Olight S30R Baton III
Summary:
| Battery: | 1x 18650 or 2x CR123A |
| Switch: | Electronic Side Switch |
| Modes: | Moon - Low - Med - High - Turbo + Strobe |
| Mode Memory: | Last Mode memorized to a long press from off. |
| LED Type: | Cree XM-L2 CW |
| Lens: | AR Coated Glass |
| Reflector: | Aluminum - Smooth |
| Price: | $79.95 |
| Provided by: | Olight Official Olight Store |
Function / User Interface:
From off:
A single press turns the flashlight on in the last used mode (Strobe and Turbo are not memorized).
A long press turns the flashlight on in moonlight mode.
A double press activates Turbo.
A triple press activates strobe.
To enter lockout mode, Press and hold the switch for 2 seconds. Moonlight will first come on within the first second, continue holding for another second and the light will turn off. The light will not function until lockout mode is exited by either unscrewing the tailcap or pressing and holding the switch for about a second which will turn the flashlight on in moonlight mode. While in lockout mode a red glow will illuminate the switch for 4 seconds after pressing the switch.
While on:
Press and hold to cycle through modes Low, Medium, High.
A single press will turn the flashlight off.
A double press will activate Turbo.
A triple press activates strobe. A single press to turn off the flashlight. or press and hold to exit into the last used mode.
The last mode used will be memorized when the light is turned off. Strobe will not be memorized. High will be memorized in place of Turbo if the light is turned off in Turbo mode.
Auto-off timer:
While the light is on, A double press and hold will select between the 3 minute (Indicated by a single flash) and 9 minute timer (Indicated by 2 flashes). The flashlight will automatically turn off after the selected amount of time.
Parasitic drain through the electronic side switch is almost non-existent in my sample at an incredible 1.8µA.
Charging:
The Olight S30R Baton III comes with a nice little charging dock. The primary interface between the dock and the flashlight is shown below. The center post is spring loaded and makes contact with the tailcap's central, recessed brass contact point. The concentric circle ridges make contact with the outer ring of the flashlight's tailcap interface. This isn't perfect, but it works fairly well. When the magnetic tailcap snaps to the dock it doesn't always land perfectly, but sliding it over slightly will snap it into the proper orientation.
The included Olight ORB-186C35 3500mAh cell arrived at 3.5v.
While charging the indicator light on the charging dock is solid red. When the charging terminates the indicator light turns green.
Charging the cell from 2.92v the charging current begins at .97A and begins to decrease as the cell approaches 4.20v. The charge terminates below 100mA and the indicator light turns green. Total charge time is under 4.5 hours from fully depleted to fully charged. I have two of these docks now, one from the S10R sample. One terminates at 4.214v and the other at 4.197v, both are well within specifications and are very consistent.
Data & Measurements:
My estimated max output is a fair amount higher than Olight's specifications.
All throw measurements are lux values taken at 7ft and calculated back to 1 meter (Rounded to the nearest hundred). Estimated Max Output (Lumens) values are calculated based on measurements taken 30 seconds after turn on and are obtained through a DIY 'pvc lumen tube' in an effort to achieve diffusion of dissimilar beam profiles. As such, these values should be taken as "rough approximations."
The following test took place in 65°F Ambient temperature, indoors, with very little air movement. The flashlight sits head facing down on a piece of glass that is recessed inside a 4" PVC pipe. No active cooling was used during the test.
The S30R starts off in turbo around 1400lm and drops to 1380lm by 30 seconds. Output slowly drops until the 2 minute mark when the turbo stepdown begins and output rapidly drops. The stepdown is complete at 3 minutes and output is now about 570lm. This stepped down output is maintained until about 173 minutes when output very slowly drops. The red indicator under the switch comes on early into this output drop and the cell should be charged or replaced with a charge cell soon after this indicator comes on. I manually end the run just past 230 minutes. The cell measures 2.65v. After a few hours rest the voltage is 2.92v. Ideally a low voltage protection of some kind should have stopped output entirely or flashed to better indicate the low voltage.
Here is a closer look at the turbo stepdown.
The red indicator is shown here:
Pictures:
The Olight S30R Baton III arrived in a small plastic retail box.
Contained within are all the goodies. :)
The user manual.
Complete with all the various operational instructions, translated in many languages.
There is also an Olight flashlight catalog, the micro-USB to USB cable, an Olight Lanyard, the Micro-Dok III, a pre-attached pocket clip, a pre-installed Olight ORB-186C35 3500mAh, and of course the Olight S30R Baton III flashlight.
Here's the XM-L2, perfectly centered.
A bit closer look.
A look at that pretty pink AR coated lens and the beautiful blue PVD coated bezel. My sample's bezel did have an some micro scratches on the flat surface. Thankfully they aren't really visible unless you really look for them.
The electronic side switch sticks up a tiny bit above the PVD coated retaining ring. There's a amount of 'squish' until switch activation.
As with past samples, the machining, fit & finish is great.
The tailcap has a small slot near the back end for lanyard attachment. We can also see the magnetic tailcap that interfaces with the Micro-Dok III and also the magnetic USB cable.
The light ships with a small plastic insulator to prevent accidental activation during shipping.
The threads are well lubed, anodized, and square. A very slight twist and the light will physically lock out.
The S30R Baton III uses the same proprietary cell design as the S1R Baton.
Inside the battery tube is a small spring.
Here's a look at the S30R Baton III in moonlight mode.
Comparison:
For comparison we've got a few somewhat common lights.
From left to right: Olight S2R Baton, S30R Baton III, Convoy S2+, Mini-Maglite 2AA.
And compared to the other Olights in my collection.
From left to right: H1 Nova, S1R, S10R III, S1A, S2R, S30R III, R50 Pro Seeker, X7 Marauder.
Beamshots:
As with all beamshots in my reviews, every shot is taken using the same settings in manual mode.
In this location the central tree trunk is about 50 yards away. The water line is about 35 yards away. The hanging tree limb in the upper left quadrant of the pictures is about 10 yards away.
I took beamshots of several flashlights with similarly measured output and similar throw.
The S30R III's reflector makes for an entirely different beam profile compared to the S2R's TIR optic. The S30R III has a well defined hotspot, with a small corona, and a surprisingly small amount of spill. The BLF A6 has a direct drive driver with both springs bypassed, and the S30R III does a decent job keeping up with the A6.
Olight S30R Baton III modes: Medium - High - Turbo.
The S30R Baton III modes are very well spaced. The tint in Turbo is a perfect Pure White / Cool White. There's a very slight amount of green hue in the corona in lower modes.
Conclusion:
The S30R Baton III is very nearly a perfect flashlight. The only minor issues I have with it is the slight green hue in the corona surrounding the hotspot in medium and high modes, and I would like to see Turbo maintain maximum output longer before stepping down.
Apart from that the S30R III has fantastic quality, integrated charging, outstanding maximum output, and outstanding runtime all in small 18650 flashlight.
Overall the S30R Baton III is an excellent flashlight. :THUMBS-UP: