Noob question. Should I get an Olight Warrior 3s?

Hello everyone,

This is my first post ever in the forum, let me introduce myself briefly.
I’m from Spain, I have always liked flashlights and have always tried to have one in the house. Which type? Ha, no idea, whichever was very cheap, could give some light and would last at least 1 year working correctly. This means I have never known anything.

A couple weeks ago I started looking for a decent flashlight (will explain later why) and put some thinking into it, I started to read some webs and watch some youtube. Oh my, is this a big world or what?
End of introduction, basically I like this but have almost no idea of flashlights.

Ok, this winter I have been making 2-3 times a week a small 10 km bycicle travel. The route is between two villages and the roads are the roads between orange trees orchards, it is pitch black and I have been using the bycicle’s dinamo with the cell phone light as backup (never needed it).
Not that this travel is dangerous, but after the winter I have decided to get a decent (or good) flashlight which gives me a good backup and that I can use to defend myself a little. Again, the route is safe enough but being out in the dark and alone made me wish I had some means to better light my path and maybe defend myself by throwing a bunch of candela to any weirdos arround (if the day comes it will probably be both of us who get scared).

Finally (sorry if this was very long), the question. Should I get an Olight Warrior 3S?
I have been looking at the best options arround and this seems one of the best flashlights you can get, not too big, pretty powerful, high quality, good company behind, etc.
Olight is celebrating its 15 anniversary, so I could get one for 105 euros, expensive but manageable. Should I do it?
To me it would seem like Olight is one of the best companies out there BUT is one of those companies which have chosen a premium product policy. I have the feeling that they make a lot of marketing campaigns and that their products are waaaay overpriced. The anniverasy sales could help with that but, should I get one anyways? I could deal with the charger thing and the propietary batteries thing, I also would get this one instead of a warrior mini 2 because in these sales the price is not that different.

Would you reccomend it?

If I don’t get one of these I think that I will end getting either a Convoy S21a or a Sofirn SC31T. I know, not exactly direct competitors of the Olight Warrior 3S. My reasoning for this is:

- These two seem very good flashlights and very good bang for the buck

- The two seem way more user friendly with standard batteries, easy to repair, some even use open source firmware! Much more customizable too.

- The two seem to have a good lumen output and strobo modes that I could use. Not nearly as easilly as the other one, but I guess easy enough to flash someone if needed.

  • These two seem very well suited for EDC. The Warrior 3s is not very un-EDC to me (it could work no problem), and also I’m mostly networking nowadays, I don’t EDC much no more.

With the sales going on and all the youtube videos that I have seen, I have some FOMO about the Warrior 3S. Should I get a very nice flashlight? Or should I get something which can cover my needs decently and we’ll see later when I have more knowledge about this world?

(During the introduction I should have said that I like to write loong posts)

Any replies are very wellcome, thanks everyone in advance.

Best regards.
Djiaux.

Make yourself at home, Djiaux!

Yes, if you want the looks of the W3s and its proximity sensor safety feature, the option to use it on a weapon, remote tail switch, and the new side switch, then yes.

Welcome Djiaux,
The Olight would work nicely if the price is not too much.
But I would be more inclined to go with perhaps the Convoy and a headlamp.
Nothing beats having a light follow your head movement while keeping both hand on the bars.
All the Best,
Jeff

I’m also thinking about getting a Warrior 3S on tomorrow’s sale. I have plenty of budget lights to cover every single need but I really want a nicely built light with the new SFT70 emitter and integrated charging without a rubber charge port cover. I was between the Fenix TK20R v2.0 which has bit more output and the charge port is protected by a screw down cover, but it lacks interesting features that the olight has.

Olights aren’t that popular here because most of us in BLF don’t agree with their marketing strategy but there’s no doubt their lights are very well built. Never got one failed on me.

For $87 it’s not a bad deal and you get a bunch of freebies with it. I think the $105 one comes with the new i3T 2xAAA. But don’t think of it as the
“endgame” flashlight. Even if you manage to get your hands on the brightest, newest and most feature rich flashlight in the market, you’ll still be after cheap flashlights.

Marketing is one thing but they make highly proprietary products which to me is absolutely not acceptable. It takes our hobby back in time.

I see it for $104.94 including a small bamboo-looking light.Where do you see it for $87??
I was actually leaning towards a Warrior 2 mini, but for $87 I might reconsider.

The bamboo shaped light isnt worth the extra $18 in my opinion…

I believe you can get a $10 off coupon if you register a new account but as of now it’s not showing up in my cart yet

The batteries aren’t propietary, it’s the charging system. I use regular button top cells in my H2R just fine without the magnetic charging function of course. Not sure about the other models though.

Even then, I prefer an included propietary battery than a rubber charge port cover. The only other solution would be integrating a USB charging PCB into the battery like acebeam does, but then the flashlight itself wouldn’t be considered “USB rechargeable”

Sure. The email bombing, social media, deals, bundles, sales marketing sucks. The recent withdrawal of 200,000 Warrior and M2R Pro lights which were sold to muggles who burned themselves proves it.

Also really dislike the proprietary batteries with their 10 or so seconds of turbo mode before stepping down and being a normal cell, but my most used pocket EDC is the S1R Baton II because I can just throw it on the side and the magnetic charger leaps onto it. Once I’ve removed the inevitable coin that’s stuck on the base that is. :wink:

To give Olight their due, they have thought out of the box on their products. I just bought an Obulb MC for a friends daughter and I was pretty impressed by it.

Thanks for the link, Will!

Hi again everyone,

First of all, many thanks for the warm wellcome! : )
Looking forward to being an active member of the community.

I have been thinking about it and most likely I will not get the Warrior 3s. Might still change my mind, but I don’t think so.

By your responses and what I have been reading, it seems like everyone agrees that the OW3s is a very nice high tier flashlight that is very interesting on sale. It would be quite great to get it and get both the OW3s and the i3T Plus, I would have a flashlight (OW3s) for my specific needs and a smaller one (i3T Plus) for EDC and just have arround.
(NOTE: I’m looking at the sales offers in Olight Spain, prices and packs might not be exactly the same)
In the end I will not do it because of all the posibilities that I’m seeing in the flashlight world. Getting the OW3s will no doubt cover my needs, but there is also the possibility of climbing the ladder more slowly, I can get a cheaper, still pretty good, more customizable, more compatible flashlight (Convoy S21a probably? S2 Plus? S11? I will have to study some more) and see what it offers and how it suits me. By doing this I hope I will learn a lot more about flashlights while getting my needs also very well covered.

The problem with my reasoning is that the Warrior 3s looks so nice and so thight! I have FOMO right now. OMG, what if I let the sale pass and later repent it? What if I get dissapointed with the other light I get? : )
Nah, I will have to cool my head. If down the road I realize this was a bad decision (don’t think so, I think it will be fun to experiment) or simply WANT the Warrior 3s, I will wait for another sale and get it.

If anyone thinks that this is a bad decission and the OW3s whas obviously the right choice, please let me know, I can still change my mind.
And for sure any other counseling will be very wellcome.

Thanks again for you insights.

Best regards,
Djiaux.

I think if you were to get the Olight, and a few other lights your looking at, the Olight would ultimately get used the least.
The Olight is really nice, but for your real everday use, I think you may always choose one of the others over it.

Thats how I feel with my lights anyway.
I started with Olight, and then slowly bought a bunch of the budget stuff from Sofirn, Wurkkos, Convoy, and some other higher priced lights too, and I always go for my cheaper lights for various reasons.
Theyre just so much better in ceratian ways in my opinion.
But it wasnt until owning both that I could really know this.
Had I started with the inexpensive stuff, id probably have always had FOMO about Olight tbh.

I can tell you my experience with Olights warranty has been amazing though.
I may choose Olight if I wanted something really tough, that I can abuse and know that the warranty is gonna keep me covered.
Edit: Also water proofing. Most lights claim IPX8, but I just really trust an Olight to actually be waterproof. Having no rubber usb covers or anything like that.
And theres are so many videos abuse testing Olights to help give you the confidence that they really can take a beating and survive under water.

You won’t miss out on anything if you skip the sale, Olight runs like 8 sales every year and models refresh every 10 months or so. In less than a year warrior 4 will be released with small cosmetic “upgrades” and probably slightly higher lumen rating. Maybe some niche feature such as vibration low battery warning. Maybe red led aux mode.

We’re at another peak point in emitter and battery technology, having reached the limits of what aluminum and passive cooling can offer, we won’t see any significant upgrade in the next few years.

Buy what you like the most because nowadays almost every flashlight has great performance. Having said that, my warrior 3S came up at $82 taxes included using the $15 off coupon.

u can get better value buying sofirn / convoy and get more lights for same money, a light for 100$ is alot money nothing wrong spending extra… but budget lights today are a great choice and u get better emitter options too for alot less money… hanks emisar lights also are damn cool and unique hosts with tons of custom emitter options and color etc…

Bienvenido Djiaux :wink:

I will tell you: I am a fan of the Warrior lights. I have a M2R and 2 Warrior Mini (first versions, not the WM2).

I like the User Interface above all, specially the shortcuts to Moonlight, Turbo and Strobe, via the tailcap or the side switch.

Despite they use proprietary cells and charging cables and whatever, and they are only sold with Cool White and non High CRI LEDs, they are very good lights (and I am not an Olight “fanboy”). I do feel that they are really good !!

BUT:

  • If you want a light for EDC carry into your jeans pockets, I would say that the 3s will be too big. For a backpack, go for it, because you’ll have space, but for “jeans EDC”, I’m not sure if you’ll make the best bet.

- If you want a light for EDC, the Warrior Mini 2 (or 1, if you can find them for sale) is a good choice eventually, as it will have the same features of the 3S but wll be smaller.

- If you want less expensive for backup, Sofirn, Wurkkos, Convoy and Jaxman lights will do the trick as they are solid and well done and powerfull enough for what you’ll need !

Have a good time here :slight_smile:

The Warrior 3s is a really good-looking flashlight. I don’t care so much about the proprietary battery, but magnetic charging means you should carry the cable with you if you plan to recharge it outside. I would definitely buy one for $87, but only because it should be easy to open it up to swap the emitter.

Why would anyone spend 100$ on a flashlight ?

On a first real light ? I think there are too many basics that need to be covered before spending too much on any light.

Do you have decent 18650's or a charger ? Do you have a Boruit D-10 headlamp ? or an 18650 straight tube light like an S2+ or the S21A that you referanced ? or a decent AA /14500 edc .How about a keychain light or an $18 thrower like a convoy C8s for the back door ? A motion activated nightlight for the bathroom... Do you already have a light with a very low low / moon? or something with an exceptional tint and High Cri ? Do you have a small pile of AA and AAA eneloops ?

Spending too much on a light makes it really easy to suddenly need to justify your mistake ...and no one will ever care about what you spent on a light .No one will ever be impressed . Normal people will just think you've lost your mind .OTOH normal people think spending $20 on a flashlight is stupid :)

Buying a $20 light that you end up not liking ....is much different then doing it with an expensive one . I have plenty that I wish I never bought .

One really good reason not to spend too much is they are usually impossible to get open and do even a basic emitter swap .So you end up being stuck with a high dollar light that has a disgustingly ugly green tint or low Cri. that you can't fix or upgrade down the road ... adding injury to insult .

I would never recommend an expensive light to someone who is looking for a first decent flashlight.

If you had to get an Olight for EDC, I would go for the Mini 2 over the Warrior 3S. More compact, with no great loss in performance.

However, for commercial grade lights I would go for the Acebeam E70 95CRI instead - perfect floody high CRI beam.
For enthusiast lights, maybe consider Convoy S2+ (in various flavours - lots of accessories too), or a whole range of brighter options, or something from Emisar/Noctigon (D4SV2, D4V2, DT8, KR1, KR4).
Get a decent Li-ion/multi-chemistry charger such as Vapcell S4+, and that will allow you to grow your flashlight collection.

Strobe isn’t particularly useful for self-defence - you are better off using your feet or pedals if you meet a dodgy character. For light painting strobe is more useful.

I mostly agree, Boaz. My reasoning for considering getting the OW3s is that I watched a lot of youtube reviews about many good quality tactical flashlights, for someone who doesn’t know a lot (or anything at all) about lights you end with a number of options for a very bright light for self-defense.

- Olight Warrior 3, also Warrior mini

- Fenix TK16 v2

- Nitecore P20iX

  • A couple more

Unless you sink some real time reading about the subject, I think that most likely you will end getting one of these. I don’t think that they are bad choices, I think that these companies follow the same marketing and product policies as some other companies in other sectors:

+ Leatherman in multitools

  • Oakley in cycling glasses

They make a product which is indeed of higher quality than the competition, they spend on design and marketing… and they pass all that cost plus an ‘extra’ to their products. In the end these are among the best products but these get very expensive.
For someone who is looking to cover some specific needs, these products will most likely be a good answer but they will end spending much more than what they should and they could have found a much cheaper product to cover their needs.

But then again, do I want a pair of Oakley photochromic jawbreakers? Oh boy, they look SO sweet, I might get them some day.
I don’t do it because I ended getting a pair of Tifosi photochromic glasses and couldn’t be happier about my choice. My needs are covered and I might get the Oakleys anyways in order to have more choices.

It’s the same for flashlights I guess.
After all what I have read, I will opt instead for the other choices because it is more appealing to me, those low prices means I will spend roughly the same money but get much more for it. And there are some really interesting things! Repairability, some sort of modularity, hability to twinkle with our lights. Yes please, I’m in.
I think it will take quite some time trying to learn about all this, but this is ok, it’s interesting. And who knows, I might still end getting the OW3s some day if I feel like getting one and seeing what’s all the fuss about : D

For the moment, most likely I will opt for a convoy S2+ a S21a or a S11. We’ll see.

Muito obrigado MascaratumB ; )

What I wanted when I started looking at flashlights was (still is but now I also want to dive deeper in this world) a flashlight that I could use as backup when making weekly routes with my bicycle in very dark roads. The idea was (still is) to have a light that could be used as self defense too, not because it is dangerous were I live but being alone out in the dark makes you wish for a little extra safety.
With the sale and all the OW3s looks like a perfect choice, I will choose other options anyway because now I find this is interesting and I want to see what I get with those cheaper, more modular lights. I will still get a light with good functionality and able to throw about 2000 lumens if necessary.

Nice, Will. Hope you enjoy it a lot man : )
Here in Olight Spain the best offer was to get the W3s, and the small keychain light for 105 euros (roughly the same in dollars today?) or that and the i3T plus for 115.
Not bad sales, I would had one for sure had I kept thinking on getting one of the high tier tactical flashlights.

Everyone, again thanks a lot for the replies. Learning a lot from all this.

Best regards and have a good weekend.
Djiaux.

You should never get yourself into a situation where you are having to use a flashlight for self defense, irrespective of “tacticool” marketing.
Having a reliable bright light is useful for personal safety, but defending yourself, no.