[Review] Olight i1r 2 EOS; The Ideal Keychain Flashlight?

LED Flashlights – General Info
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[Review] Olight i1r 2 EOS; Ideal Keychain Flashlight?

Introduction

Keychain flashlights are always an interesting subject. There are so many form factors to chose from: AAA, LiPo cell, and button battery, to name a few. When it boils down to it, the 10180 cell that Olight uses in their new iteration of the i1r is a perfect size. But how does it perform? To answer that question, I will divide this review into five sections: Packaging, Design/Build Quality, Carry, LED/Optics, and UI/Performance.

1. Packaging

There is nothing really notable here, just a standard box with an interesting texture.

The runtimes and outputs are listed on the back of the package.

A manual and very small Micro USB cable are included.

Here is a closer look at the cable, which is only several inches long. The two ends have magnets and are used to snap the ends together.

2. Design/Build

My flashlight came in Olight’s ‘mint’ color, but gunmetal and red are also available. The front and rear of the light have vertical stripes milled into it, which gives a fair amount of grip. However, the milling marks are very apparent, giving the i1r a cheapish look.
The middle of the flashlight is plain anodized aluminum. Fortunately, this anodization is holding up pretty well, with no scratches in my couple months of usage.

One neat feature of this light is the micro-USB charging capability. The top half of the light can be unscrewed to reveal the USB port, and an indicator light. The light is red while charging, and green when full; pretty typical.


As far as size goes, this light is TINY! Here is a little size comparison. Left to right, i1r 2, Fenix E16, Noctigon KR4.

3. Carry

There is no clip included. My favorite way of carrying keychain tools are with Nite Ize S-Biners.

3. LED/Optics

This is the worst part about the Olight i1r 2 EOS. Olight has a reputation of using ugly emitters, and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon. (By ugly I mean blueish and low-CRI). Olight does not even tell what LED is used in this flashlight. And while I have seen an emitter swap done, it is not easy.

The small CSP LED is fitted behind a TIR optic.

The beam quality is decent, and the edges are square with yellow fringes. The hotspot has a slight yellow tint shift on the edge. Here is the beam on low (top) and high (bottom).


To be perfectly honest, the tint is terrible and, judging from use, seems to be very low CRI. Below is a photo compared to my SST-20 4000k 95+ CRI KR4 on the right. The KR4 has a –1/4 minus green filter for the perfect tint.

And to demonstrate the terrible color rendering of the Olight, here is an example. Olight is on the top, and the KR4 is on the bottom.

4. UI/Performance

The interface on this flashlight is very simple: high and low. High is 150 lumens for 15 minutes, and low is 5 lumens for 6 hours. But there is a medium mode sized hole in this UI. A forty, or even seventy, lumen mode would have been much more useful than just high and low. The issue is that low is a bit too dim for most tasks, and high only runs for fifteen minutes, which might not even last a day of use. But if this is going to used as a backup light, it will probably do the job.

Conclusion

It’s that time again to answer, “Should I buy this flashlight?” I do like the size and the USB charging capability of the Olight i1r 2 EOS. The modes are decent, and if you use it sparingly, it should last you a normal day of use. But I have a few issues with this light.

First, everything about the LED that Olight used is undesirable. Terrible tint, average beam quality, and abysmal color rendition. Every time I use the i1r 2, I groan inside (maybe that is a bit dramatic). I want to enjoy using the flashlights that I have.

My second issue is the battery. While the size benefits are pretty substantial with using a cell as small as a 10180, a large sacrifice has to be made with runtimes. I think most people would be perfectly fine using an AAA flashlight on their keychain. And with the fairly nominal size increase of AAA, there is a 13.5 times increase in capacity, if you use the right battery.

So in answer to the question, “Should I buy the Olight i1r 2 EOS?” My answer is no. At fifteen dollars, there are much better options such as the Thrunite Ti3 v2, the Olight i3e, and others. And if you are willing to spend more money, you unlock even better options like the Manker TC02, and many of the Rovyvons. It’s not that I have anything against Olight, but your fifteen dollars is probably better spent elsewhere.

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Wow, I was actually pretty happy with mine. :laughing:

Yeah, the spill is rather square up close but rounds out at any appreciable distance.

It’s on the CW side, but definitely not an Angry Blue™. In fact, it seems to be just cool of a happy neutral. Not much tint-shift except faintly at the very edges, a nice smooth beam throughout.

I’m good with the 2 levels. Low is perfect for up close stuff like poking a key into a hole or checking something in absolute darkness (any brighter would be Too Bright, in fact; I’d rather have less light but more runtime), while full-tilt is bright enough for a few yards out.

And as a practical matter, you ain’t getting more’n 2 modes in a twisty like this unless you’re okay with the twist-untwist dance to bump levels. Twist/TwistMore is only gonna happen in a 2-stage light (this, Wubens, etc.).

If you’re expecting this to be more than a keychain light, ie, if you’re trying to use it as a frequently-used EDC, then of course you’ll be disappointed.

If you want a rechargeable light, it’ll be a 10180 like this, or a sealed 10440. No mfr in its right mind would ever use a replaceable 10440 cell in a rechargeable light, because you know some damnfool is gonna try recharging an alkaleak and have it explode into a salt-lick inside the light, ruining it, and then deal with bad reviews and unwarranted returns.

So for what it is, I think this is a winner.

15bux plus shipping, yeah, that’s a bit much for me. But the 5buk shipping-only price recently? I wouldda gotten 10 if I could.

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Yes, if you are fine with the drawbacks I stated, it’s a great little light! I just would way rather use a different light. But each to his own!

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That’s just it; they’re not “drawbacks” any more than it’s a “drawback” that it’s not as bright as a Q8.

If you want an AAA light with 3 levels, Thrunite and others have ’em, and quite nice ones, but they’re not rechargeable. If you want rechargeable, use eneloops, but now you need an external charger. Or stick in an alkaleak and play russian roulette that it won’t ruin the light from the inside. See? They’re just different, and as far as the above points, an AAA light would have “drawbacks” compared to the Oilight.

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I see what you mean. I am very new to this whole ‘reviewing’ thing, and I probably could have worded it a bit differently. :smiley: Flashlights are very subjective in many respects, and the i1r 2 just didn’t fit well for me. Should I have been a bit more objective in my conclusion, i.e. using less of my opinion? I don’t want to be 100% objective or else I think people will have a harder time making a purchase decision. But there is probably a fine balance between subjectiveness and objectiveness in a flashlight review. Thanks for the feedback!

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Nice review. I bought a couple of these when they were “free” with $5.00 shipping.

Like you say, they’re super tiny and I really wanted to like them. I’m with you as the low is too low for me except for really close up use. The high is fine but it gets pretty warm after a few minutes.

All in all, it’s an okay keychain light especially for it’s tiny size and being so lightweight and decent for occasional use.

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No worries.

That’s it right there, fact vs opinion. Eg, when I review a Sofirn light, they almost always include the “me too!” clips. They’re very sturdy, do their job well, but they’re always the same chrome clips no matter what the light, and never deep-carry clips, so the light would always “ride high” if clipped inside a pocket. But then again I hate most clips and almost always take ’em off almost immediately.

So stating that they’re chrome is a fact, that they look like an afterthought (“Oh crap! We didn’t include a clip with the light… here use these, as they’ll fit.”) is an opinion. Saying that they’re not a deep-carry clip and that the light rides high is a fact, but that I hate most clips anyway is an opinion, and I say so up-front. :laughing:

What I mentioned about a 2-stage switch is a fact, as it’s the same system that Wuben uses, etc. So wanting a 3-mode light isn’t really possible. And wanting 3 levels means that you’d have to resort back to a twist/untwist system. And people will complain if it then does have memory, and other people will complain if it then doesn’t have memory. Some would insist that it always starts on low. Others that it always starts on high. Others want it to remember where it left off. Etc. Those are all opinions and preferences.

Yet others will piss’n’moan that it’s still a twisty and doesn’t have a tailswitch. :person_facepalming:

So yeah, me?, I like the 2-stage switch, especially that it feels so buttery smooth.

If it had 3 levels, I’d expect it to have to twist/untwist to go through the modes. And a tailswitch would make the light a lot longer.

That’s why if you like a 3-level twisty with memory that’s got a low→high order, great, and stating it up-front (like my “I hate most clips”) puts things in perspective. :laughing:

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Best keychain light is the Surefire Titan plus.

Cheers.