Petzl NAO

Hands-on Gear Review

Petzl NAO Review
Headlamps
Currently 4.0/5 Overall avg rating 4.0 of 5 based on 3 reviews. Most recent review: January 22, 2013

Street Price: Varies from $150 - $175 | Compare prices at 5 resellers

User Rating:

(4.0 of 5) based on 3 reviews

Manufacturer: Petzl

Review by: RJ Spurrier ⋅ Review Editor, OutdoorGearLab ⋅ December 7, 2012

Overview

The Petzl NAO got some of the most buzz of any product at the 2012 Winter Outdoor Retailer show. Why? According to Petzl, it is able to sense the lighting needs and react accordingly. Petzl calls this "Reactive Lighting Tecnhology" and claims it offers a longer battery life and great lighting. You can also plug the headlamp into your computer and adjust the settings using OS by Petzl. We are not aware of any other headlamps with that technology. The price: $175.

OutdoorGearLab is getting one to test shortly and will have a first look review in a few months. This is scheduled to be released in 2012. Here is Petzl's NAO Page

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Photos

OutdoorGearLab Editors' Hands-on Review

Petzl NAO Page

Petzl Nao

Credit: Petzl

cost

issue with helmet

— RJ Spurrier

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OutdoorGearLab Member Reviews

Most recent review: January 22, 2013

Summary of All Ratings

OutdoorGearLab Editors' Rating:		(0.0)
Average Customer Rating:	1 2 3 4 5	(4.0)
100% of 1 reviewers recommend it

Rating Distribution

2 Total Ratings

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Aug 2, 2012 - 03:41pm

Eppo · Other

Het had zo'n mooi concept kunnen zijn, een hoofdlampje dat automatisch zijn lichtsterke regelt.
Maar de Petzl nao hangt van bugs aan elkaar.
Hoe je de lamp nu instelt, de lamp komt nooit boven de 30% lichtsterkte tenzij je de automaat uitschakeld of de lichtcel met je vinger afdekt.
Verder heeft het apparaat een flink aantal andere bugs zoals het aan en uitschakelen, het enorme stroomverbruik en de beetje knullige accu constructie.
Ik heb hier over contact gehad met petz, maar die komen niet verder dan het terug mailen van de franstalige gebruiksaanwijzing want de software schijnt perfect te zijn.
Mijn advies, koop niet de nao maar een van zijn goedkopere broertjes.

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Jan 22, 2013 - 08:12am

northfacejmb · Climber · CO

I got the Nao as a gift after using the BD Icon for a few years. After getting used to the functions, I absolutely love this lamp! The reactive technology works very well and definitely extends the battery life dramatically. It's awesome to be walking on a low setting, then look up and see everything. Its very easy to switch to constant output lighting if you want to and its easy to program all the settings so that it will perform however you need it to. The capacity to use AAA's in a pinch is huge and still yields a bright usable headlamp (idk how well the battery life is with AAA's however).
On that note, this light is bright! I've been downhill mountain biking with it and was very pleased with the output, this thing blows the old Icon away.

There are a couple things that could be better, but in my mind they are minute.
1. It can be difficult to fit the lamp onto a helmet when you are wearing gloves.
2. They could have made a smaller USB port.

If you can get over those two things, this lamp will blow you away.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this product to a friend.

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Nov 2, 2012 - 09:47am

Sloper · Climber · Amsterdam

Since my MYO XP broke down I thought let’s give Petzl’s NAO a try. So far I think it is not that great. Yes a lot of light, best use for running at night? Quite heavy though. So far the battery life is enough for one long night out, so that is positive. To attach it on your helmet in the dark is quite something. Mind it is still warm here, but later in winter with gloves I fear that the thing may catapult down the hill in the dark. A single belt system is easier to handle. I am also not so sure if the dimmer will work in heavy snowfall. So I am back to a Tikka XP 2 to be safe at least for winter climbing.

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