Review

For my first headlamp, I ever purchased I went into Go Outdoors for a cheap feature-packed solution and picked up the Coleman CXS headlamp. So how did it do?

Why the Coleman CXS?

It had all the features, red light, dimming, auto-adjusting, head strap and so on and it was only £22 so it seemed like a no-brainer at the time and initially, I was very pleased.

How well does it work?

It doesn’t score terribly high for performance, the fact it takes 3 AAA batteries is definitely a massive turn off for me nowadays and the battery life, while good, wouldn’t justify the size and weight. Also, the auto-brightness function on the lamp would trigger when not required, making the lamp dim and brighten on its own accord. Very annoying.

Who’s it for?

I wouldn’t recommend this lamp for a thru-hiker, but it would be okay for an avid camper, or even to have in the back of your car for emergencies.

Why review it?

As it’s the first headlamp I ever purchased, I thought it’d be a good idea to include on the site to show how I progressed and upgraded over time. I’d highly recommend the Nitecore NU25 for a good all-rounder, or even the Olight H2R Nova for an incredible performance headlamp with amazing beam distance.

Value for money

At around the £20 mark, if all the features worked properly and it was rechargeable it wouldn’t be a bad lamp. It’s definitely worth spending a little more, but for something cheaper that’s not rechargeable, go for something like the Black Diamond Ion instead. Sorry, Coleman!

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