Overview
The Coast HL7 is our top scoring headlamp and an Editors' Choice winner.
It has arguably the best close proximity lighting as well as one of the
highest measured brightnesses. And somehow it did all this for only
$59, trumping many of the lights that cost over $100 and were twice the
weight. It comes in a lightweight package (for its brightness) and had
the most intuitive beam control lever. Its only stumbling point, and
this is significant, is short battery life when in high beam mode. For
this reason we gave a second Editors' Choice award to the Black Diamond ReVolt which does a better job of balancing brightness and battery life and can also be recharged.
While the beam power of the Coast is incredible, the evenness of the light is a just little off, which prevented it from getting a top score. Interestingly, the light and lens is diffused such that the brightness is the same right up to the hard edge of the beam pattern. The best trail-finding lights, we found, are slightly brighter in the middle of the pattern and smoothly diffuse out to nothing at the edges. That said, this light lets you see almost as far as any other we tested. As you can see below in the beam comparison photo with the Black Diamond Icon, a headlamp that is twice as heavy and more than double the price, the beam of the Coast goes further.
Beam Distance Photos
Only our Top Pick for Trail Finding, the Fenix HP25 is brighter overall. The beam of the Fenix is also fairly even, but focuses a bit more intensity in the middle of the spot. As noted above, we found this preferable in most action situations than the Coast's even distribution of light.
The difference between the Coast and another popular headlamp, the Black Diamond Spot is particularly dramatic as you can see below:
Beam Distance Photos
How does the Coast compare against a 10 of 10 trail finding light? The comparison below shows the Petzl NAO being noticeably brighter. But, the NAO is 5 times as expensive, 50% heavier, and had an ANSI high-beam run time of only 2 hours vs. 3.3 hours for the Coast.
Beam Distance Photos
This is the best headlamp we tested at close proximity. Not only does it have the most even beam with no hot spots, it gives you incredible control of how wide and bright you want that beam to be. No other headlamp gives as much control or made controlling the beam diameter so easy. As you can see below against the Spot, the beam pattern is perfectly even whereas the Spot, which scores high, can't match the Coast and puts more brightness in the middle.
Close-proximity Beam Pattern
Here the Coast falls flat: just a score of 5 since it only lasts for 3.4 hours in our measured high mode run-time test (ANSI). Check out this battery life vs. beam distance graph against the ReVolt and this matchup against the Black Diamond Icon.
Beam Distance Photos
The tradeoff is clear: the Coast is three times the brightness of the ReVolt but has less than half the battery life in ANSI measured high beam mode. This is why the ReVolt also earns a Editors' Choice award. Read our complete Headlamp Review to learn more about the ANSI standard.
Performance Comparison
The Editors' Choice winning Coast HL7 throws an incredibly strong and bright light for the price.
Credit: Micah James
Trail Finding
While the beam power of the Coast is incredible, the evenness of the light is a just little off, which prevented it from getting a top score. Interestingly, the light and lens is diffused such that the brightness is the same right up to the hard edge of the beam pattern. The best trail-finding lights, we found, are slightly brighter in the middle of the pattern and smoothly diffuse out to nothing at the edges. That said, this light lets you see almost as far as any other we tested. As you can see below in the beam comparison photo with the Black Diamond Icon, a headlamp that is twice as heavy and more than double the price, the beam of the Coast goes further.
Beam Distance Photos
| Coast HL7 | Black Diamond Icon |
Only our Top Pick for Trail Finding, the Fenix HP25 is brighter overall. The beam of the Fenix is also fairly even, but focuses a bit more intensity in the middle of the spot. As noted above, we found this preferable in most action situations than the Coast's even distribution of light.
The difference between the Coast and another popular headlamp, the Black Diamond Spot is particularly dramatic as you can see below:
Beam Distance Photos
| Coast HL7 | Black Diamond Spot |
How does the Coast compare against a 10 of 10 trail finding light? The comparison below shows the Petzl NAO being noticeably brighter. But, the NAO is 5 times as expensive, 50% heavier, and had an ANSI high-beam run time of only 2 hours vs. 3.3 hours for the Coast.
Beam Distance Photos
| Coast HL7 | Petzl NAO |
Close Proximity
This is the best headlamp we tested at close proximity. Not only does it have the most even beam with no hot spots, it gives you incredible control of how wide and bright you want that beam to be. No other headlamp gives as much control or made controlling the beam diameter so easy. As you can see below against the Spot, the beam pattern is perfectly even whereas the Spot, which scores high, can't match the Coast and puts more brightness in the middle.
Close-proximity Beam Pattern
| Coast HL7 | Black Diamond Spot |
Battery Life
Here the Coast falls flat: just a score of 5 since it only lasts for 3.4 hours in our measured high mode run-time test (ANSI). Check out this battery life vs. beam distance graph against the ReVolt and this matchup against the Black Diamond Icon.
Beam Distance Photos
| Coast HL7 | Black Diamond ReVolt |
The tradeoff is clear: the Coast is three times the brightness of the ReVolt but has less than half the battery life in ANSI measured high beam mode. This is why the ReVolt also earns a Editors' Choice award. Read our complete Headlamp Review to learn more about the ANSI standard.
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