I am happy to report that you guys were totally right, Olight LED flashlights are freakin’ awesome.
Today only, save on a special edition of the their popular S1R Baton II LED flashlight, which is nicely sized for EDC and pocket carry.
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Update: It’s ~4:25am ET, and apparently all of the S1R II Baton LED flashlights sold out already. I missed out on getting one for personal workshop use, and can imagine some of you are going to be as equally disappointed. There are a couple of other deals you might be interested in, a “Seeker 2” with 21700 battery, an i5T EOS AA light, and a weapon-mounted light, but I can’t guarantee they won’t also be sold out by the time you read this post.
It delivers a max output of 1000 lumens, is drop-tested to 1.5 meters (~4.92 feet), and is waterproof to IPX8 standards.
The Olight SR1 Baton II LED flashlight is powered by a customized 550 mAh RCR123A IMR16340 Li-ion battery. If you need a spare or replacement, they’re available from Olight and dealers for $5.50.
We asked you guys about LED flashlights recently, and there were quite a few recommendations for Olight.
I have an Olight AAA LED flashlight, and it’s decent. I know I should have jumped on the rechargeable LED flashlight train sooner, but I’ve had hesitations. Do I need a rechargeable light? Will I have to go through all kinds of hassles matching a battery to a light? What kind of charger do I need to get?
I’m almost embarrassed that I had all these worries, but I have a list of models I wanted to follow up on, and quite a few rechargeable flashlights still require users to source a battery and charger separately. Trying to figure all that out was something I meant to do, eventually.
Olight sent over two of their S1R Baton II LED flashlights – one in purple and one in black. I haven’t had a chance to test them enough for a full review, but from what I’ve seen so far, they are sweeeet. I’ve been using the purple for a couple of days, and I’m impressed.
First of all, it’s so small – but manageable. It’s far brighter than any flashlight I have in this size. In the above image, the AA battery is only for scale.
I really like the color too, partly because it’s different, but mainly because it stands out easily, allowing for quick retrieval with minimal hunting around.
I’ve been using it most on the medium brightness mode. The highest brightness mode is quite bright, but the emitter does get a little hot. The lower brightness mode seems convenient for just-in-case circumstances where you’re low on battery charge.
There’s a side switch that toggles power and mode selection, and it’s easy to use.
The rear of the flashlight has a magnetic charging port – and it’s a magnetic base strong enough to support the light hands-free.
The light came with a magnetic USB charging cable. I plugged it into a USB charger, and it effortlessly connected to the flashlight. I was able to monitor the charge status from a distance – it was red when charging and green when done.
So far, the Olight S1R II seems to be very well-made. The reflector is nicely shaped and throws a wide illuminating beam with large hot spot.
Overall, I am very excited to be able to play around with these lights, which seem perfectly sized and featured for EDC.
I spent some time trying to capture the color of the flashlight in photos, but I don’t think I did it justice. There appears to be marks on the flashlight, but that’s just some dust.
The purple special edition has launched in time for this flash sale, and is said to have a MAP price of $70. The ordinary black-colored edition is normally $65.
Here’s what you get:
- Flashlight
- Battery
- USB Charging Cable
- Pouch
- Battery Case
- Lanyard
You’ll need to supply a USB port, wall adapter, or other such power source. I used an $8 multi-port USB charger without trouble.
If you don’t mind the color (I actually really like it!), you save quite a bit of money with this flash deal.
Sale Price: $48.97 for the kit
Regular Price: $65-$70
$48.97 is conveniently the free shipping threshold.
Olight also has an S1R II purple bundle where you get that flashlight and an additional mini keychain-sized rechargeable flashlight, i1R 2, for $52.74.
Sale Price: $52.74 for the bundle
Buy Now: Bundle via Olight
See More Olight Flash Sales
There’s a limit of (2) bundles per person.
A reader wrote in a tip about the i1R back in March. Thank you Jim, and I’m sorry for not looking into this model sooner! Jim wrote:
Every once in a while you do articles on EDC devices. My new all time favorite EDC flashlight (for this month) is the Olight “i1r”. It’s tiny, rechargeable via a built-in hidden microUSB port, and has two brightness settings. It’s great for when you need some discreet or something brighter than a cell phone.
I would have recommended saving the ~$4 and skipping on the bundle, but Jim’s endorsement has me thinking that $4 is little risk to give it a try. The i1R 2 typically sells for $15.
And… that’s not all!
- Login and add a free 2-pack of bandannas
- Spend over $99 and get a i3UV flashlight for free (MAP $14.95)
- Spend over $199 and get a free S1R II Black (MAP $64.95)
- Spend over $259 get Perun BK (MAP $84.95)
Transparency:
After many of you recommended Olight, I took a more thorough look at their product line and my interest skyrocketed. Was I silly for being so hesitant about Li-ion flashlights? It turns out that ToolGuyd received an invite to their affiliate program back in March. I recently responded, and they told me about their upcoming flash sale and sent over an S1R II for review.
This little purple LED flashlight has shaken up what I thought I wanted in an EDC flashlight. Thank you to everyone who recommended Olight, for setting me on this journey!
It’s hard to tone down my enthusiasm, but I want to make it clear that 1) the sample shown above was provided to us for review, and 2) if you make any purchases through the links above, or this one right here, we’ll earn affiliate commission revenue.
Deals end at 11:59pm ET 5/29/20, unless supplies sell out sooner.
HandyDan says
Olight has been nothing but great for me. They know how to treat customers right, they have a well engineered product, the pricing is very good, and their sales are even better.
Don’t worry if you missed this sale, they have a new sale about once a month. Their sales are always a good time to buy, the discounts are usually 30-40%, and generally for only a few dollars more you can get a bundle and get two excellent flashlights for a stereo discount.
By the way, if toolguyd’s affiliate link works the same as mine, you can get a certain dollar amount off even during a sale. It always warms this cheap dutchman’s heat when discounts stack!
HandyDan says
Also, just a tip, the way to get these lights is to sign up for their emails to be notified of sales, and then be ready right at midnight eastern time to try and purchase. Their website will crash a few times due to volume, but I’ve had success waiting about 30 minutes, then trying.
Again, I can’t recommend Olight enough.
Eric says
Welcome to the club. Just be careful it can be a slippery slope. That olight is a nice entry level enthusiast light. Next thing you know you’ll be wanting a light that takes an 18650 for decent battery life. Of course a decent head lamp. And thrower for those times you just have to light something up a quarter mile away. And then you get picky about exactly which LED a light uses, its CRI, the color temperature.
As far as the warmth goes, that’s normal. As effecient as LEDs are they still produce heat and the small lights just don’t have a way to dissipate it quickly enough. That still doesn’t stop some of us from carrying lights just a little bigger than that olight that will do 4000 lumens and can even set some things on fire. You only get 30-60 seconds before they thermal throttle down to more reasonable outputs. Still pretty cool while it lasts though.
Adam G says
I know the sickness, I made diamond this flash sale. My name is Adam, I’m an addict.
HandyDan says
As a fellow new diamond level member, I know your shame.
RCWARD says
Fenix is my go to torch, just got the TK-26 R . Runs on rechargeable 18650. You can plug usb cable right in to flashlight. Quite a step up from the O light your talking about here but only 100 bucks and a much better light.
Robert Adkins says
My EDC must use 18650 or 26650. The smaller cells just don’t last long enough in a smaller light with decent lumens.
26650 lights are a bit hefty for my taste, but not huge. 18650 lights can actually be just a tiny bit larger than the 16340 ans 14650 cells. I have 1 that you would never think has a powerful 18650 in it.
Charging is a gimmick as far as I’m concerned, and just more stuff to store and get in the way. I find it’s more trouble than it’s worth, and tiny USB chargers aren’t kind to batteries. I trust my 4 cell charger that tells you the charge rate, the voltage, and will test the cells if you wish.
But that’s just me. Flashlights, batteries, and chargers are in their golden years, being so cheap and versatile there’s something for everyone.