My $12 headlamp from the hardware store outlasted my buddy's $70 one, so which side are you on?
We did three nights at Pictured Rocks in September and his fancy rechargeable died on night two while my cheap one with AAA batteries kept going. I get that lumens and waterproof ratings matter, but I keep wondering if we're all just paying for marketing and app features nobody uses. Cheap and replaceable or pricey and feature packed, where do you land?
Three nights at Pictured Rocks and his died on night two, that is a data point of one. Maybe his was a lemon, maybe he forgot to charge it, maybe he left it on in his pack all day. I have owned cheap lights that worked great and cheap lights that died in the rain, same as the pricey ones. If your AAA model has worked for you across a bunch of trips, great, keep buying it. Just do not turn one weekend into a rule for everyone, because gear fails for a hundred dumb reasons that have nothing to do with price.