Olight M21 disappointment

[sugsug]

2 weeks ago I bought a "Olight M21". I had "Fenix TK10" (275 Lumens) and I bought the "Olight" because they are 500 Lumens.


My first disappointment comes in when compared with the "Eagletac T20C2" of my brother. The "Eagletac" 300 lumens, illuminates more than the "Olight" 500 lumens.

My second disappointment, a week after buying it, I drop a table 1 m in height, and stops working. Increible oo:

My "Fenix TK10" I fell from a ladder of four meters high, and continued working.

This is normal? Olight is bad? or is defective?

 

[Ray_of_Light]

Olight is considered a good and reputable brand.
Their lights are very reliable, in my experience. They quote, for their flashlights output, emitter lumens; but this is true for the majority of other light manufacturers, too.

I faced a problem similar to yours not long ago, when I bought an M20 Titanium. The M20T and the M21 uses the Luminus SST-50, capable of pruducing 1000 emitter lumens at 5 Amp. Due to its large surface area, and being a single die LED, the SST-50 produces a flawless large hotspot when placed in small reflectors like those of the M20T and the M21 lights.

For this reason, I bought the M20T, quoted at 500 Lumens, thinking of a super-bright light, but I had a surprise. The LED is driven, both in the M20T and the M21, at 1.7 A, producing a total of 250-300 emitter lumens max. Their regular M20.R5 and any of the Fenixes with a R5 LED, which I already had, are visibly producing more light.

To make a long story short, I returned the M20T. It is a wonderful light, but I was upset from the fact that Olight, for the M20T and the M21 (both using the SST-50) quoted a false lumen output value. Other people on CPF are complaining for this very reason.

For the fact that your M21 stopped working after a fall, I can't tell you anything. My other Olights (M20 and M30) have taken a beat without showing any malfunction, at the par of other Fenixes and SFs.

Regards

Anthony

 

[sugsug]

In the website of "O'light" could read 500 Lumens (~ 300 OTF) not only 500 Luments because deceive you. With "Thrunight Catapult" on the web reads "900 Luments" (~ 700 OTF).

http://www.thrunite.com/productsweb/Catapult.html

I have contacted the shop where buy de flashlight, and say it is not normal. They have said the return, and I changed to the implied warranty.

I hope the new work better.

P.D: Sorry for my bad english.

 

[selfbuilt]

2 weeks ago I bought a "Olight M21". I had "Fenix TK10" (275 Lumens) and I bought the "Olight" because they are 500 Lumens.

My first disappointment comes in when compared with the "Eagletac T20C2" of my brother. The "Eagletac" 300 lumens, illuminates more than the "Olight" 500 lumens.

My second disappointment, a week after buying it, I drop a table 1 m in height, and stops working. Increible oo:

FYI, the EagleTac T20C2 Mk II and Olight M21 put out almost exactly the same amount of light overall in my lightbox and ceiling bounce tests (see my T20C2-II review for numbers). The T20C2-II has a more focused beam, so it it will throw further. It also has a slightly narrower spillbeam, so the spill may seem brighter (but doesn't illuminate as wide an area).

The original T20C2 is definitely not as bright as the M21 - but due to the far more focussed beam, it may seem like it (i.e. throws quite a bit further). Sidespill is also narrower on the T20C2.

People need to realize that Olight purposefully kept the M21 driven at a less than maximal level, to insure thermal problems wouldn't crop up. See my M21 review for more info.

However, IMO, the M21 should have been able to handle a 1m drop. I have dropped innumerable flashlights at that height, on all sorts of surfaces, and only cheapo DX lights have ever failed on me. I would contact your vendor for a replacement.

 

[stallion2]

Olight makes excellent lights. they have a high standard of QC as well as R & D. they take their time designing and testing their lights and it generally shows. the 1m drop is odd though. i can't imagine they would give you any hassel in terms of honoring the warranty. make sure its the light and not something else.

as far as output goes, the beam profile can be misleading. your light and that of your brother's are completely different animals. the M2 is designed as a flood light, that Eagletac is a throwing light. its easy to look at just the hotspot on a beam and assume that one light is brighter than another in terms of overall output. i still have trouble convincing some of my friends of this but exposure to different lights over a relatively short period of time helps to assess what it is you're actually seeing in terms of performance.

 

[SureAddicted]

The LED is driven, both in the M20T and the M21, at 1.7 A, producing a total of 250-300 emitter lumens max.

Is 250-300 emitter lumens a wild guess or have you actually tested the output?
It's actually ~ 370 lumens OTF (actually tested), 250-300 emitter lumens is ridiculous, according to your theory the M21 is as bright as R2 lights, which is far from the truth. All of my R2 lights are around 240 emiter lumens, the M21 is NOTICEABLY much brighter than R2 emitters, according to ceiling bounce tests. Maybe I have an over achiever, but I seriously doubt that. Most of the time people get hung up on numbers, sometimes numbers don't tell the true story.

 

[HIDblue]

2 weeks ago I bought a "Olight M21". I had "Fenix TK10" (275 Lumens) and I bought the "Olight" because they are 500 Lumens.


My first disappointment comes in when compared with the "Eagletac T20C2" of my brother. The "Eagletac" 300 lumens, illuminates more than the "Olight" 500 lumens.

My second disappointment, a week after buying it, I drop a table 1 m in height, and stops working. Increible oo:

My "Fenix TK10" I fell from a ladder of four meters high, and continued working.

This is normal? Olight is bad? or is defective?

sugsug, are you sure you have the M21 on Max brightness mode??? My M21 is pretty damn bright on Max output and it's held up well after I've dropped it a few times as well. You might have a lemon M21.

Don't get too caught in the lumen numbers. Besides my Lumapower D-mini VX Ultra, the M21 is the 2nd brightest SST-50 driven light I own. :wave:

 

[garden]

I have a very similar story. I recently got the iTP A6, which is manufactured by Olight, and the battery carrier was very defective, I had to get it replaced, right after I received it in the mail. Then, I dropped the light ABOUT 60CM onto concrete, and it just turned off! Gawd, imagine using it in a military tactical situation.

I guess the "high quality expectations" can be overridden by true, first hand experiences here.

 

[selfbuilt]

I have a very similar story. I recently got the iTP A6, which is manufactured by Olight, and the battery carrier was very defective, I had to get it replaced, right after I received it in the mail. Then, I dropped the light ABOUT 60CM onto concrete, and it just turned off! Gawd, imagine using it in a military tactical situation.

I guess the "high quality expectations" can be overridden by true, first hand experiences here.

The A6 is designed, made and sold by Olight (through their ITP branch) as a "budget" version of the higher-end lights. You should not expect the same reliability with the A6 - it's certainly not intended for "military tactical situations."

Everyone also needs to keep in mind that any light can fail, even from a small drop. It is just the likelihood of failure that diminishes as you go up the quality ladder.