This is the Olight S1 Mini , provided by Olight for my review and NO other compensation other than keeping the light.
The light can be found at …… S1R Baton II EDC Pocket Flashlight - Olight Store
Or at …… Olight LED Camping & Hiking Flashlights with Batteries for sale | eBay (Links are NON Affilliated)
I know this isnt the first review on this light , but here is my take on it , along with the charts I made with actual measured Lumens and the run time test that I did , as well as a few GIF’s and the video for those who would like to see the live outdoor footage and comparisons with a couple of other similar sized and output lights.
This newest version of the S1 Mini is the smallest of the Olight “S” series flashlights to date , to the best of my knowledge. Dont let the small size fool you though , this little light packs a punch for such a small package. There is one main difference in the new S1 Mini also , being that Olight has used a USB rechargeable cell with the integrated charging port built into the top of this cell , instead of the tail charging we have been seeing from them before now. The included cell is a protected RCR123A-(16340) / 650 mAh / 2.4 wh capacity cell. The cell has a Red and a Green indicator light built in at the positive end of it and it shows the Red when charging and Green when fully charged. When using the USB charging cord provided with this package , it took me an average of about 2 hours 23 minutes to charge the cell over the course of 6 different charge cycles throughout this review.
The S Mini comes in 2 different tints ( I have the cool white) and both tints are different types of emitters , with the Cool version having a 6500K XM-L2 , 70 CRI emitter and the High CRI (HCRI) model utilizing the XP-G3 5500K , 90CRI emitter. You will even be able to physically see which light is which if they are side by side as the information is printed on the flat at the front of the bezel. Both lights use a TIR optic and with the cool version I received , the XM-L2 emitter makes a huge coverage area with the optic and is a very smooth beam and respectably bright to boot. I was really surprised at just how broad the coverage area is really from the tiny light and it is pretty much all beam with one broad hotspot instead of the spill , corona , hotspot that is present with most reflector lights. The beam is also pretty consistent in tint from the center to the edges with very little color or tint change within the beam , as I have seen in many lights as you look on out toward the edge of the beam… I am more of a neutral tint fan , but I know that is personal preference. With the TIR optic it seems to do the job well also , as I do not see any artifacts or rings or anything of that nature in the beam. The only thing I have been able to see that might count , is that in the very center of the beam there is a very very small spot that is just barely brighter than the rest of the beam , to the point it is almost undetectable unless you are really looking for it. I have not been able to detect any PWM with my eyes or in my video camera either one , as the video camera view finder usually lets me see any PWM that may be present.
The modes seem to be very well spaced for my liking with the long press for Moon , Low , Medium , High and then Turbo with a quick double click and a hidden strobe mode with a triple click of the switch button. A quick single click turns the light on and a longer press (1/3 to 1/2 second) to change the modes. You can either hold down the switch button an scroll until you reach the desired mode and let go of the switch , or make the changes one at a time with the longer press for each mode. A quick press of the switch to turn the light back off. A long press (3 seconds or more) activates the electronic lockout and to get out of the lockout simply press and hold again for 3 or more seconds. Also the light can be manually locked out with 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn of the tailcap if you desire to use that method instead. There is also mode memory with the light memorizing Moon / Low / Med indefinitely and High is memorized for 10 minutes, the Turbo and the strobe are not memorized. You can however go straight to Turbo from off with a quick double click.
The side switch has a low voltage indicator light in the middle of it (Red in color) that will come on when the cell is at about 3.2 or 3.3 volts to let you know the cell is getting low. With my sample this happened just about the time the light stepped down from High mode to the Medium mode. The indicator light will stay on until the cell is depleted and the Low Voltage protection turns the light off. The little red indicator light is no bother though to me , as it is not really bright at all , but just visible enough in a dimly lighted room. I might also mention the side switch is very easy to find on the S1 Mini , as it is raised a slightly higher than the rest of the tube and kind of squared on the edges , so it really stands out to feel when you are trying to locate it in the dark.
The run time was also a bit surprising to me as I was expecting maybe 45 to 50 minutes from the S1 Mini with me starting my run time test in Turbo and letting the light run from there until depleted. It actually gave me 79 minutes from the time I turned it on in Turbo and let it step down and run until depletion. The light never got what I would call super hot and the step down seems to be set about right for this tiny light.
The light runs in full Turbo until 1 minute , at which time it very slowly starts a step down (more like ramping down really) that is pretty much undetectable , until it gets to the High mode and then levels off at about 330 lumens and does not step down again from there until 57 minutes. You can go back into turbo when the light steps down to high or starts the step down process as mentioned above , although I didnt test to see how many times it would last , but I did step it back up 4 times in a row while doing my review and it held up pretty well to that.
10 Yards From Gate —— Low / Med / High / Turbo
25 Yards from Gate —— Med / High / Turbo
As with all my Olight products so far , the build quality is really good on the S1 Mini. The knurling (as it would be called) is done differently than any other light I have and gives the little light a very nice look while retaining the purpose of giving some grip also. The small threads are square cut , very well machined , were lubed just about right and they are very smooth also. The clip is also very well thought out and the tube is made for the ends of the clip , where it attaches , to actually sit down in the grooves , without protruding anywhere , so the attachment point is kind of sunken in a little , giving it a more sleek look and NO little wings or ends sticking out on the clip , which by the way holds very firmly on the light compared to many others. The clip is also a “bi-directional” clip so the light can be used as a headlamp attached to a ball cap or it can be carried head up or head down. The tailcap is magnetic on the light also so it can be attached to a smooth surface with that. I will say the magnet on my sample does not seem as strong as the other Olights I have with tail magnet , but it is sufficient to hold the light firmly , either vertically or horizontally , as long as the surface is smooth that it is being attached to.
Here are the charts I made on my tested lumens and the run time test I did……
For those who do not want to watch the whole video , the Still shots and beamshots of the light start at 13:49 of the video timeline and the live outdoor footage starts at 17:25 of the video timeline.
Just a FYI , my cheap video camera does not show as true to life what I actually see out there as the beamshots do.
Video followed by the listed specs……….
GENERAL DATA
Beam Distance (ft) 427
Beam Distance (m) 130
Max. Performance (lumens) 600
Charge type Micro-USB
Compatible Batteries 1 x CR123A/RCR123A
Light Intensity (candela) 4200
Light Form Wide/broad hotspot. Perfect for up close illumination.
Lens / Reflector Type TIR reflector (big, defined wide hotspot)
Series Series S (EDC, General Use)
Unique Characteristics
HCRI model color temperature: cool white 5500k, 90 CRI.
Regular model color temperature: cool white 6500k, 70 CRI.
Extremely compact. The new S1 MINI are the shortest CR123A & RCR123A battery compatible side-switch flashlights.
No charger is needed for charging the battery. The included battery is rechargeable through a built-in Micro-USB port, therefore it may share the same charging cable with a phone.
HCRI version built for perfect color reproduction with illuminating objects eliminating all unwanted extra tints.
Magnetic tailcap. The flashlight attaches securely to any ferrous metal surface for hands free use.
LIGHTING LEVELS
LEVEL 1 (lumens)
600 - S1 Mini
450 - S1 Mini HCRI
Run-time LEVEL 1
S1 Mini: 600 lumens (~300lm) - 55m (1m);
S1 Mini HCRI: 450 lumens (~250lm) - 55m (1m);
LEVEL 2 (lumens)
300 - S1 Mini
250 - S1 Mini HCRI
Run-time LEVEL 2
S1 Mini: 60m;
S1 Mini HCRI: 60m;
LEVEL 3 (lumens)
60 - S1 Mini
50 - S1 Mini HCRI
Run-time LEVEL 3
S1 Mini: 6h;
S1 Mini HCRI: 6h;
LEVEL 4 (lumens)
15 - S1 Mini
12 - S1 Mini HCRI
Run-time LEVEL 4
S1 Mini: 30h;
S1 Mini HCRI: 30h;
LEVEL 5 (lumens)
0,5 - S1 Mini