Today, BioLite launched the Range models of headlamps. I was lucky enough to receive a BioLite Range 400 before the launch to review. It’s one of the more exciting headlamps that I’ve been looking forward to reviewing this year, because it offers a new feature that I haven’t seen on a headlamp before: a dimmable light.
What Is It?
The BioLite Range 400 headlamp is a lightweight headlamp with a dimmable white spot light and red light mode. It features USB-C rapid charging that provides one hour of full brightness runtime from just eight minutes of charging. When fully charged, the runtime is 200 hours on the low setting and six hours on the highest setting. It takes 80 minutes to charge from empty to full. It ships with a one-foot USB-C to USB-C cable that weighs 0.4 ounces.
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Other features include a bright 400 lumen main spot light, a red light, flashing modes, a lockout feature, an IP67 submersible waterproof rating (temporary submersion up to 1 meter depth for up to 30 minutes), a headband featuring a dual adjustment system, a remaining power scale, and a tilting feature. It also offers a reserve light mode, which kicks in when the battery is low, outputting five lumens for one hour. The headlamp weighs 2.7 ounces on my scale; its claimed weight is 2.6 ounces.
BioLite offers a 3-year warranty and a suggested retail price of $59.95
BioLite also released the Range 300 and Range 500 today. The 300 weighs 1.8 ounces, has a smaller battery, peaks at 300 lumens, and doesn’t offer the red light. The 500 has a 500 lumen light plus a flood light feature, and weighs the same as the 400. The 300 runs $39.95, and the 500 runs $69.95.
Headlight Modes
The BioLite Range 400 offers a number of modes. The white light modes are spot and strobe. The red light modes are flood and strobe. The spot mode on the white light and the flood mode on the red light are both dimmable.
Two Button Interface
The modes are accessed through a two button interface. To operate the headlamp, you first need to unlock it by holding the power button for five seconds. The power button is the bigger of the two buttons. When unlocking, the light will flash to confirm it is unlocked. To lock it, you hold the power button down for five seconds. It also flashes to confirm. When locked, the headlamp will blink if you try to turn it on.
After being unlocked, a single button push turns the headlamp on to whatever mode it was in last.
Dimming the Light
To dim the light, you hold down the power button after the light is on. If you let go of the button while dimming and then press the button to dim, it reverses. For example, when starting the light, if the light is at the brightest setting and you hold the button down, it will start to dim. If you let go of the button and then hold it down again, it will start to get brighter. When you reach the brightest setting or dimmest setting, the light flashes and the dimming function stops.
Switching Light Colors
To switch between the white light and the red light, you push the smaller “mode” button. After switching, the light starts in its brightest setting.
Strobe Mode
Strobe mode is started by pushing the mode button twice. A single push of the mode button ends the strobe mode. Turning off the light also ends it.
Quick Access Red Flood Mode
Finally, the red flood light can be directly accessed when the Range 400 is off by holding the mode button down for two seconds.
The BioLite Range 400 In Use
Before launch, I had the opportunity to use the Range 400 headlamp during two night photography workshops that I taught and on one camping trip, plus during chores around the house at night.
Comfortable Strap
First of all, I like the strap. It’s one of the more comfortable straps that I’ve used on a headlamp. Recently, I’ve had bungee cords on all my headlamps, and I’ve forgotten how comfortable a good strap can be. There’s something about the fabric on this strap that feels softer than a typical nylon strap.
The base of the headlamp is also slightly curved, and the strap seems glued to the baseplate and feels like it has padding between the baseplate and the strap. That makes it comfortable on my forehead. My wife has extremely curly hair and can’t use a bungee cord style strap because it tangles in her hair. I suspect that if she tries this headlamp, she might commandeer it to replace her old AAA-powered headlamp.
While I don’t want to dwell on the strap, I also found it comfortable while lying down in the tent. Because it uses a two-point adjustment system, there’s nothing directly on the pillow to cause a pressure point.
Brightness Levels
In the field, I found the 400 lumens of the main light to be more than I needed for what I do in the outdoors. In the tent, the lowest setting worked well for reading. That’s 5 lumens. I’ve found that the 400 lumen range works well for paddling at night, night hiking, night photography to get focus on foregrounds, and even works well for biking at night.
Room for Improvement
While I like that there’s the ability to access the red light directly with a two-second mode button push, if there was one thing I might change, it would be to have this mode start at the lowest setting instead of the highest to help keep things dim when getting out of the tent at night and avoid waking up my wife and our kid. A feature I’d love to see would be a way to access the dimmest white light setting in a similar way. For now, when I know I might want that, I just ensure that before turning off the light, I set the white light to its lowest setting.
Battery Indicator
I also appreciated having the power scale on the headlamp. The scale consists of three LED lights on the side of the headlamp. After each button push, the scale lights up to show you how much power you have left. This was handy for knowing when to charge.
Conclusion
Overall, I really like the BioLite Range 400. It’s a solid headlamp. I also appreciate that there’s an option for an almost as capable but less expensive and lighter version available with the Range 300. While I didn’t get to test the Range 300, the specs show that for just one-tenth of an ounce more, you get better battery life than one of the most popular ultralight headlamps on the market. While I haven’t tested long-term durability, this headlamp will likely see a lot of use in our household in the future. I can highly recommend this headlamp.
You can find it at REI (exclusively until October 2025) or directly from the company. BioLite also offers solar power systems and an interesting stove system that generates power while you cook.
Here’s BioLite’s promotional video.
