Just as is expected when making a choice for a digital welding helmet, two must stand out at least. With these two exceptional choices on your hands, how do you make a perfect choice?
Don’t despair!
So rather than making a wrong choice among too many helmet choices, get correct info on top products.
Check out the Optrel Panoramaxx vs ESAB Sentinel. It’s sure you’d make a satisfying, hassle-free choice!
A head-to-head is what you’d see right here to help you confirm which helmet is perfect for you. Check them out below!
OPTREL PANORAMAXX
The Optrel Panoramaxx comes with a design focus to deliver better eyesight for welders.
When you’re looking at Optrel Panoramaxx problems, the only thing you’d spot in this helmet is a greater price tag and short warranty period.
Since the helmet is extremely lightweight (550g), a lot of welders may get its lens warped or shell damaged in a short while. If early damage occurs, it’s sure to be a heart-wrenching experience based on its price tag.
All other features are decent enough to rank this helmet as truly world-class.
Jaw-Dropping OPTREL PANORAMAXX Specs
- 170o, 6X field of view
- Auto-shade
- True Color View
- 5 Shade Mode when inactive
- Lithium-polymer battery
- Full auto-shade level
- 550g lightweight
- ADF closer to operators’ eyes
- Autopilot shading from 5 to 12 (can be deactivated)
- Multi-sensor detection
- USB charge
- Sensitivity adjust
- Comfortable headband
- Suitable for overhead welding
- 3 years warranty (2 years default + 1 year extension for products registered online)
Suitable Applications:
- Stick welding
- Metal Inert Gas
- Plasma Welding
- Flux Core Welding
- Tungsten Inert Gas
- Plasma Cutting
- Grinding, and more
- Solar-powered
- 070 – 0.090 milliseconds (dark to bright)
- 1 – 2.0secs (auto-dim)
- Ultraviolet/Infrared Protection (all shade ranges)
- Ideal operating temperature: 14oF – 158oF
ESAB Sentinel
The ESAB sentinel A50 vs speed glass comes with an excellent design that’s simply breathtaking. If you’re looking for comfortable welding helmets with excellent performance potential, it’s likely the Sentinel will rank among your choices.
This digital welding helmet comes with an impressive set of features to maximize your seamless operation. If you’re checking ESAB Sentinel problems, the only thing you’d notice is its greater weight and lower light dissipation potential.
Check out all it’s got and you could have a most essential helmet working for you;
Eye-Opening ESAB Sentinel Welding Helmet Specs
General Specs
- TIG Low Amperage Rating – ≥ 2Amps
- Color touchscreen with control panel
- 8 memory settings
- External Shade grinding button
- Range 5-13 ADF
- Plasma Cutting
- Carbon Arc Gouging
- 93 in. X 2.36 in. view area
- 1/25000s state-switching time
- 1/1/1/2 optical clarity
- 640g weight
- Solar cell powered
- Four sensors
- SENTINEL Hard Hat Adapter
- HD Lens
- Light-dark delay time: 0.1 – 1s
Welding Applications
- MIG, TIG and STICK
- MIG/TIG Pulse
- Oxy-fuel Cutting
- Plasma Welding/Cutting
- Grinding
Ultimate Head-to-Head Comparison: Which Helmet is the Undisputed Winner?
We’ll be checking out ten (10) essential features from both helmets below. Be ready to make your pick from the duo.
Main features of both helmets and some peculiar stuff will give us an excellent comparison and make your buying decision exceptional and natural.
Shade range:
When it comes to shade ranges of both helmets, there’s a slight difference in performance. The Optrel Panoramaxx possesses an ADF shade range of 5 – 12 with varying ranges for cutting, grinding, etc. But the ESAB Sentinel is a step higher with an ADF shade range of 5 – 13.
Both helmets are excellent for welding, cutting, grinding tasks. If you’re up for more shades, then the ESAB A50 is a perfect pick for you.
Maximum Operating temperature:
A helmet’s maximum operating temperature determines how comfortable you’d feel during operation. It also tells if your helmet will warp or crack under excessive heat conditions.
Number of welding applications:
Both welding helmets (Panoramaxx and Sentinel) are evenly matched when it comes to welding applications.
They’re both perfect for gas, stick, TIG, MIG, plasma welding/cutting, and more.
Auto-dim response time:
The time taken for your helmet’s lens to go from light to dark is crucial. It’s what results in a horrible or perfect weld.
Optrel Panoramaxx comes with an auto-dim range within 0.1 ~ 2.0s which is cool, but the A50 is much better.
It comes with an auto-dim response time around 0.1 ~ 1.0s to give welders quicker eye support.
Optical clarity:
High welding homogeneity, optic quality, angular dependence, and light dissipation make up the four digits for assessing helmets’ optical clarity.
1 means excellent, 2 good, and 3 downward signifies not-so-good.
The Optrel Panoramaxx comes with a perfect 1/1/1/1 rating. This means you’ve got a perfect field of view when welding. But the ESAB Sentinel comes a bit short. It features a 1/1/1/2 rating meaning it performs well in three optical areas but falls short when it comes to light dissipation.
Weight:
When it comes to welding, a lightweight helmet is a gold standard across all skill levels. A long-period weld will be a lot challenging with a weighty helmet bearing down on your head.
Optrel Panoramaxx comes with a lightweight build of 550g which is lesser than what’s obtainable from the ESAB Sentinel (640g).
Make the best choice based on what you need and how long you need a helmet on.
Field of view:
When it comes to field of view, your helmet of choice should provide a greater angle. In this case, you’d have to consider an Optrel Panoramaxx over an ESAB A50.
The Panoramaxx comes with a 170o field of view, giving operators a greater line of sight. This increased line of sight is as a result of this helmet’s lens design.
On the flip side, ESAB A50s come with a 3.93 in. X 2.36 in. lens. This offers decent viewing capacity, but falls a little short of the Panoramaxx’s quality.
Closeness of ADF to eyes:
Auto-darkening filters (ADF) are placed within high-tech welding helmet lenses to provide greater eyesight during a bright arc weld. A closer ADF filter to a welder’s eyes results in a better weld and line of sight.
Optrel Panoramaxx helmets come with a design lens which looks similar to sunglasses. With so much closeness to a welder’s eyes, there’s a greater potential of an excellent weld.
The ESAB A50 still follows the standard lens design giving it limited efficiency when welding in a highly-sensitive environment.
Solar Power:
Both helmets work with solar power and have decent battery lives ranging from 300 – 500 full charges.
But if you’re looking for a difference, the Optrel Panoramaxx comes with a Lithium-polymer battery while ESAB A50s function with replaceable CR2450s.
Price:
Pricing is also vital when looking out for a perfect welding helmet.
After all, you’re likely to be on a budget right now.
If that’s the case, know that the Optrel Panoramaxx costs a bit more than an ESAB Sentinel. Based on your chosen vendor, there could be a price difference of about $100 between both helmets.
Extra Features:
The ESAB Sentinel has an exceptional feature essential to welders working in challenging conditions. With the hard hat adapter, you can fit a hard hat within your helmet for greater head protection.
The Panoramaxx’s greater 6X view is another excellent feature which gives welders improved visibility and lesser eye strain.
Both helmets seem to match up when it comes to extra features.
Here’re the results at a glance:
| (W) = Winner; (S) = Stalemate | |||
| Specs | OPTREL PANORAMAXX | ESAB Sentinel | |
| 1 | Auto-dim filter shade range | 5 – 12 | 5 – 13
(W) |
| 2 | Max operating temperature | 158oF
(W) |
131oF |
| 3 | Auto-dim response time | 0.1 ~ 2.0s | 0.1 ~ 1.0s
(W) |
| 4 | Optical clarity | 1/1/1/1
(W) |
1/1/1/2 |
| 5 | Weight | 550g
(W) |
640g |
| 6 | Field of view | 170 o
(W) |
160o |
| 7 | Price | $390 – $450 | $290 – $350
(W) |
| 8 | Solar Power | Yes
(S) |
Yes
(S) |
| 9 | Extra Features | 6X view area
(S) |
Hard hat function
(S) |
| 10 | Number of sensors | 5
(W) |
4 |
| Sum | Five W’s, 2 S’ | 3 W’s , 2 S’ | |
The head-to-head results put an Optrel Panoramaxx over an ESAB A50 in five key features.
The Panoramaxx falls short when it comes to auto-dim response times, price, and shade range, but stands out in more areas too.
So if you’re looking for a choice befitting your needs and budget, use this table as a guide to make a more informed choice.
FAQs
What Makes a Good Welding Helmet?
A perfect welding helmet should have decent features for eye, head, and neck protection. Other features such as shade switching, sensitivity, auto-dim, etc are also essential
What are the Best Welding Helmet Brands?
- YESWELDER
- Antra
- ESAB
- Optrex
- Lincoln Electric
- TACKLIFE
- Instapark
Final Word
Searching for the perfect helmet could be challenging. And when you’re in-between the Optrel Panoramaxx vs ESAB Sentinel, making a choice could be a lot harder.
But that’s in the past as this read provides an unbiased comparison to help you make the best choice possible. Get the one you need right now, and put those professional welds together hassle-free.