GEAR | First Look At The New BioLite HeadLamp 200

February 12, 2020 Shell Robshaw-Bryan

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What is it?

BioLite HeadLamp 200 RRP: £44.99

Stockists

Features

Ultra-light: coming in at only 1.6 oz. instead of the previous 2.43 oz.
No battery pack or cords: all power will be integrated into the front
Maintains BioLite’s award-winning ‘no bounce’ design
Produces 200 Lumens of Light
USB rechargeable
Front tilting light with 2 performance options providing a beam distance of either 8M or 50M
5 different light modes
3D Slimfit construction
Up to 40 hours battery on low setting or 3 hours on high

The new BioLite HeadLamp 200 retains many of the features of the existing BioLite HeadLamp 330, but has a sleeker design which also means it’s lighter and retails for a little less than the HeadLamp 330.

Using the headlamp

The BioLite 200 flips forward to reveal a USB port with a rubber protective cover and there’s a battery status indicator that shows a green light whilst charging. To change mode, there’s a button on the top of the torch that you press once, twice and so on to get the mode you want. The headlamp also remembers the last mode it was on, so if you turn it off and back on again, you don’t have to go through the settings again.

I found the BioLite HeadLamp 200 extremely comfortable to wear. The adjustment mechanism on the headband is super fast and easy to use, and is the least fiddly mechanism I’ve come across in a headlamp, making it supremely practical and quick to slip on and off.

The headlamps I already own (a cheap Varta one and a mid-range Petzel one) tend to have hard plastic parts that make them uncomfortable to wear without a hat, but the BioLite HeadLamp 200 sits perfectly flat and the soft-feel headband is comfortable enough to wear against skin but can easily be adjusted to fit over a hat.

Low weight and high levels of comfort

Although weight isn’t too much of an issue for me as I’m more of a car camper than a backpacking camper, I did appreciate the compact size which meant it’s far easier to keep in a pocket than other head torches I have that are bulkier and are better kept inside a backpack rather than a pocket.

Performance

I used the headlamp on a recent evening walk and again on a twilight woodland run. The run was a bit of a gamble as the paths in the woods near my home tend to feature plenty of trip hazards at the best of times, but I wanted to see how it performed in terms of stability and quality of light and I found that even whilst running (OK slow, jogging) there was no movement at all and on the high setting, it gave me more than enough light to confidently avoid the many branches littering the path.

The power of the beam is simply phenomenal

The headlamp really came into its own though during a recent glamping trip in a remote location in the Welsh hills. Storm Ciara hit over the weekend and at a couple of points during the night, I had to nip outside to secure items down or retrieve items that had blown over.

The power of the beam is simply phenomenal. It illuminates a huge area on the highest setting, making it unlikely you’d ever really need it and could instead conserve power with the beam on a more than sufficient lower setting.

Final say

Our Rating

Quality 4.5/5

Practicality 5/5

Styling 5/5

Value 4.5/5

Overall Rating (5 / 5)

Although the Biolite HeadLamp 200 is by no means cheap, it compares favourably to my Petzel Actik Core as it’s way smaller, significantly lighter (my Petzel has the added weight of 3 AAA batteries) and it’s much more comfortable to wear.

Looks-wise, I have to admit that I always feel like a bit of dork with a headlamp on and practical as they might be, style isn’t really something that comes into it. The BioLite HeadLamp 200 however manages to achieve some serious style points too with the funky colour options available.

The beam is simply phenomenal and the BioLite HeadLamp 200 provides exceptional all-round performance. I really like the fact that it’s rechargeable and so small, which adds bonus points in terms of practicality and for me, this will certainly be my go-to choice for dusk dog walks and camping trips from now on.

Where to buy the BioLite HeadLamp 200

Disclosure | Thank you to BioLite who supplied the featured product for us to test. We were not paid to write this review.

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Shell Robshaw-Bryan

Editor & Owner at Camping with Style

Shell loves all things travel and outdoors and is a nature-loving, comfy-camping kinda girl. Shell started the Camping with Style blog after a serious snowboarding accident which left her with a broken back. Despite this she used the outdoors and healing power of nature to aid her recovery and she continues to spend time outdoors whenever she can.

From open water swimming, snowboarding and kayaking to hill walks and meditation, Shell shares her travels and microadventures here on the blog and in various publications she's written for, Shell has a particular interest in promoting wellbeing and the many benefits of nature therapy.

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