with the position (when worn on the head), makes it a bit awkward to click it fully. If the switch were on the top of the light it would be easier to pinch/squeeze it with either hand. Finally, connected with the stiff operation and awkward placement, when trying to switch the light off, I find that frequently I end up changing modes and then switching it off. This means when I turn it back on it will be in a brighter mode. If I concentrate on stabbing the button in this does not happen
The HC50 may be a little battery fussy due to its relatively tight battery tube. All protected 3100mAh cells I have fitted without issue, but as mentioned earlier one of the two NITECORE NL189 3400mAh cells suffered some minor damage on inserting it into the HC50.
Regarding the UI, the issue described above leads onto a comment about the mode changing. As you have to cycle through all modes to go down in brightness, this starts to become annoying when coupled with the accidental mode change. Take the example of using the light in Low; Switching it off but accidentally changing to medium, now I have to switch it back on, cycle through High, Turbo, Lowest to get back to Low. Not a problem as such, but more noticeable thanks to the switch design leading to accidental mode changes.
Another observation which I need to investigate further is that having left the light off for several hours overnight, I have found the white LED glowing very very dimly. Much dimmer than the Lowest mode and something you only notice in complete darkness. Switching the HC50 on and off again removed the glow. I will be keeping an eye on this.
Despite the critical comments above, the HC50 is a very good light. The wide flood beam is excellent, with well-spaced output levels makes it really easy and comfortable to use. Optional red light output adds to its versatility. The flashing modes provided are excellent, with the red flashing working well as a rear warning light when walking/running/cycling at night and the white beacon mode being one of the best beacons I've seen with a brief snappy flash at a short interval. The headband is one of the best I have seen and remains comfortable for extended periods. Use of the 18650 provides a high energy density and plenty of power in a compact package. A gradual fading of output with no sudden cut-off means you won't be left in the dark.
Overall the HC50 works very well, and is going to be getting a lot more use. It looks like it will be deposing my previous favourite headlamp from its throne.
Since getting the HC50, strange, unexplained lights have been seen floating around. Will they be coming to an area near you soon?
NITECORE HC50 test sample provided by NITECORE for review.
NITECORE NL189 3400mAh 18650 and Intellicharger i4 kindly provided by NITECORE.co.uk