[The Lite Review]: Olight I1R EOS Review

mcorp · 2018-05-22T04:34:34.000Z

Preface

The Olight I1R (or i1R) EOS is probably the smallest flashlight that Olight has ever produced for the I Series (keychain).

In keeping with the tradition of the previous EOS model (I3E), the I1R utilises the Philips LUXEON LED.

Packaging & First Impressions

This is what the light will come with as shown below.

The threads and o-rings were slightly lubricated. Threads were smooth and clean (no gritty feeling at all) – great for twisty lights.
Ample threads for a twisty light to remove any likelihood of the head unscrewing off from the body and dropping off by accident.
Anodizing of the light is uniform without any missing specs.
Pre-attached keychain split ring helps prevent the flashlight from rolling freely if left on its sides.
Scanning the QR code with your phone/tablet on the box's side would bring up the Olight I1R's product page.
Unscrew the head and remove the yellow insulating film inside before first operation of the flashlight.

Front:

Back:

Sides:

Top:

Bottom:

Box Contents:

Quick Overview (Manufacturer Specifications)

Body Material: Aluminium
LED: Philips LUXEON TX
Battery Format: Built-in (non-removable) 80mAh 3.7V Li-ion Battery - most probably a 10180 Battery
Output & Runtime:
- Low (5 lumens / 7h)
- High (130 lumens / 20min) - output gets progressively dimmer as battery charge depletes
Max Beam Distance: 54m
Beam intensity: 730cd
Waterproofness: IPX-8 Standard
Impact Resistance: 1.5m
Dimension: 41mm (length) x 14mm (head/body diameter)
Weight: 12g (including battery)
Accessories Included:
- 1*Built-in (non-removable) 80mAh 3.7V Li-ion Battery
- 1*Micro-USB Cable
- 1*Split Ring
MSRP: ~$17

UI (User Interface)

UI for this light is great for keychain or pocket duty due to its ease of operation.

Switching ON and OFF is done by twisting the head of the light, so no momentary activation is possible.

Twist the tail clockwise will activate LOW and twisting further clockwise will activate HIGH. Twisting the tail anti-clockwise will deactivate the light. These instructions can also be found on the tail of the flashlight.

All twisty activation of the light can be easily done with one hand.

There is no STROBE or SOS (blinky) modes for this light.

Form Factor

The light is extremely small - so much so that it could even disappear from view in a clenched small sized hand. Owing to its light weight and size, it will slip into a pants coin pocket, keychain or any place you would like to carry it and you wouldn’t notice it is there till you actually need it.

Due to the ample "knurling" on the head and tail of the flashlight, it can be activated with one hand easily, even when wet or with gloves.

The light is unable to tail-stand by itself due to the protrusion of the split ring attachment point.

Charging Process

With the provided Micro-USB Cable, the battery was charging at 0.08A.

The flashlight is not capable of operating on any mode when charging.

The RED indicator depicts charging in progress and GREEN indicator depicts charging has completed.

Beam Style/Beamshots

For this light, the spill, corona and hotspot is somewhat predictable due to the TIR (Total Internal Reflection) optics. The LED is fully covered under the TIR optics. With the LED used, the beam is still sufficiently “throwy” for recognizing items in the up-close to near range distance.

The above beam profile is a rough interpretation of what is seen when white wall hunting. The beam has a wide circular hotspot with slight corona that fades out to a fairly wide usable spill. There are some beam artifacts in the beam when whitewall hunting but not visible in real world usage.

All of the beamshots taken below are done so with the following camera settings (LOW: 1.3 sec, F3.5, ISO100, 5000K WB and HIGH: 1/3 sec, F3.5, ISO100, 5000K WB).
Some pictures have been adjusted slightly to depict as close as to what is seen in real life. The distance of the light from the door is 4.6m.

Control shot:

LOW (5 lumens):

HIGH (130 lumens):

Mode (Output) Spacing

Mode spacing appears to be progressively brighter to the eye and the modes are well spaced enough to be able to know which mode one is currently in. With that in mind, TLR tend to view mode spacing as battery life indicators (amount of runtime left) rather than the specific output (lumens).

It would be nice if Olight would incorporate a MOONLIGHT mode to one that is actually at moonlight level (sub-lumen or 1 lumen) for those bedtime runs or during which having 5 lumens is still too bright for the night-adjusted eyes. However, 5 lumens is about perfect for up-close usage for all other occasions.

Tint & CRI

Olight did not disclose the tint (color temperature) and/or the CRI (Color Rendering Index) for the LEDs used in their light. For this light, a guesstimate would be in the 6000K and 70CRI ballpark.

There are tint shifts throughout the beam profile. The hotspot is cool white whilst the corona possess a slight yellow-green tint; and the spill having a slight purple tint.
This is however, not as noticeable in real life.

Waterproofness

The light was subjected to warm water submersion, followed by cold water submersion and left under room temperature running water tap whilst running on HIGH.

No signs of water intrusion in the head or body was seen.

Lockout Capability

Being a twisty light, it has no electronic lockout but mechanical lockout is possible as needed.

A quarter turn (anti-clockwise) of the tail from OFF will enable mechanical lockout.

Scale Comparison (Ruler)

Summary

To sum up, we believe that the most important part of any review is if given the chance to purchase the same light for our own EDC or to gift to our loved ones out from one's pocket (wallet), would we still do it?
For this light, it is a definite YES if the built-in (non-replaceable) battery is not an issue for your usage.

The simple to use twisty UI and great for up-close usage beam profile provided by the TIR optics are all plus points for the i1R.

However, the usage of the non-replaceable battery might be seen as a disadvantage for some. For others, it means that this flashlight is pretty much gift set-ready for their friends and/or loved ones; especially at its price point.

Here is a bonus size comparison with some of the other small sized flashlights that we recommend as well.
From Left to Right: Fenix E01, Olight I1R & Olight S1 Mini Baton.

As with all gears, two is one and one is none.

Stay safe,
The Lite Review

Disclaimer: Light was provided for by Olight (manufacturer) for this review. No other compensation was provided.

Where to Buy Links

Click HERE to check out where to get this light.

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Gebe · 2018-05-24T20:49:46.000Z

Very good review!

I just received mine and I’m very pleased. I agree with your assessment concerning the tint and CRI. I detect a very, very slight tinge of green in the beam but not enough to hardly mention.

Very tiny, very well built light.

P.S. I wish they would have included a spare O-ring in the package.

rickw12 · 2020-01-03T15:55:05.000Z

I had high hopes for this as a keychain light hanging from a suspension clip in my pocket. While I won’t dispute the quality of the flashlight, it proved to be annoying in use for me. On a typical twisty, like the Glaree E03 or Astrolux A01, your fingers stay in the same positions on the head as you twist it back and forth to get to the mode you want. With this light, if you want the high mode, you have to twist, let go and reposition your fingers, twist again, reposition again, and twist again which becomes a tedious over time. What makes it worse is that as I turn it to the off position, while in the same motion it will go off and then a slight turn later come on and then go off again. The light came on a few times in my pocket without my knowing and I was left with either a dead battery or just the low mode. So I have to give it a good half turn beyond the point when it goes off to be sure it stays off. That just exacerbates the problem of having to twist/release/twist/release/twist.

This may not be a problem for most people, but potential buyers should be aware.

(As an aside, I could have stopped buying and trying out keychain lights if the Glaree really put out 0.1 lumens in low mode. It has to be 4 or 5 or more. Maybe mine is an anomaly. Compared to the Astrolux A01, the head twists very smoothly and the knurling is better. It’s a nice light.)

jon_slider · 2020-01-03T18:38:35.000Z

rickw12:

as I turn it to the off position, while in the same motion it will go off and then a slight turn later come on and then go off again. The light came on a few times in my pocket without my knowing and I was left with either a dead battery or just the low mode. So I have to give it a good half turn beyond the point when it goes off to be sure it stays off. …

that is normal for a twisty
especially when trying to use it one handed, because of the lateral pressure, in addition to the rotating of the the head

Here is an example of a very famous light, known for its reliability… I find it easy to make it flicker and false, by unscrewing the head not enough to prevent contact from lateral pressure:

I agree some twisty lights are worse than others in terms of how easily they can be made to flicker.

If Im more careful and use 10180 lights with two hands, I can prevent most of the lateral pressure that makes them flicker, when trying to use them one handed.

and, I agree twisties can definitely turn on in pocket, if they are not unscrewed far enough.

rickw12 · 2020-01-03T21:24:07.000Z

Thanks for the response. I want to be able to use it with one hand.

jon_slider · 2020-01-03T23:09:11.000Z

rickw12:

Thanks for the response. I want to be able to use it with one hand.

maybe consider something with a switch…
I like photon freedom lights:

PhotonLight.com, Inc

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or you may find the MecArmy FM11 interesting

neither is a twisty, so no chance of flickering when turning on or changing modes

rickw12 · 2020-01-03T23:20:58.000Z

I found one I’ll use for a little while to see how it does, the Rovyvon A3X. I just saw the review of the Olight here and thought I’d comment on it. For a twisty with a real firefly mode, the Astrolux A03 is good although I had to oil the threads to get it to turn easily in one hand. The Rovyvon (with a side switch) would be perfect if the modes were better spaced: it goes from 15 lumens at low to 260 at medium. Other than that, I like it.

Jerommel · 2020-01-05T19:10:37.000Z

I assume you mean A01 (Astrolux).
I had / have one of the 1st batch, with the PWM-less Manker driver.
But it’s one of the worst twisties i ever had.
I sawed off the threaded section of the battery tube and put it on (or rather “hammer fit” in) a cheapo AA headlamp with a clicky switch.
And with a pebbled TIR optic instead of the reflector, it’s a neat little headlamp now.
The Lumintop EDC01 is a very good twisty though, and not expensive, but XP-G3…

I’m surprised to see this Olight i1R can be operated with 1 hand.
I assume though, this is when it’s on your key ring?

rickw12 · 2020-01-06T04:10:08.000Z

Yes, you’re right—A01. And yes, I 2 using the Olight on a suspension clip.