The Favourlight 3Watt LED Headlamp (HLX-032L) is a Luxeon III headlamp powered by two 123A lithium cells. It is sealed for water resistance, is regulated (type of regulation unknown), and has a battery status indicator built in. A three point fully adjustable headstrap is used which is also easily removable for cleaning and replacement. It is hinged so the beam is vertically adjustable . The click switch on top and internal circuitry allows for 3 levels of brightness and an emergency blink mode.

The body is made of silver plastic. The back of the unit is attached via a hinge to the black plastic forehead plate so it is adjustable for inclination. This plate has a rubber pad which rests against the forehead for comfort and three notched attachment points for the 3-point adjustable elastic headband. The notches allow the headbands to be easily removed for cleaning or replacement. The inclination adjustment ratchets so as to hold the unit in place pretty much where you set it. Hard vertical movement will cause it to move out of adjustment. On top you will find the rubber covered click switch and the three color battery level indicator.

The bezel has a rubber shroud and contains a clear plastic lens, a smooth reflector and a Luxeon III LED. The Luxeon is centered very nicely in the reflector and since it is an LED, it is virtually immune to impacts. The beam is not intended to be adjustable and produces a very nice, very white, spot as-is.

Output is in the form of a fairly broad spot with a brighter center, wide spillbeam, and a few swirly artifacts in the beam. Color temperature is very white with no noticable tinting. The electronic circuitry inside allows for 3 levels of brightness, one with each click of the switch starting with high. Dimming is accomplished by a PWM circuit which causes the light to flicker very rapidly to simulate dimming. The eye doesn't see this flicker unless you move very quickly; instead it only perceives that the light is dimmer.

Beam at one meter at target center

Runtime Plot: Almost 2 hours on high before the regulator fails. But when it fails, it fails completely! You are instantly left in the pitch dark. Not good! Luckily, since it is a headlamp and it's probably on your head, you can reach back up and click it back on and rapidly move it to a lower output level. After the runtime test I turned the light back on high and let it shut down again. Then I quickly turned it back on and moved it to the low output setting. On low I got another hour of light before it again shut down. Hopefully that extra hour will provide enough time for you to get to a stable location and change out the batteries. Regulation is pretty steady, hovering around 75% initial output for nearly the full 2 hours on high.

Runtime completed with included "Duracell" batteries. More information on runtime plots is available HERE.

The switch is a simple rubber covered click switch. Click in series to access the three brightness modes or hold for three seconds to turn on the blinking mode.

The bezel is sealed with an o-ring and the rear compartment is sealed with a rubber gasket that runs the entire circumference of the door plate. Water resistance is not a problem. Wear it in the rain without worry.

Ergonomics: Comfortable to wear, a little front heavy. Since the batteries are in the same compartment as the rest of the electronics, it puts a little weight on the front of your head relative to the back. With the batteries in the front with the light there are no wires running around your head that can get snagged on branches.

For batteries the unit takes two 123A lithium cells. One big advantage this provides is that lithium batteries tend to retain more of their output characteristics in the cold compared to alkalines. Cold-resistant battery powered devices can be very handy when camping or working in cool/cold climates. Changing the batteries is simple - flip the two hinged clamps on the side outward and the entire front of the unit - batteries, electronics, LED and everything, pop off the rear plate. This means that if you want to you can remove the entire unit and change the batteries while leaving the head harness in place on your head. Pop out the two batteries and replace when needed. The indicator lights on the top tell you when the batteries are at 100-50% (green), 50-25% (amber), and 20% or below (red).

Included with the light are two 123A batteries. The head straps are attached to the unit.

What I Liked: Watertight, Impact resistant, Regulated, Good runtime, Bright, Very easy battery change (can change batteries with straps still on head), Battery power indicator

What I Didn't Like: Slightly off balance on the head, as is every headlamp with the entire unit up front.

Other Things I Noticed: Nothing

Conclusions: A great little headlamp! Regulated, LED, bright, 3 output levels, power left indicator, watertight.

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