The last time RBT reviewed a tactical headlight, we had a look at the Princeton Tec Quad, it was and still is my go-to headlight for most occasions. But the Quad meets its borders when you really need to illuminate wider distances, need to rapidly switch colors or even if you need IR illumination. This can be especially true for medics, as they will need red light for navigation, white light for overt examination and green light for blood sweeps in hostile environments at night. But it is also important for team leaders as they will need different colors for signaling or marking purposes.

With the Remix Pro, Princeton Tec offers a big brother to the Quad, for all those that have the aforementioned needs.

We received a Remix Pro for testing and evaluation and put it where it belongs, the great outdoors, where we experienced the pros and cons of this useful tool.

Remix is a fitting name for this headlight, as it offers five colors (White, Red, Blue, Green and IR) with different brightness modes. As a part of Princeton Tec´s MPLS series it also offers two additional mounting modes, one being a MOLLE mount and the other being a NVG mount. Both are useful when you are actually wearing a helmet, which is a factor that usually restricts the usage of headbands.

On its right side Princeton Tecs Remix Pro feature a lever. At default mode the lever points to a zero. In this mode pressing the on button, located on the top, activates the red light first – which is a good thing for light discipline. Pressing the button twice in a short time activates green light, pushing it three times deactivates the light. If you press the on button for a longer time of approximately 1,5 seconds you get a bright white beam, which can even made brighter by touching the on button again. If you switch the lever to “IR” you get the following light cycle: 1xIR Strobe, 2xIR-constant, 3xRed, 4xGreen, 5:off. Pushing the button for one and a half second will still activate white light.

All aforementioned light modes have a more focused throw than the Quad, which is great for signaling or marking but also can disturb your peripheral vision. The 300 Lumens of the brightest white light mode are more that enough to illuminate a complete room but don’t cause what most people call a whiteout.

The Light body is made of a thick, durable polymer which is shock resistant as you would expect from a tactical light system. The light itself is powered by a single CR123 battery, which offers more power than the AA batteries used by the Remix´s little brother. You should be aware of the fact that this will maybe force you to carry additional types of spare batteries with you. Inserting the battery is done without any tools as the battery case is opened with the press of a button. This comfort comes at the cost of water resistance, as the Remix Pro is only rated against splashing water and is not submergible like the Quad. During our two-day testing we had heavy rain which caused no problems. But we got one step further and submerged the Quad for 5 minutes and to our surprise it worked flawlessly, even underwater. So perhaps Princeton Tec did a little bit of an understatement here.

Despite its high profile the Quad is comfortable to carry, it also features a wider angle of adjustment than the quad, which can be very helpful. Be aware to properly lock in the adapter if you are switching from the MOLLE mount to the head mounts or vice-versa, otherwise the light can pop out of the adapter while adjusting it.

At the end of the day the Remix Pro is a versatile tool, that can be a little bit of everything: A signaling device, a beacon, a powerful flashlight (boasting 300 lumens!) and of course, a headlight. It is somehow unique in doing this as the Petzl Tactikka Core offers less colours but a brighter spotlight with similar ruggedness, while Streamlights Sidewinder Compact offers a more rugged product which is less powerful in all light modes.

To get it straight, I think the Princeton Tec Remix Pro is a powerful and versatile tool, but I think that the decision to make it IPX4 and not IPX7 is a missed opportunity, because with a submergible rating the Remix Pro wouldn’t need a backup light. As I – most of the time, carry two headlights with me the Remix Pro will, nonetheless be a permanent part of my setup, especially because of its intuitive user interface and its powerful white light, not to forget the fact that the Remix even resisted submerging it.