I got my brand-new Olight M2T “Warrior” a couple of days ago, and since I don’t see anybody else’s review I decided to make a post of my own about it.
I don’t have an integrating sphere or anything, so I can’t give you lumen readings. And I do have a multimeter, but it’s not a clamp meter so I don’t necessarily trust it for high amp readings, but I measured 9mA 55µA standby current at the tailcap. It does get pretty damn bright, though. I didn’t notice PWM in any mode (and I tend to be pretty sensitive to it), which is a definite plus. The modes are generally well-spaced, but I wish low were just a smidge closer to moonlight. It’s not terrible where it is, though. It does have LVP; when I tested it with an unprotected cell, it measured 2.6V after the light finally shut off.
Anyway. First off, here’s a glamour shot of it reclining.
You can see the protruding tail switch (this light will not tailstand); the side switch (there’s a red LED behind the “pupil” in the center of the side switch); the bezel, with a color to match the ring around the side switch; the even and glossy anodizing; the crisp printing. I didn’t take a picture of the other side of the light, but you’d see that the clip is the “bidirectional” kind, and there’s an indicator on the tailcap that the positive terminal of your battery faces the tail. Also not shown is the packaging, or the two CR123As in a little sleeve that came installed in the light.
Here’s a size comparison with a few other 1x18650 lights I had lying around. From left to right: Sofirn SP31, Olight M2T, Olight S2 Cu, Emisar D4.
Camera tricks notwithstanding, the SP31 is ever-so-slightly longer than the M2T. And the M2T is clearly much larger than the S2, though their side switches behave quite similarly.
The business end of the light, with an OP reflector and a well-centered XHP35:
The same view, with the light turned on in moonlight mode:
Inside the tailcap. The spring-loaded pin in the middle is for the positive terminal of the battery:
The body tube is double-walled, and there’s a spring at the head end:
The bezel unscrews easily, revealing a bright blue (non-GITD) ring:
Turns out the lens (which is AR-coated) is centered within a rubber gasket:
Take the reflector out and you can see the MCPCB:
Now here is where I admit I am a little confused. I know what the red wire to the + and the black wire to the - are doing. But what about the thick red wire? If nothing else, it seems like the thick red wire would make an emitter swap more troublesome. You’d either have to unsolder and resolder it (a shame because there seems to be a really nice solder joint there), or else sort of solder around it.
Anyway, here’s a tint comparison. Olight M2T on the left, Emisar D4 on the right:
Here’s a beam comparison with the D4. (The M2T is on medium, the D4 is ramped to a level that felt similarly bright.)
And here are the same lights, both as bright as they will go:
And here’s a comparison with the BLF-348:
The last few pictures should show my biggest problem with the light: it has a downright brutal “Cree rainbow” effect. There are some faint dark rings in the beam that show up on a white wall but I didn’t notice in actual use, but the tint shift of the beam is definitely noticeable.
Here’s a table explaining the UI:
State | Action | Result |
Off | Click side switch | On (memory) |
Off | Long press side switch | Moonlight |
Off | Hold side switch 3 seconds | Soft lockout |
Off | Double-click side switch | Turbo |
Off | Triple-click side switch | Strobe |
Off | Half-press tail switch | Momentary turbo |
Off | Full press tail switch | Turbo |
Off | Long press tail switch | Momentary strobe |
On | Click side switch | Off |
On | Hold side switch | Next mode |
On | Double-click side switch | Turbo |
On | Triple-click side switch | Strobe |
On | Half-press OR full press tail switch | Momentary turbo |
On | Long press tail switch | Momentary strobe |
Turbo | Click side switch | Off |
Turbo | Double-click side switch | No effect |
Turbo | Triple-click side switch | Strobe |
It’s straightforward and easy to use, with a few caveats. (Basically it’s like an Olight S2, but with a tail switch for direct access to turbo and strobe.) Both the side and tail switches are electronic, and the tail switch can be half-pressed or full-pressed. Two quirks:
- Memory does not remember moonlight or turbo. Not a problem since there are shortcuts to both.
- If the light is already on, any interaction with the tailcap will result in the light turning off when the tailcap is released, whether half or full press. And double-clicking the side switch will get you into turbo but not back out again. So if you want to go from medium to turbo and back to medium, you will need to turn the light off.
Other than the tint shift, I really like this light. In principle either an XHP35 HI or a quad Nichia E21A should improve it by quite a bit in that regard.