Energizer Hard Case Professional 4 LED Headlight, Black/Gray Review

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I compare the Energizer side by side with the "Petzl E97 Tikka Plus 2" (Petzl E97 PM Tikka Plus 2 Headlamp, Mystic Gray) all the features, beam comparison, actual use and more.

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I bought one of these from woot a couple months ago. I immediately noticed that the red LEDs stayed on very dimly when the light was supposed to be off which means that they were drawing current and draining the batteries.

I returned it to Energizer hoping to get a warranty repair/replacement and instead they just mailed me a check for the replacement value .

I really liked the headlamp when it worked (two nice bright white settings, two red LEDs, one green LED, spot or flood mode with the flip-up lens etc) so I bought another one (from through Amazon).

Well, the new one showed up last week and seemed to work great! All of the LEDs were off when the light was off, so I assumed I'd gotten a "good" one until the next morning when my batteries were completely dead. I put in new batteries and measured the current draw with an ammeter (I design electronics for a living so this is no big deal to me) this thing draws 38 milliamps when OFF. At that rate, a new set of batteries will be completely dead in 3 days without the light ever having been turned on.

Maybe some of them work and I just got two duds in a row, but clearly their quality control is horrendous and I won't be buying another. I'm really disappointed by this, because otherwise this is a really cool product.

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The term "Super Bright LED" means nothing in the real world of LED technology. Every one claims their LED's are "Super Bright", but measuring this has not been truly standardized like "Lumens" or "Watts" due to the different types of LED and the brightness/distance they work at.

This item "REALLY" is super bright! In comparison to my 3watt LED Mag-Lite, the headlight is much brighter.

Pros:

Super (no... really) Bright true white LED.

Two levels of focused brightness AND a diffuser lens that slides out.

Rubber coated elastic band for secure hard had placement.

Red and Green secondary LED lights on separate switch.

Super rugged! Dropped mine over 30 feet and still works perfectly!

Cons:

Bulky battery case for 3 AA batteries. (Pro: strong protection from case breaks)

Rubber coated elastic is not comfortable if not using with hat or other head covering.

Overall, Super buy! (We have about 5 technicians who have switched over to this item this month, and 10 more who pan to in the next month.)

Honest reviews on Energizer Hard Case Professional 4 LED Headlight, Black/Gray

Due to the high incidence of earthquakes in Peru and the Chilean event, I wanted some new LED's including a headlamp for my family and friends. A local market search revealed very low stocking of led's here and a low "preventive mindset" in the general population. After hours of a rigorous internet search I saw too many very high priced models for the average user, and decided to go with a well known brand that is much cheaper. Of course seeing the "hard-use" video helped, as did reading a review of another brand model whose cord link to the rear mounted battery case was poorly positioned under the front light and fouled the best use of the light. Quality of this model is very high, and seems strong enough for rough use...we will see. I am very pleased with some trial uses for head fit, light options, balance, and light power. I even gave the second one purchased to my brother-in-law who was extremely pleased with it as he had a simpler headlamp model. I will buy more on my next trip to the States for other family.

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After searching for a reasonably-priced, AA-powered, over-the-head strap headlamp I decided on the Energizer Hard Case and ordered one of these headlamps six months ago. It's been serving me well since. Battery life is excellent, even on Eneloop NiMH batteries, the beam throw and brightness is exactly what I need when outdoors and the diffuser does a great job at spreading light when I'm working up close (usually on or under automobiles or on my RV).

Having the additional strap on top of my head means I don't have to cinch the straps down nearly as much to keep everything from moving, so this unit is far more comfortable than any standard strap models I've used, which tend to become an annoyance after 30 minutes or more of use. The battery pack is large enough and has just enough foam that I can rest the back of my head on the ground or my crawler in reasonable comfort. The silicone bead that's on the inside of the strap does leave a mark on my forehead that takes an hour or so to disappear but I'm not bothered by it. I don't notice the weight at all on my head, probably due to the fact that the unit is reasonably balanced fore and aft. This unit has a solid feel to it and I appreciate that.

One thing to note: I recently purchased two more of these lamps and last night I started to notice literally a brown spot in the center of the white beam on one of the units I've used for about 3 hours now. Upon inspection I noticed the face of the LED had noticeably turned dark. Light output was less than half of my other units. I was still in the window to return it to Amazon so back it's going to go and a replacement should be here in two days. I'm guessing the LED was defective (it was running warmer than my other lamps do) which is why I think it's wise to give things like these lamps a good few hours of use to prove out any defects early after which I'm willing to bet the failure rate goes way down (standard bathtub curve). I like these lamps enough that I will still give them the full 5-star rating.

UPDATE 08/13/2012: I just noticed a second headlight is failing in the same way an earlier one did. The white LED has turned brown and dramatically reduced the light output and made the unit noticably warmer. My hope is this unit was the second of two I purchased at the same time and that a bad batch of LEDs made its way in to both lights and a replacement will not have the same problem. I will be sure to update my review after I get through with my experience with Energizer since I have had this unit longer than the Amazon 30-day return window.

UPDATE 09/20/2012: Now all four of these I've purchased have failed in the same manner. The white LED turns brown and light output falls off substantially. I sent two back to Energizer on a warranty return about two weeks ago (they were apologetic and sent me a shipping label and instructions to return) and will hopefully receive problem-free replacements shortly. My third one is fading fast as well. Again, I hope it was just a bad batch of LEDs that mine were drawn from. It now appears that Amazon.com has posted a note on the product page that there may be an issue with their supply of these lights. Let's hope it is all getting sorted out. This is a 5-star product if the white LED would just work correctly!

Update 04/22/2013: I have replaced two of these and have a return label for the third one (fourth was returned under Amazon's 30-day policy). Both replacements have a few dozen hours on them using the white LED and all seems well. From my experience, Energizer seems to have worked out the problem and I now highly recommend this headlamp again.