Fenix HM65R-T v2

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Fenix HM65R-T v2.0 specifications

Brand/model	Fenix HM65R-T v2.0
Flashlight category	Headlamp
LED	Luminus SST40 (cw), Osram GW PUSTA1.PM (ww)
Max. output	1,600 Lumens
Max. beam distance	170 meters
Max. beam intensity	7,353 cd
Battery config.	1*18650
Onboard charging	USB-C
Modes	Cool white: 3, Warm white: 4
Blinkies	SOS
Waterproof	IP68
Review date	April 2024

Fenix is a well-known player in the world of flashlights. They have various lighting products, including headlamps, flashlights, and lanterns.

Today, we are looking at a dual-LED headlamp, the Fenix HM65R T v2, which offers cool white and warm white in one headlamp. Each LED has its own dedicated switch and UI. Pretty cool!

But is it a good performer, and will the dual switch and dual UI be easy to use?

Let’s find out.

Package quality.

The packaging for the Fenix HM65R T v2 is instantly recognizable by its colors and design. It’s a plastic box, with a clear window on the front to show off the headlamp. Since it’s available with 3 unique colors, you can easily make sure you got the correct one.

This is what you find inside:

• Fenix HM65R-T v2
• 18650 battery (pre-installed)
• Adjustable headband
• Charging cable
• Spare o-ring
• Manual and warranty card

Before your first use, remove the plastic insulator from the tailcap.

There are a few different designs for headlamps, with the two main ones being L-shaped (right angle) and T-shaped. L-shaped lights can be pretty nice since they do dual duty as both a headlight and a handheld or utility light. But as a dedicated headlamp, some people don’t like the L-shaped, as the light is offset to the side and may feel a bit unnatural, especially for up-close tasks. The HM65R-T v2 is one with the T-shaped style. This feels good, as the light feels well-balanced.

The one I am reviewing is the Nebula version, which is a duotone, combining purple and pink-ish. But there is also a normal black version and a Purple version.

Fenix mentions that it’s constructed of quality aluminum, magnesium, and PC (polycarbonate).

It comes with the headband pre-installed. And while you could potentially take it off, I see no reason to do so. The strap itself is pretty nice and easily adjustable by twisting the round knob located on the side. The straps connect to a wide plastic bracket that keeps it from putting too much pressure on your forehead from the bracket. This bracket includes a protective shroud/guard located just above the switches when the lamp is in the default position. This prevents any accidental activation. Overall, the Fenix HM65R-T v2.0 is relatively comfortable to wear.

A headlamp like this Fenix is great for all kinds of things: working around the house/garage/yard, hiking in the evening, hunting/fishing, etc. However, it’s still an 18650-type headlamp, without a third strap on top of your head, so it’s not really meant for jogging, in my opinion.  

The headlamp features an adjustable beam angle, directing the light forward or downwards in incremental steps, from straight ahead to nearly 90 degrees downward.

And the multiple lighting modes make it an excellent fit for many situations. Unlike the Fenix HM60R, which Gabriel reviewed, the HM60R Tv2 does not have a spotlight or floodlight. Instead, it just differentiates between a cold white and a warm white LED.

You get 2 switches to operate the 2 LEDs independently.. Note: you can’t mix them.. so you either get cold or warm white. In the standard, forward-pointing position, you have the shroud protecting the switches, which makes it more difficult to use. You have to adjust the position before you can use the switches. For now, I don’t really like that, and I’m not sure if I would get used to it.

Fenix Warranty:

• 15 days from date of purchase: replacement from Fenix for manufacturing defects
• 5 year from date of purchase: free repairs
• Lifetime maintenance, with customer covering the cost of parts
• Extra 6-month warranty period for products registered on Fenix’s website

There are two separate optic lenses: one for the cool white LED, and another for the warm white LED. Both look very similar, unlike the HM60R. The cool white LED is a Luminus SST40, while the warm white LED is an Osram GW PUSTA1.PM, which I don’t know much about.

Both have similar beam patterns, with some kind of hotspot, and a nice transition to spill. Just like I enjoy with EDC flashlights. To me, a smooth and good beam is more important than high CRI, or high output, especially for this type of light. You don’t want a harsh transition between hotspot and spill, and the beam shouldn’t be too throwy, either.

Of course, I also tested the beam quality with my spectrometer.

Spectral measurements:  

I used a Sekonic C800 spectrometer to measure the flashlight at 5 5-meter distance. I measured both LEDs in the highest mode.

Mode:	CCT:	CRI Ra:	duv	TM30 Rf	TM30 Rg
CW High	6341K	66	0.0016	65	96
WW High	3137K	71.7	0.0014	75	94

Dimensions: 

Fenix HM65R-T v2.0	Millimeters	Inches
Headlamp unit thickness	25 mm	1 in
Headlamp unit width	79 mm	3.1in
Headlamp unit height	41 mm	1.6 in

Dimensions are rounded to the nearest millimeter and the nearest tenth of an Inch.

Weight: 

Fenix HM65R-T v2.0	Weight in grams	Weight in oz.
Set without battery:	93 g	3.3 oz
With battery	143 g	5 oz

Weight is rounded to the nearest gram and tenth of an Oz.

Fenix HM65R-T v2.0 headlamp comparison

Size compared to other great headlamps.

Group 1, from left to right: Fenix HM50R v2, Fenix HM65R-T v2.0, Nitecore HC65, Nitecore UT27

Both LEDs are using their own switch and UI. The warm white UI has 1 additional mode, Eco mode. If there was a need for only 1 Eco mode, I would agree the warm white was the best choice. However, it could also be added to the cold white.. to make the UI easier to understand.

The available main modes:

• Cold white: Low, Medium, High
• Warm white: Eco, Low, Medium, High

The available special modes (blinkies):

• SOS (Warm white only)

How the UI works when the flashlight is still turned OFF:

• Single-click: battery level indicator
• 2+ clicks: nothing
• Press and hold 1 sec: turn the light on in lowest mode (Eco with Warm White, Low with Cold White)
• Press and hold 2 sec: SOS (you can press either of the 2 switches, and SOS is only with warm white. But SOS is very weak.. so I don’t know how useful this is?

How the UI works when the flashlight is turned ON:

• Single clicks: Cycle through the menu from lowest to highest
• Multiple clicks: nothing, just running through the different modes
• Press and hold: turn off

Shortcuts within the UI:

• None.. no mode memory, always starts in the lowest available mode
• To SOS: press-and-hold either switch for about 2 seconds to activate SOS

Mode memory:

• No.. always start in the lowest output

Blinky modes:

• SOS mode: press and hold either switch for 2 seconds to activate SOS mode.
• SOS mode is only Low output, Warm White..
• I don’t know how useful an SOS mode is with so low output….

Low battery warning:

• The battery level indicator blinks.. but almost pointless because you can’t see it, as it is located on top of the headlamp :–), and with low output, you might not notice a low battery level.

Lock-out mode:

• Press and hold both switches simultaneously

PWM:

• Not visible

Firmware / UI Conclusion:

• It’s very easy to understand and get used to. I’m not a big fan of the press and hold for on, and press and hold for off. But that’s just personal.
• I’m not sure how useful the SOS mode is, but I like the fact that it can run for 600 hours (according to specs)
• A shortcut to turbo would have been nice. Switching from Warm white to Cold white will always go to the lowest mode.
• There is no shortcut to any mode, except SOS, and the lowest mode

Fenix included a 18650 battery (without USB charging port), and is labeled ARB-L18-3400, which is a 3400mAh capacity battery. You can charge the flashlight in a dedicated battery charger or inside the flashlight with the included USB-C charging cable.

I tested the full charging time 3 times, and they were 2h 44min, 2h 45min, 2h 46min respectively. So the average charge time is 2h 45 min. The end voltage is 4.18V.

The headlamp unit has 2 tailcap; you should use the one with the arrow to remove and insert the battery. The other tailcap can also be removed but you shouldn’t. This is probably only done to remove the unit from the headstrap.

Also, it’s probably recommended to charge the battery inside the headlamp because unscrewing the tailcap is not very easy. Because of the bracket it’s positioned in, there is not so much space, so you can’t make full turns. You have to do multiple quarter-turns to unscrew the cap.

The included battery is a button-top, and I tested to see which batteries would also fit. Flat-top batteries do not work because they have physical reverse polarity protection. You need to use button-top batteries, either protected or unprotected.

However, it’s important to note that Fenix does not have a built-in low voltage protection. They rely on the protection board inside the battery. Make sure you charge the battery when you notice it’s getting low. If you don’t, you might discharge your unprotected batteries to below-safe levels.

Charge type	Fits	No fit	Charge time
Flashlight with onboard USB-C	Button tops	Flat tops	2h 45min

This is the gear I use for testing:

Gear	Purpose	Link to buy
Hagner E4-X	Measuring beam intensity (throw)	Inquire at Hagner.se
2* Extech SDL400	Lumens and logging runtimes	Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk,
Leica Disto D2	Distance for throw measurements	Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk,
Sekonic C-800	Spectrometer for LED measurements	Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk
Uni-T UTi260B	Thermal Image camera	Amazon.com,

Lumen measurements:

How Lumens are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards How Lumens are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards: The ANSI FL1 standards specify that output in lumens should be measured 30 seconds after turning on, as this is the standardized time for measuring brightness according to the industry standard. This is why we focus on this part in our measurements. The ANSI FL1 standards require an ambient temperature of 22 ± 3°C. We record the ambient the ambient temperature to identify potential reasons for any observed discrepancies.

The output measurements in this review are based on my homemade integrating spheres, each equipped with an Extech SDL400 Lux Meter. For consistency and accuracy, a calibration light (Convoy S2+ with 249lm and a Convoy S2+ with 261lm) is measured before each set of lumen measurements.
One of the lux meters uses an ND camera filter for high-output lights to prevent the lux meter from maxing out. This is either the Kenko PRO1D ND16 for up to about 80,000 lumens or the Gobe ND32 for anything above.

All of my readings were taken from a fully charged Fenix ARB-L18-3400.

The measurements were taken manually at turn on and 30-seconds. The 10-minute numbers are taken from the runtime graph.

Mode	Specified	turn on	30 sec	10 min
Eco (ww)	5 lm	6 lm	6 lm	–
Low (ww)	130 lm	139 lm	140 lm	141 lm
Med (ww)	400 lm	428 lm	426 lm	423 lm
High (ww)	800 lm	888 lm	875 lm	293 lm

Mode	Specified	turn on	30 sec	10 min
Low (cw)	130 lm	129 lm	129 lm	129 lm
Med (cw)	400 lm	402 lm	402 lm	398 lm
High (cw)	1600 lm	1723 lm	1590 lm	530 lm

I try to use rounded lumen numbers only, except for maybe some Low or Moon/Firefly modes.

Parasitic drain:

• 22.4 µA (pretty low, and would take several years to discharge the battery.)

Ambient temperature during testing:

• 20.5°C

Fenix HM65R-T v2.0 Battery life and runtime

How Runtimes are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards About ANSI FL1 runtime standards: The runtime is measured until the light drops to 10% of its initial output (30 seconds after turning on). This does not mean that the flashlight is not usable anymore. The last column shows how long the light actually works till it shuts off. If there is a + symbol, it means that the test was stopped at that particular point, but the light was actually still running. This happens on certain occasions, with certain drivers, firmware, or batteries.

Runtime tests were conducted in my 50cm homemade integrating sphere, paired with the Extech SDL400 data logging Lux Meter. Temperatures from the moment the runtime test started.

Mode	Specified	Runtime (ANSI FL1)	Time till shut off
Low cw (14.2°C)	24h	23h 32min	26h 35min
Med cw (21.2°C)	12h	12h 07min	15h 51min
High cw (21.5°C)	3h	2h 55min	7h 12min
Eco ww	300h	–	–
Low ww (17.1°C)	24h	21h 57min	35h 24min
Med ww (19.6°C)	12h	10h 36min	25h 03min
High ww (17.3°C)	6h	5h 55min	19h 39min

After the battery reaches 10% (ANSI FL1 standards), the flashlight continues running for several more hours! It’s good to know this is how the Fenix works. You don’t have to be afraid you have no light anymore.

Fenix HM65R-T v2 Peak beam intensity and beam distance measurements

About Peak beam intensity: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards About peak beam intensity The calculated value of distance in meters at which the flashlight produces a light intensity of 0.25 lux. (0.25 lux is about the brightness of a full moon shining on an object). This means that the intensity has decreased so much, it becomes difficult to see darker objects, or objects that don’t reflect light. The columns ‘Meters’ and ‘Yards’ use rounded numbers.

Measurements were taken indoors with a Hagner E4-X Lux Meter. The measurements were taken 30 seconds after turn on.

Mode	Specified	Candela measured	Meters	Yards
Warm Eco	26 cd	25 cd	10 m	11 yd
Warm Low	577 cd	700 cd	53 m	58 yd
Warm Med	1,690 cd	2,150 cd	93 m	101 yd
Warm High	3,155 cd	4,450 cd	133 m	146 yd
Cold Low	604 cd	675 cd	52 m	57 yd
Cold Med	1,715 cd	2,150 cd	93 m	101 yd
Cold High	7,353 cd	8,525 cd	185 m	202 yd

It’s again no surprise my measurements are a little higher than specified. That’s very common for Fenix.

Ambient temperature during testing:

• 18.9 °C

For the following beamshots, I used a Canon EOS 5D Mk2 with a 50mm lens. Manual settings: ISO1600, 1/4sec, F4, 5000K.

The shed is about 65 meters / 71 yards away, and the reflective fence is about 200 meters.

Explore and compare the beamshots from the following flashlights:

• Fenix HM65R-T v2.0
• Fenix HM50
• Nitecore UT27
• Nitecore HC65 v2

Please note that the following beamshots are mainly intended to showcase the beam pattern and beam quality, rather than overall performance. These images are typically taken directly after activation, and in different seasons or weather conditions, and therefore do not fully represent its overall performance. For accurate performance metrics, such as output, beam distance, and runtimes, you need to look at the performance section of this review.

Disclaimer: This flashlight was sent to us for review at no cost by Fenix. We have not been paid to review, nor have we been holding back on problems or defects.