Helmet lamp in the test: Acid HPA 2000 – the practical one

TEST: The Acid HPA 2000 is a compact helmet lamp from Cube. The well thought-out system with standard adapters and connections is characterized by great flexibility. You can read here how the 2000 lm lamp performs on the trails at night.

Test of the Acid HPA 2000 - all information & data on the helmet lamp at a glance

With the Acid HPA 2000, Acid – the component brand from Cube – has a comprehensive and well thought-out helmet lamp set in its range. For example, Acid relies on the GoPro mount and the X-Lock system instead of developing its own connectors. Especially for bikers who use a lot of different accessories, this can be a welcome simplification in everyday life. The compact aluminum lamp head has large but elegant cooling fins. The two LEDs are advertised as having a luminous flux of 2000 lm, but a look at the operating instructions reveals that the said 2000 lm represent the output of the LEDs. However, the measured luminous flux of the helmet lamp itself is only 1600 lm.
Otherwise are helmet lamp and accessories neatly processed, but not to be found in the high-end area. This is shown, for example, by small noses on the plastic parts. The use of the battery is well thought out: it can be stowed in the hip bag or backpack using an included extension cable. Or it can also be attached to the helmet using a second, included helmet mount. In this case, the charge level indicator of the battery can also be used as a rear light. However, this is not StVZO-compliant.

data sheet

What's in the box

The Acid HPA 2000 is neatly packed in a high-quality storage bag with a cardboard sleeve. The set includes the following scope of delivery:

• Acid HPA 2000 helmet lamp
• Battery 3400 mAh
• Helmet mount lamp
• Helmet mount battery
• Extension cord 90 cm
• HEADBAND
• Bluetooth remote control
• Charger 2A
• Clear, easy-to-understand operating instructions

Accessories & Extension

The Acid HPA 2000 is already quite well and flexibly equipped with the scope of delivery. Nevertheless, Acid also offers the accessories individually: An additional helmet holder set (2 pieces) is available for €24,95. You can get a replacement battery for a fair €59,95. For mounting on the handlebars, Acid offers a rod holder set (2 pieces) for €14,95. In addition, all parts of the HPA 2000 included in the set can be bought individually if something should break. Unfortunately, Acid does not offer a repair service, but the lamp head is also available separately.

Test: The Acid HPA 2000 in trail use

assembly and fastening

The helmet mount of the HPA 2000 is one of the most compact mounts in our test field. Accordingly, it does not bother you and can remain on the helmet without hesitation. They are attached using Velcro strips or adhesive pads. The lamp head itself is placed on the X-Lock adapter at an angle of about 45° and locked by turning. This requires some overhead practice, but then works quite well. The inclination can be adjusted at any time without tools using the GoPro mount. Fortunately, all of these processes work pretty well even with gloves on. The mounting system of the HPA 2000 with the different adapter standards turns out to be very practical and is at the same time open to other applications. Incidentally, the battery can also be attached to the helmet using the X-Lock adapter – but we stowed it in the backpack for our test.

Service

The HPA 2000 is operated very intuitively. You can switch between the three different brightness levels using the button. The fourth level - ultra low - is only activated by pressing the button for three seconds and serves more as an emergency or work light. Annoying: The lamp is switched off by pressing the button for one second - so you stand in the dark for two seconds if you still want to use it on the bike. Due to the flat integration of the button in the body of the lamp head, it is not always easy to find haptically. The problem is especially worse when wearing gloves. In addition, the pressure point of the button could be more defined, because switching to the next brightness level doesn't always work.
Incidentally, these problems also arise for the included Bluetooth remote control. But it is nice and compact and can usually be easily accommodated between the brake lever and the grip. With a simple click mechanism, the remote control can be easily removed at any time - its holder remains on the handlebars. When it comes to operation, it is pleasant to note: the helmet lamp also has three emergency light levels, but these can only be called up by pressing the button for at least five seconds. This saves you from having to click through these modes that you will hopefully never need.
The user can activate the rear light function of the battery by simply pressing the button on the battery level indicator - which of course only makes sense when the battery is attached to the helmet.

battery & runtime

The battery with its 3400 mAh lasts for 1600 hours at full power (1,5 lm). This is perfectly adequate for many tours. In the mid level, the running time is 800 lm, corresponding to 3 hours. The low level with 300 lm results in a running time of 8 hours. You can really save battery in the ultra-low level, which can only be activated by pressing the button for three seconds. The running time is then 30 hours. When the battery level is over 20%, the button on the lamp head lights up blue. If it falls below 20%, the button changes to red; below 10% it flashes red. If the battery level falls below 5%, the HPA 2000 automatically switches to ultra-low mode – which can then no longer be switched. If you lose sight of the battery charge, you still have an emergency light for a certain time.
Incidentally, the color scheme of the battery status indicator would also be desirable for the remote control - this would give you a simple overview of the battery status on the go.

Weight & Trail Use

The lamp head and helmet mount of the HPA 2000 weigh only 82 g. The system is barely perceptible and doesn't bother at all. Even the additional 140 g of the battery have only a minor effect when mounted on a helmet. When used in a backpack, the battery is practically imperceptible. Overall, the helmet light impresses with its simplicity - with the exception of operation: changing between the brightness levels does not always work ideally for haptic reasons and the lack of a defined pressure point - as already mentioned. When changing between the brightness levels, the light is dimmed - especially between the two bright light levels it is therefore sometimes hardly noticeable. An abrupt change here could provide more feedback.

The light field of the Acid HPA 2000

The shape of the light field of the HPA 2000 is quite pleasant. The focus on the center is well chosen, the transition to the edge area could be a bit softer and wider. On fast descents, however, it is noticeable that the helmet lamp only has 1600 lm. We felt comfortable on our test rails up to around 25 km/h - the light output is too low above that. The color gradient in the light is somewhat unpleasant: the light cone is more yellowish in the middle, and turns towards blue-magenta towards the edges. However, this is almost only noticeable in the bright brightness levels and on an even surface.
The medium level of 800 lm suits us very well for uphill flow use on trails. Normal uphills on forest slopes can be skied well in the low setting with 300 lm. The ultra-low level with 100 lm, on the other hand, is quite dark and strains the eyes in the long run. A bit of tunnel vision sets in at the two low levels, since the surroundings no longer get much light. Overall, the unchangeable gradation of the light levels is well chosen.

The direct comparison between full and minimum performance pushes the camera technology to its limits: the difference in brightness is so great that the camera displays the lowest brightness level as very dark. The 100 lm of this level are just about acceptable to use for a leisurely climb and save battery charge.

The light levels in direct comparison

Acid on the web

www.cube.eu/de-de/equipment/lighting

www.youtube.com/@CUBEBikesTV/