Olight S1 Mini High CRI First Impressions

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

Just received the S1 Mini that I bought from olight_direct on Ebay. It was shipped from Olightworld.com in Georgia and arrived in 2 days. I have had an S Mini for a few weeks, that I bought from Illumn.com on sale 30% off with code blacknovember.

some first impressions:

The S1 Mini has a Low Battery Indicator, the S Mini does not.

Olight S1 Mini Low Battery Indicator

Ran the Olight S1 Mini on High of 271 lumens on my meter until it stepped down to Medium of 57 Lumens, at which time the Red LED on the power switch turned on.

I removed the battery and after it recovered for a few seconds, it read 3.39 Volts on my meter.

Plugged in the USB charger:

2 1/2 hours later :

After recharging the battery the Red indicator LED on the power button did not come on any more

Conclusion, Red LED in the power switch comes on below 3.4 volts. At that voltage, Medium mode still works, but not high.

Carry Weight:

The 0Light USB battery weighs 18 grams

The empty 0Light S1 Mini weights just 20 grams. Total 38 grams.

The empty Copper 0Light S Mini weights 51 grams. Total 69 grams

Modes:

0Light S1 Mini 0.5 - 15.9 - 57.1 - 260 - 464
W minus green @ 57.8% 0.3 - 9 - 34 - 158 - 275

S Mini Cu 0.4 - 8.8 - 69 - 486
W 1/2 minus green @ 72% =0.3 - 6 - 50 - 350

Note the S1 Mini has a High mode that can be reached separately from Turbo. The S Mini goes form Medium to Turbo, there is no direct access to high mode until the light steps down.

PWM and or Constant Current Flicker test w iPhone 8:


And video version

I can not see dots when waving the light with my hand. The camera is more sensitive than my eyes.

Summary First Impressions
the S1 Mini feels very lightweight compared to the Copper S Mini. There is a 31 gram difference.
the tint of the S1 Mini and S Mini are both very green, more testing to demonstrate CRI differences and tint differences to follow.
the S1 mini cycles low medium high, I like that better than the S Mini that cycles low medium Turbo. Both have last mode memory, w direct access to moonlight and turbo and strobe.

2

I got the cw one a few days ago, battery charged to 4.2V through usb port and iphone wall charger. It has some great output but a sloppy looking hotspot with artifacts on white wall that I’m not crazy about…how’s your beam look?

3

I need some time to post more beamshots, Im not quite ready with the data, but here is a preliminary…
bear in mind your light uses a different LED
I dont see a lot of artifacts, but there is considerable Tint variation across the beam

Im presently experimenting with a Minus Green Filter, but it is a work in progress.
left to right: S1 Mini w 5500k XP-G3 and Minus Green filter, S Mini w6000k XM-L2 w 1/2 minus green, 4000k 219b 9050, 4500k 219b 9080


filters are just a rough test with double sided tape

next is a 3000k 219c 9050 w 1/4 minus green, the stock XP-G3 S1 Mini w no filter, and the S Mini w 1/2 minus green

4

I find the tint of that hi cri S1 mini not really impressing. Apart from the green, how do you like the color rendering in real life?

5

I bought the light with plans to change the LED to N219b. The High CRI XP-G3 Tint is very green and uneven in the stock S1 Mini. Im not sure about the CRI yet, I need to buy more salmon :slight_smile:

Here is an attempt to answer your question, but Im not sure its a good example, since my iPhone has a mind of its own and color balances differently in separate photos. Probably better if someone with a non auto white balance camera does some comparisons… but, here is what I have:

Bottom line, no, I am not in Love with the S1 Mini High CRI XP-G3 LED, but I knew when I bought it that it had green tint. Specific to your question as to how I feel about the CRI, I am underwhelmed and prefer to look forward to an N219b swap.

Here are the same leds, in the same order, color temperature and tint comparison:

6

Thanks for the pics. I am clearly with you on this one. Good luck with the swap.

7

thank you Geuzzz, I appreciate and respect your contributions and encouragement

trivia
the S1 Mini steps down from high at 3.4volts and turns on the red indicator light on the switch.
the S Mini steps down from Turbo at 3.6volts, and although there is no indicator light, it serves as a warning that the battery is approaching end of charge. However, I dont usually use High nor Turbo, so I would easily not be aware when the cell goes below 3.4, that is why I like to use protected cells, since the light has no built in overdischarge shutoff.

I wanted the S1 Mini as a donor for the TIR and the Low Battery indicator switch. Since I expect the body will be damaged on disassembly, the plan was to move the guts to my Copper S Mini.

However, now that I have learned that the S1 Mini is 31 grams lighter (webspecs are not accurate for weight), Im tempted to hope for a possible LED swap into the S1 Mini itself. We shall “see”

I like that the S1 Mini Driver gives access to high mode separate from turbo, which the S Mini can not do. otoh, the S1 Mini has a higher Flicker snob index… I wish these constant current lights did not have so much photographable flicker, even if I dont see it consciously with my naked eyes.

I mistakenly thought the S1 Mini also had a battery level indicator, like the Klarus Mi1c, where a series of flashes helps estimate remaining battery capacity.

Of course, there is no perfect light that has all the features I like in one place… that keeps me buying new lights… But first I need to let my wallet catch its breath… LOL!

Happy Flashing :slight_smile:

8

nice review! can't wait to read about your adventure with the emitter swap.

9

thank you very much, I enjoy yours very much as well

and I look forward to the adventure in modding too
actually, Im looking for a modder, anyone reading this, please PM me if available, especially if you have an sw 40 9080 in stock :wink:

meanwhile, I did this correlation of Flicker index and iPhone Flicker Photo, and a Visible Flicker threshold that I can (sadly) detect in use, with my eyes:

the Constant Flicker charts are from maukka, here
https://imgur.com/a/XMWVt
paired with my iPhone 8 photos… for reference
fwiw, besides being photographable, I notice the Constant flicker when I use moonlight.
It breaks my heart, to find a pimple that ends the honeymoon so soon.

Im going to ask Santa Claus for a NoFlicker Driver… I wonder if he has any in stock.