The Princeton Tec Axis Rechargeable headlamp arrived for testing a few months ago. This headlamp is light and comfortable, but I needed a little while to warm up to the controls. After some testing, I‘ve seen the light and really appreciate the logic of the control setup. Some bright people flooded this headlamp with design and they are spot on. Ok, enough nerdy jokes and puns about light. Let‘s take a look at the Axis Rechargeable.
Size and Comfort
The Axis Rechargeable isn‘t the smallest headlamp on the market but it isn‘t the biggest either. The barrel shape that sits sideways across the forehead doesn‘t overhang and bounce around. The headlamp body twists to shine the light up or down and it is held in place by a series of detents on the adjustment ring. One-handed tilt is possible but using one hand to hold the base while the second hand twists the light is easier. The light does not move until you adjust it.
An adjustable neoprene headband holds the light on your noggin and the plastic base of the light is curved to sit on the forehead nicely. I‘ve got a pretty big head and there is plenty of adjustment on the headband to fit comfortably. Small kids might have trouble, but for the most part, the band should adjust to fit almost everybody. The neoprene is soft and feels nice and the plastic base of the light doesn‘t poke or scratch.
Controls and Light Output
The controls of the Axis Rechargeable are simple but do require a bit of practice. The on/off button is on the end of the light and it is centered in the brightness adjustment ring. The switch is easy to find even with gloved hands and there is a nice click when it is pressed. Turning on the red, flood, and spot LED‘s is done with a specific pattern. Press the button once to turn on the red LED. Quickly press the button a second to turn on the bright spot beam. Press and hold the on/off button to get the white flood LED to come on. Twist the adjustment ring to brighten and dim each of the beam patterns. With the floodlight on, you can twist the adjustment dial to full bright and continue to get the spot and flood LED‘s to come on at the same time.
The on/off pattern of the Princeton Tec Axis Rechargeable is well thought out. It is really annoying to go for a red LED in the dark and get a bright white light instead. Not only does this hurt the eyes but it ruins night vision. Turning on the red LED first is great and if you hold the button down, you get the lower intensity flood beam. The bright spot beam only comes on with a double click when you want it. I noticed that the LED‘s briefly go out when the adjustment ring reaches full bright and dim. That way you can tell when the light is at a full setting and there‘s no need to spin the dial any more. The headlamp will put out up to 250 lumens of light, and battery life varies from 2 to 179 hours depending on the brightness used.
Final thoughts on the Princeton Tec Axis Rechargeable headlamp
The headlamp feels nice and solid and it only weighs 2.9 ounces. The unit has an IPX4 weather rating but Princeton Tec says the headlamp isn‘t submersible. The lithium-ion battery recharges with a micro USB cable so there are lots of options for charging. The charging port is covered with a flip-up cover, and a soft rubber seal covers the USB port under the lid.
The Princeton Tec Axis Rechargeable headlamp sells for $59.95 on the web so the price is good for what you get. I like the headlamp a lot and really like the control sequence built into the power button. Click HERE to visit the Princeton Tec website.
Thanks to Princeton Tec for providing the Axis Rechargeable headlamp for test and review.