Olight S1 Mini High CRI impressions

[nitebrite]

Dang. I thought Maratac was good. They claim made in California. The 219C is actually very bright for a 1xAAA. Brighter than 123A lights I have like P1DCE. Plus Lumens really needs to be 2.5x more to see the difference(from what I read here always). So 400-ish may not be a huge deal. I do not need more than 150Lm on keychain. I do like copper but Olight has Titanium too. I actually like the size of the Olight better but the button is no good for me. Need twisty last resort rear clickie.

I am sure it is very nice it just does not fit my needs as much as Maratac with 219C I just got. Waiting for $$$ custom light in the meantime. Going to be a long time wait but Maratac is actually pretty bright. Plus 219C is 4.5-5K which looks very nice. I am not sure about old one but new 219C is "okay". It is not a high output light and I don't need one on keychain. I am not dissing your Olight. I like it a lot but like you said we have to get what meets our needs best. Everything is a compromise unless custom I suppose.

I found Maratac to be pretty decent overall, threads etc. I just wonder if really made in USA. I couldn't see them lying as I don't think they are known to be shady? I would like the Olight but mainly the button kills it. I will tell you, 10440 in Maratac 219C is crazy bright. Warn not to do it and I trust not to but tried 3 seconds anyways. 219C is a nice little emitter imo. As I said I like size of Olight, P1DCE type lights better though. Short and stout instead of tall and skinny.

Can't get everything on an off the shelf light. I do prefer solid metal so would get Olight Titanium. Heck I might get it just for kitchen drawer or whatever.

On Energizer ultimate lithium Maratac is actually 230Lm on my Sphere. That is pretty good quite frankly. That 219C is good. The 219B very well maybe only 90LM or so on 1xaaa. 219C is actually about double the output on same forward voltage. Plus they increased it on the driver. It is measuring at about 800MA under Dummy load(resistor). 3.48V. Not sure how they are boosting 1.5V that much unless I am not measuring right but should be. Yes, I see that is easily done. Going to need Lithium for sure. Plus Alky will corrode the copper.

Olight is indeed very nice just have to choose what suits us best but Amazon is not my wallets friend so probably go get it right now. Just one question. What are the different ones? I see that size from 315Lm to 900 or more Lm. the 900 is hard to believe though unless that is an 18650 I am looking at. 500 Lm is very useful to me in another application the size of E2d, much bigger. It is interesting why companies make a much bigger light than they need to.


yes, this confirms. running it at 800MA http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?348171-Nichia-219-lumen-sphere-testing That is actually very decent. The new board Is boost, no buck and no PWM. 5k 92CRI with twisty is most of what I require on keychain. Sure real 500Lm would be nice. Copper weighs more than aluminum and I much prefer solid metals. Oh, it has sapphire lens too. A good deal you can get $45-$60 if it fits your bill. Honestly like the Olight better but going to hit that button. Can't have it all. Plus I guess right now I prefer the Nichia.

I did think the thing was very bright for it's size. then found out why when I measured it. I guess with them 219C is a big upgrade over REV. B. I am not sure of a higher output 1xaaa existing. EH, still like Olight. Next stop Amazon!

Sorry for long winded post.

Yours is this bright(copper)? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD8N3LMID3c&feature=youtu.be

 

[jon_slider]

No, Maratacs are not made in California, they are sold by a California company. Same as iPhones and Macs.

Yes I have the Copper AAA Maratac in the video you posted and it measured 90 lumens. I do love my Maratacs for what they are. I have many, all with Nichias. I do not use my lights on high mode much, the runtime is ridiculously short, about 28 minutes.

I stopped using my AAA Maratacs when I started using CR123 Olights, such as the S1 Mini High CRI this thread is about.

The Olight UI has more features, a lower low, a higher high, a strobe, and a more secure pocket clip.

I prefer not to carry my lights attached to my keys. And my personal preference is to use a button, not a twisty. I find the button more reliable, I find twisties finnicky, they tend to skip modes. imo, It is more likely a newbie can figure out how to use an Olight with a button than a twisty Maratac. It is easier to use a button one handed than a twisty.

The Olight button is very nice. The mode changing is very smooth, and the light has Mode memory, so I can set it to a level and hand it to someone and simply say, click on click off. With a twisty I have to do a lot more explaining, and I usually get the "Im not listening" or Deer in the Headlights look from people that have no idea what Im talking about, nor do they care.

Im happy for you to enjoy your Maratac, I also encourage you to also enjoy an Olight. There is no perfect light for all uses, it is better to have more choices, if your wallet can stand it. Dont hang on a flashlight forum, if you want to keep your wallet full, chances are youre going to buy more lights as long as you hang out here.

enjoy whatever makes you happy

 

[nitebrite]

No,No man I mean you no insult. I just bought one LOL.

From Maratac:

"I just got my light. two things. nowhere on the light, nor the case, does it say "made in usa". where is it made? and it doesnt go l,m,h, it's m,l,h"

>"Hello! Thanks for your purchase!
The light is manufactured in Sunnyvale, CA right here in the blessed United States of America.
And yes you're correct the lite is med/lo/hi. This was most requested by our customers because Med is most used. Let us know what else we can do!

Maratac
Seller · January 12, 2018"
-----------------------------
How can they lie like this? I mean fully assembled in USA counts as made in USA today. It can have imported parts. Does it meet that criteria? Man That would upset me lying like that. If in fact they are.

County Comm:
"New For 2018 - Nichia 219C with a lifespan up to 50,000 hours. ( Newest & Brightest Emitter )"


In sphere it is running about 230 Lumens here. On fresh Energizer Lithium Ultimate.


I am not for or against either light. I now have them both. again, no offense intended" I am just trying to state what I know about the latest Maratac. The aaa in Copper happens to be Rev4 for the latest not Rev5! IE, the 219C is only in REV4. 219C is much different than 219B. For 219C 800ma is actually pretty low for it so aaa with boost circuit to about 3.5V Forward voltage it can easily hit 230. So in the case of the Rev4 it appears the light is underrated not overrated like the Rev3.


I would really like to try to clear up the "assembled" in USA or "made" in USA claim. As this would not be legal to state as a manufacturer based in the USA. It would also really upset me. I have no idea but can only go by what they say.


As for 230Lm that is nothing today. Hardly any big deal. Even if it only hit 170 after a few minutes that is fine with me. 500Lm would actually be way too much for my keychain. think 3 years ago 200Lm lights were top of the line. I have much more powerful lights on me at all times. On my keychain is just to read something up close which is plenty for that purpose.


I am sure I like both lights but the Maratac will be on my keychain for now because the features lean more towards my needs. Most feel twisty is actually more reliable. don't know about that.


Anyways, I am cool with you hopefully. I meant you no insult. Like you said each individual should lean towards the features they want/need. Or to that effect. No problem. it is all good. I have both now anyways. so I will be able to tell which is brighter. although as I said true 500Lm on my keychain would be way too much.

 

[jon_slider]

wow, thanks for all the new information about Maratacs. I really like my AAA models, I dont like the AA models due to PWM.

I can confirm that Maratacs are shipped from Sunnyvale, they reach me very quickly. Olights also reach me almost as fast, they come from Marietta Georgia, very close to where 47s was headquartered, before they sold to daksucks.com which is also very close to me. They make the copper prometheus Beta, also made by Lumintop. The head Logoes well on a Maratac AAA body also. The Beta I bought 3 years ago, had PWM, so I sold it.

Maratac AAA lights also used to have PWM back then, but atm they do not, except as I said above, the AA model Maratac still has PWM.

The Olights do not have PWM, they use constant current. Olight has a circuit ripple that is much faster, and harder to see, than the AA Maratac PWM, which is much easier for most people to see. But the AAA Maratac has the cleanest no pwm, no circuit ripple circuit. It is one of the reasons I own so many. That and the fact they can be modded to Nichia, which unfortunately Olights cannot.

I hope someday Olight comes out with a Nichia version, or at least make the lights easier to mod, and use optics that are Nichia compatible.

 

[nitebrite]

Maratac AAA can easily be mistaken for Lumitop. similar design but there are differences so I am not sure it is. It is not legal to lie like that if you are doing business retail. It would be stupid and they would be caught already. Okay, so they eyeball about the same brightness. No surprise there. In reality the Olight measures more than twice the lumens of the Maratac AAA. However that Nichia 219C makes up for it. Looks sweet, There are better USA made lights the size of the Olight but talking $200 plus non custom.

I kind of prefer the form factor of 1xAAA in pocket as I mentioned before I think. Not much taller, half the diameter. I just would really like to know if Maratac is indeed made USA. It must be I guess. For a solid brass light made in USA at $45-$60 a good deal IMO. The Olight weighs the same because it is much thinner gauge metal but bigger light. Unfortunately the Titanium is plated. I just prefer no Chinese. Nothing against Chinese folks just don't like the cheap stuff. The Olight is worth the small price though IMO but does not look like a 219C even if driven harder. They are really two totally different kinds of lights though but the Olight is not bad at all really. I am preferring 219C to XP in low output lights. If you can call them that.

 

[jon_slider]

thank you for your comments nitebrite
now lets both stop talking off topic and remember this thread is about the Olight S1 Mini High CRI

if you feel a need to talk more about other lights than the Olight S1 Mini High CRI, please start a new thread.

enjoy your lights!

 

[nitebrite]

My bad, sorry. I just saw you had multiples of both so figured a comparison might be in order. Two totally different lights. That's all. I will stay on topic. I am glad you explained why both are important to you. Same reasons for me. I do like the Olight.

 

[nitebrite]

Not too keen on this. It gets so hot, steps down right away plus efficiency loss due to overheat without intentional step down. run on hi for about 6 minutes and left with about 130 Lumens. May go down further but so hot I got nervous. I bet a custom light like this does not suffer from this but don't know. It is great for a quick flash though. Cannot leave it on to do a job. I wonder if there is anything else like this that does not have this issue. Probably simply not enough heatsink here. Your Maratacs ultimately pretty much put out the same Lumens anyways. Not impressed running a few minutes. Step to claimed 240Lm after 9 seconds. Not to my liking.

 

[Modernflame]

I finally received the light that I ordered for my Mom. (Note to self: beware of super-saver free shipping offers. Twelve days from ordering until delivery. Granted, there was a holiday in there, but it was still a long wait.)

Actually, I received the wrong product. The package was marked as the 450 lumen HCRI version,which is what I ordered, but the 70 CRI version was inside the box. No matter. I gave it to her and she was duly impressed and totally undeterred. Might have lucked out, given some of the negative press associated with the HCRI version.

I spent five minutes showing her how to use it and she's good to go. Now it's riding in her purse.

 

[nitebrite]

Oh, I get it S1 mini has the features of S1. I wish I could have got a mini but I don't think they even make TI limited edition in S1 mini? It is a tiny difference in length not a big deal to me. What is the lumens on S1 mini high cri? Not sure why LE TI quotes only 480Lm It is certainly more because brighter than SF Fury. My Maratac is messed up. The beam is so ugly compared to nice white Olight. Why do you give these away? I have multiple custom flashlights and like 20 Surefires and this is my new pocket light! IMO Titan plus is can't touch this. Just wish they still had lockout.

 

[nitebrite]

I just realized I said it sucks above lol. I totally changed my mind. Only issue is no lockout is a big bummer. It was on all night in my pocket. It was on low but wondering if I should replace battery now for max lumens? The light is not on. I think I will have to use the clip or something.

 

[LightObsession]

I like the beam pattern on our Utorch S1 Mini with the Nichia 219b. So smooth and no obvious artifacts.