JohnnyMac
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2011
- Messages
- 181
Hero 960 Lumen Rechargeable LED Flashlight
* Flashlight provided for review courtesy of Powertac
The Powertac Hero is a multi-functional LED flashlight with the
latest technology. It is the HERO that will save the moment whether
you need a bright light or charging your smart phones. It can be
charged by plugging into any USB port or smart phone charger. It is
the ultimate flashlight and the ultimate mobile charger, ideal for
professionals on the go.
The above paragraph is right from their product
information copy. It describes pretty accurately why the Hero
is named hero. Its a light that can be charged from any USB
port at home or in your car so its always ready with light when you
need it. Out and about with a dying phone battery? The
Hero can be used as a portable power supply for your phone or any
device that derives its power form a USB input. Most lights
that do both are focused more on being a portable power charger than
as a flashlight. The Hero is a rock solid light that runs on
an included, and decent, 26650 cell, with great mode spacing form a
1 lumen Low mode all the way to a maximum output of a claimed 960
lumens and 450 meters of throw distance. Does it live up to
those output specs? Well find out near the end of this review
when I go over my tested output specs. In the meantime, here
is further copy from Powertacs website describing the features
built into the hero flashlight...
A Little About Powertac...
Powertac is a United States company and all of their lights come with a lifetime warranty. While the headquarters are in Raleigh, North Carolina, all their flashlights are designed here but I believe they are manufactured in China. Powertac lights carry a premium price what for your money you do get a lifetime warranty, service here in the United States, and a premium quality flashlight based on the 3 samples I have received for review.
Powertac actually has a YouTube channel ("OfficialPowerTac") and they provide an instructional video on how to perform basic repairs and testing on not only Powertac lights, but any LED flashlight in general. If the instructions don't resolve your issue they invite you to contact their Service department in Raleigh, NC. I've actually met Bam, the guy in the repair video, around a year ago at a police trade show in Philadelphia where I was very impressed with their products.
http://youtu.be/x-T5o6kb4jY
FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
When I received the Powertac Hero, the first thing that caught my
eye was the nice full-color heavy cardboard box with hinged lid and
magnetic closure.
^ Inside the box is a dense foam insert cradling the Hero (inside
its holster) and its accessories.
^ Inside is a clear, well written set of instructions on how to use
your Hero flashlight/portable power supply.
^
The included holster is the nicest standard holster Ive seen come
with any flashlight ever. Its actually a molded hard-shell
holster that fits like a glove and latches securely. The heavy
nylon fabric that covers the entire exterior of the holster is
extremely heavy and durable. The belt loop is designed to be
inserted on the belt before belting or, using the Velcro flaps,
mounted after the fact just as securely.
^ The Hero is controlled via a single electronic switch made of
translucent white silicon and is backlit with an RBG LED for various
status information. All threads are anodized and the hero can
be mechanically locked out for zero parasitic draw from the
electronic switch circuitry.
^ All laser etching on the logo and model are clean and precise.
The font used for the model name is a bit generic and lends an
unfortunate generic feel to the Hero. Fortunately that generic
feel only lasts until you pick it up and hold it.
^ The reflector is SMO and while very clean and smooth, makes just a
tad ringy beam spill. The The XM-L2 LED is CW in tint and is
perfectly centered.
^ The tail cap is lipped to allow tail standing with a full sized
550 paracord lanyard attached. All threads are fully anodized,
very smoothly machined, triangular, and prelubed.
^^
All O-rings are heavy duty and thick to provide a very tight seal.
^
Connection to the tail cap is provided with a strong, stainless steel
spring which is easily removed and replaced without any tools.
^ A look at the threads that connect to the head of the Hero.
Again, they are properly lubed, extremely smooth, and the O-rings
are super tight for proper seal. The knurling on the Hero is
spectacular. Each knurl is diamond shaped and super grippy
while not being overly aggressive or rough. Excellent for use
with gloved hands.
^ The driver PCB is smooth and component free except for a stainless
steel spring. While secure, I would like to see more soldering
at the spring base to ensure no shock or wear will break connection
in hard use. As it is the two soldering points feel like spot
welds.
^^ The ribbed ring at the base of the head is a sleeve that covers
the USB ports.
^With the bezel removed the LED MCPCB is exposed revealing very good
solder joints. I wasnt able to figure out how to disassemble
the pill but I can see that there is thermal compound under the
MCPCB and that it is secured to the pill with screws. The
wires are on the thin side but should work fine with the stock
current that drives the LED.
^ ^ The lens is AR coated and very clear. Fingerprints
cover mine at the time of the picture but it was clean before I got
my hands on it.
^ The SMO reflector is machined aluminum and threads into the deep
bezel form the back. The lens and O-ring are secured by the
tightening of the reflector. The narrow lip around the emitter
opening in the reflector fits snuglyand does away with the
need for an insulating ring.
^ Sliding down the ribbed sleeve at the base of the headreveals
two USB ports. On one side is a Micro-USB port for charging
the Hero, and on the other side is a standard USB port that is used
for charging other portable devices.
^ The ports maintain waterproofness via two snug O-ringsthat
seal tightly against both ends of the port ring.
^^ The Hero comes with a standard USB to Micro-USB cable about 1m in
length. It can be used for both charging of the light itself
and for charging of most smart phones and other devices that use a
Micro-USB port.
^ When in use asa portable charger, the switch is lit red to
indicate the charging circuit is engaged.
^^ When recharging the Hero itself via USB, the switch light turns
blue to indicate that the flashlight is charging. While
charging, the switch light will flash blue. Once the light
turns solid the charge is complete.
^ The switch light also has a green light but I have no clue what it
means or how I even got it to light. There is nothing in the
documentation regarding a green functionand I havent been
able to replicate it on purpose. I did have the sense to
photograph it while it was on.
^^ Connecting a device to the Hero will not automatically
engage the charger circuit as you can see by the picture above.
^ A press and hold of the power switch on the Herowill
initiate charger mode and the light will turn red. You can see
that my phone is now charging off of the Hero.
^^ Interestingly enough, even if you press the power switch and turn
off the red indicator light, the unit will continue to charge your
device until you unplug it. Once unplugged charging circuit
will not engage again until you press and hold the switch, turning
the indicator light red.
^ The included cell claims a 4500mAh capacity. Testing
internal resistance reveals fairly low resistance of 30mR indicating
that this is a pretty decent quality cell.My KK 26650 cells
have an internal resistance of 32mR.
OUTPUT and USAGE:
The UI of the hero is extremely simple. A quick click engages
the memorized mode. Pressing and holding the switch will cycle
through the 5 output modes in order of lower to higher followed by
strobe, then back to lowest and so on. Releasing the switch
button will hold the light at the output level selected at the time
and memorize that mode. A quick click will turn off the light.
Turning it on will return you to the last used mode. The pause
at each level is about 1 second resulting in a fairly long cycle
process to scroll through all 5 modes.
One of the problems I have with this UI are that the strobe mode is
not hidden. This means that you have to cycle through it to
get from the highest output level back to moon low. Another
issue is it also means that there is no quick access to strobe in an
emergency as well as no quick access to high output from any other
mode but medium.
My second problem with the Hero is that is has visible PWM in all
modes but Medium and High. More noticeable in the lower modes
but I will say that it is on the fast side of visible but if you are
extremely sensitive to PWM it may bother you. I do feel that
for a light in this price range PWM is really an unacceptable thing.
Ive said it plenty of times in the past but increasing PWM speed to
non-visible speeds costs nothing for a manufacturer and can mean the
difference between an irritating light and a perfect light.
There really is no excuse EVER for visible PWM. Along with the
PWM is a faintly audible buzz in all modes but High. Mind you,
this is a pet peeve of mine that has developed over the last couple
of years and while not a total deal breaker, it is definitely a burr
under my saddle and is something so simply avoided that even a $10
flashlight should never have visible PWM, let alone one costing
$100, $200, or even $300. Im not singling out Powertac here.
This applies to ALL you manufacturers who dont take the time to
make your PWM frequencies at least 2000kHz or more. You all
know who you are!
Anyway, back to the output...
I measure OTF lumens to ANSI standard using my calibrated Integrated
Sphere. Lux measurements were taken from 3 meters and
converted to 1 meter.
Tail cap readings on the Hero were difficult due to it being an
electronic switch. I tried several times and each time the
results were consistent but far too low for the output. Its
not the first light that Ive tried to measure tail cap readings and
didnt have much luck with but it is what it is and here are the
results I got. Just dont take any stock in the tail amperage
readings. The OTF readings are spot on though.
^ The picture abovewas taken in broad daylight and is aimed at
the ceiling of my front porch. It does a pretty good job of
showing just how bright the hero is and how defined the center hot
spot is.
^
Using a Fluorescent White Balance setting on my camera allows you to
see all the individual spill levels or rings in the spill of the
Hero.
^ Using various exposure values shows more subtleties in the beam
pattern.
^ Beam slice of the Heros output. You can see the source of
the purple spill edges in this overexposed photo.
PROS CONS
Pros
Cons
CONCLUSION:
The Hero is a great, high quality, high performance light that
can also double as a portable power supply. Able to be
recharged via USB its a perfect light for those who need a light
they can grab and go, such as LEO, Emergency Responders. Its
also the perfect light for campers and hikers who need a great
flashlight as well as a way to charge cell phones and other devices
in case of emergency. The Hero eliminates the need to carry
two heavy devices by combining both into one versatile light.
Add in the decent 26650 cell and one of the nicest holsters Ive
seen and its a real winner.
I can live with the small negatives such as faintly visible PWM and
the slow UI. Its extremely high build quality, great
performance and versatility, combined with its lifetime warranty
makes it a highly recommendable light for someone who needs a single
device that serves more than one purpose. The fact that it has
everything needed in order to operate it makes it a perfect light
for someone just getting into lights of this caliber. While pricey
for those on a tight budget, its a great light for those who can
afford it. Consider it Mac Approved!
* Flashlight provided for review courtesy of Powertac
The Powertac Hero is a multi-functional LED flashlight with the
latest technology. It is the HERO that will save the moment whether
you need a bright light or charging your smart phones. It can be
charged by plugging into any USB port or smart phone charger. It is
the ultimate flashlight and the ultimate mobile charger, ideal for
professionals on the go.
The above paragraph is right from their product
information copy. It describes pretty accurately why the Hero
is named hero. Its a light that can be charged from any USB
port at home or in your car so its always ready with light when you
need it. Out and about with a dying phone battery? The
Hero can be used as a portable power supply for your phone or any
device that derives its power form a USB input. Most lights
that do both are focused more on being a portable power charger than
as a flashlight. The Hero is a rock solid light that runs on
an included, and decent, 26650 cell, with great mode spacing form a
1 lumen Low mode all the way to a maximum output of a claimed 960
lumens and 450 meters of throw distance. Does it live up to
those output specs? Well find out near the end of this review
when I go over my tested output specs. In the meantime, here
is further copy from Powertacs website describing the features
built into the hero flashlight...
A Little About Powertac...
Powertac is a United States company and all of their lights come with a lifetime warranty. While the headquarters are in Raleigh, North Carolina, all their flashlights are designed here but I believe they are manufactured in China. Powertac lights carry a premium price what for your money you do get a lifetime warranty, service here in the United States, and a premium quality flashlight based on the 3 samples I have received for review.
Powertac actually has a YouTube channel ("OfficialPowerTac") and they provide an instructional video on how to perform basic repairs and testing on not only Powertac lights, but any LED flashlight in general. If the instructions don't resolve your issue they invite you to contact their Service department in Raleigh, NC. I've actually met Bam, the guy in the repair video, around a year ago at a police trade show in Philadelphia where I was very impressed with their products.
http://youtu.be/x-T5o6kb4jY
FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
When I received the Powertac Hero, the first thing that caught my
eye was the nice full-color heavy cardboard box with hinged lid and
magnetic closure.
^ Inside the box is a dense foam insert cradling the Hero (inside
its holster) and its accessories.
^ Inside is a clear, well written set of instructions on how to use
your Hero flashlight/portable power supply.
^
The included holster is the nicest standard holster Ive seen come
with any flashlight ever. Its actually a molded hard-shell
holster that fits like a glove and latches securely. The heavy
nylon fabric that covers the entire exterior of the holster is
extremely heavy and durable. The belt loop is designed to be
inserted on the belt before belting or, using the Velcro flaps,
mounted after the fact just as securely.
^ The Hero is controlled via a single electronic switch made of
translucent white silicon and is backlit with an RBG LED for various
status information. All threads are anodized and the hero can
be mechanically locked out for zero parasitic draw from the
electronic switch circuitry.
^ All laser etching on the logo and model are clean and precise.
The font used for the model name is a bit generic and lends an
unfortunate generic feel to the Hero. Fortunately that generic
feel only lasts until you pick it up and hold it.
^ The reflector is SMO and while very clean and smooth, makes just a
tad ringy beam spill. The The XM-L2 LED is CW in tint and is
perfectly centered.
^ The tail cap is lipped to allow tail standing with a full sized
550 paracord lanyard attached. All threads are fully anodized,
very smoothly machined, triangular, and prelubed.
^^
All O-rings are heavy duty and thick to provide a very tight seal.
^
Connection to the tail cap is provided with a strong, stainless steel
spring which is easily removed and replaced without any tools.
^ A look at the threads that connect to the head of the Hero.
Again, they are properly lubed, extremely smooth, and the O-rings
are super tight for proper seal. The knurling on the Hero is
spectacular. Each knurl is diamond shaped and super grippy
while not being overly aggressive or rough. Excellent for use
with gloved hands.
^ The driver PCB is smooth and component free except for a stainless
steel spring. While secure, I would like to see more soldering
at the spring base to ensure no shock or wear will break connection
in hard use. As it is the two soldering points feel like spot
welds.
^^ The ribbed ring at the base of the head is a sleeve that covers
the USB ports.
^With the bezel removed the LED MCPCB is exposed revealing very good
solder joints. I wasnt able to figure out how to disassemble
the pill but I can see that there is thermal compound under the
MCPCB and that it is secured to the pill with screws. The
wires are on the thin side but should work fine with the stock
current that drives the LED.
^ ^ The lens is AR coated and very clear. Fingerprints
cover mine at the time of the picture but it was clean before I got
my hands on it.
^ The SMO reflector is machined aluminum and threads into the deep
bezel form the back. The lens and O-ring are secured by the
tightening of the reflector. The narrow lip around the emitter
opening in the reflector fits snuglyand does away with the
need for an insulating ring.
^ Sliding down the ribbed sleeve at the base of the headreveals
two USB ports. On one side is a Micro-USB port for charging
the Hero, and on the other side is a standard USB port that is used
for charging other portable devices.
^ The ports maintain waterproofness via two snug O-ringsthat
seal tightly against both ends of the port ring.
^^ The Hero comes with a standard USB to Micro-USB cable about 1m in
length. It can be used for both charging of the light itself
and for charging of most smart phones and other devices that use a
Micro-USB port.
^ When in use asa portable charger, the switch is lit red to
indicate the charging circuit is engaged.
^^ When recharging the Hero itself via USB, the switch light turns
blue to indicate that the flashlight is charging. While
charging, the switch light will flash blue. Once the light
turns solid the charge is complete.
^ The switch light also has a green light but I have no clue what it
means or how I even got it to light. There is nothing in the
documentation regarding a green functionand I havent been
able to replicate it on purpose. I did have the sense to
photograph it while it was on.
^^ Connecting a device to the Hero will not automatically
engage the charger circuit as you can see by the picture above.
^ A press and hold of the power switch on the Herowill
initiate charger mode and the light will turn red. You can see
that my phone is now charging off of the Hero.
^^ Interestingly enough, even if you press the power switch and turn
off the red indicator light, the unit will continue to charge your
device until you unplug it. Once unplugged charging circuit
will not engage again until you press and hold the switch, turning
the indicator light red.
^ The included cell claims a 4500mAh capacity. Testing
internal resistance reveals fairly low resistance of 30mR indicating
that this is a pretty decent quality cell.My KK 26650 cells
have an internal resistance of 32mR.
OUTPUT and USAGE:
The UI of the hero is extremely simple. A quick click engages
the memorized mode. Pressing and holding the switch will cycle
through the 5 output modes in order of lower to higher followed by
strobe, then back to lowest and so on. Releasing the switch
button will hold the light at the output level selected at the time
and memorize that mode. A quick click will turn off the light.
Turning it on will return you to the last used mode. The pause
at each level is about 1 second resulting in a fairly long cycle
process to scroll through all 5 modes.
One of the problems I have with this UI are that the strobe mode is
not hidden. This means that you have to cycle through it to
get from the highest output level back to moon low. Another
issue is it also means that there is no quick access to strobe in an
emergency as well as no quick access to high output from any other
mode but medium.
My second problem with the Hero is that is has visible PWM in all
modes but Medium and High. More noticeable in the lower modes
but I will say that it is on the fast side of visible but if you are
extremely sensitive to PWM it may bother you. I do feel that
for a light in this price range PWM is really an unacceptable thing.
Ive said it plenty of times in the past but increasing PWM speed to
non-visible speeds costs nothing for a manufacturer and can mean the
difference between an irritating light and a perfect light.
There really is no excuse EVER for visible PWM. Along with the
PWM is a faintly audible buzz in all modes but High. Mind you,
this is a pet peeve of mine that has developed over the last couple
of years and while not a total deal breaker, it is definitely a burr
under my saddle and is something so simply avoided that even a $10
flashlight should never have visible PWM, let alone one costing
$100, $200, or even $300. Im not singling out Powertac here.
This applies to ALL you manufacturers who dont take the time to
make your PWM frequencies at least 2000kHz or more. You all
know who you are!
Anyway, back to the output...
I measure OTF lumens to ANSI standard using my calibrated Integrated
Sphere. Lux measurements were taken from 3 meters and
converted to 1 meter.
Tail cap readings on the Hero were difficult due to it being an
electronic switch. I tried several times and each time the
results were consistent but far too low for the output. Its
not the first light that Ive tried to measure tail cap readings and
didnt have much luck with but it is what it is and here are the
results I got. Just dont take any stock in the tail amperage
readings. The OTF readings are spot on though.
^ The picture abovewas taken in broad daylight and is aimed at
the ceiling of my front porch. It does a pretty good job of
showing just how bright the hero is and how defined the center hot
spot is.
^
Using a Fluorescent White Balance setting on my camera allows you to
see all the individual spill levels or rings in the spill of the
Hero.
^ Using various exposure values shows more subtleties in the beam
pattern.
^ Beam slice of the Heros output. You can see the source of
the purple spill edges in this overexposed photo.
PROS CONS
Pros
[li]Good packaging[/li]
[li]Includes a good quality 26650 cell[/li]
[li]Great output[/li]
[li]Superb build quality and design.[/li]
[li]Moon low[/li]
[li]Can be used as an external power supply for mobile devices[/li]
[li]Hard alloy with excellent machining[/li]
[li]Fantastic knurling[/li]
[li]Smooth, anodized threads throughout[/li]
[li]Waterproof[/li]
[li]Ability to tail stand solidly[/li]
[li]Excellent holster[/li]
[li]Last mode memory[/li]
[li]Mechanical lockout[/li]
Cons
[li]Faint but visible PWM[/li]
[li]Slightly audible PWM hum from driver in all modes except High[/li]
[li]Strobe mode is not hidden[/li]
[li]UI is slow and has no quick access to High or Moon[/li]
CONCLUSION:
The Hero is a great, high quality, high performance light that
can also double as a portable power supply. Able to be
recharged via USB its a perfect light for those who need a light
they can grab and go, such as LEO, Emergency Responders. Its
also the perfect light for campers and hikers who need a great
flashlight as well as a way to charge cell phones and other devices
in case of emergency. The Hero eliminates the need to carry
two heavy devices by combining both into one versatile light.
Add in the decent 26650 cell and one of the nicest holsters Ive
seen and its a real winner.
I can live with the small negatives such as faintly visible PWM and
the slow UI. Its extremely high build quality, great
performance and versatility, combined with its lifetime warranty
makes it a highly recommendable light for someone who needs a single
device that serves more than one purpose. The fact that it has
everything needed in order to operate it makes it a perfect light
for someone just getting into lights of this caliber. While pricey
for those on a tight budget, its a great light for those who can
afford it. Consider it Mac Approved!
Last edited:
