Vitchelo V800 Review

The Vitchelo is a light that is intriguing due to pretty high user-ratings on sites like Amazon, but we found it fell way short of our expectations when we put it through extensive testing side by side competing products.

Likes

The Vitchelo is an easy to use light that offers a beam that shines a long distance. But, that beam distance looks better on paper than it is in practice, because the V800 gains that long distance with optics that create an overly narrow spot beam that feels like you are looking down a narrow tunnel.


The comparison below shows the Vitchelo on the left versus the Black Diamond Spot. The Vitchelo actually shines a longer distance, but we'd much prefer the wider and more evenly lit beam of the Spot and other competitors.


The Vitchelo's other strong suit is battery life, where it held up well in our close-proximity test, and performed above average in our test on the high setting.


Unfortunately, this is another pyrrhic victory for the Vitchelo, because while battery life is excellent in the low setting, the optics are terrible for close-proximity use and we found this one of the least desirable lights to use around the camp.

Dislikes

Our biggest issue with the Vitchelo is poor optics — the beam is overly hot in the center and just too darn narrow — and this problem is most noticable when the V800 is used around camp in the low-level lighting. A wide and evenly lit beam is what we want around camp or in the tent, and the V800 offers an overly narrow spot.


As illustrated in the chart above, the V800 is one of our least favorite lights for use around camp. But, the problems with the optics don't stop for use at close proximity; it also degrades use for trail finding.


The narrow beam of the Vitchelo is much less useful when viewing distance, such as trail finding, than competing lights because the beam is just too narrow, providing a view like looking through a tube.

Conclusion

There is really nothing about the Vitchelo that is sufficiently compelling to justify buying it when there are so many competing products that offer better performance and value. This is not a light we'd recommend to a friend.