Olight S1 Mini CW 600 Lumens 16340 mini USB rechargeable, Review

LED Flashlights – General Info CR123A Flashlights
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Update:
BTW, here is a sale listing from Olight, you may be able to save a bit off MSRP by making an offer

This is a review intended to cover information in addition to the factory information available on the Olight site.

I have been buying, reviewing and giving away the Olight S1 Mini HiCRI, to friends. I asked Olight to send me a review sample of the Cool White Version, and it just arrived!

I put the included battery on charge,

1 hour and 10 minutes later, the battery is fully charged:

Left to right Rose Gold S Mini, S1 Mini, HiCRI, S1 Mini Cool White



As you look at the photos, the Olight S1 Mini Cool White model is on the right. The beam colors that my camera sees are not the same as what I see with my eyes. There are in fact some striking differences.

My eyes see the HiCRI as being greener than the 600 lumen Cool White version. But my camera sees that the HiCRI is making more pink than the Cool White version. In actual use I really like the Cool White version, it is whiter and brighter than the HiCRI version.

I include a photo that attempts to capture the Color Rendering on some beadwork. It is very difficult to see the difference. In this photo the HiCRI is on the left and the Cool White on the right.

The camera has no problem showing the red beads, even when using the Low CRI Cool White. You can see some subtle differences in the photo…

I really like the CW Olight S1 Mini.!
It has all the great features I love about the HiCRI version, including the Low weight, hatlamp clip, tail magnet, Moonlight of 0.5 lumens, 5 modes that include moon, low, medium, high, Turbo, and Strobe.

There are shortcuts to Moon, Turbo, and Strobe. I like strobe for crossing the street in high traffic areas, and it is easy to get to with a triple click. Yet it never happens by accident as the light uses a simple click to turn on and off, with memory on primary modes, but no memory for strobe.

I consider the Olight UI one of the simplest, most new user friendly, and yet sophisticated enough to cover both sublumen and hundreds of lumens use needs. Highly recommended.

If you like the idea of a 600 lumen light, that has an awesome power to weight ratio, convenient pocket clip option, super friendly UI, and Olight Reliability, I dont think you can go wrong with an Olight S1 Mini Cool White model…

If you have any practical questions about any aspect of the Olight S1 Mini Cool White, Im happy to go into more details. Thanks for reading this review, I hope it helps you when shopping for a high quality, super compact 16340 light. Imho these make great gifts for newbies, as they include the battery and the charging cable in addition to the light. I even think the price is reasonable, and occasionally there are even sales. PM me if you want to know of any sales I am aware of.

Points of interest, comparing modes on the Olight S1 Mini to the HDS 250
HDS 250 lumen model presets are
0.03, 9, 48 250

Olight S1 Mini 600 lumen model presets are
0.5, 15, 60, 300, 600

random observation
Olight S1 Mini are meant to have the battery inserted with the positive post showing, in the battery tube, like in an HDS… (although the HDS is loaded by removing the head from the battery tube, and the Olight is loaded by removing the tail from the battery tube.

These similarities between Olight and HDS makes a Mini Olight a good backup or spare battery carrier to an HDS too. I believe Hogokansatsukan has an Olight Mini in his pocket also.

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Thanks for the informative review, I think I’ll have to buy an Olight soon :slight_smile:
The Olight is the same size as my Klarus MI1C, does the Olight have a magnet in the tailcap too?

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Thanks for the kind and supportive words Coppet

Yes, the S1 Mini does have a magnet in the tail. It is very practical when I am camping in my VW Westfalia as the interior offers lots of metal surfaces that let me mount the light to conveniently illuminate my cooking and reading.

For people that prefer no magnet the Olight S Mini is magnet free, and is available in Copper which I know you and I both love. The S Mini also comes in Titanium, I asked Olight for a review sample but they are out of stock there.

Im hoping Olight will come out with a new Mini in fancy metals, and hopefully some High CRI and Neutral White options, now that the S Mini and S1 Mini are out of production.

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Nice write up, cheers. I had the S1 Baton and regrettably sold it. My 4Sevens CR2 Mini has been filling the gap since. Needless to say, on the strength of your review I’m currently charging the battery on a new Olight. :). First impressions are good, it’s very tiny and pretty.

Off topic a bit, but where are you picking up the Novatacs? It’s highly unlikely I’ll ever spend on an HDS Clicky, the Novatacs always seemed the better option. I have a distinct dislike for the wire spring and untidy hole in the HDS threading on one of the models, I forget which one.

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Congrats on your little Olight :slight_smile:

I got my first Novatac on Amazon then I got a couple on eBay then I got one off of one of the forums

basically I’ve been spending some time online, obsessing about flaslights. :wink:

Novatac do use the spring and there is still a signal wire to this day in the latest model of HDS. Its just how they roll

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Yeah, that can happen. :innocent:

I’ve never really been a thrower fan, but the discount on the MF04, well…you know the rest.

Back to the Olight, the beam on mine is terrible. I don’t mind the hotspot being a little irregular, but there’s a blemish either on the LED or TIR that shows as a dark line from the hotspot to the outer edge. It’s very obvious except at long hallway white wall hunting where it fades into the beam profile.

Luckily I have a very good flashaholic supplier who will be happy to accept a return and exchange it.

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I hope your replacement is better
My sample also has an artifact, in the center of the beam, sort of a white star… I dont know what is causing it, but I dont usually notice it in actual use. Still disappointing, I hope you let us know if your replacement has a similar issue… I have not seen that artifact in my S Minis…

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Mine has the “star” too, in the hotspot. It’s not really a star shape, just an area of uneven light. That’s not going to bother me too much on a light with so little distance to get things right, though I agree it isn’t something I noticed on the S1 Baton.

Looking carefully at the reflector with the torch off in decent daylight I can see a blemish, either on the reflector surface, or reflected onto it by an imperfection on the LED. Imperfection is a good word for us flashaholics, it’s very easy to get picky to the point of OCD. :wink:

I’ll see if my phone can capture a pic of the bothersome dark line.

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So true!:slight_smile:
I resemble that remark… LOL

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Best I can do. “Star” is visible, artifact at 4 o’clock.

Another, it’s very difficult to photograph. Artifact at 1 o’clock. They show up on the wall, and in my photo library, but once passed through Postimage and forum software aren’t so obvious.

Beam problems to one side, it really is a pleasure this little light. Too cute, lovely UI, and much the same size as my 4Sevens Mini CR2. Really nice, Olight did very well with the design, I don’t think it could be any smaller.

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yes, its hard to capture in a photo, and my light was gifted to one of my adult children, so I cant take a pic

but yes, I can see a similar effect, a small area that is brighter than the rest, and I agree its not really a star… just a change in the brightness, an inconsistency.
My OCD self was disturbed by it, but it was a review sample, so I did not ask for a replacement

your experience makes me think it was not an isolated incident, unfortunately

I try to spin defects as “feature not a bug”
the artifact helps me find the center of the beam, LOL!