Review: Olight R50 Seeker

Basic Description
The Olight R50 Seeker is a medium-sized flashlight that may be a bit too large for Every Day Carry but small enough to carry in smaller spaces.

The flashlight itself is black and includes a non-crenulated bezel with a stylish blue lining and orange peel reflector. The body is made of aircraft-grade aluminum with anti-scratch Mil-spec type-III hard anodizing. The light includes a muted green glow-in-the-dark ring inside the bezel that illuminates after use and for a purpose I do not understand, but it does not bother me (unless you were trying to hide from someone). The lens is a double-sided, anti-reflective, tempered lens that is slightly concave. There is no magnet in the tail cap that is featured in some of Olight’s smaller devices.

Although I don’t know the temperature/color of the light, the light has a nice soft white tint (not too yellow or blueish as seen in some LED lights).

The light and battery are charged in-flashlight via a micro-USB port located at the tail cap of the light (which is covered by a nicely designed watertight rubberized cap). A charging indicator light is red when charging and green when fully charged. I didn’t see that Olight listed charging times (e.g., from empty to full from a standard electrical outlet as well as a computer’s USB port). The approximate number of chargings is not listed and I am not a battery expert. I did read somewhere that this particular battery would last for 500 or so cycles. The light comes ready to use as it is boxed with a partial charge. The light does not include a battery life indicator.

The box and packaging are extremely high quality and more than sufficient to give as a gift. Some of the English on the packaging needs a little work, but nothing serious.

The R50 Seeker has multiple operating modes:
• Turbo (two quick pushes of the side switch only)
• High (one quick push and one longer hold of the side switch)
• Medium (one quick push of the side switch, if it was the last mode used)
• Low (one quick push of the side switch, if it was the last mode used)
• Strobe (three quick pushes of the side switch only)
• Hold button while on, cycles through high, medium, and low modes.
• Hold button while off, puts light into lock mode (repeat to get out of lock mode). A faint red light on the side switch illuminates red when pushed to remind the user of the active lock.

The standard box includes the following items:
• Olight R50 Seeker flashlight, black
• Rechargeable and customized 26650 4500mAh lithium battery
• Micro-USB cable for charging (1 meter length, black)
• Power-supply (two pieces that connect together for charging, black)
• Lanyard (black)
• User’s manual (in 17 languages)

This flashlight is currently listed at Olight’s website for $120 USD. In general, the Olight R50 Seeker can be purchased from a variety of online websites, including directly from Olight’s own website (http://olightworld.com or http://olightstore.com) and Amazon.com.

I should clarify that other packages for sale at Amazon.com or by other retailers may include accessories such as traffic wands, holsters, reading lights, and different charging devices, all for about the same prices (believe it or not). This is good news for those who really want/need a holster.

Basic Facts and Specifications
Basic specifications appear to match between websites and shipped materials, and are as follows:

LED Type: Cree XLamp XHP50 CW emitter
Battery Type: Single customized and rechargeable 26650 lithium ion (4500 mAh, 3.7V)
Weight (including battery): 255 g (8.99 oz.) specified, 259 g measured (9.1 oz.)
Length: 133 mm (5.24 in.)…agrees with measured.
Diameter (head/bezel): 42 mm (1.65 in.)…agrees with measured
Diameter (shaft): 32 mm (1.26 in.)…measured
Waterproofness Rating: IPX8 (up to 2 m)
Impact Resistance: 1 m (3.28 ft)
Throw Distance: 297 m (974 ft)
Light Output and Runtimes:

Turbo, 2,500 lumens, 2 minutes
High, 1,200 lumens, 12 minutes
Reduced (from Turbo and High), 800 lumens, 130-150 minutes
Medium, 300 lumens, 6 hours
Low, 50 lumens, 50 hours

Summary of What I Liked (Pros)
• Attractively designed, nice size, and well-made. Solid machining, feels good in hand, easy to hold/handle, and does not feel cheaply made. Is a nice looking light and easy to use in normal conditions. Box and materials are well-designed and high quality. Nothing sloppy here.

• Bright and good color. Light emitted is very bright, white, and useful, even if the brightest modes only last for a few minutes (see Cons below). This light does the job just fine.

• Rechargeable. Lots of folks prefer rechargeable lights to ones that take disposable batteries.

• Waterproof (IPX8).

• Warranty. Materials state that a 5-year warranty promise comes with each R50 Seeker.

• Good value. Value seems good. Many good flashlights will be had for over $100, and I personally have never quite understood some flashlight models that try to justify $300 or more, especially in an area of emerging technology of LEDs and batteries.

Summary of What I Disliked (Cons)
• This is essentially an 800-lumen light (not 2500). The light output rating of this is a little misleading. I fully realize the necessity of having multiple output modes, but many flashlights are listed by their “maximum lumens”, only to have buyers not fully realize that this maximum setting is usually a “turbo” mode and only available for 2 minutes (and by that time, the light nearly gets too hot to hold). I think the simple table of light output vs. battery life (lumens vs. minutes) is more helpful than to just say that this is a 2500-lumen flashlight. Such a table is thankfully included on the box and in the instructions. If you want or need 2500 lumens for those 2 minutes, that is fine. Otherwise, it really reduces down to a 800-lumen flashlight, and there are other similarly-priced 800-lumen options available that are a little lighter/smaller.

• Side switch hard to find. Since the light’s button (side switch) is low-profile (recessed within a ring) to avoid inadvertent turning on, is nearly impossible to quickly find in the dark and/or under duress. Several other reviewers have commented on this as well. I have personally always had lights that have a bottom switch that can be easily found and operated in the dark. Perhaps Olight could consider adding a tactile feature to the light’s switch that would allow someone to quickly find the button as opposed to fumbling around for some time.

• Uses custom non-standard battery. Uses a customized battery instead of a standard one. It is my understanding that while a standard 26650 battery will work, it will not be as bright as the customized battery and cannot be charged inside of the flashlight. Also, the custom 26650 battery uses in-flashlight charging only, and cannot be charged outside of the flashlight (i.e., even a spare custom battery cannot be charged without using the flashlight itself). Some will consider this item a flaw.

• Lack of memory. The 2500-lumen Turbo mode is only accessed by double-clicking the light’s button. Otherwise, you would think that the last setting (high, medium, or low) would be remembered and recalled using a single click of the button. This is true for the R50 Seeker as it does include a memory feature, except for that the high mode is only “remembered” for 10 minutes….thereafter, the brightest that the light can turn on with a single push of the button is in the medium mode (300 lumens). I simply just wish it would turn on in the last mode that was used, including Turbo.

• Missing some basic features. The R50 Seeker does not included a low-lumen moonlight mode, an SOS mode, nor is it programmable. These features are not too concerning for me, but may be for someone else. The light also does not have a battery life indicator, but only a few lights do.

• Light rolls away. The light rolls away too easily when left on a hard surface that has any slope to it. Nothing on the bezel/head really disallows the light rolling away.

• Purchasing accessories. I did not see any clear way to purchase accessories by themselves, including a holster, but perhaps there is a way. A pocket clip does not appear to be available, perhaps due to the larger size/weight of this particular light.

What I Did Not Include in My Review
• Beam shots, photographs, or videos of the product, accessories, or packaging. There is a proliferation of each of these items on the internet, including the manufacturer’s website, retailers such as Amazon.com, review sites such as Youtube and Reddit, and flashlight forums such as Budget Light and Candle Power.

• Additional scientific or electronic testing/measuring to verify specifications or performance such as drain-time, light output vs. time, etc. This review is not intended to be overly-technical, but rather a more simple and practical review of things observed and noticed. I will only add that I assume that this light has what is sometimes referred to as a “regulated circuit”, which allows for light output levels to remain relatively constant over the duration of the battery’s runtime.

• Long-term durability or longevity. My usage of this light was somewhat brief, so I cannot comment on how well this light, its battery, or other accessories/components perform over longer periods of time.

• Experience with warranty claims or customer service.

Conclusion
Many high-output lights I have seen will run at 600-800 lumens for 1 or 2 hours. This light is not much different, except it offers brief (few minutes) bursts of higher outputs and is a little larger/heavier than some similarly-priced options out there such as the Streamlight ProTac HL.

It would be wrong to have any minor dislikes overshadow the great feature of this light, and unless one or more of the aforementioned cons are a deal-killer for you, the R50 Seeker is a great all-purpose light. As a backpacker, I have historically been more interested in small, compact, lightweight lighting products, but I have come to appreciate the Olight R50 Seeker as an excellent option for car camping, all-purpose home and emergency use, including use as a self-defense light. I like this light, and would pay $120 for it. The R50 Seeker now sits next on my nightstand next to my bed.

thanks for the review!

I wonder why Olight doesn’t put a beacon on the switch - side switches can be difficult to find quickly in the dark as you mention.

At craft stores you can get small silicon bumper pads (typically, four pads are used to put underneath a cold drink coaster to keep it from scratching the table) with adhesive - putting one of these on the flat area just forward of the switch may be one way to feel for the button in the dark.

I totally agree. In any other setting, including daylight, the switch feels nice and is easy to locate. Even a small “bump” or indicator on the housing directing the fingers to the switch would be so nice. Thanks for the suggestion with the silicon pads.

If you can find a GITD self-glowing silicon bumper, that would be even better.

Very few side click lights have an illuminated switch button beacon thing. I think maybe the Nitecore MH20, Manker, maybe the Noctigon M43.

I wonder if this is because manufacturers are worried that a constantly lit LED will burn out. At an LED lifespan of 50,000 hours, that is 5.7 years.

The Nightcore MH20 has a wonderful texture on the side switch which would solve the problem for the R50, in my opinion. The R50 switch is just so smooth that it feels like any other part of the flashlight. I hate to be nit-picky on something like this, but I usually need to turn on my flashlight when it is dark, and it just always takes me a little bit to find the button.

This, plus lack of good low mode, was my major complaint about the R59 as well.

Hi guys! have you seen any comparison review between this R50 seeker and Acebeam EC50 Gen II, since both have almost identical specs. :smiley: