[ad_1]
Once every couple of years, Olight, one of the world’s leading flashlight manufacturers, releases headlamps designed specifically for runners. And now it’s time to talk about the latest model Olight Array S2
Declared characteristics:
- Dual light High 1000 lumens — 4 hours
- Dual light Med 500 lumens — 5 hours
- Dual light Low 100 lumens — 13 hours 30 minutes
- Diffused light High 500 lumens — 5 hours
- Diffused light Med 250 lumens — 6 hours 30 minutes
- Ambient light Low 30 lumens — 30 hours
- Red light High 200 lumens — 5 hours 30 minutes
- Red light Med 100 lumens — 8 hours 30 minutes
- Red light Low 40 lumens — 15 hours
- SOS 400 lumens /
- The light source is 2 SST-40 Cool White LEDs and a 2835 Red LED.
- The life of the LEDs is 50,000 hours (about 5 years).
- The power of the luminous flux is 1000 lumens.
- The range of the light flux is 140 meters.
- Luminous intensity: 5,000 Candela.
- The lens is acrylic high temperature TIR optics with wide and narrow light.
- Power supply — built-in Li-ion battery 2600 mAh 3.6 V.
- Charging – USB Type-C port.
- A full charge takes about 2-3 hours.
- Digital stabilization of work in all brightness modes.
- Indication of the charge of the battery pack — four-level light on the battery pack.
- Number of modes — 10: 9 modes of brightness and SOS. Control — button on the head of the lamp.
- The flashlight has an IR sensor — a sensor for controlling the light with a wave of the hand.
- Turning on / off / switching modes — by pressing the flashlight button.
- Lantern rotation angle 180°.
- Elastic headband with reflective straps.
- Durable ergonomic body of the flashlight is made of T6061 T6 aluminum with hard anodizing of the 3rd (maximum) degree.
- FL1 Standard shockproof (drops from a height of up to 1 meter).
- The increased tightness of the case according to the IPX-4 standard (protection against water splashes from any direction).
- Certified by European CE and RoHS Certification.
- Flashlight warranty 2 years.
- Head dimensions: 61 mm. x 31 mm. x 24.5mm
- Battery dimensions: 74.5 mm. x 30 mm. x 30mm
- Weight: 124g
Packaging and appearance
Pretty decent packaging. Corrugated cardboard, UV printing — everything is right
Inside, in a plastic substrate, lies the entire modest, but including everything you need set of the headlamp itself, charging cable, manual, wire clips.
The headlamp itself is made in a separate form, quite rare for branded models, with a unit responsible for the light on the head and a battery pack on the back of the head. But for Olight, this is not the first model in their series of headlamps for running. Here, for example, I have already talked about Olight Array And Olight H16 wave
So what has changed?
Here is what Array 2S looks like
The headband is soft and comfortable.
On the back of the head is the battery pack.
In the previous version, it was a relatively thin square with a Li-Po battery and Olight’s own magnetic charging circle.
In the new version of Olight, they returned to the good old 18650. And according to the good old (just kidding, not good) tradition of big brands goon, the capacity of this battery is at the standard level for that way in 2017. 2600mah is not exactly the bottom, here Olight could, if desired, find 1500mah. But when the price of 2600 and 3000-3200mah cans differs by mere pennies, when in 2021 it is generally difficult to find a flashlight that would be equipped with a 18650 battery with such an antique capacity — all this clearly shows the attitude of the manufacturer to the buyer.
To be fair, I will also note a positive moment. For once, unheard of, Olight abandoned the native magnetic charging connector. I remember only a couple of similar precedents, but they were all associated with powerful and bright flashlights where fast charging was needed. A great example of the Olight Marauder 2 with its funny aperture
So, here we have the usual type-c with the usual rubber plug
The charging process is accompanied by flashing red LEDs. It is quite obvious that as soon as they are all on and do not blink, charging is over.
The charging current is so-so, but I don’t see anything critical in this for this kind of flashlight.
But the head unit of the previous model was so small
And this is how he became. The size has increased significantly, but even so, it’s not even close to talking about some kind of bulkiness here.
Traditionally, a ratchet is responsible for fixing the angle of illumination.
By the way, yes, quite deep and numerous cooling fins appeared, I can’t call them decorative anymore.
The button is small, convex, quite comfortable.
The optics have been completely redesigned. The block of LEDs on the left looks like a face. There we have diffused light, red light and the «mouth» of the photosensor. On the right is the TIR high beam lens. To me, it looks very presentable.
A bunch of a pair of Luminus SST-40 and red EverLight 2835 is responsible for the light
Actually, that’s all. I don’t see any reason to criticize the design or build quality. The only thing that I frankly did not like was the redneck with a capacity of 18650 batteries. But I strongly welcome the type-c charging connector.
Control
- To turn on the flashlight, press the button on the head. By default, the light is activated in the last used mode except SOS mode.
- Press the button to turn off the flashlight.
- Press and hold on the switch to change the brightness level, the modes will cycle through Low — Med — High until you release the button.
- Double-clicking in the on state switches the modes in a circle: ambient light — high beam — double light — red light.
- A triple press in any mode will activate the “SOS” mode, a single press will exit this mode.
- Holding more than 0.5 sec. from the off state activates the diffused light «Low» 30 lumens.
- To block from accidental activation, press from the off state for more than 1 second. Unlock in the same order.
- Hand control — wave through the IR sensor: when the lamp is on, wave your hand to the left — to turn off the high beam, wave your hand to the right — the high beam is activated. Wave your hand up — the brightness will increase, wave it down — the brightness will decrease. You will not be able to switch the operating modes between white red light with a wave of your hand; in red light mode, the flashlight does not respond to a wave of your hand.
In terms of exactly the logic of what and how to press to turn on and switch everything as it should. But! I’m stressed Very fast scrolling of brightness levels, all three are replaced somewhere in a second. You have to, you just have to get used to it.
Well, remote contactless control through the sensor is also an amateur. It is far from a fact that when running through a windbreak, with all sorts of branches and other things that strive to flash in front of your head (a squirrel, there, a harpy or some other bat), the control will be convenient.
How Olight Array 2S shines
In the absence of cooling, the flashlight demonstrates a very modest ability to maintain brightness. But! This is a headlamp for running, which means forced cooling by incoming air will always be there. So it is worth starting from the corresponding line on the chart.
And here with cooling the situation becomes definitely better.
In principle, even this 100 lum mode is enough for a leisurely jog or a simple walk. The duration of work here will be impressive.
500 and 250 lumens are declared here. That the one that the other mode is untenable without cooling. But, again, taking into account the forced blowing of oncoming air, you can see a completely different result. However, here it is worth considering the weather. Jogging on a late June evening somewhere near Sochi can give a completely different schedule than in the complete absence of traffic and wind somewhere in Murmansk in winter.
Only one headlamp known to me, the Acebeam H30, is capable of holding 1000 lumens of brightness stably and without harm to oneself (I recommend it in every possible way, by the way, if you need something for real powerful). So there is not the slightest reason to expect that such a small and quickly warming up head unit can somehow keep this brightness. Oddly enough, the flashlight showed that before the rapid drop in brightness, you will have somewhere around 30 seconds without cooling. When cooled, the flashlight will fall for about a minute to more, more than a bright level of 800 lumens. I will clarify that the last figure is not the result of final measurements of brightness, but a mathematical calculation from the assumption that there is actually a declared 1000 lumens of maximum brightness. If this is indeed the case, then the result is extremely pleasant.
Here, I think it will be clearer closer.
As for, in fact, the light, then Olight Array 2S is quite well-founded here. I do not think that the low beam (flood) will be in demand for something other than very lazy jogging. But the near + far (flood + spot) turns out to be very pleasant in terms of light distribution. Here it gives good side illumination and at the same time it breaks well into the distance.
Separately, it is worth praising the red light mode. Frankly, it is not clear to me why a headlamp for running includes such a specific mode at all. But he is, and, moreover, is in a form that I have not met before. The user receives a completely full-fledged light in three levels of brightness, the maximum of which is brighter than any I have seen in another flashlight or forehead. I would venture to suggest that the red color gives good contrast and can be practical for rough terrain. Or maybe not — where am I, and where is running … My sports interests have always lay in an area completely far from running.
here the far + near are absent, it would not be possible to show without wild overexposure.
It’s worth stepping back a little and the situation is getting better.
General impressions
I did a review of the Olight Array 2S headlamp for running, not at all being one of those for whom this flashlight was created. So it’s worth making a healthy correction for this, I’ll rather evaluate it from the position of a household headlamp.
In fact, to put it bluntly, his appearance in my arms came as a surprise to me. Nevertheless, I hope that the review showed what to expect from this model. And the next one is worth waiting for.
The flashlight sits comfortably on the head. I was sure that such a protruding block on the back of the head would constantly jump, which practice did not confirm. I ran, jumped back and forth, the block remained in one place. On the other hand, who will know how it will turn out in fact after a 5-7 km run.
Management, as he wrote, left ambivalent impressions. It is quite logical, but inconvenient due to the high rewind speed. Remote control is quite well implemented. But it does not turn off and when running over rough terrain can greatly complicate life.
Zero complaints worldwide. There is a complete set — near, near + far, red. According to the set of brightness and light distribution, the headlamp is quite suitable for some ordinary household chores.
Actually, while running, just in windy weather or in winter, you should expect confident work from this headlamp at an unexpectedly high brightness for its modest size. To be honest, I didn’t expect this at all.
There is also a caveat here. There is no minimum light in the flashlight as a class. It is clear that it is absolutely not needed for the purposes for which the Olight Array 2s was created. But in a number of situations (in the same tent in the middle of the night) it will be extremely inconvenient.
Just a month ago, I called up a person who had taken the previous version from me a year earlier and used it for the same usual purposes: repairs, housework, fishing. He said that he really liked the flashlight for its dimensions, light, and operating time.
I see no reason why this flashlight should be worse. Of course, for myself, I prefer something more classic, like the same Wurkkos HD20 or Bright Beam Panda simply due to the fact that I don’t particularly like this arrangement with separate head and occipital blocks. But if it suits you, then you also need something light and at the same time with decent light, then I think you may well consider the Olight Array 2S.
From what I really liked I note:
- good light distribution
- type-c charging
- stabilized brightness
- exceptionally powerful red light
- perfectly sane work of thermoregulation, which, in the presence of good cooling, will make work at higher brightnesses completely undecorative
From whatdid not like
- gesture control
- which can be inconvenient in some situations
- quick selection of these brightnesses in manual control
- current minimum battery capacity
I would really like to see a replaceable battery here or the ability to power the head unit directly from USB.
Actually, with a replaceable battery, a wider range of modes and a slow rewind of brightness, this flashlight, to be honest, would be for me perhaps the most interesting choice in the category of headlamps with separate power supplies and light.
In general, I have a separate guide for choosing headlamps, and if you have an interest in buying, then it can be great to help you buy exactly what suits you and not waste money on some rubbish that is just in bulk on the market.
Where to buy and how to save
You can buy the Olight Array 2S running headlamp at
Yandex-Market (5002500r promotional code for All purchases in the telegram discount channel at the link below in the «about the author» block
Sbermegamarket
aliexpress
You can save on purchases with coupons and promotional codes from the discount channel in telegram, see the link to it below in the block «about the author»
[ad_2]