Pricing & Availability
Nextorch provided this light in exchange for an honest review. Here is the official product page and the Amazon US page where you can see current pricing. At the time of writing it’s $70 USD for this version that includes two rechargeable batteries.
What comes in the box?
eStar comes in a compact retail box made of cardstock. Inside is:
- The light itself
- Two batteries (one inside the light)
- User manual
- USB A-to-C charging cable
- Drawstring storage pouch
Design & Construction
eStar is a fairly traditional-looking box-style headlamp with LEDs on the front, a bank of AAA batteries (or LiPo) in the middle, and a hinge and headband at the back. What sets this model apart is the excellent dual rotary knob controls.
eStar is made almost entirely of plastic, which keeps it light. Weight is critical when the light will be strapped to your head.
Size & Measurements
Nitecore NU20 Classic | Nextorch eStar | Mini Maglite | Spyderco Para 3 | Zebralight SC65c HI
| Measurement | Measured (mm) |
|---|---|
| Bezel Diameter | 40.2 |
| Height (at back plate | 45.3 |
| Width (at back plate | 73.7 |
| Depth (forehead to bezel) | 39 |
| Headband width | 35.7 |
| Weight with included battery (g) | 111 |
Switch & User Interface
The switches are what caught my attention with this light. There’s one large rotary channel selector around the bezel and a separate knob on the right side for brightness control. They’re both easy to find and use while the light is on your head.
The large rotary selector has 6 positions with strong detents and clicks. Since Off is roughly in the middle, it’s easy to jump from off directly to whatever mode you need without having to turn the selector through all 6 steps. The modes are as follows:
- SOS (red blinking)
- Red
- Off
- Floodlight
- Spotlight
- Floodlight+Spotlight
The brightness knob on the right side is smaller and just as intuitive to use. It has audible clicks but no tactile detents. It rotates infinitely, so when you reach min/max brightness the light will blink once. Turning the knob all the way down does not turn the light off. This is a well-considered UI that I enjoy using and makes eStar stand out from the competition.
Emitter & Beam
eStar has two red, two white floodlight, and one white spotlight LED. The whites are cool and standard CRI for efficiency, but I would have preferred a neutral/warm high-cri LED option on the floodlight channel. The spotlight is spectacular with a proper spot beam I don’t often find on headlamps. It’s got a well-defined hotspot that’s easy to keep out of other people’s eyes and it provides a lot of reach.
In the beamshots below, camera settings are fixed and the wall is 2.8M away.
In the beamshots below, camera settings are as similar as possible, the basketball goal to the right of the hotspot is 39M away, and the power pole in the center is 185M away.
Mode Chart
Disclaimer: All of my measurements are taken at turn-on. Lumen measurements were taken on a Texas Ace 3.5″ Lumen Tube. A candela measurement was taken at 10 meters with an Opple Light Master III on the highest brightness, and other candela figures were calculated relative to that. CRI, CCT, & DUV data were taken for each mode from a few feet away at the center of the hotspot with the Opple Light Master and Waveform DUV Calculator. Runtime tests were performed with the Ceilingbounce app on my smartphone. These tests were performed with a fully charged included battery unless otherwise specified. I cannot measure moonlight directly, so moonlight readings are calculated based on the brightness relative to the next-lowest mode. None of this is professional equipment, so take these measurements with a grain of salt.
The official specs are above, followed by my own measurements below.
| Level | Lumens | Candela | Throw (Meters) | CRI (Ra) | Color Temp. (K) | DUV (Tint) |
| Spot+Flood High | 1250 | 13000 | 230 | 68 | 6200 | 0.0043 |
| Spot+Flood Low | 8 | 83 | 18 | 68 | 5790 | 0.0062 |
| Spot High | 680 | 13000 | 230 | 69 | 6000 | 0.0038 |
| Spot Low | 4 | 76 | 17 | 67 | 5870 | 0.0073 |
| Flood High | 560 | 600 | 49 | 68 | 6100 | 0.0053 |
| Flood Low | 2 | 2 | 3 | 67 | 6000 | 0.0076 |
| Red High | 82 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Red Low | 2.3 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Runtime
Performance is reasonable. Peak brightness is excellent, but it steps down quickly at about 1 minute to about 45% of initial brightness, and then steps down again after half an hour. Sustained brightness varies from ~200-350lm depending on the channel. Total runtime is good on the included LiPo battery and quite poor on NiMH batteries, so I’d only expect to use AAAs as an emergency backup.
Thermal Management: The light doesn’t get particularly hot during use and there’s a large sustained brightness difference between having a single beam on or both beams. Those lead me to believe there’s no active thermal regulation here, just timed stepdowns.
LVP (Low Voltage Protection) is present and works well for the included LiPo battery and on NiMH AAAs. It doesn’t rely on the battery having a protection circuit. The light will shut off when the battery is practically empty, but it can be temporarily re-activated in an emergency.
Driver
I don’t have any information on the driver.
Voltage immunity: Initially I thought it was quite poor because I tested based on the battery indicator’s status. Once I realized the indicator isn’t accurate, I re-tested based on actual battery voltage and found the voltage immunity is perfectly fine. It can reach peak brightness down to ~50% charge.
PWM: No PWM is visible to my eyes or camera, nor audible to my ears.
Parasitic Drain: 20 microamps. That will take ~7 years to drain the included battery.
Batteries & Charging
The battery included is a USB-C rechargeable, 1200mAh, LiPo pack the same size as three AAAs. eStar will also run on three AAAs with reduced runtime.
The battery indicator is the four-diode style I prefer, though this one is poorly calibrated. In my voltage immunity testing, I found it shows mostly full down to ~25% actual charge, and below 25% it drops bars very quickly. It’s more of a two-stage indicator where 3-4 bars means you’re fine and anything less means recharge immediately. Not great.
Headband
The headband is wider and stiffer than I think it needs to be, but it’s not uncomfortable. There are beads of silicone on the inside the front to add grip and it has a retro-reflective stripe on the outside. It’s got plenty of adjustment room, so you could probably fit it outside a helmet if needed.
Competition
Here are some lights in the same class and how they compare.
Nitecore HA23 UHi: adjustable-color-temperature alternative
- selectable color temperature instead of selectable beam shape
- significantly lower price
- not as bright, significantly less throw
- same battery and charging solution
- same lightweight plastic construction
- similar battery indicator
- similar red secondary light
- a bit smaller and lighter
- dual buttons instead of rotary knobs
- less intuitive UI
Nitecore HA15 UHE: cheaper AA/14500 alternative
- less than half the price
- smaller and lighter weight
- white and red beams
- not as bright, doesn’t throw as far
- supports a single AA or included USB-C 14500 battery with similar total capacity to eStar
- can be clipped to a hat or bag instead of used with the headband
- dual buttons instead of rotary knobs
- less intuitive UI
Skilhunt H150: right-angle high-CRI AA/14500 alternative
- less expensive
- not as bright nor throwy
- significantly smaller
- right-angle design (can be a headlamp or a flashlight)
- aluminum construction instead of plastic
- best-in-class headband or pocket clip carry options plus a magnetic tailcap
- single-beam (no secondary red or spot) but there are a few LED options (including high-CRI neutral or warm Nichia 519A options)
- supports a single AA or included 14500 battery
- rechargeable (14500 only) using included magnetic charging system or via a USB-C port on the bat
- single switch on the head of the light
This section is not comprehensive. If I didn’t include a particular light here, it doesn’t mean it’s bad or doesn’t deserve to be here. I simply cannot list every possible competitor.
Conclusion
The beam options (particularly the spot) and user interface with dual rotary knobs are excellent. I like the lightweight plastic build, dual battery options, and convenient USB-C charging on the included batteries. The brightness, runtime, and voltage immunity are fine on the included batteries, but AAA runtime is quite short. I don’t love the stiff headband but it’s not uncomfortable. The battery indicator is misleading, and the pricing seems high.
Thanks to Nextorch for providing this light for review!
