BioLite Vary 500 Headlamp Assessment

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The BioLite Vary 500 is a real jack of all trades. Whereas not the lightest or brightest choice accessible, it wears very properly on the transfer, provides stable output for its weight, and holds up exceptionally properly in moist circumstances. It additionally prices quick sufficient that you just don’t should suppose an excessive amount of about battery administration.

The 3D SlimFit headband stays placed on path runs, the IP67 ranking held up by rain and snow with out subject, and eight minutes on the charger nets you an hour of sunshine. Thirty minutes and also you’re again to 80 %. The purple mild is flood-only, and there’s no pass-through charging, which means you possibly can’t cost the headlamp whereas it’s in use. 

Nonetheless, for hikers, runners, and campers who need one headlamp that handles most conditions properly and wears higher than many options, the Vary 500 is a stable all-around design. For a wider take a look at the market, try our gear information to one of the best headlamps.

How We Examined

Our analysts examined the Vary 500 throughout a number of months of Colorado journeys, together with path runs within the foothills, multi-night backpacking aims, and automotive tenting outings. Testing coated pre-dawn path navigation, sustained operating, camp use, and moist climate together with rain and lightweight snow.

Illumination & Gentle High quality

The Vary 500 sits close to the highest of our headlamp rankings, and for good purpose. It runs on three modes: spot, flood, and purple. The spot beam is the workhorse, throwing a targeted 328 ft, which is a lot for path operating and route-finding on most terrain. The flood is best fitted to close-range work like camp chores, studying in your tent, or transferring by wooded singletrack the place you need protection over distance. 

All three lighting modes (spot, flood, and purple) are absolutely dimmable, which provides you management over output and battery draw relying on what you’re doing. All through our testing, 500 lumens proved greater than sufficient for all the things we encountered. It’s no secret that larger lumen rankings don’t at all times imply a brighter expertise. In our side-by-side testing, the Vary 500 stored tempo with headlamps that technically ought to have outperformed it primarily based on specs alone.

The purple mild is flood-only with no spot choice. It’s sufficient for navigating camp and preserving evening imaginative and prescient, but when it is advisable transfer shortly over technical terrain, the shortage of a targeted purple beam could really feel limiting.

Burn Time

Battery life is stable throughout the board. Six hours on excessive covers most single-night journeys with none stress, and the low setting stretches to 200 hours in the event you ever want it. That stated, at 1.5 lumens, it’s actually simply an emergency reserve. 

The actual story right here is the Vary 500’s quick charging. Eight minutes plugged in returns a full hour of sunshine, and half-hour will get you from lifeless to 80 %. We discovered ourselves plugging in for a fast top-off whereas making breakfast and breaking down camp. By the point we had been able to hit the path, the battery was principally full. The one factor price understanding is that the Vary doesn’t assist pass-through charging, so you can not run it off an exterior battery and use it for illumination on the identical time.

Weight

At 2.6 ounces, the Vary 500 is competitively light-weight for what you get – and feels even lighter in use. BioLite’s 3D SlimFit design integrates the battery and lamp unit instantly into the headscarf, eliminating that all-too-common, front-heavy really feel. The result’s a balanced, low-profile match that wore comfortably all through our testing with out shifting or inflicting stress factors. Ultralight-focused customers could wish to think about a extra streamlined choice, however the weight will probably be a non-issue for many. The one draw back is that the built-in design means you possibly can’t wash the headscarf if it begins to get funky.

Consolation

Consolation is the place the Vary 500 stood out most to us. The 3D SlimFit headband is tender, moisture-wicking, and sits flush sufficient towards the brow that almost all of our analysts stopped noticing it after a couple of minutes. We wore it by path runs, together with sustained downhill sections, and it by no means shifted or wanted adjusting. The strap dials in shortly and holds its place as soon as set. The fabric is just not fairly as plush as what you’ll discover on the Black Diamond Spot collection, however the match feels safer, which interprets to raised long-distance consolation for many customers.

Ease of Use

The Vary 500 has a easy two-button interface that’s intuitive sufficient to grasp in only a few minutes. The facility button turns the unit on and off, and holding it down dims or brightens the present mode. The mode button cycles between spot, flood, and purple mild. Double urgent the mode button prompts the strobe on any setting. The Vary 500 additionally contains a reminiscence perform that returns to the final mode used, which we at all times discover to be a helpful characteristic.

The buttons are pretty low-profile, which makes them troublesome to make use of with gloves on. We had been in a position to make it work with skinny gloves however didn’t have a lot success with thicker varieties. It’s not a dealbreaker by any means, but it surely’s price holding in thoughts for cold-weather adventures. 

Options

The Vary 500 retains issues fairly easy in relation to options. It has the entire must-haves plus one main “need.” Quick charging is the headliner: Eight minutes for an hour of sunshine is loopy helpful, and the 30-minute 0-to-80-percent cost is the quickest we’ve come throughout. IP67 waterproofing means you possibly can dunk it, not simply get it moist, which is a step above most headlamps on this value vary. Spot and flood modes cowl what most hikers and runners really need, and brightness reminiscence, lock mode, and strobe on all settings spherical out the key options. 

The purple mild being flood-only is the one place we wished for extra. It really works nice round camp however isn’t nice on technical terrain. There’s additionally no pass-through charging and no backup battery choice, so in case you are heading out on a multi-day journey with out dependable entry to energy, you’ll have to plan round that. 

Ought to You Purchase the BioLite Vary 500?

For those who’re a hiker, path runner, or camper searching for a headlamp that’s snug, robust, and prices loopy quick, the Vary 500 is a simple decide. The match is nice, the IP67 ranking means climate is rarely a priority, and the quick charging means you might be hardly ever beginning a visit with something lower than a full battery. 

Skip it if beam throw on open terrain is a precedence, or in the event you want pass-through charging on lengthy journeys within the backcountry. For everybody else, the well-rounded design is tough to beat.

What Different Headlamps Ought to You Think about?

IIf you’re contemplating the BioLite Vary 500, there are a number of different top-performing choices in our information to one of the best headlamps that may be a greater match relying in your wants.

Black Diamond Spot 400-R Assessment: The Spot 400-R is just a little heavier than the Vary 500 at 3 ounces, provides a bit much less brightness at full tilt, and prices barely extra. It additionally lacks the BioLite’s quick charging and built-in strap however has an extended burn time on low (225 hours) and options BD’s PowerTap know-how for fast brightness changes.

Petzl SWIFT LT Assessment: The SWIFT LT shares a equally secure design however strips issues again significantly. It weighs simply 1.5 ounces, has a less complicated characteristic set, and contains a mounted broad beam. The Vary 500 is brighter at 500 lumens versus the Swift LT’s 380, and also you quit quick charging and flood mode. For ultralight-focused runners and thru-hikers specializing in shaving weight, these trade-offs make sense.

Nitecore NU27 Assessment: If brightness and beam throw are priorities for you, the NU27 delivers 600 lumens and a 402-foot beam at simply 2 ounces. Nonetheless, it offers up the quick charging and luxury of BioLite’s built-in headband design. It additionally options an IP66 ranking, which falls barely in need of the Vary’s IP67 designation (it can defend towards high-pressure sprays however not full submersion).