Armytek Wizard C2 Pro v4 2300 Lumen USB Rechargeable Headlamp and Helmet Mount with LumenTac Battery Organizer

When my Skilhunt H03 fell a short five feet onto concrete and broke, I knew I had to replace it and with something reasonably durable, considering how integral the light had become to my day to day. After weeks of research, studying similar lights from Nitecore, Wowtac, Zebralight, and more I'd narrowed it down to ArmyTek and Olight. The Olight H2R maximizes the XHP50 LED slightly more (the Olight tested at roughly 2400 lumens vs the Wizards roughly 1700 lumens in real world measurements in peak Turbo mode, which only lasts about a minute before both lights internal cooling has to ramp down output to protect the electronics, like all high power LEDs do). Olight's high mode sustained a little higher lumens also. Ant the Olight also has it's own mildly innovative headband and a more belt/pocket clip that can be clipped on light up or light down without having to remove the clip and flip it to the other end of the light. But, the all so critical area of durability in build and design appeared to be no better than Skilhunt and the lot, and being a Chinese based company, that means questionable product support too. ArmyTek seems to be the only maker of this type of headlamp that seems to understand the need and value of durability and rugged dependability.ArmyTek also reportedly features more efficient temperature-based cooling, vs timed-cooling in the Olight. This means the Wizard could feasibly maintain it's peak brightness longer in cooler temperatures and be less likely to overheat in warmer ones, which the Olight's design is so extreme, I've even seen videos of customers lighting paper on fire from the heat it produces in under a minute, from the same end where the power switch is found. Though it gets pretty hot if left on turbo after about a minute, setting fires is something I've not been able to duplicate with the Wizard, thankfully.The magnetic charging base has also proven cause for concern with the Olight. Though they've reportedly addressed it to some degree in later production runs. To avoid shorting the battery and/or electronics, the Wizards tail cap has to be unscrewed a quarter turn for charging. While this seems to have solved Olights problem, it seems to have resulted in another, in that the magnetic charging is HIGHLY temperamental, not to mention dysfunctionally slow. I've attempted to charge the included ArmyTek battery multiple times, from different sources and even after 10 hours of charging and a charging indicator that indicates the battery is fully charged (unreliably indicates, I should add, as it often turns green prematurely, but turns red again as soon as you touch it), removing the 18650 battery and trying it in a separate battery charger/tester has consistently shown the battery, after charging for nearly half a day with ArmyTek's magnetic cable, to still not to be fully charged. Having repeated this in every way I can think of, I've come to the conclusion that it may not even be possible to fully charge the battery using the supplied magnetic charger. Even if it were, considering the unreasonably long rate of charge, it's not at all feasible, as such a feature is really most practical on the go. So, unless you have a 10+ hour drive ahead of you, don't expect a fully charged battery once you arrive at your destination from this cable. For me that's not a deal breaker as I already have a good, small charger that can charge the battery in only 2-4 hours depending on whether I'm charging one or two batteries at a time and the rate of charge. I've seen similar chargers on amazon for little more than ten bucks.The utterly inefficient, largely useless magnetic charging system is my main gripe with this light. Personally, I'd rather see ArmyTek return to using a stronger magnet in the base, rather than charging a premium for a feature that they very clearly need to spend a LOT more time refining. I've used magnetic charging solutions from other flashlight brands and have always found them to be reliable, speedy, and thorough. So, I'm at a loss as to why ArmyTeks solution is so effectively useless.The only other (small) criticism I have for this light is that the belt/pocket clip could be made of slightly stronger metal. It's not terribly cheap, but I've already bent mine once and had to bend it back. Considering you've got to really tug on this thing to get it off the light every time you put the light in the headband cradle, it's an area that warrants improvement.For work, the quick snap-in cradle can be fairly handy, allowing you to take the light on and off your head without removing the headband to weave it through tight rubber gaskets like most similar lights require. True, it would have been SO MUCH BETTER had they thought to design the cradle to receive the light without having to completely remove the pocket clip first. But it's a step in the right direction. I figure give it another 5 years and somebody will have finally thought things through more completely. I don't know that I'd trust it to hold the light while jogging at night as much as the Olight band or the more common rubber gasket bands being used for this style light. I'm using the headband that came with the Skilhunt light for jogging. While the hard plastic holder feels secure enough, I can only imagine it'll wear loose over time and I just don't quite trust it to secure the light even now when new. Less because it doesn't fit tightly enough and more because I know how things tend to jar loose, a bit at a time until they fall out, especially trail running where some jumping might be involved.At this point, I'm having to trust ArmyTek's word that the light is as durable as they claim. It feels very well made and reportedly ArmyTek uses some manner of potting to protect the electronics. Each thread uses dual rubber O-rings, which come well lubricated from the factory. So, as long as you keep them lubricated, I can see this light achieving it's 10 meter (roughly 33 feet) 2 hour water proof rating. It's the 10 meter impact resistance that's still a bit hard to swallow, as it just doesn't feel THAT much better made than lights rated for only 4 feet impact resistance. But, assuming their warranty is 10 years and as trouble free as they advertise, even for claims that originate outside of Canada.... Well, I'm having to take that on face value too, I guess.But, so far, the light has been absolutely great - a significant, even dramatic improvement over Skilhunt in performance, with a more intuitive user interface. It still merits the question, is it worth nearly 3x the price of a Skilhunt or Wowtac, or double the price of a Nitecore. While I don't think the Olight would be worth paying this price over those, outside of bragging rights, showing off Turbo mode, which the Wizard has a very impressive turbo mode all its own, if the ArmyTek proves even half as durable as they claim, that makes it's value much more evident, at least for my needs, as an all-round EDC (every day carry) light for both work and play that I keep clipped to my belt, pocket, or vest almost all the time, including doing a lot of work from ladders and scaffolding where a fall farther than a mere 4 feet (the maximum impact resistance that every other light of this kind is rated for) is not only possible, but almost a foregone eventuality. If you just want a light for casual use around the house or for jogging at night, the Wowtac or Skilhunt (both can be easily found for roughly 1/3 the price of the Wizard Pro), might be all you'll ever need. If you intend it to be your primary or only flashlight on a wilderness excursion, the Armytek clearly offers better peace of mind than anything else out there. Of course ArmyTek makes several cheaper headlamp styles too, including a version of the Wizard, sans XHP50, that's rated to be just as durable, just without the turbo output and maybe a less refined interface (not sure on that last part).While it doesn't qualify any real expertise, I've long been something of a flashlight aficionado, having owned many esteemed lights over the years from the likes of rechargeable Maglites when they were THE light most used by law enforcement and the military, to Surefire, and more recently, Klarus, Lumintop and others. But I didn't expect this style of light would become so integral to my day-to-day, before buying the Skilhunt just out of little more than curiosity a while back. In fact, one of the chief reasons I bought it was to get my order over the free shipping threshold at another vendor. I loved the light, but was ultimately let down by Skilhunts (a Chinese manufacturer) non-existent product support. While ArmyTek (like Olight) is made in China too, ArmyTek's lights are made at their own factory. And ArmyTek is headquartered in Canada, where they have a much better reputation for customer support, not that I have had need to confirm such. If I ever do, it will assuredly be reported as an update to this review, good or bad. The Wizard Pro V3, to date, for all intents and purposes would appear the best overall product of it's kind between the dozen or so similar headlamps I've researched. Not only does it feature a unique headband utility that's superior to all other brands save possibly Olight, it implements the brightest LED currently in use in these type headlamps, features a belt/pocket clip carry (a cheap but oh so useful feature that surprisingly some other makers don't include, like Zebralight and Wowtac), a strong magnetic base (also not supported by some other brands, including Nitecore and Wowtac if memory serves), but it also appears to have the best overall design, not just in advertised ruggedness, but also in cooling and illumination efficiency.I'm not about to drop the Wizard 2-3 stories to the ground, just to test ArmyTek's impact resistance claim or their claim of trouble-free customer support. In fact, I already expect their customer support to be anything but trouble free, after a very slow and utterly bewildering series of irrelevant responses I received from ArmyTeks support email, when asking some pre-purchase questions, none of which were competently answered. But, I've seen reports from others (possibly Canadian-based reviewers mind you) who had nothing but praise for the support they've received from the company in the past, so my fingers also remain crossed in that regard.Here are a couple pictures comparing the Wizard side by side to the Skilhunt, if it helps.

updateThis new version is total junk. I've had it for literally a week and 5 minutes of usage and it never turned on. I've emailed armytek and they pretended to send me a new one, but they never sent one, AFTER I've shipped the item with my own money. Service is terrible and I will never buy them from again. I'm an avid collector with 2 dozen flashlight. Service is everything to me and I will never buy the brand where I've had bad experience with. Armytek will not take care of you and their quality went down the toilet.______________I have the previous model but bought this one as well because I was so impressed with the quality. I've taken the other one to he'll and back and it 's still going strong. I have many high end flashlights and many disappointed me. This one I can rely on through rugged forest and it survive the 50 years of filth in my attic that I've freshly insulated.

Absolutely awesome! I'm a flashlight guy. Always checking out different lights. I do generally lean towards more expensive, high quality lights such as this. This thing is great! Worth every penny! I bought this light planning to use it mostly as a headlamp for hunting and fishing and just a nice light to have in the truck. After I received the light, I find myself using it constantly. It's in my pocket all day at work (I'm a mechanic by trade). The magnet base is awesome. I pull this little tiny light out of my pocket and stick the magnet to something metal and I have a super bright, super portable trouble light. The light has many brightness settings. I use mine somewhere in the middle of the levels of brightness and it's plenty bright, but yet the rechargeable battery lasts forever! By far the best light I've ever had. Brightness is outstanding on the turbo mode. Battery life is outstanding. And the versatility of this light is what really makes it useful for me on a daily basis. I can use it under the hood of a car, and then when I get home I clip it into the headband and use it to walk out in the woods. GREAT GREAT GREAT!!

The Armytek doesnt come with a charging adapter (Really weird) but has a magnetic cord that attaches to the light. In theory, this would be a convenient charging feature if charging worked. Unfortunately, any adapter you try to use (Ive tried using an Anker IQ adapter, samsung fastcharging adapter) doesnt work. The charging cable has a plug indicator that flashes red when charging (It doesnt mention what this means in the manual). So what I have to do is remove the battery from the ArmyTek, and insert it into my fenix HM65R to charge it.The light itself is nice though, the range isnt as far as the Fenix HM65R, however. The ArmyTek is more of a floodlight than a spotlight.

My favorite flashlight ever. Were to suggest change, I would like the dimmest 'firefly' setting be a little a liitle less bright. It's not an objection, just a preference that less light in that mode is better.The right-angle head differs from all my other EDC lights but works much, much better on the clip and especially as a headlight. The presentation in hand is very much like the old military angle heads, with the operating button at the intersection.Once the switchology is understood, the light is very easy and natural in use. All the modes are almost instantaneously available by clicking the button. The firefly mode, the mode I use 90% of the time is easy to accurately access, a simple press and holdThe light is longer and thicker than most of my other EDC lights, but that is actually a positive- some were so small they lose themselves in a pocket and in hand.