What are peoples opinion of Olight brand lights.

I see they had a big sale going on, and was just curious. They look like decent lights, but I have heard good and bad

I think their EDC lights are good value, especially when they are on sale. They have been durable and reliable in my experience with them. I like the ones I have and my dad really likes his s2r.

Nothing wrong with Olight.
I personally own zero of them but simply because they don't sell any that I want. But folks here largely speak well of them.

Welcome to CPF

I think I heard it best phrased when someone said they're basically the Apple™ of the torch/flashaholic world:

They do one or two things very well... most of their models follow a common design aesthetic, by which you can generally identify a product as one of theirs, and it's a design which is generally quite appealing... the operation is fairly uniform across all models... certain fundamental elements are proprietary... they have a cult-like fan base.
You're familiar with people asking if anyone has a iPhone charge cable? It's like that with Olight.

Not to say they're bad. I have several Olights myself, two of which have so far been the absolute best in class for my needs. They do tend toward functionality, usability and general user appeal though, rather than catering to enthusiast levels.

Mostly, it depends what you want from your torch. As a brand overall, they're pretty decent, pretty effective, pretty popular and very widely/well marketed. Great value if you get them in a sale.

Well I went ahead and picked up a Javelot Pro for a throw, a Seeker 2, and a couple Batons for EDC. I am a Telcom Tech and a Firefighter, so I go through lights pretty quick. I guess I will see how they do and stick with them if I like them. I don't think my wife was too happy, but brighter is always better in a smoke filled house. I have mostly just used cheap lights since I go through them so quick, buuuuut maybe thats why I go through them so quick haha

Olight is a very good entry level flashlight.

BASwiss said:

I see they had a big sale going on, and was just curious. They look like decent lights, but I have heard good and bad

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They are decent flashlights of higher quality. I own several myself.

I think their quality has gone up since I bought my first Olight back in 2012. Their M21 Warrior was the first "expensive" light I bought. It disappointed me some as it wasn't as bright as their claims but it was very durable and I still have it today. I modded it to use a newer LED and it is still running fine.

I don't like their continued use of proprietary cells for every new flashlight they bring to market but some of their designs have been good enough for me to accept it anyway.

BASwiss said:

I see they had a big sale going on, and was just curious. They look like decent lights, but I have heard good and bad

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I like my Nova H2R headlamp and never leave the house without it in my parka pocket, this winter. It was very handy when I had a tire change to do. The drawback is the special charging cable and battery - I'm mitigating that a bit by my order of a Baton II which should give me a spare charging cable in case of need. Though I found I can charge the special battery in a desktop charger just as well. I wish you didn't have to spend so much money to get a flashlight that actually lights every time without banging on it, but given that I've spent the money, I quite enjoy the reliability and power of the H2R.

Bill

Thanks for all of the help! I thought about a headlamp, but I always either have a ballcap or a helmet on, so I just clip a light to that. I have never been a huge fan of headlamps. I don't know what it is, but they always make my head itchy for some reason.

I personally would never buy one and would never recommend them to anyone either.

BASwiss said:

Thanks for all of the help! I thought about a headlamp, but I always either have a ballcap or a helmet on, so I just clip a light to that. I have never been a huge fan of headlamps. I don't know what it is, but they always make my head itchy for some reason.

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A friend of mine (oddly enough, the one who actually got me into torches) always wears caps. For Christmas I got him one with a velcro loop field, and a patch with one of his favourite gaming logos.
He's also a mechanic and has need of hands-free light... which led to me grabbing him the Perun Mini from Olight - It has a velcro hook patch with a pivoting bracket, to which you just clip the Perun torch and it becomes a headlight! It also has a headband with a velcro panel, but it's more like a laughable afterthought, and very badly done.

Of course, when I saw it I wanted one for myself!
As mentioned above, Olight are not enthusiast level torches... but they are pretty solid for the average user and have enough well-implemented features to satisfy the junior torch geek.

Definitely worth getting, IMO... but also worth waiting for them to be cheap in the sales.

BASwiss said:

Thanks for all of the help! I thought about a headlamp, but I always either have a ballcap or a helmet on, so I just clip a light to that. I have never been a huge fan of headlamps. I don't know what it is, but they always make my head itchy for some reason.

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Me neither but whenever working at night I use petzel clips to hold my headlamp to my hard hat or helmet.

I'm on the fence about it. They work fine, can take a licking and are pretty nice to look at, but at the same time they are overpriced, obsessed with proprietary parts and batteries, offer few to zero tint choices, and you can get similarly robust and reliable lights for way less.

So yeah, pretty much the Apple of the torch world.

I own one and it has been a good reliable light. As others have said ovverall they are good functional lights, I just prefer the design and UI of other brands better.

Olight make good lights with nice designs and colors.

Prices are high, but they include accessories such as holsters, chargers, cables etc. Only buy when on sale.

Proprietary parts and batteries = planned obsolescence in my book, which is why I don't usually recommend them for utilitarian use.

Unless you like collecting fancy lights at Olight prices, and they do make lots of limited editions.

Almost like buying it for the design, and not the light it emits.

The batteries kind of worry me a little bit. I understand why they are making you buy extra batteries from them, but it is just kind of crappy I guess. I am definitely not a collector, so we will see how they hold up to work. I am definitely a perfectionist, and like to keep things in good shape and clean. Yet, I work in dirt all day haha. Whenever I do get them I will let people know how they work out for me. It sure seems like a significant amount of the reviews have been paid for... I have mixed opinions about all of the limited editions... Some are kind of neat, but it sure comes off as a gimmick to get you to buy the same exact light with different paint.

I like the i3E and the i5T for AA/AAA, but avoid everything they offer with proprietary batteries.

BASwiss said:

I see they had a big sale going on, and was just curious. They look like decent lights, but I have heard good and bad

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excellent quality for some extra cash outlay

BASwiss said:

The batteries kind of worry me a little bit. I understand why they are making you buy extra batteries from them, but it is just kind of crappy I guess.

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That's fair enough, I think - They eke extra power out by (as I understand it) using unprotected cells, which also have the negative exposed on the top to facilitate charging. At least they have taken steps to make them safer.
I believe you can still use unprotected cells in at least some of their torches, so long as you get ones of the right size (fractions of a millimetre matter) - you lose the in-light charging, but I think most people here have external chargers anyway? I don't know why they went for the method they did instead of, say, Fenix's magnetic one like on the E18R, but I presume the ol' Micro-USB was not doing it for them either. I'm not sure what else they could have done....?

I also believe you can charge their proprietary cells in a normal charger using a neodymium spacer. I asked about it earlier and the response was somewhat affirmative, but I have yet to try it for myself.

BASwiss said:

It sure seems like a significant amount of the reviews have been paid for...

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Give people free stuff, they generally speak favourably about it. Easy marketing and no need to actually pay them any money.
Other companies in other industries do this quite a lot, usually without raising any questions of morality or dishonesty. Olight are just using customers instead of professional publications... and TBH, with 'YouTuber' and 'Social Media Influencer' becoming frighteningly valid career titles now, it's probably what the future will look like anyway.

Really, I think Olight just shows a bit of kindness and lets their happy crowd of fanboys do the rest. The products are (usually) good enough to please the average, and even I was a bit of a skeptical 'hater' until I ended up with one for myself. I don't think they are doing anything nefarious... but I do think they are extremely savvy when it comes to subtlety and influence in their marketing. They really fill the gap between 'Normals' and Torch Geeks, and it's a big market.

BASwiss said:

I have mixed opinions about all of the limited editions... Some are kind of neat, but it sure comes off as a gimmick to get you to buy the same exact light with different paint.

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Understandable. I'm not a fan of it at all... mainly because it keeps cropping up in my newsfeeds and emails.
There is a collectors' scene and 'Ollie Olight' is properly capitalising on that. Even mixing it up with some charity drives behind it. Besides, not everyone is a fan of black. Hell yeah, it's a gimmick... but it fills a need that was around long before they were.

End of the day, it's like anything else - Do your product research, get some good info and extrapolate from that what you feel your experiences will be like. If you find an Olight you like enough then give it a go, but buy in the sales and avoid falling for the 'Olight O-love' bandwagon.

If not, buy something else. You won't miss anything in life if you don't own an Olight and you'll (probably) save some cash!!

So, I am kind of curious. It seems that Olight really pushed proprietary cells after that flashlight blew up in someones mouth. Now it does not really matter if the flashlight, battery used, user error, or even the battery in the vehicle was to blame... I assume that was some really bad publicity for Olight. I am curious if that is part of the reason they seem to pushing it so hard. Other than forcing you to have to buy batteries from them. I agree with Tasky that from what I can tell from their design they appear to be safer. I am honestly fine with it as long as the battery lasts. In nowadays world, even hunting I am never very far from a power source if I need a charge. If I do end up needing an extra battery they really do not seem all that expensive.