Olight M20 R5 Vs. M20 S2

Confederate · Nov 13, 2011

Can anyone tell me which is the better light? I know all of the numbers and runtimes, but the S2 versions seem to be difficult to find and I'm also concerned about the tint of the light.

The 600-hour runtime is very important to me, and the S2s I've seen tend to be $10+ more than the R5 versions. The thing is, the R5s are all over the place, usually for about $70 apiece including shipping. Is the S2 still in production and is there an advantage to having the R5 version?

Thanks much!

herosemblem · Nov 13, 2011

I own the M20S R5 and the M20 R2 (the latter doesn't concern your search).

My M20S' tint is fairly white, maybe even a hint of green. Definitely not ugly blue, though. However, it is not "warm" like my Surefire LX2's tint.

Hopefully someone has the S2 version and can attest to its characteristics. I see there is an M20S in the Marketplace for sale.

Confederate · Nov 14, 2011

I'm a bit suspicious because of the rarity of the S2. Even at places that sell the Olight line of flashlights, they have a number of R5s in stock but no S2s. Some places even state that it's out of production. There's not much difference between in advertised lumens and runtimes. Maximum lumens is 340 lumens vice 320 lumens which run for four hours.

kartracer77 · Nov 14, 2011

I have a m20s s2 and my friend has the m20 r5. the s2 is more towards the neutral white color direction. it has a very slight yellowist tint. The friends R5 is pure cool white.

Confederate · Nov 14, 2011

Thanks, Kartracer77. The most popular light is the M20S-X. This model gives 500 lumens and has a runtime of about an hour on high. After five minutes, however, the light kicks down to about 320 lumens to protect the bulb. That's where I have problems. First, very few people need mega-lumens in their flashlights. It's like putting premium fuel in a lawn mower! My M20 320-lumen light goes for four hours, and is brighter than I need, so I click down to medium power (110 lumens, which runs for 11 hours). Inside a tent, or if I have a power outage at home, I can easily read a book or my Kindle on low (5 lumens for an incredible 600 hours!). Now the M20S model (which has an R5 bulb which provides 10 lumens for 85 hours).

I like the pure cool light. If the S2 is better, how much extra should I be willing to pay? (Even the S2 model is rated in many places to be 320 lumens, not 340.) Some say the registration on the S2 is better, but so far no one has explained it to me.

herosemblem · Nov 14, 2011

I wouldn't pay more than $12 for the S2 "advantage"

.

DougL · Apr 23, 2014

Confederate said:
Thanks, Kartracer77. The most popular light is the M20S-X. This model gives 500 lumens and has a runtime of about an hour on high. After five minutes, however, the light kicks down to about 320 lumens to protect the bulb. That's where I have problems. First, very few people need mega-lumens in their flashlights. It's like putting premium fuel in a lawn mower! My M20 320-lumen light goes for four hours, and is brighter than I need, so I click down to medium power (110 lumens, which runs for 11 hours). Inside a tent, or if I have a power outage at home, I can easily read a book or my Kindle on low (5 lumens for an incredible 600 hours!). Now the M20S model (which has an R5 bulb which provides 10 lumens for 85 hours).

I like the pure cool light. If the S2 is better, how much extra should I be willing to pay? (Even the S2 model is rated in many places to be 320 lumens, not 340.) Some say the registration on the S2 is better, but so far no one has explained it to me.

I know this is an old thread, but maybe someone who knows the answer will see it and chime in.
Is the S2 really 600 hours (give or take) on low and twice the run time on medium compared to the R5? When I contacted Olight about a year ago with this question, believe it or not, they actually wouldn't give me a straight answer and recommended I ask the question on this forum, but I never got around to it until now. There never seems to be a "round to-it" when you need one .

Olight M20 R5 Vs. M20 S2

Confederate

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herosemblem

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Confederate

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kartracer77

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Confederate

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herosemblem

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DougL

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