Any experience with “Olight” flashlights?

[flipper]

I have a friend who is literally OBSESSED with “Olight” flashlights.

Me being rather old fashioned, and having what I feel is a healthy scepticism of new fandangled Chinesium brands that appear to have imprinted themselves by spam marketing and Amazon/ShitTok “reviews” on the gullible (and non-technical) public, I’m undecided as to whether they’re any good.

Maglite? A decades old established brand, used by law enforcement, worldwide: Yes ✅

Who ON EARTH are “Olight”? It also kinda skews things that my friend is kept buttered up by them by them sending him “promotional” samples etc, so I can’t believe he is able to be entirely objective.

[shabaz]

Olight have been around for 15 years, they produce various flashlights/torches.
Maglites are great too of course, but with the other manufacturers it all adds up to a large variety of choices, allowing users to choose what matters to them (for instance light quality, or power, or size or form-factor, preferred battery type, and so on).

Many of the Olight models are reliable according to reviews. I've not used a Maglite in quite a while, I don't actually miss that extreme reliability in the environment I'm in (and I'm more likely to lose any flashlight after a few years, well before experiencing a failure of it perhaps).

I gravitated toward a particular manufacturer simply because they offered a torch which more closely met my current preferences, and is from another Chinese manufacturer (Lumintop). I've used two different models of those, and they've worked fine for a couple of years so far.

I have purchased a few Olight pocket-sized torches as gifts for family members, they seemed happy with them too. In the past I would have considered getting them a little Maglite, but their small pocket option (Solitaire) feels quite dated, with not a lot of light output. I've not checked in recent years to see if they now have better options of approximately similar size.

[Halcyon]

I've heard of Olight, never used one though.

If you're after non-Chinese made perhaps consider:

INON (inon.jp)
SureFire (surefire.com)

I'm sure there are others, but those are the ones I know.

Wolf Eyes, Olight, Ledlenser and many others are made in China. Doesn't mean they aren't any good, but I can see other reasons why you wouldn't buy them.

[Analog Kid]

UltraFire (US-made) are good; I have a little bitty 1-AA cell light with a Cree LED that's very nice.

[GLouie]

If you really seek opinions, join https://www.candlepowerforums.com and ask there!

I don't have any Olight torches, but I do have some of their 18650 cells, which have been fine - I don't know the OEM manufacturer.

Olight seems to be one of the higher profile Chinesium brands. They opened a brick+mortar store in Las Vegas USA recently. There are many Asian brands that are pretty good, but also some garbage.

IMO, some flashlight fans don't like Maglite, as their founder is somewhat controversial and had a history of suing many small flashlight vendors that dared to make anything that even resembled a Maglite. Also, Maglite seemed very slow to make improvements when LEDs and higher energy cells became available, and the performance of their incandescents were outpaced. Being made in USA was a selling point. I only know of a few USA manufacturers, such as Maglite, Streamlight, Pelican, Surefire, and a handful of boutique makers. I didn't know Ultrafire was among them.

[thm_w]

Maglite used to be good 20 years ago. They clearly never kept up with the times looking at their site, I would take olight over maglite any day.

If you don't need to hit someone with your flashlight there is no reason to buy one.

UltraFire (US-made) are good; I have a little bitty 1-AA cell light with a Cree LED that's very nice.

Ultrafire is not USA made.
Maybe you are thinking of Surefire which makes weapons lights.

[Analog Kid]

Whoops. I saw "US something something" on their web site and mistook that for country of manufacture.

[Halcyon]

Whoops. I saw "US something something" on their web site and mistook that for country of manufacture.

Very common tactic, even here, to skirt around laws.

Phrases like "Australian Owned", "Engineered/Designed in Australia" or plastering Australian flags over the packaging give buyers the impression that it's also made here, when it's not the case. As I edge closer to my 40's, I've really started paying attention to where things I purchase, actually come from, particularly food.

Over here, aside from a slight price advantage, I don't see the point of purchasing anything made in China, when there are plenty of locally made, or made in more "ethical" countries to be bought instead (the quality is generally better as well). I'll always pay a little bit more to avoid the PRC, even if its for something simple like garbage bags.

[Analog Kid]

As I edge closer to my 40's, I've really started paying attention to where things I purchase, actually come from, particularly food.

Yes, but in many cases, how can you tell?

[IanB]

I have a friend who is literally OBSESSED with “Olight” flashlights.

Me being rather old fashioned, and having what I feel is a healthy scepticism of new fandangled Chinesium brands that appear to have imprinted themselves by spam marketing and Amazon/ShitTok “reviews” on the gullible (and non-technical) public, I’m undecided as to whether they’re any good.

Maglite? A decades old established brand, used by law enforcement, worldwide: Yes ✅

Who ON EARTH are “Olight”? It also kinda skews things that my friend is kept buttered up by them by them sending him “promotional” samples etc, so I can’t believe he is able to be entirely objective.

Your comment suggests you are really out of touch.

Olight is a generally sound brand, liked by flashlight (torch) enthusiasts.

Fenix is another good brand, and possibly has the edge in my estimation. High quality, good performance, and lives up to specifications.

It is myth that Maglite is liked by law enforcement. Law enforcement uses SureFire. Maglite is generally average to mediocre, and you can do much better.

Given a choice between Fenix and Maglite, I would pick Fenix every time.

[Analog Kid]

So what do you think about Feit Electric? My all-time favorite flashight (that I own) is their 3-C cell LED "kinda super-bright" light. Forget how many lumens exactly but it's brighter than hell. Gets used a lot to find shit that gets dropped on the floor. We used to sell it in the hardware store I worked at (they probably still do); it wasn't expensive, and very reliable (I've had mine for 8-9 years now with no problems).

Similar to this one but uses Cs instead of Ds.

[Halcyon]

As I edge closer to my 40's, I've really started paying attention to where things I purchase, actually come from, particularly food.

Yes, but in many cases, how can you tell?

For most foods, it's mandatory to include country of origin over here. Exceptions include foods sold in restaurants, take-away shops etc... Most packaged food products also have a percentage of the ingredients either made or grown in Australia. For unpackaged foods like fresh fruit/vegetables or meat found in the deli, supermarkets will usually have the origin printed on the price tag.

For everything other than food, 99% of the time it's also labeled "Made in...".

Not surprisingly, it's illegal to make misleaking claims.

It is myth that Maglite is liked by law enforcement. Law enforcement uses SureFire.

Can confirm. Most police stations will have Maglites in the vehicles, but hardly anyone uses them. Even if they are in working condition, they are bulky and heavy. Most people have their own small personal LED torch that they can wear on their belt. Our forensics teams are supplied with Ledlenser I believe. They have a magnet "cap" for charging.

[rhodges]

Similar to [... but uses Cs instead of Ds.

I despise C cells. For the last 4 decades, I believe C cells cost nearly the price of D cells. That alone should be damn C cells for general use. Yes, special requirements for size may favor four C cells (It is always four!) over the superior D cells. I have seen and used numerous devices that needed C cells. One example was a small and portable single head cassette player from Radio Shack. Those Korean manufacturers seemed to love the C cell.

For different charging and usage needs, maybe standard lithium cells would be better. I still stand by by my decision that C cells are almost always a bad choice.

[Analog Kid]

Yes, special requirements for size may favor four C cells (It is always four!) over the superior D cells.

Nope; my Feit light uses 3 Cs. Kinda a pain in the butt as there's one left over until the next reload. (3 4-packs = 4 reloads.)

[BILLPOD]

I would LOVE to find a torch with a simple on-off switch instead of the strobe and SOS functions on the switch.

[IanB]

I would LOVE to find a torch with a simple on-off switch instead of the strobe and SOS functions on the switch.

All the ones I own do that. Click on, click off.

My Fenix has three brightness levels. Click on for low. Press for medium. Press again for high. Click for off.

If you only need low brightness (fine for most situations), click once for on. Click again for off.

Yes, it has a flashing mode for emergencies, but it doesn't get in the way.

[deadlylover]

Olight are totally fine, they started getting popular around the late 2000's once hi power emitters started seriously overtaking incandescent bulbs, especially when CREE came out with the XR-E and basically doubled efficiency overnight.

The meta these days is to find whatever flashlight that uses "Anduril" with whatever the flavour of the month LED is out. It's feature packed and you can pretty much program it how you like it, I often turn on "muggle mode" when lending a light out (as the name suggests, it locks out all the advanced blinkies/config menus, and severely limits output). For LEDs a good balance between output and CRI is the Nichia 519A.

Right now the most popular enthusiast brand is Emisar, though I have a particular soft spot for Fireflies, I just like onboard USB-C charging haha. Although they're based in China they're basically one man band operations.

At the budget end if you just want a simple light with a good emitter, Convoy is a popular option as well.

Anduril can do voltage readouts, but you have sometimes have to calibrate them depending on the MCU used. Seems like you can't take the volt-nut out of someone eh?

[joeqsmith]

Two high intensity discarded house lights that their power supply had failed.  Scrapped heatsink from a power supply.   4X18650 batteries from a discarded laptop pack.  Add one SMPS, a switch to turn it on and a lot of tape to hold it together.   

[IanB]

Two high intensity discarded house lights that their power supply had failed.  Scrapped heatsink from a power supply.   4X18650 batteries from a discarded laptop pack.  Add one SMPS, a switch to turn it on and a lot of tape to hold it together.   

Light emitter - check
Battery - check
On/off switch - check
Handle - ?

I don't see a handle. How do you hold it? 

[joeqsmith]

Correct, there's no handle like my other flashlights.   Rather this one fits in your palm, where the thumb fits over the switch.   It easily fits in my coat pocket.   With no lenses to focus the beam, you can imagine when you turn it on, it lights up a wide area.   

[flipper]

Correct, there's no handle like my other flashlights.   Rather this one fits in your palm, where the thumb fits over the switch.   It easily fits in my coat pocket.   With no lenses to focus the beam, you can imagine when you turn it on, it lights up a wide area.

I like it )

[Analog Kid]

"Ow ow ow!"
"What?"
"You didn't tell me your flashlight would *burn my hand*!"

[5U4GB]

As a comment on the recommendations for *fire-branded items, pretty much everything out there with "fire" at the end of the name is fake.  Ultrafire are a legit company that sell legit products but almost anything you see out there with their name on it that isn't from their web site will be Chinese fakes, and pretty much all the other *fires are fakes leveraging the Ultrafire brand name.  The Candlepowerforums guys have tracked some of them down, there's not just bad copies but copies of copies of copies.

Point is, don't automatically go for something just because it has "fire" in the name.  Or you may experience the fire part first-hand.

[joeqsmith]

"Ow ow ow!"
"What?"
"You didn't tell me your flashlight would *burn my hand*!"

Heatsinkophobia? 

[IanB]

As a comment on the recommendations for *fire-branded items, pretty much everything out there with "fire" at the end of the name is fake.  Ultrafire are a legit company that sell legit products but almost anything you see out there with their name on it that isn't from their web site will be Chinese fakes, and pretty much all the other *fires are fakes leveraging the Ultrafire brand name.  The Candlepowerforums guys have tracked some of them down, there's not just bad copies but copies of copies of copies.

Point is, don't automatically go for something just because it has "fire" in the name.  Or you may experience the fire part first-hand.

You realize that UltraFire is itself "fake", since it is taking after the name of the original SureFire brand?

[5U4GB]

You realize that UltraFire is itself "fake", since it is taking after the name of the original SureFire brand?

Yeah, it's been awhile so I'd kinda lost track of who was copying who.

I also got the feeling, from reading CandlepowerForums (and occasionally some of its clones), that there's more than a little woo-woo and/or snobbishness involved in many cases. Try admitting that you've got a perfectly decent torch off Aliexpress and watch the fireworks...