| Brand / Model | Magicshine MOH35 headlamp |
|---|---|
| LED | Cree XPL2 LED, XD16-S2 warm LED, XQ-E Red LED |
| Lumens | 1000 lm |
| Beam intensity | 3600 cd |
| Battery config. | 1*21700 |
| Material | Aluminum |
| Modes | 4+3+3 |
| Blinkies | SPS |
| Reflector | TIR optics |
| Waterproof | IPX6 |
| Review date | September 2020 |
Magicshine, which is well known for their high-quality bike lights (and as you may remember the earlier reviewed Magicshine MTL60) offers a large range of lights, from bike lamps for cycling, headlamps for hiking and running, to professional lighting such as tactical and Hunting lights
Since they are focusing on professional outdoor activities, headlamps are a large quantity of their division and should not be missed in their product line. I have been asked to test and review their latest released product, which is the MOH 35 headlamp.
At first, I was not very familiar with the brand, but I got very enthusiastic after the MTL60 review. I reviewed many lights, but this one really made their promise come true and offers great quality.
Will the MOH35 surprise me again? Let’s see if it is that good!
The Magicshine MOH35 arrived in the same type of handsome presentation box as the MTL60 came in, it has a fully printed design which really gives that ‘ premium’ feel.
It comes in a clear shrink-wrapped box. The box can be opened by lifting the top lid. When opened, the light is revealed together with the battery pack. Everything is held together by high-density black foam. Underneath the foam there is black cardboard and below the cardboard are the other accessories.
After taking the light out the box and assembling it to the headband (which I did without the manual obviously, and assembled it the wrong way around #facepalm) The first thing I noticed is the size, it’s tiny!
It looks like a cute little light, the battery pack, on the other hand, is quite large.
The light itself comes with a molded (non-removable) partially spiral corded battery connection cord, which seems to be one of the heavier gauge type wires, and feels very sturdy.
What I like about the MOH35, is that the power plug has to be inserted into the battery pack. You can feel that the rubber of the plug seals the connection to prevent water or other debris into the battery pack and effectuates into the IPX6 rating.
The battery pack has to be attached to the headband by a slide-on clip, which feels durable but not too hard to operate.
The headband itself seems to be made of decent quality and comes with the reflective Magicshine silkscreen.
The adjustability seems to be very good, and the one thing that I was initially a little bit afraid of, was:
how will it feel, will the balance be good?
Since the battery pack sits at the back of your head and the light being relatively small, I was concerned that it would feel unbalanced. Or that due to the battery weight compared to the lightweight on your forehead the headlamp would feel annoying and unnatural.
While the battery pack is a bit heavy, it actually feels very well positioned at the back of your head! Since the battery sits lower, you won’t notice it that much, while the weight spread on the front and back is not equal, it really gives more comfort.
Compared to a Skilhunt H03 headlamp (which is way lighter) I still preferred the Magicshine MOH35 over it. Mainly because the light itself is so lightweight and therefore does not unintentionally slide, or intends to hop up and down while I moved around. Usually, when running or walking with a headlight the beam tends to vibrate, this one doesn’t. This makes it more agile and offers more comfortability, simply due to the fact that it has less moment of inertia since it’s featherlight (on your forehead)
Operation of the light is very common, so if you are a bit familiar with lights, this one shouldn’t be any problem to operate.
The quality of the Magicshine MOH 35 is great. The seal of the power plug to the battery pack feels like it could even be used underwater. I would be confident enough to try because it certainly does not feel like a cheap power plug.
In this section I would usually disassemble the flashlight to judge the quality by the used materials and the overall build quality. This headlamp, however, cannot be disassembled so I can’t judge the internals!
This could actually be a pro in this case.
The light itself has aluminum housing with milled fins in the back of the light to dissipate the heat.
The anodization did not show any imperfections and has a nice and even finish. Durability seems good, while i did not abuse it, i still could not find any evident markings after some rough handling.
All plastic parts feel good, with enough flexibility, it certainly does not feel like cheap plastic. The plastic feels more like some sort of ABS or PP.
Fun fact, the rubber switch cover even has a tiny Magicshine logo marked in it. The attention to detail is something Magicshine is good at. All these small details give a great first impression.
The Magicshine MOH35 uses a dedicated TIR reflector, which is obviously proprietary since it’s part of the design. As mentioned before it is not removable.
The three LED’s all have their own TIR, with each having its own shape.
The red LED has a small clear TIR reflector, that gives it a nice and even flood of red light.
I haven’t used any red lights before, but they say it works well for outdoor activities at night, You won’t lose your night vision fast and some animals are less sensitive to it. Most animals are able to see red light, however.
The warm white light has a striped TIR that gives a horizontal beam shape, very much like car headlights with almost no light spill above and below the beam. According to Magicshine there is the reading, or low mode (proximity mode) that produces an even wider beam of dim and soft light, that can last up to 240 hours.
The cool white LED has the largest TIR optic with additional rings on the outer edge, and small protruding dots in the middle. I’m not sure what this is for, but my guess would be to eliminate any artifacts and to make a smooth and functional beam. (You definitely need that with an XPL2 LED, because of its famous corona) Magicshine’s specifications say it can produce 1000 lumens and a beam of up to 120 meters. A beam of only 120 meters is definitely more flood than throw.
The light itself can be tilted to 60 degrees downwards.
Size comparison with other headlamps.
On the photo’s the MOH35 is compared to the well known (and my all time favorite headlamp) Skilhunt H03
The UI of the MOH35 is pretty easy to use. Press and hold the switch to turn the light on (and enters the last used mode) and a fast double-click selects the color LED. A single click runs you through different outputs. While this is an easy UI, I personally don’t like to Press and Hold for On or Off.
On the other hand, it is probably inevitable since it uses three LED’s and there has to be an easy method to select each LED and operate it, and to be able to select the desired output level
Modes: Low, Med, High, Turbo Strobe, SOS
From OFF:
From ON:
Mode memory:
Low voltage warning:
When you press the switch on the power pack, a green light or a red light will indicate the battery status. turn the flashlight on, the indicator LED under the button according to the battery level. It’ll turn off after 5 seconds unless the battery is below 15%.
Strobe/blinkies
Lock-out mode:
PWM
The MOH35 comes with an external battery pack that is placed on the backside of the headband. It includes a 21700 size, 4000 mAh battery, and can be used as a power bank!
It has a USB-C connection and is able to deliver 15W (3A). 3A is also the maximum allowed charging rate for this headlamp.
I tested it with several chargers and it seems to support USB C Powered Delivery (also known as PD)
The LED indicator is locatd next to the USB port and allows the user to check its battery level. This LED indicator blinks green while charging.
The USB port, power check button, and the battery level indicator are all covered by a silicon rubber cover (with the standby and USB icon on it)
One funny thing is that the power level indicator can still be checked while the rubber is covering them.
(Did you notice the curved text near the power plug? I love that detail engineering)
As mentioned earlier, unfortunately, this headlamp can’t be disassembled (without damage) and therefore I am unable to do current measurements.
I will try to see if a can find some matching size power connectors to do some additional measurements
Amp measurement
Runtime graph
Magicshine states it houses an XPL2 LED and is able to achieve 1000 Lumen for over 2 hours on Turbo.
So I tested that and did a runtime test on Turbo.
What can be seen in the results (see attached graph) is that it drops quite fast to a lower level. Although the light itself wasn’t even that warm (about 55 Deg).
Magicshine’s claim for 2h on turbo cannot be achieved, since my test showed that while it starts on 1000 LM, it drops to 75% after 4 minutes. After 8 minutes the output drops again and will sustain for 3,5 hour.
After 3.5 hours, it drops to about 15% and will last for an hour. After one hour it drops again to about 5 percent, which lasts for another 2.5 hours before it switches off.
So while the total runtime is very good (almost 7 hours), it cannot handle 1000 Lm for 2 hours.
I have not tested other modes, since the total runtime on Turbo is already very long I believe it will perform well in lower modes. The total runtime shows the MOH 35 can be used for a very long time.
It may be interesting to test if the lower modes can sustain their output or whether they will stepdown as well. Hmm, maybe I will add another runtime graph later on when I feel like it, or whenever I have some idle time.
Lumen measurements
(Warm White)
(Cool white)
(Red)
Throw numbers:
(Cool white)
(Warm White)
(Red)
Disclaimer: This flashlight was sent to me for review at no cost, by Magicshine. I have not been paid to review, nor have I been holding back on problems or defects.
