Black Diamond Spot 350 - Review 2025

Brightness and Performance Quality

The Black Diamond Spot 350 delivers excellent quality in illumination through all of its settings. The fact it’s able to compete so effectively with higher lumen-output models from other manufacturers is a testament to Black Diamond’s engineering, particularly in their multifaceted lens design. Our testers were impressed across the board, and had nothing but good things to say about the Spot in situations ranging from splitting wood to spotting cairns in the dark.

When we grade headlamps on their performance, we tend to use two metrics: how well you can see at a distance, and how well you can see peripherally at close range. While outshined by Petzl’s Actik Core when picking at particulars at a span, our testers were very impressed with the Spot 350 for the more practical purposes at close range.

After a long day and unintended dusk hiking in the North Cascades, one of our experts noted that they “may as well have been under stadium lights” for how well the floodlight illuminated their scattered camp components.

The Spot 350 is Bright

At its full 350 lumen output, the Spot leaves very little to be desired from all but the most demanding of outdoor applications, and during the course of our testing we didn’t find a single circumstance where we felt underserved. We found it just as useful backpacking as we did car camping or searching around our attic crawlspace. In addition to its high-output utility, the Spot 350 is dimmable and is equipped with a full fleet of different lighting modes which we’ll cover below.

Settings Breakdown

As we cycled through the different settings, we took note of all of the Spot 350’s lighting modes. We mentioned the full strength spotlight and floodlight modes above, but discovered that the headlamp is fully dimmable in each of these respective settings. All of our testers commented on the Spot 350’s Brightness Memory setting, which allows users to turn the headlamp off at their preferred brightness, and resume use at the same level of illumination.

In addition to these basics, the Spot 350 also has a fully functional night vision red light mode. Thankfully we never had reason to test out the strobe in earnest, but testers report it being easy to track down from across a large alpine basin in the dark. The red light mode was on par with other high end models we’ve tested, and we have little to add other than it’s a near necessary feature and would be disappointed if it were missing.

Addressing Access Issues

There are a whole lot of functions crammed into the Spot’s relatively compact package, but Black Diamond manages to keep the slough of advanced features accessible with a simple secondary button. The only setting we had to look up the instructions for was the power lock. Previous iterations of this headlamp had only a single button for power control and settings cycling, Black Diamond clearly heard the complaints and took pains to address this in their new design. 

As a final note, the Spot 350 is one of many Black Diamond headlamps to feature their PowerTap instant adjustment button. This touch sensitive spot along the right side of the headlamp adjusts the brightness in a hurry. A single tap will switch between maximum and minimum output without the trouble of fiddling with buttons. Our testers appreciated the ability to quickly point a searchlight at loud noises while hiking at night, as well as kill the light in a hurry to protect their partners’ night vision.

Battery Life and Burntime

The Spot 350 is a compact headlamp, and factory reports keep the maximum battery run time somewhere in the ballpark of 100 hours. Running at low power we found this to be accurate, though we didn’t sit around for four days and wait for the light to flicker out.  All told, this is fairly average for high-end models like the Petzl Actik Core and we have no qualms with how it functioned in the field. High output settings, on the other hand, are a different story.

In our headlamp buyer’s guide, we address the very common issue of manufacturers exaggerating both brightness and burntime through deceptive marketing claims. The biggest complaint we saw about previous versions of the Spot 350 was Black Diamond’s burntime claims crossing the border from exaggerated, to flat out untrue. When our testers received their updated model we had high hopes, if for nothing else but more realistic expectations.

In Search of Lost Burntime

Fortunately, in the technical copy for our model, Black Diamond is a little more precise with their wording. The Spot 350 now claims a little under 4 hours of burntime at max output with 36 hours left in reserve (Black Diamond’s metric for minimum output of usable light). This certainly makes a little more sense than their previous claims, and we appreciate the increased transparency even if it takes more research to understand what’s going on.

On the lowest setting, Black Diamond expects the headlamp to run for up to 200 hours, depending on temperature and conditions. We didn’t have an extra week to let the Spot 350 run continuously in a controlled environment, but several of our testers keen on bringing books into the backcountry said they were able to get their late night, low light reading done for extended trips with no sign of trouble.

Special Features

In addition to the Brightness Memory and PowerTap features covered in our settings breakdown, the Spot 350 has a LED battery meter to keep track of how much power you’ve consumed. With six different settings, it’s much easier to plan how to ration your remaining power. Safe to say, every single one of our testers found it a significant improvement compared to the “low-battery flash of doom” previously used to indicate low power.

Headlamp Comfort and Durability

The Spot 350 is a low-profile, compact headlamp and is honored with our highest accolades for comfort. Whether bringing it out for a predawn run or throwing together a late-night backcountry pasta dinner, our testers had nothing but good things to say about how the Spot 350 felt on their heads and how easy it was to use in these circumstances.

Of note, one of our testers discovered that the elastic band was easy to remove. This is significant in part because it allows users to efficiently clean your sweat and grime encrusted elastic band. Of greater note, removing the band gives users the option to mount the light on the sternum strap of their vest for running, or on the back of a commuter bag to use as a rear light for biking.

Dubious Durability Claims

The Spot 350 has a robust build. Its svelte rectangular design and limited hinge points left us confident that it’s more than capable of handling everything the average backpacker can throw at it. On that note, we again noticed what looks like a technical feint from the Black Diamond marketing team.

Text on the Spot 350 claims and IPX8 standard of waterproofing. With this rating users should be able to submerge a given device to a depth of over 1 meter for at least 30 minutes. Most would interpret this standard to mean the headlamp is somehow sealed to prevent water from entering the housing, and it might even float under the right conditions.

Closer inspection of the Spot 350’s technical details reveals that this is not the case. While the headlamp is still tested to work after being dunked, Black Diamond uses fine print to hide an important detail.

The battery compartment isn’t sealed to prevent leaking- meaning that if submerged for any longer than a few seconds it’s very likely the battery storage compartment will get wet. Does it still work while wet? Our testers said yes, though all remarked that they weren’t happy with the idea of continuing to use the Spot 350 knowing they had soggy batteries strapped to their heads.

As always, if you’re carrying electronics or other moisture-sensitive items anywhere they’re likely to get wet, we recommend a dry bag.

Value

For what you get, the Spot 350 is a fairly priced headlamp. Even without the potentially misleading marketing, we think that there are very few headlamps that offer as much as the Spot 350 at its roughly $40 price point.

It’s definitely not a bargain model, but its versatility and overall performance quality outshine all of our most affordable alternatives- though the Petzl Tikkina does come close. The only negative feedback we routinely received was on the batteries, with many of our testers wishing Black Diamond included a rechargeable lithium ion pack with the headlamp.

We Recommend It!

The Black Diamond Spot 350 is a real workhorse of a headlamp. It has the features and functionality to earn a spot in your household junk drawer or your backpacking kit. It’s a sound, well-rounded offering and given its adaptability we can’t think of many situations where we wouldn’t use it (except maybe underwater). At around $40 dollars, we don’t think there’s a single dollar misspent.