by James Anderson | Last Updated on February 17, 2023
If you are welding, then safety is essential. To that end, you need safety gear. One critical component of your welding safety gear is the welding helmet. The helmet serves to shield your eyes from the arc. The arc emits UV rays that can damage your eyesight if a helmet doesn’t shield the eyes.
One of the most popular manufacturers in the market today is Optrel. In this post, we will review 7 of the Optrel welding helmets.
Table of Contents
Top 7 Optrel Welding Helmet Reviews
1. Optrel Crystal 2.0 Welding Helmet – Top Pick
Finding a powerful, yet good-looking helmet on the market can be challenging, yet that is just what the Optrel Crystal 2.0 welding helmet is. It is an effective product that comes with a light two shade lens technology.
Light two shade is more efficient than the common light three and light four shade. Due to this technology, it allows the welder to see what is happening during and after welding without damage to the eyes.
The auto-adjustment feature that allows the helmet to detect bright arcs quickly and adjust accordingly. To further protect the eyes, the company designed the Twilight feature that gradually adjusts the lightening of the helmets’ lenses.
It is a safe and versatile choice. It is excellent for welding in bright conditions, for example, in the sun. Additionally, it offers welders the opportunity to toggle between grinding and welding modes without removing the helmet. All of these features make it our top-rated welding helmet.
2. Optrel e680 Welding Helmet – Premium Choice
It might cost a pretty penny, but the Optrel e680 welding helmet is one of the finest helmets when it comes to MIG welding.
This helmet is our runner-up for several reasons. Firstly, it comes with a low profile design; hence, if you will be working in tight spaces, you might enjoy using it. It feels comfortable on the head and offers excellent physical protection.
Unlike other models on the market, the Optrel e680 comes with a more rounded shape and is impressively efficient for MIG welding. During our testing, it was observed that the helmet stays in place no matter how much the wearer moves about.
Aside from the physical dimensions and design, it comes with other nice features. It has True Color view, which means that the welder sees things as they really are. Additionally, it comes with auto-darkening that protects the welder from damage to the eyes.
The shade can be varied from 5 to 9 and from 9 to 13. Other settings found on this helmet include sensitivity and delay control settings.
3. Optrel e684 Welding Helmet
The e684 welding helmet is a mid-budget model that comes with some impressive features that you might enjoy.
It comes with a relatively wide viewing area that offers a wider range of vision than many other welding helmets on the market. Aside from being wide, it comes with True Color technology. Additionally, just as our top-rated welding helmet, it comes with the Twilight feature that allows you to lighten the lenses when transitioning from dark to light gradually.
It is one of the most attractive helmets that Optrel has made. It features a silver color and a rather sleek design.
It features auto-darkening lenses and a trio of sensors for detecting any arcs. You can toggle from shade 5 to up to 13.
Unlike some other helmets with internal controls, the knobs of the helmet lie on the body, making it easy to make adjustments without requiring removing the helmet.
Although it lacks an electromagnetic sensor, which is almost expected considering the relatively low price, its durability and beautiful build make it an excellent budget choice.
4. Optrel Liteflip Autopilot Welding Helmet
The Liteflip Autopilot welding helmet is a beautifully designed welding helmet that comes with impressive black-green graphics.
It is lightweight and comfortable to wear. It is a highly versatile helmet that can be used for MIG, Stick, and TIG welding. It is also useful for grinding and cutting.
As with most of the helmets on this list, it has lenses that feature Twilight technology. The viewing area is wide enough and might be suitable for folks working in tight spaces.
We observed that the helmet runs on batteries, which can be replaced rather quickly when they run out. It can also run on solar energy.
The lens not only features Twilight technology but has a variable shade. The lens can adjust from shade 5 to up to 14. Additionally, there is the auto-darkening feature, which, as the name implies, automatically darkens the lens in response to light intensity.
5. Optrel Panoramaxx Welding Helmet
One of the attractions of the Panoramaxx is the wide viewing area it possesses. If you are mainly a MIG welder, you will likely love using this helmet. Although Opstrel advertises it as a versatile, multi-purpose helmet, it to be especially great for MIG welding.
The viewing area is around six times larger than those found on typical welding helmets. Additionally, the lenses come with auto-darkening; hence, it can adopt shades from 5 to 12. By coming with shade levels, there is flexibility regarding levels of adjustment.
Other features we liked include the grinding mode offered.
It is relatively lightweight and will not wear you down. Despite extended use, there isn’t any strain due to wearing it. Additionally, it comes with a tight headband that ensures that the helmet remains in place despite movement.
There is an external slider that allows you to adjust the helmet easily. It runs on rechargeable batteries. The batteries can be recharged via the arc light, although it is also chargeable through a micro USB charging port.
The only gripe we had with this is that the viewing glass is not as durable as some others, especially our top pick. Nevertheless, if used correctly, it should last for a long time.
6. Optrel VegaView 2.5 Welding Helmet
The VegaView 2.5 welding helmet delivers excellent safety while remaining very comfortable to wear. It is quite pleasing on the eye, with a minimalist all-black aesthetic. It comes with all the features and elements needed to keep your eyes safe. It extends protection even down to the neck. Therefore, you are protected from any flying debris as a result of your welding.
With its clear view, it grants the welder a better view than several other helmets. The viewing area is quite wide. It features a Sensor Slide that can reduce the detected angle from 120 to 60 degrees. Furthermore, it comes with true color shades that are also auto-darkening. Upon manual adjustment, the color shades go from 8 to up to 12.
Despite wearing it for an extended time, it remains comfortable on the head and doesn’t cause any strain to your neck. Wearing a helmet can be a sweaty activity, but thankfully, it comes with a replaceable sweat absorbent pad.
We enjoyed the prompt response time obtained from the helmet.
During our testing, one problem that we observed was that the curved outer lenses result in glare during use. However, the other features like the useful sweat-absorbent pad make up for this drawback.
7. Optrel Ready Auto Darkening Welding Helmet
The Optrel Ready Auto Darkening Welding Helmet is an excellent choice for folks that are just starting in welding or do it as a hobby. It comes at a relatively low price; however, this doesn’t mean that it lacks some of the top features of more expensive models from Optrel.
It holds several advantages over many of the top welding helmets on the market. For example, at 1.09 pounds, it is one of the lightest auto welding helmets on the market. This lightweight nature makes it quite comfortable to wear, even for extended periods. It reduces any strain in the neck and head.
It is a safe helmet as it comes with IR and UV protection, even when in the inactive stage.
It features adjustable shade levels of 9 – 13 and also features sensitivity adjustment.
Bottom Line
From our review above, it is evident that there are several remarkable products from Optrel. The manufacturer has always made quality products, and it’s great to see that it hasn’t dropped its standards. From our research and testing, the Optrel Crystal 2.0 Welding Helmet is our top overall pick as the Optrel welding helmet on the market today.
The model successfully balances cost, build, and features to deliver an excellent welding helmet. While the tighteners might loosen during use, this flaw is trivial enough to be overlooked. This helmet proves superior to other helmets in almost every respect. It is safe and convenient for all types of welding jobs. We hope this review will help you make the right buying choice.
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Hi, I am James Anderson from Sandy, Utah. Welding has always been part of my life and I love to share my wealth of experience. I have a team of professionals who are knowledgeable about different welding processes. I hope you will be educated and informed on this website, to become better welders.