Energizer LED HeadBeam - 2x Brighter

I liked the original Energizer LED Head Beam at its price of just under $13 - then even better when Target had a closeout on them for $9.08.

But recently WalMart started to sell them at $10.88 -
probably because there was a newer different version using two more white LEDs to give a flood as well as the original wide spot beam at just under $15.

However even more recently I noticed some of these headlights had a sticker on them that claimed they were 2x Brighter....



The name has also changed to "3 LED pivoting HeadLight".

At just under $11 and a claimed 2x brighter - well, I just had to see for myself.

New v. Original Energizer LED Head Beam White LEDs -


It appears that the white beam on this new version is definitely noticably brighter with an even larger coverage (I have two of the orignal version to compare - all using fresh AAA alkalines).

New vs. Original Energizer LED Head Beam Red LED -


However there didn't seem to be much difference between the red beams.

My early review attempt compared with an Ultra-G -

Energizer LED Headlamp

Great pics, and comparison, sadly we only have older ones here in Australia, and they still retail for about $AUD 35.00, that's about $USD 26.25. I really envy people in the US having lower price flashlight, and much more range to choose from.

In Wal Mart they also have a new 6 Led Energizer headlamp. I think the price was closer to $15 than the $10.88 3 LED light. Looks interesting and my original Energizer Essentials headlamp was essential so this may even be better.

I bought a River Rock headlamp and the light is good, I just cant get used to the 3rd strap, it seems too bulky compared to the simplicity of the Energizer.

Haz
I have to agree with you, we pay at least three times the price here
for the same LED products as in the US. it makes you want to cry

Beacon of Light wrote: "In Wal Mart they also have a new 6 Led Energizer headlamp. I think the price was closer to $15"

Yes, that's the one I saw and referred to.
....and those also recently started to have the 2x Brighter stickers too

Just looking at it in its blister pack - it is bigger (and I assume a bit heavier) than the 3-LED, I wasn't too sure if that trade-off was worth it for the "flood" beam ability.

The 3-LED from the beamshots has this strange "funky" sidespill - it is emiently usable as the main beam/hotspot basically follows the head/eyes and the sidespill is really used for peripheral vision.

For a "flood" beam - my (unrealistic) expectations would be to light up a whole room - and I know that's not possible.

I would be very interested in hearing from anyone who has both the 6-LED Energizer HeadLight and this 3-LED version to compare - especially if the Flood beam is worthwhile.

Beacon of Light said:

In Wal Mart they also have a new 6 Led Energizer headlamp. I think the price was closer to $15 than the $10.88 3 LED light. Looks interesting and my original Energizer Essentials headlamp was essential so this may even be better.

I bought a River Rock headlamp and the light is good, I just cant get used to the 3rd strap, it seems too bulky compared to the simplicity of the Energizer.

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I own a River Rock headlamp, and the 3rd strap is easily removed. There are slots in the plastic clip that you can slip the strap through to remove it. I like the 3rd strap for when I'm running, as the light doesn't bounce around as much.

The biggest complaint I have about the Eveready headlamp is that it has no gaskets, and since the back of the light rests against your forehead, sweat easily gets inside the lamp, rusting the battery contacts.

BlackDecker wrote: "The biggest complaint I have about the Eveready headlamp is that it has no gaskets, and since the back of the light rests against your forehead, sweat easily gets inside the lamp, rusting the battery contacts."

That's a really good point -
despite the fact Energizer categorizes this 3-LED HeadLight as "Outdoors" - there are no claims of water-resistance.
So buyers should be aware of this possible shortcoming - although it doesn't affect me that much for normal usage.

However I never even thought about the perspiration getting into the battery compartment - I'll now be aware of this. Thank you.

BTW - as an ad-hoc (and purely subjective look-see) observation - this new "2x Brighter" 3-LED HeadLight seems brighter than any of my 3 current fad of 0.5watt lights - those are -

0.5w 1AA - AdvancedMart LED-005S - this has the most similar beam characteristics - the large hotspot - but much better smoother side-spill.

Nuwai 0.5w 1AAA (TM-310H) - central hotspot may be more intense - but overall I think I see better with the 3-LED headLight.

1AAA 0.5w AdvancedMart LED-050AAA - similar experience to the Nuwai 0.5w 1AAA - except this light's tint is much better, perhaps the center of the hotspot is not quite as intense.

i first saw this headbeam when my friend showed my the original version. i thought that one was rather dim actually. i bought the new one from wally world that claimed it had 2x the brightness. it was a bit brighter, so i guess it is now adequate for the price, the original was certainly dissapointing which is probably why i never really saw them on the shelves much. the new one is well stocked. the good thing about the hinge is it lets you place it higher on your head on your hair even and still re-aim the spotlight down where it needs to. good for avoiding a sweaty forehead

its still a bit dissapointing though since compared to a puplight i have its dimmer. the puplight is impressively bright, it has 3 flood fill leds, no idea what they are though. its a thing u put your dogs collar so it has its own personal human blinding device

headbeams a good deal until those 3watters come down in price. headbeam with 1-3 watters would have been awsome no chance of that happneing soon though

Interesting pricing on this Energizer HeadBeam -

WalMart, which normally prices below Target, has raised the price of this version back up to $12.88(?) vs. their fairly recent $10.88

Whereas in my local Target stores they are priced at $9.99 - these are for the 2x brighter versions.

I thought Target's previous closeout price of $9.08 was good for the original version -
now their regular pricing for this 2x brighter version is only 91cents more......

Hey frasera, one of Targets new products is actually a 3 watt headlamp from Brinkmann. I'm not sure if anyone has done any reviews yet. Maybe you might want to do one.

UnknownVT said:

Interesting pricing on this Energizer HeadBeam -

WalMart, which normally prices below Target, has raised the price of this version back up to $12.88(?) vs. their fairly recent $10.88

Whereas in my local Target stores they are priced at $9.99 - these are for the 2x brighter versions.

I thought Target's previous closeout price of $9.08 was good for the original version -
now their regular pricing for this 2x brighter version is only 91cents more......

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its 15 dollars at walmart now. 10 dollars for the 3 led version.

now checking it again it doesn't seem like much of a deal. brinksman's 1 watt luxeon headlamp is only 3-4 dollars more at walmart. the dorcy flashlight with 1watt luxeon is 3-4 dollars also. its also encouraging that both of those packages brag on the front they have luxeons, no more hiding that kind of info(inova!!!). just seems like energizer fixed the headbeam too little, too late. feels like the last days of old style leds for any serious lighting besides keychains. i'm betting the brinksmans useful light far outstrips the headbeam.

and yea rala, theres 3 watt led at target. nice to see them list wattage as a selling point. get consumers away from buying anything sub 1watt. the 3 watter was 30 bucks though, so its got a way to go before its an impulse purchase for most.

frasera wrote: "its 15 dollars at walmart now. 10 dollars for the 3 led version."

Just for clarity - as discussed earlier on in this thread - $15 at WalMart was for the bigger 6-LED version, whereas the 3-LED version as reviewed here was $10.88. I thought I saw recently at my local WalMart had raised the price of this 3-LED version back up to $12.88(?)

Target which normally has HIGHER prices than WalMart - however has the 3-LED version for $9.99 - I have not seen the bigger 6-LED version there.


frasera wrote: "feels like the last days of old style leds for any serious lighting besides keychains. i'm betting the brinksmans useful light far outstrips the headbeam."

Brighter does not always = better.
Often it's the right amount of light for the purpose.

There is plenty of life still in the humble 5mm LED -
just a few popular examples:

ArcAAA = $29.95 (non-premium version)
Inova X1 = $20 (Target)
Inova X5 (5x 5mm LED) = $35(!) (Target)

I find this 3-LED Energizer HeadBeam very useful at its level of lighting for my usage - especially for being able to examine things closely - where I would think a 3watt driven to spec would simply dazzle.

Not only that a 1watt or 3watt driven to spec will EAT batteries in comparison to 5mm LEDs so one would have to wear larger batteries on one's head for longer runtimes (Energizer claims 50hours runtime)......

yea i guess, for the price it is alright. esp if u put in fresh batteries, course that applies to all led lights. it is much improved from the original model, which was just a joke.

i think it was 10 dollars at walmart. as for the battery life, i'm betting u can cut the times in half for useful light, but atleast with the 6 led version the red leds last longer.

also, theres a new version. at target they now carry these two in new colors, and with carrying case included. instead of camo scheme they are whitish grey for the battery pack area with a dark blue trim. the 3led has blue trim around the front, the 6 led has ablue button. the headbands are also blue scheme.

interesting thing is now they replaced the 6 led version a 1watt led!!!
not bad for 15 dollars if its good. still runs on 3aaa's. btw which has more energy anyways? 3aaa or 2aa?

anyways if the 1watt is bright as any 1watter out there than its a steal! 1 watt is finally enough light to be passable. the original versions with 5mm were a tad weak

frasera said:

interesting thing is now they replaced the 6 led version a 1watt led!!!
not bad for 15 dollars if its good. still runs on 3aaa's. btw which has more energy anyways? 3aaa or 2aa?
anyways if the 1watt is bright as any 1watter out there than its a steal! 1 watt is finally enough light to be passable. the original versions with 5mm were a tad weak

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Thanks for bumping this thread.

3x AAA = 3x 1.5 x 1.25 watt-hrs = 5.625 watt-hrs
2x AA = 2x 1.5 x 2.85 watt-hrs = 8.55 watt-hrs

However with 2 AA there has to be a step-up circuit to bring the 3V up to the Vf of the LED - less efficient than 3 AAA where only a limiting resistor is used.

I have found the 3 LED (2x brighter) version just about right for my around the house usage - it's about the right amount of light (for me)

1 watt has always been an awkward in-beetween-y level for me - too bright for closer work and too weak for distance work......

Also 1 watt on 5.625 watt-hrs capacity of 3 AAA would probably give about ~2-4 hours on 1 watt max....
compared to the nearly 50 hours claimed for the humble 3 LED version.

i know about the 50 hour claim... but i dunno, i generally don't last more than a few hours on the 4 led mode using my 6led version..which is also the 2x "brighter" model. its not that it dies, its that i notice it dims quite noticably. its probably ok if i'm in the house, but if working on the car its just not enough and i go toss the batteries back into the charger. by 50 hour mark it would probably be barely glowing i bet. the watt is what i think is needed, its really not that bright unless you are sitting at a desk working on something really close up then i'd see your point because then it would be over kill. but anything at a slight distance needs atleast 1watt. i'm basing my 1watt brightness off a 1watt inova using 2aa. its bright but not that bright. i think it also has 2 5mm white leds anyways though so if its too bright you can just switch to that mode.

btw thanks for the battery info

*edit, found it again, but it was 19.99 at target ah well i couldn't justify it when i still have other working lights. its a 5 led version, it has 2 flood 2 red 1 1watt led. so it basically replaces the focused beam nichea with the bright 1watt which is good since the focused ones really weren't bright enough for that task. so it looks like a good setup, a choice between the super long battery flood led and super bright 1watt for when you need it i'll have to check walmart again to see if its going for 15 bucks there, i hope it is

Important NOTE: This is an OLD thread dating back to Dec/2005.

Ha! I found a genuine "legitimate" use for this Energizer headlight.

I grabbed the 2x brighter version - but putting on the old version (which one can't get anymore) that worked just as well.

Most will say this headlight is not really bright enough for outdoors use - however my take is that it is just about the right sort of level for use indoors - and I do mean both the 2x and older version. Our eyes/brain adjust and accomodate for a wide level of brightness and even color/tint - and I find using these headlights around the house comfortable and without any strain.

Anyway back to this "legitimate" use -
My watch (see EDC - Watch) was starting to show signs of low battery - eg: if I press the backlight the display would go blank.

Since the battery is a simple CR2016 lithium coin-cell and I have plenty of those around for replacements in Photons and clones -
I thought I'd change the battery myself.

Even with all the lights on around my working area - those "pesky" tiny little screws were hard to see -

Ah! I thought use a flashlight to direct light on the work....
it's wasn't a second later I also realized that I already have both hands occupied, and wasn't going to try to hold a flashlight in my mouth and drool over my watch.......
so a nano second later "headlight" -
got the 2x brighter version of the Energizer headbeam and it was just about ideal for this task - as the light pivotted so I could direct the light with some precision on the work, and this arrangement worked out real well.

Oh, of course I have used this headlight for other purposes like reading CD spines in dark corners of my room - but I could have done that with a regular flashlight or re-directed my room lighting - so it wasn't really serious or "legitimate".

This use I really felt was worthwhile and I don't think the choice could have been much better.

Anyone else with less obvious, but real practical uses for headlights?