candle lamp
Flashlight Enthusiast
Olight has released the S1 which is one of the Baton series, powered by 1x(R)CR123A. The packaging is the clear plastic container. You can see the features and specifications on the front and back of the packaging.
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The light come with removable pocket clip (attached), spare o-rings, lanyard, small pin for lanyard attachment, user manual.
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Manufacturer Specifications from Olight's website and user manual :
• Thumb sized form factor. diameter: 21mm length: 61mm
• Stainless steel flashlight head and switch binder ring processed by PVD technology
• Recessed silicon switch to prevent accidental operation
• TIR lens to create a balanced beam
• Positive polarity on the battery faces the tail of the flashlight for enhanced reliability and a more compact size
• Built-in timer: 3 minutes or 9 minutes
• Lanyard with perforating tool
• Flat tail cap design contains a strong magnet providing the ability to place it upside down and use it as a hands-free work light
• Removable pocket clip that is scratch resistant
• Thermal management safety program with overheat protection by dropping high output by 50% within 1 minute of constant on. Turbo mode has a limit of 1.5 minutes.
• The S1 features a wide range current circuit and can be powered by 1xCR123A (built-in protected board)
• Reverse polarity protection to prevent improper battery installation
• Cree XM-L2 LED (Maximum light output up to 500 lumens)
• 3 standard modes : 8 lumens, 80 lumens and 500 lumens
• 2 special modes : 0.5 lumen moonlight mode and a 10Hz strobe mode
• 6 061-T6 aluminum alloy body with anti-scratch Type-III hard anodizing
• PMMA TIR lens with a 90% light transmittance rate
• Low standby current below 10uA
• Body material: 6061-T6 aluminum alloy structure, Type III hard anodizing
• Stainless steel pocket clip, stainless steel flashlight bezel, stainless steel binder ring
• Dimensions : Length (61mm), Diameter (21mm)
• Weight : 30g (excluding batteries)
• Color :（body +clip）black，bezel +side switch binder ring）blue
• Operating voltage : 2.5 to 4.2V
• Luminous Intensity : 3,000 cd
• Max beam distance : 110 meters
• Waterproof : IPX8
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The S1 is quite small for the class. Overall build is similar to the S10 I reviewed.
The hard(type III) anodizing is a matte black and no flaws on my samples. All labels are sharp and clear in bright white against the black background. The small checkered pattern is present over most of the body tube. The light has no tail switch as expected. Fit and finish looks very good.
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You can see how the S1 compares to S10. The S1 is much shorter than the S10. The head and tailcap of the S1 is shorter than the S10, and the diameter of the head, battery tube and tailcap is also small. This means that the body tubes and tailcap are not physically interchangeable between the lights. The S1 is in keeping with an electronic side switch concept. But the material of the switch has been completely changed from hard plastic to silicon.
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The light has 2 parts. The body is one piece with the head (i.e., the body has a built-in head). The pocket clip works as a good anti-roll device as well.
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The light has a flat stainless steel bezel ring. The head has a clean looking cylindrical design with a hex-shaped neck which provides grip. There's an electronic side switch just on the neck. The side switch is silicon, and it has a good feel to touch and has short travel, which produces a little louder clicking sound than S10. The S1 switch is less protruding than the S10, so the risk of accidental activation should be reduced. There's no low-voltage warning indication on the side switch.
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The negative (-) battery contact has a spring. So flat-top cells work just fine in the light. The light has reverse polarity protection to protect from incorrect battery installation (i.e., the electronics of the S1 has in-built reverse polarity protection).
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The light uses a PMMA (Poly Methyl MethAcrylate or Acrylic Glass ) TIR lens without a reflector. The fit and finish look good.
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The pocket clip looks sturdy and hold onto the light very securely. It is reversible, allowing both bezel-up or bezel-down.
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The battery tube (i.e., body) is mostly covered in raised checkered portions with three flat faces where manufacturer, model name and battery insertion orientation are printed on, and one of the flat faces where the clip is touching. With the pocket clip attached and other shapes on the head, overall grip is good.
The wall thickness of the body is 1.5mm. The light feels reasonably solid.
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The screw threads are square-cut of good quality. Threads are well machined, and anodized which allows the light to be locked-out when the tailcap is slightly loosened. As supplied, threads are well lubricated. Screw threads action is smooth with no cross-threading or squeaking in my sample.
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There is a removable positive (+) spring come with a removable strong magnet on the inside of the tailcap. There is tiny hole on the tail side for lanyard or split ring attachment. The magnet pull is fairly strong, so it does pick up the battery through the positive spring, because the spring and the magnet are actually in contact. The light sticks to all the metal objects made with steel. If you don't want the magnet, you can remove it (i.e., you can take out the magnet by releasing the spring holding the magnet in place by prising the three edges of the spring out from under the recess on the tailcap). There is a raised checkered portions band on the tailcap. The S1 can tailstand stably.
Unlike the other lights, you have to insert the batteries into the light as shown in the picture above (i.e., the S1 has the same battery orientation as the Olight S30R II).
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User Interface
There are two modes (i.e., general mode & strobe mode).
1) General mode
On-Off and output switching is controlled by the electronic switch. A quick press and release turns the light on, and another quick press and release turns the light off.
When on, holding down the switch will proceed Low -> Med. -> High, in repeating sequence. To select your desired mode or output level, just release the switch. The light has mode memory, and remembers the last output level used when you turn the light off and back on.
Note that The light does remember the last output for a short time after being unscrewed. If you unscrew the tailcap on CR123A and RCR123A, this mode memory is retained for not more than respectively 30 and 40 secs in my test.
You can access Moonlight (or firefly mode) directly from "Off" by a sustained press of the switch for one second. This means Moonlight is a separate mode from the above Low, Med. and High.
Double quick click from Off will activate High directly.
2) Strobe mode
The "hidden" Strobe is accessed by triple-clicking the switch when on. A single sustained press of the switch will return to the previous output level in general mode. The strobe has no memory.
3) Timer setting
The distinctive aspect of the light is a timer setting function.
Double quick click from On will activate "3 mins timer" which is presented as two flashes. Another double click from On will activate "9 mins timer" which is presented as three flashes. You can swap between 3 mins and 9 mins timer setting by a double quick click. The light will automatically shut off once the timer is over.
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Standby Current Drain
Due to the electronic side switch interface, the S1 is drawing a small current when the light is fully connected. I measured this current as 2.7μA on both CR123A and RCR123A. For 1xCR123A (1400mAh), that would translate into around 59 years before it would be fully drained. For 1xRCR123A (750mAh), that would translate into around 31 years. These are negligible, not a concern. But I would recommend you to store the light locked-out when not in use for a long time or to prevent accidential activation.
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From left to right, Panasonic CR123A, Fenix E15 (XP-E), Olight S1 (XM-L2), Olight S10 (XM-L2), Spark SF3 (XM-L2), Sunwayman M11R (XM-L), Armytek Partner C1 (XP-G).
You can see that S1 is very compact in this class.
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From left to right, Fenix E15 (XP-E), Olight S1 (XM-L2), Olight S10 (XM-L2), Spark SF3 (XM-L2).
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Measured Dimensions
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The S1 is just as big as a thumb. It is really good size to hold and use. You can use it as an EDC light. Overall build quality is excellent.
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PWM
The S1 shows no sign of PWM at all output levels. I notice there is no buzzing sound at any outputs.
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Runtime
The runtime to fall to 10% of its initial output from 30 seconds after the point the light is first turned on (i.e., based on ANSI FL-1) for High is as follows :
On High, S1 starts to step down gradually after 1.5 mins runtime, and level off to around 55% of the initial output after 3 mins on both 1xCR123A and 1xRCR123A. This seems to be a timed drop-down, not a thermal sensor feature. Note that you can turn the light off-on to restore initial High output.
High on RCR123A does drop more rapidly than CR123A. The initial output on RCR123A is slightly higher than CR123A (i.e., Max. output increased slightly on RCR123A, but the difference is hardly noticeable in real life). But runtime on CR123A has relatively longer than RCR123A as expected. The light is very well regulated on all battery sources.
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On Med., the light maintains perfectly flat regulation for an extended period, before abrupt shut-off on RCR123A or gradual dropping down on CR123A respectively.
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Output-runtime efficiency seems excellent, as expect for a current-controlled light.
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Beamshot
1. White door beamshot (about 50cm from the white door) on max. output on 1xPanasonic CR123A
- ISO125, F/8.0, 1/25sec, Auto white balance
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- ISO125, F/8.0, 1/100sec, Auto white balance
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- ISO125, F/8.0, 1/800sec, Auto white balance
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- ISO125, F/8.0, 1/2000sec, Auto white balance'
The TIR optic gives you a well focused bright hot spot with a less bright spill which isn't perfectly circular, due to TIR optic at a very close distance (i.e., around ~50cm). As with almost optics, there is little side spill. The overall beam profile is better than expected. The beam has a cool tint, but close to neutral tint in my sample.
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2. 3.5m Indoor Beamshot on max. output on 1xPanasonic CR123A
- ISO125, F/2.8, 1/10sec, Auto white balance
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3. 7.0m Indoor Beamshot on max. output on Panasonic CR123A
- ISO125, F/2.8, 1/10sec, Auto white balance
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The hot spot is wide and well focused for throw. Instead the side spill is minimal.
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Moonlight mode shows a very nice lower low output level.
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Overall Impressions
• Excellent build quality
• Very small (R)CR123A light
• The light can stably tailstand
• Anti-roll indentations on the body
• Possibility of accidental activation from off, due to the slightly protruded switch
• Small standby current drain (2.7uA) is inevitable, but not a concern
• Physical lockout function at the taicap
• Electronic reverse polarity protection function
• Timer setting function for 1 min and 9 mins
• True flat-top cell works fine
• Mode memory for all output levels except Strobe
• You can use 1xCR123A or 1xRCR123A
• Timed step-down feature on High
• Excellent output-runtime efficiency
• High max. output
• True Moonlight mode is available
• No sign of PWM flickers at any output modes
• Beam pattern is intended for throw with minimal spill
• Overall beam tint is cool white, but close to neutral white
Olight S1 Baton provided by Olight for review.
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