review – If you’re like me, you probably haven’t thought about your headlamp since you bought it. I have a few now almost 10 years old, but I use them a lot for work in those dark places around the house, biking, running, fishing, working on the car, and generally when I need some light but use my hands at the same time. I hadn’t given it a second thought until a recent trail run with a group of friends on a dark Pacific Northwest morning made me realize I needed an upgrade. With fresh AAA batteries in my brightest headlamp, I’m ready to go. Only when everyone else started turning on the lights did I notice that mine was the weakest beam, barely penetrating the pitch-black darkness. After a few questions, I realized that pretty much everyone is using rechargeable headlights, which prompted me to look for new ones.a quick Amazon A search found a 2-pack of Craftersmark P70 Rechargeable Headlights for $13.69. It’s hard to beat the price so I gave it a try and I’m pretty amazed at what I got for so little money.
What is it?
The Craftersmark P70 is a rechargeable headlight with white and red LED lights with motion sensor activation.
What’s in this box?
- Two Craftersmark P70 rechargeable headlights neatly packed in a small box
- Includes two 10″ USB-micro cables
- User Manual
Specification
Waterproof grade: IPX4
70 degree tilt head
Weight 1.87 oz
Battery: 1200mAh Li-ion battery included
Charging time: 3 hours after full drain
Size: L2.4in H1.25in W1.5in
Power: High White Light: 1100 Lumens, 5 Hours Run Time (Advertised)
Low white light: 800 lumens, 10 hours runtime (advertised)
Red light: 1100 lumens, 5 hours runtime (advertised)
Design and Features
I’m the type of person who always reads the owner’s manual before starting to use it, but the Craftersmark P70 rechargeable headlight manual is a bit confusing and difficult to understand, but after some trial and error, I started to speed things up.
For headlights, this one has pretty standard features, but this one has a neat little feature I haven’t come across before, a motion sensor. The buttons are easy to find by feel, and the tactile response when pressed feels firm. The right button on top (when worn) lets you cycle through the standard functions of high white beam, low white beam, red beam, red and white SOS flash, and then off.
Using the left button just cycles through the high white beam, then the red beam, then off, but this button also activates the motion sensor, allowing you to wave your hand in front of the light to turn it off and on without having to press the button. I found this feature very useful when I was replacing my car’s power steering pump and drive belt.
When looking at a dark engine bay in high white mode, I need the headlights, and then I can quickly turn them off with a wave of my hand in front of the lights, while referring to the pump installation manual and the installation video on my laptop. I only blinded myself once on the laptop screen, and then when I took my eyes off the engine, I got a habit of waving my hand.
After looking at my laptop, another quick hand wave turned the lights back on without pressing a button. It’s very convenient, especially when I have power steering fluid on hand and don’t want to touch the headlights. If you’re looking for a headlight for stargazing or astrophotography, where maintaining night vision is paramount, the Craftersmark P70 Rechargeable Headlight may be too bright.
For everything else, I found that the white light provided an excellent central beam and enough peripheral light that I didn’t feel tunnel vision. I also found that on my next trail run, the red light alone was enough to see the trail while maintaining enough night vision to see surrounding features.
After an hour on the high white beam, I lost one of four on the battery indicator on the side. At 1 hour 45 minutes I lost another column and then at 2 hours 15 minutes the third column was lost. The fourth bar starts blinking at 2 hours and 25 minutes, and finally the lights start to dim at the 4 hour mark.
The headband works great and doesn’t come loose even when running, but I’m concerned that the headband goes through the small plastic tab on the back. I have a feeling they might break because they look a little flimsy, but time will tell. If you’ve ever lost an expensive pair of sunglasses, losing or damaging your expensive headlamp can be a similar pain. At $7 a piece, I wouldn’t cry if that happened.
is using
High white beam easily reaches my fence 50 feet
Low white beam still provides good light spread
The red beam has an excellent dispersion pattern and is great for trail running
High white and red beams for comparison. I used two headlights in this photo, one for the high white beam and one for the red beam. Unfortunately, you can’t use one headlight at the same time.
what do I like
- At first, I thought the motion sensors were just a gimmick, but now I find myself using them a lot
- Rechargeable and long battery life
- light
- Very bright LED with good distance and spread
- battery indicator
what would i change
- I prefer separate white light buttons and one red button, so if you want to maintain night vision, or don’t want to wake up your tent mates with dazzling lights, a separate button does the trick.I did find that I could shade the lights with my left hand, close my eyes, and cycle to red pretty quickly, so no big deal, but something to consider
- USB-C instead of USB-micro connector would have been my preference, but not a deal breaker
final thoughts
For the price, the Craftersmark P70 rechargeable headlight is unbeatable. It’s super bright, has great battery life, and costs less than a large coffee blend these days. I will definitely get more for myself, friends and family.
Price: $13.69 for 2 packs
where to buy: Amazon
resource: The samples for this review were purchased directly by the reviewer.
