AardvarkSagus
Flashlight Enthusiast
Olight i1 EOS - Submitted for consideration for the review forum
Pocket-ready power. Olight tries to capture the EDC market with their budget friendly “i1”. But does it manage to be an “iWin”?
Olight i1
Meat and Potatoes
The Olight EOS series is not anything revolutionary to most who are familiar with quality illumination tools. It is a basic 3 mode twisty compact EDC. What is unexpected though is that Olight has crammed so much power and quality into such a tiny package for such an equally tiny price tag. The budget priced “i” series are being touted as the successors to iTP’s “A” series that I have heard much praise for, but know little about. I however see a large similarity to the 4Sevens Q MiNi line. Tiny pocket-ready powerhouses that pack a mean punch.
The i1 uses a single CR123A cell to power Cree’s newest larger die power LED, the XM-L. I have thus far been quite impressed with this LED because of its propensity to produce a clean, wide angle flood beam. Nestled cozily at the base of a narrow and relatively shallow textured reflector, the XM-L does exactly that. I have often expounded my belief that floody lights are more ideally suited for EDC roles and as I have matured as a flashlight enthusiast I have begun to escape my need for throwy lights just to show off.
Cree XM-L
Not that the i1 isn’t capable of raising a few eyebrows in its own right though. Measuring just over 2.5” long (65mm for you more mathematically advanced countries) the capacity to produce 180 lumens for over an hour and a half is nothing to sneer at. And it does it all the while with a smooth, artifact-free beam with, as I mentioned, excellent proportions. The loosely defined hotspot has a wonderfully blended transitional corona into a bright and wide spillbeam. Every inch of it is silky smooth and useful.
The finish of the i1 is just as surprising in my opinion. The machining of this torch is deceptively precise. In this day and age it is becoming harder and harder to stand out for quality workmanship in this highly industrialized world and the simple understated design of the i1 tends to cause it to be overlooked. The unique straight knurling shows a minute attention to detail and the anodizing appears to be quite thick and durable. Even the laser engraved lettering is crisp, bright and exact. I was not provided with anything but the light for this review, so I cannot comment about any included accessories, however the simple inclusion of a removable, screw-attached pocket clip is quite a testament to customer satisfaction if I have ever seen one. On this small of a light, the clip had to be kept quite short in order to avoid scratching on the head during activation, but that is a trade-off I am very happy they chose to make since that is a bit of a pet peeve of mine.
For the enthusiast that considers themselves to be more of a connoisseur and aficionado, Olight is also offering a premium version of this same light. All the machine work and engraving appears exactly the same, however instead of anodized Aluminum the body is made from unanodized Titanium. It is finished by simply polishing it to a shine. Titanium differs from Aluminum only a little when it comes to an application such as this. It is somewhat stronger, but I haven’t had too many problems with my flashlights getting crushed. The fact that it doesn’t require an anodized finish is attractive since then wear and tear of daily use does not show up so readily. Most of the distinction comes from its preferred aesthetics. It is also heavier, but that is a matter for personal preference. Some people may not like the fact that an unpowered Ti version actually weighs more than the Al version that has a cell in it, but to me it actually gives the light a more “high-class” feel. Also of note, on my lights, the Titanium version does have smoother threading than the Aluminum version (more about that shortly). In all, it definitely “feels” nicer.
Olight i1
Constructive Criticism
As I mentioned there is a difference in the feel of the threading between the Al and the Ti versions of this light. Where the Ti version is firm and smooth, the Al version feels fairly loose. While this does make it much easier to operate single handedly, it also makes it somewhat prone to mode skipping. This also is reminiscent of the 4Sevens MiNi line. It’s not a real problem if you are very deliberate with your movements when you turn the light on, but it still does happen eventually. Thankfully with no blinky modes, the surprises and annoyance of getting the wrong level are fairly minimal.
The “i” series all come with a split ring attachment point for either a keychain or lanyard of some sort, but the location of such is a little odd. It is basically a hole drilled through the edge of the light only at the the tail end, which causes the split ring to stick out to the side and rather drastically limits movement. It only has about 60° of play back and forth and cannot ever point directly down from the tail of the light. This means if you choose to use it as a keychain light (CR123A lights are a little large for this in my opinion) it may always hang at a slightly strange angle from your keys. I would have preferred that they open the holes up just a little further and let it pivot farther around the base of the light. This would not have affected tailstanding at all and would have created a slightly more useful product.
Olight i1
Conclusions
The Olight i1 is a minuscule little powerhouse of a light. It is a pocket-rocket that was instantly dubbed the “noisy cricket” by a friend of mine in reference to the movie “Men in Black”. It is a very nice little EDC light at an attractive price. Plus if you want to have a little more distinction with your practicality, you have the excellent option of owning it in Titanium.
Provided for review by the kind folks at 4Sevens.
Pocket-ready power. Olight tries to capture the EDC market with their budget friendly “i1”. But does it manage to be an “iWin”?
Olight i1
Meat and Potatoes
The Olight EOS series is not anything revolutionary to most who are familiar with quality illumination tools. It is a basic 3 mode twisty compact EDC. What is unexpected though is that Olight has crammed so much power and quality into such a tiny package for such an equally tiny price tag. The budget priced “i” series are being touted as the successors to iTP’s “A” series that I have heard much praise for, but know little about. I however see a large similarity to the 4Sevens Q MiNi line. Tiny pocket-ready powerhouses that pack a mean punch.
The i1 uses a single CR123A cell to power Cree’s newest larger die power LED, the XM-L. I have thus far been quite impressed with this LED because of its propensity to produce a clean, wide angle flood beam. Nestled cozily at the base of a narrow and relatively shallow textured reflector, the XM-L does exactly that. I have often expounded my belief that floody lights are more ideally suited for EDC roles and as I have matured as a flashlight enthusiast I have begun to escape my need for throwy lights just to show off.
Cree XM-L
Not that the i1 isn’t capable of raising a few eyebrows in its own right though. Measuring just over 2.5” long (65mm for you more mathematically advanced countries) the capacity to produce 180 lumens for over an hour and a half is nothing to sneer at. And it does it all the while with a smooth, artifact-free beam with, as I mentioned, excellent proportions. The loosely defined hotspot has a wonderfully blended transitional corona into a bright and wide spillbeam. Every inch of it is silky smooth and useful.
The finish of the i1 is just as surprising in my opinion. The machining of this torch is deceptively precise. In this day and age it is becoming harder and harder to stand out for quality workmanship in this highly industrialized world and the simple understated design of the i1 tends to cause it to be overlooked. The unique straight knurling shows a minute attention to detail and the anodizing appears to be quite thick and durable. Even the laser engraved lettering is crisp, bright and exact. I was not provided with anything but the light for this review, so I cannot comment about any included accessories, however the simple inclusion of a removable, screw-attached pocket clip is quite a testament to customer satisfaction if I have ever seen one. On this small of a light, the clip had to be kept quite short in order to avoid scratching on the head during activation, but that is a trade-off I am very happy they chose to make since that is a bit of a pet peeve of mine.
For the enthusiast that considers themselves to be more of a connoisseur and aficionado, Olight is also offering a premium version of this same light. All the machine work and engraving appears exactly the same, however instead of anodized Aluminum the body is made from unanodized Titanium. It is finished by simply polishing it to a shine. Titanium differs from Aluminum only a little when it comes to an application such as this. It is somewhat stronger, but I haven’t had too many problems with my flashlights getting crushed. The fact that it doesn’t require an anodized finish is attractive since then wear and tear of daily use does not show up so readily. Most of the distinction comes from its preferred aesthetics. It is also heavier, but that is a matter for personal preference. Some people may not like the fact that an unpowered Ti version actually weighs more than the Al version that has a cell in it, but to me it actually gives the light a more “high-class” feel. Also of note, on my lights, the Titanium version does have smoother threading than the Aluminum version (more about that shortly). In all, it definitely “feels” nicer.
Olight i1
Constructive Criticism
As I mentioned there is a difference in the feel of the threading between the Al and the Ti versions of this light. Where the Ti version is firm and smooth, the Al version feels fairly loose. While this does make it much easier to operate single handedly, it also makes it somewhat prone to mode skipping. This also is reminiscent of the 4Sevens MiNi line. It’s not a real problem if you are very deliberate with your movements when you turn the light on, but it still does happen eventually. Thankfully with no blinky modes, the surprises and annoyance of getting the wrong level are fairly minimal.
The “i” series all come with a split ring attachment point for either a keychain or lanyard of some sort, but the location of such is a little odd. It is basically a hole drilled through the edge of the light only at the the tail end, which causes the split ring to stick out to the side and rather drastically limits movement. It only has about 60° of play back and forth and cannot ever point directly down from the tail of the light. This means if you choose to use it as a keychain light (CR123A lights are a little large for this in my opinion) it may always hang at a slightly strange angle from your keys. I would have preferred that they open the holes up just a little further and let it pivot farther around the base of the light. This would not have affected tailstanding at all and would have created a slightly more useful product.
Olight i1
Conclusions
The Olight i1 is a minuscule little powerhouse of a light. It is a pocket-rocket that was instantly dubbed the “noisy cricket” by a friend of mine in reference to the movie “Men in Black”. It is a very nice little EDC light at an attractive price. Plus if you want to have a little more distinction with your practicality, you have the excellent option of owning it in Titanium.
Provided for review by the kind folks at 4Sevens.
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