PSA: the Olight M2R Pro requires a proprietary battery to work at all

zak.wilson · 2019-10-30T21:55:06.000Z

While the original can use and charge a standard 18650, the new Pro model won’t even turn on with a standard 21700. The proprietary modified 21700 costs $27.

Valynor · 2019-10-30T22:04:05.000Z

Vote with your wallets.

raccoon · 2019-10-30T22:23:01.000Z

I don't like the word "proprietary".

spudley112 · 2019-10-30T22:49:05.000Z

ewwwww

jimahi · 2019-10-30T23:06:37.000Z

BIG pass on that idiotic design and ridiculously overpriced batteries. Olight needs to fire the designers that keep building these undesirable proprietary battery designs. They lost their innovation lead a few years ago.

cowlevwlisreal · 2019-10-30T23:15:51.000Z

If the battery is safer than I am all for proprietary batteries.

zak.wilson · 2019-10-30T23:23:21.000Z

I don’t think there’s any reason to believe it’s safer than any protected 21700.

VK-GX · 2019-10-30T23:48:52.000Z

I guess it’s even worse as both anode and cathode exposed on the same side. It’s easier to get short.

kanton · 2019-10-31T01:54:17.000Z

Are you SURE it doesn’t even turn on? To my knowledge other Olights turn on but sometimes don’t give you max-brightness or will require you to extend your battery with some magnets because their proprietary batteries are longer.

zak.wilson · 2019-10-31T02:50:16.000Z

This comes from a very reliable source who I’m not sure wants to be identified publicly. “Reliable” here both includes both honest and extremely familiar with modern flashlights, Li-ion batteries, etc…. It does not turn on at all with a standard protected button-top 21700.

Interestingly, it does turn on with the proprietary battery without the tailcap installed using the side switch.

kanton · 2019-10-31T03:08:14.000Z

I checked the Seeker 2 Pro - the proprietary battery there goes into the flashlight the other way round than in the M2R Pro.
Seeker2: Regular Minus towards the head, Plus and “artificial” Minus towards tail.
M2R Pro: Regular Plus and added Minus to head, regular Plus towards tail.

So from this setup it makes sense that the Seeker2 Pro can’t charge regular 21700s but but can run with them, as the additional Minus at the tail apparenly is only used for charging.
On the M2R Pro they apparently opted for using the Plus and “artificial” Minus in the front to drive the light. That would explain why it works without the tailcap installed just using the side switch. This also means it can never run with a regular battery. If my guess is right it might charge regular 21700 battery though (which would be interesting but utterly useless).

rngwn · 2019-10-31T03:11:55.000Z

Now it would take a brave hero’s sacrifice to buy one and examine how can it be modded to work with regular 21700s.

zak.wilson · 2019-10-31T03:32:32.000Z

It would be very involved to convert it to work with standard batteries. They’re evidently using the body tube to carry the tail-e-switch signal, because it doesn’t have nested tubes like the original (and the FW3A, etc…).

kanton · 2019-10-31T03:41:11.000Z

It would probably be easier to modify standard batteries, by removing the shrink wrap on the plus side (minus usually goes up there anyway) and then build an adapter piece.

But honestly, if Olight decides to not let me choose which batteries to use, I can choose do decide to not buy this Olight.

rookiedaddy · 2019-11-04T06:01:25.000Z

I can confirm the observations in this thread so far are accurate except that it doesn't charge the standard battery. The M2R Pro sample in my hand doesn't support standard battery at all, we need Olight's Dual Polarity Proprietary battery to run. (btw, I'm not Zak's secret source in case you are wondering... LOL!)

I should be able to post my review in 1-2 days time as I'm still testing the new "somewhat-smart" charger... haha...

The new charger charges Baton Pro faster (no, it doesn't charge Seeker 2 Pro nor Seeker 2 faster)... but there are some weird design decisions (... or rather "limitation") with this "somewhat-smart" charger which I'll share in my review.

Rayoui · 2019-11-04T13:07:49.000Z

I ordered one during the sale and am waiting for it to arrive. While I would have liked it to have support for standard 21700 cells, I don’t think it’s really a deal breaker. This light is obviously not targeted at the flashlight enthusiast community but more toward normal consumers who don’t have dozens of Li-ion cells and chargers laying around. Most other consumer devices use a built-in proprietary battery; this is no different.

For EDC/tacticool use, which is this light’s intended purpose, it will work just fine. If you want to take it camping with half a dozen spare batteries, there are obviously better options.

I think it’s a cool light with a nice boost driver and I certainly won’t let the weird battery prevent me from enjoying it.

spudley112 · 2019-11-04T13:17:52.000Z

I was eager for this one, but ended up getting a Sofirn SP31 from a member here instead. I am pretty happy with it, but would love to see a head to head comparison.

But that is a good looking light I must admit.

Anthon · 2019-11-04T14:40:20.000Z

I don’t have any OLIGHT that needs propietary batteries and I won’t buy any. Only the ones that work and can charge regular batteries

Deputy_Dog · 2019-11-04T15:06:12.000Z

I was a big Olight fan a few years ago. They had me sold on the M1R (the light that never came out).

It’s nice that they decided to catch up with the 21700s. Too bad about proprietary battery issues. I don’t care for the lockout of the tail switch either. So as usual, too little too late

ayalmaliki · 2020-04-11T10:08:00.000Z

Hey everyone,
I know this post is a little bit old, but I’ve recently bought Olight M2R warrior Pro and was looking for battery alternatives and I’ve found this this thread. I think the optimum solution for this light/battery case will be to have some kind of adapter that will make a regular 18650 work as the Olight’s proprietary 21700, this way we will at least have the option of not getting stuck with super expensive batteries. I found a similar thing from Nitcore in one review posted online but I wasn’t able to find a listing for it. And this is the review link

https://thelitereview.com/flashlights/nitecore-i4000r-review-quad-leds-21700-battery/

and here are some pictures

If anyone could find a listing for this adapter or for something similar please post it here.

Thanks!