FIELD TEST: Ledlenser HF8R Signature Headlamp – I never knew I needed it, now I never want to miss it

Sprache wechseln

Occasionally, I’m introduced to a piece of kit that makes me wonder why I would want to replace something that works perfectly well. You know the old adage: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Well, I was asked to test Ledlenser’s latest creation, the HF8R Signature headlamp, and it arrived full of promise that this is essentially a hands-free lamp that would adapt the light according to where I was looking.

The ready-to-wear HF8R Signature, including its headset, weighs just shy of 200 g (199 g according to my kitchen scales) and has a powerful output of 900 lumen for up to 3.5 hours. By reducing the output to mid performance at 300 lumen, the duration increases to up to ten hours before it needs recharging. In low mode at 20 lumen, the duration increases to a whopping 90 hours.

Looking at the lamp itself head on, it has a futuristic face which wouldn’t have been out of place in the film WALL-E. Four white LEDs and another for RGB adorn the face along with the sensor.

CONTROLS & FEATURES

The main control button is moulded into the centre of the top edge and has a ribbed cover:

• Press once: the lamp turns on in reactive mode
• Press again: switches to low power mode
• Press again: switches to mid power
• Press again: switches to high power
• Press again: the LEDs start to blink

With the lamp turned on, pressing the control button for two seconds will turn on RGB mode, and repeatedly pressing the control button will switch the LED between red, green and blue. Holding the button down for another two seconds returns it to reactive mode.

Press the control button twice in rapid succession in any mode (including off) and the boost mode will be activated for ten seconds…2,000 lumen of blinding light.

Finally and importantly, pressing and holding the main control button for five seconds when the lamp is turned off, activates the lock. This prevents the headlamp switching on and draining the battery when it’s in a rucksack, for example. Turning the lock on and off is confirmed by two rapid flashes.

The thumb wheel in the centre of the bottom edge of the lamp allows you to manually determine the focus steplessly between spotlight, for long distance penetration, to flood, for close range illumination of a wider area.

BLUETOOTH CONTROL

After downloading the app from either the App Store or Google Play, turn the lamp on, open the app and press connect. The HF8R confirms the connection by blinking twice.

The menu opens and you have the choice between:

Direct Control—there are five sub menus:

• White light—focus and intensity
• Multicolour light—choose red, green or blue
• Blink mode
• Adaptive light beam
• Light pattern control—you can directly select spot, mid or flood, and adjust the intensity of each either individually or in combination with one another. The chosen light pattern is also depicted on the screen.

Switch Profiles—this allows you to set up the control just as you personally need it.

Remote Control—this is for pairing your phone.

Further functions—there are three sub menus:

• Intervals
• Timer
• Device settings

Should the app be turned off, or the phone go into sleep mode, the HF8R blinks twice, but stays in the selected mode.

RECHARGING

Built-in to the bottom of the housing is a magnetic 2-pole charge port. I really like this concept as opposed to a USB-C port with a rubber cap because this does underline the IP68 dust and waterproofing of the housing. Also, it’s not fiddly so that I can keep my gloves on if it’s really cold.

On the box it says that an 80% charge takes 150 minutes, so the trick is to be mindful of your usage and top it up regularly.

The app also shows the battery status at the top right hand corner of the screen.

DURABILITY

The HF8R Signature headlamp’s main body is made from aluminium. On the one hand, this makes the headlamp robust. On the other, the body acts as a heat sink.

PRACTICAL USE

Let’s get the basics out of the way first: The headset, with its comfort pad on the bracket, the wide silicone element at the back and adjustable elastic headband, is comfortable to wear. Thanks to the cranium strap over the top of your head, the near 200 g overall weight is barely noticeable. An additional safety feature is the inclusion of reflective stripes on the headband which make the wearer more visible from the side.

The stepless vertical tilt adjustment of the bracket is very smooth and certainly beats any stepped counterpart as you can direct the light very precisely which, under certain working conditions, is a definite plus. While we’re on the bracket, the HF8R can be taken out and put into the supplied bicycle bracket without much ado. No tools required and no wires to worry about because there isn’t a separate battery pack.

The combination of adaptive light beam and advanced digital focus is magnificent. If you’re walking around the wilderness at night, using a map to navigate, or shifting your line of sight from an object in the distance to something closer by, the beam of light will switch from spot to flood automatically and adjust the brightness to prevent the object closest to you reflecting the powerful light. If you are walking and you tilt the lamp slightly downward, you will illuminate an area immediately in front of you, for a safe footing, and still shed light on what lays further ahead.

Repairing an old Land Rover at night is sometimes a necessity and being able to look at the workspace at arms length, the white pages of a workshop manual close up, or turning your head to the tool box slightly further on and then looking over to your friends 30 m away drinking a cold one beside the camp fire, the beam of light quickly and seamlessly adjusts to the situation.

Not only do I appreciate the advantages in everyday situations, but I can see a lot of benefit in emergencies such as those encountered by Remote Area Emergency Medicine responders and medics. The ability to approach the scene of an accident at night, assess the environment, identify an injured person, and work on the wound without once having to adjust the light, is a blessing.

The HF8R has a metal housing that is dust- and waterproof. It’s easily going to put up with my lifestyle and a lot more for many years to come. After all, Ledlenser’s design and quality assurances are backed up by a seven-year warranty.

CONCLUSION

The HF8R is now part of my “essentials” kit. The gear that goes everywhere with me, no matter what. This headlamp does exactly what it says on the box and simply makes life so much easier if I’m trying to do stuff in the dark.

As far as the Ledlenser Connect app is concerned, I don’t feel this is something customers had on their wishlist and I’m not convinced this is a must-have … a nice-to-have maybe. I have yet to find myself in a scenario where I need to use my phone to control a headlamp.

The Ledlenser HF8R: I never knew I needed it, now I never want to miss it.

TECHNICAL SPECS

€159 | LEDLENSER