Review: Olight I1R - 1x10180, USB charge, key chain, twisty and TINY!

Hey All!!!

Let me get the business out of the way and then on to the fun… The Olight I1R that I will be looking at today was provided by OlightStore.com.

Right up front, let me say that this is the smallest light I have ever used… and I really like it for the purpose it was designed!

GENERAL DATA
Beam Distance (ft) 177
Beam Distance (m) 54
Max. Performance (lumens) 130
Charge type Micro-USB
Compatible Batteries Customised Li-ion Battery
Light Intensity (candela) 730
Light Form Wide/broad hotspot. Perfect for up close illumination.
Lens / Reflector Type TIR reflector (big, defined wide hotspot)
Mode Operation No Switch
Form/Size Factor Small size (Car key / Zippo Lighter)
Series Series I (Keychain)
Unique Characteristics

Lightweight and Tiny. The entire light is slimmer than a pinky finger with the length shorter than a AAA battery and weight at only 0.42 oz/12g.
Features a high-performance Philips LUXEON TX LED paired with a TIR optic lens producing a soft and balanced beam.
Rechargeable through a built-in Micro-USB charging port. Fully charged within 1 hour and 15 minutes.
ON/OFF and output changes are controlled through twisting the flashlight head. Twist it slightly to turn it on at 5 lumens and a bit further for 130 lumens.

LIGHTING LEVELS
LEVEL 1 (lumens) 130
Run-time LEVEL 1 20m

LEVEL 2 (lumens) 5
Run-time LEVEL 2 7h

Strobe No
SOS / BEACON No

TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Waterproof IPX8
Weight (g / oz) 12 / 0.42
Length (mm / in) 41 / 1.61
Head Diameter (mm / in) 14 / 0.55
Body Diameter (mm / in) 14 / 0.55
Led Philips LUXEON TX
Packaging Carton Blister
Use keychain, everyday carry, gift
Package Contents

Flashlight Olight I1R x 1
Key ring x 1
80mAh 3.7V Li-ion Battery (Built-in) x 1
Usb-MicroUSB charging cable x 1

As you can see, even the box is tiny! The light looked so small in the package, I was a little beside myself. I know you will want to pull it out of the box and immediately see what it can do, but yes you really do need to remove the battery insulation disk!

The second thing I noticed about this little guy was the clean precise etching of the Olight logo, the twisty directions and other text on the light. The included split ring and mount point on this light seem to be substantial enough to hold for a very long time.

This light uses a TIR to minimize overall length and to help form the great beam from this tiny light! Under that TIR, Olight chose to place a Luxeon TX LED. This is an LED that I have not tried in a commercially produced light or in one of my builds before. The color temperature is a little higher than I would normally like, but it is not bad. I prefer 4000k to 4500k. I would guess this light to be around 5500k.

This light is USB rechargeable. I am making the assumption that it is using a 10180 cell, but I am not sure because it is not removable. At least, not intended to be removed and I am not going to booger it up to get at it. The kit includes a very good Olight USB cable as well, but any micro USB cable will work just as well.

As you will see below, the light includes a red and green charge indicator, as you would expect red is during charge and green indicates completed charge cycle.

The UI is very simple… tighten until the light comes on for the 5 lumen low setting and tighten a little more for the 130 lumen high setting. Loosen to get back to low and off.

I know I mentioned that it is tiny, but here is a size minded shot… Next to my Zanflare F6s, which I regarded as a pretty small light. The Olight is also much lighter since the light is machined from aluminum. It is really about the size of a 41 or 44 magnum pistol round!

Now for the totally subjective part… What do I really think of it!
I really like the size of the light and the way it attaches to a key ring. The twisty head has enough friction that I do not feel like the head is going to back off and get lost, I was a little worried about that since it is bumping around with around 12 keys and a microfiber pouch on my rings. The little guy looks nice and the modes seem to be well spaced for the purpose. I am not normally a fan of USB charging, but in a purpose built light like this… it is great! I have micro USB cords in my office, home and truck. So, I can always top it off. I think the listed runtimes are in order, I got 21 minutes on high, but the output did tail off visually at about 12 minutes and fell thru the next 9 minutes to the point that it was about the same as low. Mine stopped emitting light at about 26 minutes.

I would recommend this light, if you are in need of a tiny key chain light… For me the AAA lights have always felt to big to put on a key ring.

Thanks for looking…
Matt