[Review] Olight M1T Raider (minor Update for US version)

Received the new single cell flashlight, M1T Raider from Olight for testing and review...

I am impressed...













































BeamShots















Edit: video exposure was tune down greatly as I was shooting for X9R subsequently (at 25K lumens, it washed out the video) , M1T is a lot brighter in person. The still beam-shot above gives a better (although still slightly under-exposed) rendering of the 500 lumens brightness.

Current Draw


Measured Output


Runtime on High using Olight CR123A...


...
...
and coming soon...


UPDATE 2018.08.03
Olight release a High-Mode-come-on-first version to US market, referred to as... "the US version" or "the Tactical version", which now works almost the same way as SureFire's UI. It's currently only available to US market, so for those who wanted M1T to turn on in High mode first but are not from the US, go pester your official distributor or reseller.

Re: [Review] Olight M1T Raider

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]The principal of a backup light is to have an extended runtime and to serve as a secondary tactical flashlight to compliment your main EDC Tactical light. [/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]The M1T user interface comprising of a no memory, 2 - modes Lo-Hi, always starts on Low is way more easy to operate where the operator does not need to fiddle thru the modes or memorizes the last mode it was used before. [/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]A quick tap or first click will always get you to Low mode,
while during a situation where tactical output is needed, just double tap for High mode from off,
or if you've been using Low mode for an extended period of time, its just a simple off and on again to get to High without needing to cycle thru Low mode.[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Its easy, its simple, its predictable.[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]...[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Why not having it start on High first if people may ask? [/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]..[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Well lets just say if you are in a situation where you want to preserve your night adapted vision and you just need a low illuminating light;[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]if it was a Hi-Lo UI; [/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]to get to Low mode you need go thru a preflash of High mode then Low, say goodbye to your eyes night adapted vision.
So how is that called a backup light then?
[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]This is where the M1T supposed to serve its purpose as a backup light, and the current UI pretty much had been well thought through.[/FONT]

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Kudos Olight. [/FONT]

Re: [Review] Olight M1T Raider

A little fishy here. The graph shows 583 lumens for about 4 minutes? This is with a single CR123 battery?

And the second post is almost as shillicious as the first? Using profanity as well?

Re: [Review] Olight M1T Raider

It's running a Luminus SST40 LED, you can try and do some read up on it, i need to search back which site i bumped into the info.
iirc SST40 comparing to XM-L2, SST40 performs better with both a lower voltage and higher output.

Re: [Review] Olight M1T Raider

well said Makuyo!

KITROBASKIN said:

A little fishy here. The graph shows 583 lumens for about 4 minutes? This is with a single CR123 battery?
And the second post is almost as shillicious as the first? Using profanity as well?

Click to expand...

well, no fish was harm during my testing... LOL!
I was equally surprise at the numbers, I thought I did something wrong and verified again and recalibrated my custom light-box... all measurements are in the figures of 550 - 580-ish lumens depending on my power source, be it CR123A or RCR123. As I'm not using any industrial equipment nor Integrated Sphere, my lumens measurement should be read with a grain of salt and just as relative reference. I calibrated my light-box in relation to Fenix, SureFire, Elzetta and Malkoff claimed output numbers and it has serve me well so far (for lights lower than 1500 lumens, +/- 5% tolerance). What I share is what I get.

I do not know if Olight's method of measurement has change lately, but this is not the first time Olight underrate their output numbers, the recently release i1R EOS is quoted as 130 lumens on high, but I consistently get >150 lumens.

It's understandable and I'm cool if you disagree as we don't need to agree with each other. :nana:

and about the shilling part... I receive the light and get to keep it or give it away (usually in local Facebook group) in exchange for a review, no other form of compensations other than the the light itself (I also never sell any of the reviewed flashlights so far) and the satisfactions knowing what I shared may have help someone in making a decision whether to get or not to get the reviewed flashlight model. I do disagree with the manufacturers sometimes (e.g. the R50 Pro LE dock, the shorting magnetic charging contact, etc.) and don't see eye-to-eye with their engineers. Sometimes it was fun arguing with techies, sometimes it's just plain frustrations... hahaha...

In the case of M1T Raider, I'm very excited about the light and thus it may have reflected in my writing, for that, my sincere apology if any words of mine offended you. I do believe we have a good release here... if that is shilling, then I'm equally guilty of shilling for SureFire, PKDL, Elzetta, Malkoff, HDS, Fenix, FourSevens, Nitecore, Sanyo Eneloop, FDK, Ikea Ladda and even MagLite and Energizer company. :kiss:

Last but not least, I'll leave you with a picture of what's on hand now...

... and no, these are not for sell... :laughing:

Re: [Review] Olight M1T Raider

When is this light coming out? i see it nowhere on olights own website, their facebook icant find anything of this ...

Re: [Review] Olight M1T Raider

I was informed the release date of M1T Raider is 1st June 2018. For the stock to reach full world wide distribution may take up to 2 weeks based on a brief analysis I did some time ago. Currently, several distributors/reseller in Asia already put up their stock.

Re: [Review] Olight M1T Raider

Well said, rookiedaddy!

Re: [Review] Olight M1T Raider

rookiedaddy said:

I was informed the release date of M1T Raider is 1st June 2018. For the stock to reach full world wide distribution may take up to 2 weeks based on a brief analysis I did some time ago. Currently, several distributors/reseller in Asia already put up their stock.

Click to expand...

Seems to be available in South Africa already.

I was tempted but cannot see why I would want a light bigger than the S1 Baton series, with the same power source and same output and same beam profile.

Edit: Is it indeed the same beam profile? From the video there seems to be a discernable hotspot, which the Baton series don't have.

If so I may very well be tempted again.

Re: [Review] Olight M1T Raider

What I can't deny, is that's a very good looking little light!

Re: [Review] Olight M1T Raider

Skaaphaas said:

I was tempted but cannot see why I would want a light bigger than the S1 Baton series, with the same power source and same output and same beam profile.
Edit: Is it indeed the same beam profile? From the video there seems to be a discernable hotspot, which the Baton series don't have.

Click to expand...

the beam is very similar to Baton series that uses the TIR optics... the slight different is from the different LED used, Cree XM-L2 vs Luminus SST40. They adapt the TIR optics to suit the type of LED used in the model.
other than the similarity in beam profile and the use of TIR optics, M1T Raider is a very different light from the Baton series.
But I have to admit I'm bias because I still prefer a tail-switch than side-switch, no matter how we mitigate the action of locating the side-switch, i still find the tail-switch more intuitive to use, and almost a decade of using SureFire simple 2-mode flashlight like E2DL, this M1T brings back the familiarity that I was so used to. :kiss:
I guess you can see why I'm so excited about this release... the aesthetic is so sexy to begin with, a simple 2-mode no-memory no-frills tail-forward-clicky, and Olight's almost legendary runtime efficiency, it's almost everything that I want in a backup/EDC flashlight... of course, being a flashaholic, I want more... I wish Olight would gives us Nichia High CRI version, or at least a neutral white option, and supports for 18350 size battery (still trying to convince the engineer to give us a 18350-size light)...

Re: [Review] Olight M1T Raider

rookiedaddy said:

other than the similarity in beam profile and the use of TIR optics, M1T Raider is a very different light from the Baton series.

Click to expand...

I want to believe you, but except for the size and fewer modes I don't quite see it.

From what I can see off the net the CD rating is less than the 500 lumen S1 Baton, which doesn't have much throw as it is.

I really want to like this light (I have a bit of a thing for Olight).

The way I see it, this should be a competitor to the Elzetta Alpha. Two modes, rear clicky, TIR lens, single CR123, similar sizes.

I'd have preferred a lens which offers a slightly brighter hotspot to just give that ounce of extra throw, and then my order would have been placed already.

Must admit the light still intrigues me, although with the modes being what they are you'd have to use primaries, 500 lumens eat an RCR123 in no time.

Re: [Review] Olight M1T Raider

@Skaaphaas, I get you.
I can confirm that the CD comparison is correct, S1 Baton does have a higher CD reading than M1T, lumen wise, M1T has the lead even-though when comparing both side-by-side outdoor, neither has clear advantage over the other.
Your comparison to Alpha is spot on, and it can stand tall against the offering from SureFire too...
As for the battery, I really wish they would give us 18350 for a few hundred mAH more of runtime... :candle:

Re: [Review] Olight M1T Raider

Thanks for the review. I can say this light has peeked my interest. I do think they should also release an M3T that is an 18650 version of this light. I know there is the M2R and M2T but the simple 2 mode UI of the M1T is nice to have. If the M1T starts on low and the M3T started on high you would have a nice EDC pair giving you options on modes.

Re: [Review] Olight M1T Raider

Thank you for the review! I appreciate when people take the time to post these as it helps me make an informed decision. This is the first I have seen of this light and it looks great for the price.

Re: [Review] Olight M1T Raider

Thanks for the review Rookiedaddy.

These Olight small flashlights are poisonous :nana:

Re: [Review] Olight M1T Raider

Thanks for this review, Rookiedaddy, I have bought one of these lights based on your info. I would have loved to get a Surefire, Malkoff or Elzetta single cell CR123 but couldn't justify the dollars, but this Raider does just what I want and need at around a quarter the price, or less. I suppose time will tell regarding durability, but it does seem to be a good piece of kit. I will certainly get another if Olight cares to release a neutral version, the levels and runtime on the light are great for a backup type light, in my opinion.

thanks for all the kind words guys... appreciate it.

UPDATE 2018.08.03
Olight release a High-Mode-come-on-first version to US market, referred to as... "the US version" or "the Tactical version", which now works almost the same way as SureFire's UI. It's currently only available to US market, so for those who wanted M1T to turn on in High mode first but are not from the US, go pester your official distributor or reseller.

I do not see it on US Olight site.

I do not understand Olight... This nearly perfect light has been discontinued