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D25 series headlamp overview, review and mods
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This is a review and mod guide of the D25 series of headlamps as it relates to climbing purposes.  Boruit D25, Sofirn D25S, H05A white from left to right OVERVIEW The D10/D20/D25 series of headlamps originally came out in 2018. It is sold by many brands, notably Boruit. It mimics the old Fenix HL55/60 series but in a little lighter and more affordable package with additional features. Feature include: - 18650 battery - Micro USB rechargeable - Fenix style click elevation adjustment - Detachable from single strap headband - 120 to 125g weight including battery - Chinese XML copy LEDs - Simple UI, no memory - 5 output settings plus strobes - NO battery level indicator - Low voltage warning and cutoff  D10, D25, D20 from top to bottom D10: - Single fake XML emitter - Completely waterproof within reason - More throw, for climbing purposes requires insertion of a frosted lens for flood - Come in yellow and cool white tints - 500 to 700 tested lumens depending on the tint D20 - Single fake XML emitter - Has zoom lens - Mildly water resistant - Very cool white tint - 500 or so lumens D25 - Double fake XML emitters - Midly water resistant, can be made fully resistant with a simple mod - More flood with some throw - Come in yellow and cool white tints - 800 to 1000 tested lumens depending on the tint In 2019 Sofirn took the host and driver of the D25. They added their own firmare with an upgrade to the emitters creating the D25S. D25S - Double genuine SST-40 emitters - Memory function of last setting - Cool white tint - 1200 tested lumens In 2021 they changed added the D25L and D25LR D25L - Double genuine Samsung LH351D emitters - High CRI - Neutral white tint - 800 to 900 tested lumens D25LR - Single genuine neutral white Samsung LH351D emitters and single genuine SST-40 red emitter - High CRI - 500 or so lumens for the white light Also in 2021 various brands cam out with the H02/H05b headlamp which is an updated version of the generic D25. They all have: - USB-C charging - 110 to 115g or so weight including battery, LIGHTEST 18650 headlamp I know off - Battery level indicator - 7 output settings which now include moonlight and turbo in addition to strobe - All are in cool white tint - Claimed IPX6, unknown if true - Reliability is still a question since it just came out H02 - Double fake XML emitters H02A - Double genuine SST-40 emitters  H05B color headlamp H05A white - 5 cool white emiiters, type unknown (possibly osram or copy) - VERY floody H05b color - 3 cool white emiiters, 2 color emitters typically red, type unknown (possibly osram or copy) ADVANTAGES FOR CLIMBING The D25 series of headlamps is ideal for climbers on a budget for the following reasons: - Among the lightest 18650 headlamps - High output 1000+ lumens when needed - Fairly floody for climbing but has some throw for routefinding - The lowest 3 (of 5) levels are sufficient (25-300 lumens) for most climbing/hiking and will last all night if used wisely - The click style elevation adjustment is easy to do even on lead with one hand - Simple single big button UI even with gloves on - Can take any 18650 batteries, even unprotected ones since it has low voltage shutoff - Batteries can be swapped in the field - Can recharged via USB powerbank without carrying a seperate charger - Fairly reliable do to simple electronics and lack of fancy features - 1/4 to 1/3 the price of most other expensive headlamps, price is usually $20-25 US including battery What it isn't: - Not a regulated headlamp so the brightness will slowly decrease over time - Does not take 2 CR123A lithium primaries for extremely cold temperatures - Does not have a very low lumens setting, so not the ideal camp light - No red light - Does not have the same build quality or drop ratings of expensive headlamps - Does not have the warranty of more expensive headlamps Bottom line: - The best cheap decent headlamp you can get for rock climbing - LIGHTEST 18650 headlamps alongside the Zebralights (which don't have USB charging) - Cheap enough to keep as a spare in your car or pack - Great loaner headlamp to forgetful partners since it has an easy simple UI - $20-25 complete system including battery. No seperate charger needed. Recommendation: - For general outdoor use get the D25S, it has the best output - If u plan on using a lot indoors get the D25L for the higher CRI and softer tint, less output but easier on the eyes - For night bouldering or single pitch consider the H05a white as it is pure flood and has ridiculous output (reliability still to be determined for this new model) - The H02a looks even better as its lighter and addresses many of the issues of the D25 series, but long term reliability is still to be determined MODS There are 3 mods I do to all D25 headlamps. 1. Take off the front bezel with a 2mm hex key and seam seal the little oval channel in there with silicone (or use rubber cement). Watch this video: 2. Use 2mm x 150-200mm (6") tie straps to lock the light to the headband. This is to prevent the rope or rock from knocking it off. Tighten it just enough so there is some play. Too tight will make it harder to adjust the elevation.    3. Use some teflon tape (pink works the best) on the threads and silicone lube to prevent the anodization from wearing off. This allows a mechanical lockout if it is in good shape. Also lubricate the O-rings.  TRICKS Here's a few tricks for the D25 series headlamp. - To lockout the headlamp simply have it on then turn the battery cap slightly till it turns off. This is a mechanical lockout, your thread annodizing needs to be in good condition. Make sure to re-engage when charging though or the charging light will always be green. - You can also somewhat lockout the headlamp by leaving the USB side charging cap open. This reduces the chance of accidental clicking of the button but leaves you headlamp open to the water. Keep it in a ziplock bag if you do this. - Always turn off your headlamp on the lowest setting. If it accidentally turns on you won't burn a hole in your pack. - Always mechanically lockout when putting away the headlamp. It prevents parasitic drain over time. - Always store a headlamp with around 3/4 charge. This is best for lithium ion batteries. Never store away for any length with a depleted battery. - You can run the headlamp directly off a powerbank when, simply mechanically lockout the light then plug it in. This also allows use while charging (re-engage mechanically) on lower output levels. - Place the headband on your head THEN adjust it. - Use unprotected batteries. Because of the way the threads are shaped, protected batteries put more pressure and wear out the annodizing faster. Just make sure you know safe handling and carrying procedures for unprotected batteries. VIDEO REVIEWS D25S: https://youtu.be/aLXnhTkl0F0 D25L: https://youtu.be/meU0x7CRcqQ D25LR: H02B: H05A white: https://youtu.be/VPQbbm6riBA https://youtu.be/OXK8uu59zKg H05B color red: https://youtu.be/ZLHBzpIKrJ0 WHERE TO BUY - Sofirn D25S/D25L are best bought through amazon or sofirnlight.com if in the USA. Sofirn USA handles all warranty for north america for lights bought through those 2 channels. They will NOT warranty lights bought anywhere else. - Internatinally AliExpress is the cheapest generally. Buy from the sofirn store to get their included battery, the battery from other suppliers is of uncertain quality. - H05A white can be bought in AliExpress from the sofirn store or sofirnlight.com - H02A is found on Banggood - 18650 batteries can be purchased in the USA from Ilumn, Liion warehouse or any reputable vape shop. As usual, PayPal is recommended in case you have any issues. |
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Very informative. I just picked up a D25S for $25 on amazon. Thanks! |
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Amazing! This is just what I was looking for! I bought a couple of these to play around with since they're so cheap. I am going to do your mods above, and that video showing the gasket maker is perfect as I think I have some down in my toolbox. Thank you!!! |
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awesome review! I will be purchasing one or two of these really soon and this helped me a lot. thanks!! |
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I have purchased and used a number of the headlamps in the review. They are by far my favorite for climbing. I also resell them at cost to friends. Everyone loves them as much as I do. The cheap price is very handy since it is easy to drop things while climbing. Be sure use tie locks as mentioned to keep the headlamp from being knocked off its mounting (string works the same as his way). Great review, thanks for taking the time. I have used so many Petzl, Black Diamond, PrincetonTec, headlamps and would never choose them over these. Yes some of these are somewhat cheaply built but still hold up a lot better than plastic headlamps. The 18650 battery platform is unbeatable, say bye-bye to all others if you like long life, great rechargeability and low cost. These batteries are great, I have used them a lot. Also these batteries are good. |
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I would suggest just getting it with the optional included battery when buying from sofirnlight.com, amazon or the sofirn store on aliexpress. It only costs $2 dollars extra or so. At worst you can use it as a spare latter. For those in the USA these are the batteries I suggest for maximum output and runtime. The D25S and H05A draw no more than 3 amps, so a standard 3500 mAh battery is more than sufficient. As always use a cheap plastic case when storing or transporting the battery. And practice safe handling procedures for unprotected batteries. Some more information on the H05A WHITE after some testing and use: - Comes with XPG (copy?), SST20 or OSRAM emitters, depending in where you get it. - Charges the battery at around 1 Ah rate with proper voltage termination around 4.11v. - Has proper low voltage shutoff around 2.8v. - The tint is almost identical to the D25S, around 6500K. - The turbo mode has a thermal stepdown. - It is 15g lighter than the D25S. Weights 110g vs 125g (D25S) after mods and all in including battery. You actually feel the difference on your head. This is lighter than a Zebralight. - Appears to have a plastic lens, not glass. You can protect this with some clear gorilla tape if you want. - It is FLOODY and WIDE! This might be the best light for actual rock climbing. There is no hotspot. The edge of the light is right at your peripheral vision. You do loose some throw compared to a D25S but it is not too bad. - The voltage indicator is useful. Green, yellow and red. But I would suggest charging it before night climbs anyways as green is 60%+. Easy enought to charge with USB-C. - Moonlight mode preserves low light vision well. - The normal mode change is downwards, from high to low. Would have preferred upwards. Has mode memory. - The band is better than the D25 series. It holds its adjustment better. I suspect that this might be the best headlamp for single pitch, bouldering and and climbs where you don't need the throw. Long term durability and water resistance are unknown. But if those check out then this may be the best budget climbing headlamp, period. Unless you are going to extreme places where you may want the durability of a Zebralight or Fenix, I see no reason to spend more than $20-25 on anything else. Here is a short summary of the H05A WHITE UI since it doesn't seem to be online anywhere: - CLICK ONCE FROM OFF, turns on light to last memorized main mode - CLICK ONCE FROM ON, turns off light - HOLD CLICK FROM ON, cycles 5 main modes downwards - HOLD CLICK FROM OFF, goes to moonlight, click again to turn off - DOUBLE CLICK FROM ANY, goes straight to turbo, click again to go to last main mode - DOUBLE CLICK FROM TURBO, goes to strobe - DOUBLE CLICK FROM STROBE, cycles through the different strobes (normal, SOS, beacon) The interface is all through one single big button like the D25S and is easy to use with gloves. For loaning out to forgetful partners dont even bother with the double clicks, just show them with main modes and itll be very easy to remember. |
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Thanks for the review. Any thoughts on the SP40 - looks like it's even lighter than the others. |
Big Red wrote: The SP40 is heavier around 150-160g all in (vs 110-125g). The rubber headband is tight on the lamp, which makes it hard to adjust the elevation when on lead single handed. The standard SP40 has a much more concentrated hot spot than the D25 or H05 series. For actual rock climbing this is not as desirable. The long horizontal length of the SP40 makes it a bit more likely to bump into features or get caught on the rope when following/TRing. I owned and used a SP40 when it first came out, I gave it to a family member. For rock climbing I consider the D25S, and possibly now the H05A WHITE, much superior. They are lighter, floodier, less finicky and likely more reliable as the electronics are simpler. They are also cheaper! |
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Wow thanks for the full value review! How well do these lights stay in their clip housing without the ziptie mod, e.g. during running? And what do you mean about always using unprotected batteries--do you recommend tearing off the coating on stock batts? Thanks |
Andy Bennett wrote: They hold pretty well in the plastic holder. It takes a decent amount of force to take em out. But a good whack on a branch might knock it loose. You can use string as mentioned, or extra long twist ties for a removable solution as well. Do NOT take off the wrappers or do any modifications to the 18650 battery. That would be very dangerous. If the wrapper is damaged in any way stop using until you can safely re-wrap it if you know how, or buy another battery. Most protected li-on batteries have a circuit at the front or back of the battery with 3 types of protection built in:
Many more expensive lights such as Fenix require protected batteries because there is no low voltage cut off, you can overdischarge and damage the battery. Never charge a battery that is discharged below 2.5v unless you know what you are doing. The D25 and H05 series have a shutoff around 2.8v to protect the battery. They also stop charging around 4.11-4.18v, over 4.20v is bad. So basically you can use any decent 18650 battery even ones without a protection circuit built in. The protection in this case is built into the headlamp. However there are 2 things that cant be built in:
The upside of unprotected batteries is that they are cheaper, slightly lighter, and there is no circuit to fail. I recently had a battery whose protection failed and drained it to 1.5v. The headlamps I listed above come with unprotected batteries if you select that option. For trail running consider the H05A as its 15g lighter and has a better headband adjustment. You really feel the lighter weight. I compared it against a friend's Petzl Iko Core, which is touted as the best running headlamp. It is just as floody and has much more output if needed. Also the 18650 battery at 2200-3500 mAh blows away Petzl proprietary 1250 mAh battery. They also cost $3-7 vs. $30 or so for the batteries. The unknowns are the long term durability and waterproofness. So it is taking a bit of a chance. Here is some reading on safe li-on battery procedures: https://www.gorillavapes.com/blog/18650-battery-safety-basics/ And difference between protected and unprotected 18650: The D25 and H05 series headlamps require a bit more skill and knowledge to safely use unprotected batteries and mod for climbing. You CAN use protected batteries in them but you will have to buy em separately, and constantly taking them out does wear out the annodizing on the threads faster (essential for mechanical lockout). As a note Zebralight flashlights are mostly used with unprotected batteries as some of them are limited in the length of battery you can fit in. Zebralight does sell a shorter protected battery, but most users probably don't use it. Basically you will need the same battery safety basics as with a Zebralight! |
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Thanks, very informative! What would you say is the risk level of one of these headlamps having/developing a dangerous charging malfunction? (i know next to nothing about this stuff so this may be a dumb ?) |
Andy Bennett wrote: Considerably lower risk than petzl or BD, I like my BD headlamp but the reality is its got a lot more circuitry and things to go wrong, it even has more batteries to fail ( using alkalines they may very well fail after a while), one super robust battery (18650/2170)and very simple circuitry is how you ensure a robust headlamp. The only issue could be the LED being a knock off and having a premature death but I've read of no issues so it's probably a non issue. |
Andy Bennett wrote: Any lithium ion charging system can fail, period. Even quality companies such as Samsung had the infamous exploding Galaxy 7 Note which got banned from airlines for being a grenade basically.  That being said the D25 series headlamp is likely one of the safer ones around:
You can easily test the last point with a cheap voltmeter yourself. Simply check the battery voltage after the charging light turns green, it should be below 4.2v. If this passes plug it back in for a bit longer while the light is green, then check the voltage again after 30 min or so. Basically the voltage should be more or less the same and below 4.2v. You are looking to see if the light keeps charging even after the battery is full. Keep an eye on your it while you do this and have an open window you can toss it out of (shout GRENADE!!!). I personally test to make sure there is proper over voltage charge termination on every chargeable light with removable batteries and every stand alone charger I use. I have caught other more expensive manufacturers without proper voltage termination. Even a Fenix that had overcharging issues to 4.25v+. That said of the 10+ D10 and D25 series headlamps I have given to others, not a single one has overcharged. I test every single one myself. They all stop around 4.11v to 4.18v. The other thing which is critically important is to use a quality USB wall outlet (and car outlet) for charging up your light and phones. Cheap ones have voltage spikes which burn out the protections I have mentioned above which leads to overcharging and exploding devices. Cheap AC voltage wallchargers also overheat and start fires. Fire departments around the world warn people every year about them. If in doubt just buy an IKEA usb charger, they are well tested and reasonably priced. Use a decent quality battery, the ones which come with sofirn come from DLG and work OK, I use them. But the ones I posted above from Liion wholesale are the best you can get. Samsung, LG and Sanyo (Panasonic) are the best. If you are really worried about it you can get a QUALITY protected battery with a Japanese protection circuit. This way you have double the protection on the headlamp and the battery. Never leave a charger plugged in if you are not there. And don't recharge an overdischarged battery below 2.5v. Hence my suggestions for dealing with storage, parasitic drain and mechanical lockouts in the previous post. This applies to ALL headlamps and consumer devices. Not just budget chinese headlamps. Personally I think the risk is no greater than using any other Li-on chargeable device such as a phone, tablet or usb powerbank. And almost certainly less than using a power tool battery pack, especially the knockoff ones. Just follow safe usage and charging procedures, and use a decent quality battery. |
Javinder Bains wrote: It's the "proper low voltage cutoff" type QC stuff that, granted, I don't understand the technical aspects of, but makes me wary of these cheap Chinese lights. Like you note, even Samsung and Fenix have had their debacles. Oh well, I think I'll take a chance on the D25s. Is the 18570 battery somehow more dangerous than rechargeable AAs or the like? |
Andy Bennett wrote: Any lithium ion battery is more dangerous than AA NiMH batteries. 18650, built in LiPo packs (cell phones), etc, it doesn't matter. The danger with any 18650 headlamp comes from:
AA NiMH lights are inherently safer, there is no question. However you also need a safe charger. And you will never get the same output or runtimes for the same weight from them. You simply can't get away from li-on batteries if you have cell phones, laptops, tablets, power banks, etc. As I have said before. These headlamps are for people who are willing to do a bit more in terms of safe handling practices and usage. They aren't for someone who simply takes the batteries out and throws those bare in their pocket full of keys or a drawer full of metal objects. Or someone who doesn't take the time to lockout their light with a slight twist when storing it, or stores it with a depleted battery. Or someone who leaves their light charging for days. My suggestion is to buy it from Amazon so that you have 30 days I believe to return it (make sure it ships from amazon directly) if you decide you don't like it. |
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For the peace of mind of fellow purchasers here, I retested the charge termination voltage and low voltage protection cutoff on the lights currently on my table Boruit D25 yellow: CTV 4.18v, LVP 2.90v Sofirn D25S: CTV 4.17v, LVP 2.65v Generic H05A white: CTV 4.11v, LVP 2.80v All 3 charged at around 1 to1.3 Ah max charge rate. This is for future reference in case anyone wants to know that these protections actually exists, or that they are within reasonably safe values. Some manufacturers will falsely claim LVP, it is not until someone actually test then that you can assume it is there. At least on the specific light that I tested in my hands anyways. As a rant, it is amazing how no name cheap chinese manufacturers can put in proper CTV and LVP, but bigger name brands like Fenix and others can't!!! |
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Thanks for your thorough testing Javinder, it's really a community asset! |
Andy Bennett wrote: No thanks needed. It is winter and I am bored. That is all there is to it! |
Javinder Bains wrote: Javinder, yes there is, mega thanks and more. Dude, that is likely one of the more complete, honest and near perfect reviews I believe I've ever read on this site. I own multiple Sofirn D25 and D25s and you showed me some new things I was not aware of (ie, silicon seal and zip tie). Worthy of any review on budget light forum, more so as it focus's on it's usage. Thanks so much!!! Awesome review! As an aside to the board, as much as I like it, I have never used my D25 out climbing as I usually grab a lighter headlamp if it's going to get serious and I always keep the tiny Petzl e+Lite in a "Trad" (zippered pocket that also has a tiny knife, small bic lighter, a paper towel square for firestarter and TP) chalkbag all the time for emergency and being accidentally benighted. |
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I also wanted to say thank you to Javinder for the research and education! I have recently (last month) made the switch to 18650 D25 which I have really enjoyed for backcountry skiing, hiking and just bought a couple of H05A for trail running. They are a different category of headlamp from my old BD spots and such lights. Its easy to see how the tech evolves so quickly and why many companies are moving away from the AA and AAA batteries to rechargeable. Thanks again! |
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I just got my D25s in the mail today from Aliexpress, this thing is incredible and only weighs (122g) 6g more than my old bd storm, the light output and flood is a game changer for climbing at night. Super nice controls very intuitive. Huge upgrade, saddened by the loss of red and green light but its unreal how much brighter it is. I wonder if there is a 3d printed plastic housing for the guts out there, would probably drop a dozen or so grams. |
