The BioLite Headlamp 330 is a well balanced, slim-fitting, IPX4 water-resistant, lightweight, comfortable, and rechargeable LED headlamp. It features a tiltable LED, a flush-mount design, up to 330 lumens of output, five lighting modes, a rechargeable lithium battery, 3.5 to 40 hours of runtime (setting dependent), and a comfortable moisture-wicking forehead smart fabric.
It utilizes the performance-enhancing proprietary 3D Slimfit construction system. The Flush Front 9mm thick profile design sits flat against the forehead and doesn’t bounce, making it useful for vigorous activities. Their Better-Balanced set up features the battery compartment at the rear and LED at the front for a weightless and distributed feel. The forehead section of the headband features a uber comfortable Smart Fabric that is moisture-wicking without any abrasion or pinch points.
It comes in four color schemes Midnight Grey, Sunrise Yellow, Ocean Teal (tested), and Ember Red for retail $49.95.
For further information, refer to BioLite.
Features
The front of the HeadLamp has an On/Off button, that lets you switch between the five lighting modes and lock it to prevent accidental engagement while it’s packed away. The tiltable 9mmm thick LED panel has a Flood Lens that offers a wide-angle light with up to 100 Lumens of output, and a brighter Spot Lens for task lighting and walking with up 230 Lumens. The front half of the headband utilizes a moisture-wicking Smart Fabric that keeps your forehead comfortable and dry during any activity.
The articulating LED front bezel, has five positions, from a flat 0° to around a downward 60°, so you can angle the light to where it’s required the most.
The back of the HeadLamp is where the sealed 900 mAh, 3.4 Wh Lithium-Ion battery pack resides, and it can be charged via its micro-USB port. The battery has a four LED indicator to monitor the remaining power storage levels. For head adjustment, it features two easy-adjust clips on either side of the battery case, which slides to fit head sizes from children to adults with helmets. The back of the headband has a reflective strip to enhance night visibility from behind.
Impressions
The headband is designed to fit a wide range of head sizes by utilizing their easy-adjust clips on either side of the battery compartment. They need to move them in unison to work correctly, so it takes two hands to fully adjust the fit, though it was a simple task. I have a pretty large head, and there wasn’t any more adjustment left in the system. Though I could wear it with a light skullcap, I wouldn’t be able to wear it with a helmet or a full-on winter cap. The headband is extremely comfortable and very stretchy, and the moisture-wicking Smart Fabric around the forehead feels excellent against the skin and doesn’t abrade or cause any hot spots. The headband can be hand-washed with a mild detergent/dish soap and water, or lightly scrubbed with a sponge.
The slim-fitting Flush Front LED design is the pretty nifty feature that offers an almost weightless feeling in the front of the headband. It also keeps it from banging into things while doing certain activities, along with a no-bounce aspect when running and vigorously hiking. The Better-Balanced setup, in which the battery compartment is at the rear and flush LED is at the front, provides a functional weight distribution that enhances the feathery and weightless feel. At just 69 grams/2.45 ounces of weight, it’s decently light for a 330-lumen rechargeable headlamp.
The five-position tiltable LED panel provides plenty of fine-tuning of the angulation. This alteration is perfect for hiking, sitting in the tent, and cooking, allowing you to direct the light source to exactly where you need it. Once the tilt angle is set, it’s relatively secure and stable. Though if you push the on/off button to alter the lighting mode, it can sometimes pop back to its flat default position. Each of the locations offers a decently firm click, and it’s easy to pop it back flat when desired with a quick push on the face.
It features five lighting modes, a White Flood, a White Spot, a Red Flood, a combined White Spot/Flood, and a White Strobe. The White Flood, White Spot/Flood, and White Spot all feature an ability to dim, letting you take the outputs from a high setting to low and back again. The Red Flood is ideal for night vision, though I found it useful since it kept the bugs away from me and out of my tent. To switch between the lighting modes takes only a quick press on the raised front button at the top of the light. Press 1x for Red Flood, 2x for White Spot (with dimming), 3x for White Flood (with dimming), 4x White Spot/Flood (with dimming), 5x White Spot Strobe, and 6x Off. It can be a bit tricky and take some practice with the system to get the cadence for proper switching. Otherwise, you end up turning the light off as you try and alter the mode. It’s a quick snap to go from one mode to the other (rapid succession during cycling), but you do get the hang of it, at least most of the time.
To set the Lock mode, which prevents the light from accidentally turning on and draining the battery while it’s in your pack or pocket, just press and hold the button for eight seconds. To turn the Lock off press the button again for 8 seconds and the light returns to its standard functionality.
When you turn the light off, it remembers the last setting, so it will always come back in the same mode, which is a pretty useful feature. The only glaring issue I had is that the button is small. It resides right in front of the tilting tab, making it tough to press sometimes, and it’s more challenging to use when wearing gloves.
At its full 330 lumen output, it provides plenty of light for almost any nighttime activities, such as running, hiking, and camping. It isn’t quite bright enough or has a lengthy throw for faster activities like mountain biking. I found it about perfect when cooking at my campsite, as the light output and tiltable aspects offer a highly functional tool when working over a stove. I liked the ability to switch between a Spot, Flood, and Spot/Flood mode, especially when you add the dimmable feature. The LED outputs a 6500k color temperature of light, which is in the upper Daylight spectrum. The battery offers 3.5 hours of life at a full 330-lumen of brightness and 40 hours when being run in a minimum light mode. I didn’t get a complete spectrum of statistics for battery life, but it worked fine for my weekend usage. It was nice to see the battery level on the compartment shown whenever I turned the headlamp on.
Bottom Line
The rechargeable BioLite Headlamp 330 is supremely comfortable, and the Flush Front no-bounce design and Balanced weight distribution offer a feathery weightless feeling while wearing. The five-position tiltable LED panel, with five lighting modes (love the Red), 100 to 330 lumen of output, 3.5 to 40 hours of battery life, and functional compactness make it perfect for camping, hiking and running.
Pros
- Lightweight
- Comfortable
- Five lighting modes
- Tiltable LED panel
- Lock mode
Cons
- Not enough adjustment for larger head size
- Button is too small
- Switching between lighting modes is tricky
- Don’t need the strobe (It’s annoying)
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