Olight M2R Pro Warrior Patriotic Edition Flashlight Review

The Olight M2R Pro Warrior Patriot Edition is available now! This flashlight has a Cree XHP35 HI (dedomed). Read on for thoughts and testing!

Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Olight M2R Pro Warrior product page.

Versions

There are at least two versions of this light. The Patriotic Edition (seen here), the regular edition in black. There also have been a couple of others – Desert Tan, Camo, and OD Green. Those three are discontinued.

Price

This Patriotic Edition is on an “opening day” sale for $83.97 (30% off) on July 20 at 8 PM EDT. Here’s my link to the Olight Store – it helps me massively if you click through. It’s a referral link, and lets Olight know where the traffic originates…. In other words, if you value reviews like mine, over more “promotional” type reviews, then click through here!

Short Review

I both like the Patriotic Edition-ness of this light, and just in general I like the light. The performance is good. The outputs are well regulated and meet specifications. I don’t like two things, though: the proprietary (“customized”) 21700, and that the light lacks any semblance of LVP.

Long Review

The Big Table

Olight MR2 Warrior Pro
Emitter:	Cree XHP35 HD ((dedomed), NW)
Price in USD at publication time:	$83.97 on July 20, sale day. Referral link.
Cell:	1x”21700″
Turbo Runtime	High Runtime
LVP?	No
Switch Type:	Both
Quiescent Current (A):	?
On-Board Charging?	Yes
Charge Port Type:	USB to Proprietary Magnetic
Chargetime
Power off Charge Port with no Cell?
Claimed Lumens (lm)	1800
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	1914 (106.3% of claim)^
Candela per Lumen	11.6
Claimed Throw (m)	300
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	873lux @ 5.162m = 23262cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	305.0 (101.7% of claim)^
All my Olight reviews!

^ Measurement disclaimer: Testing flashlights is my hobby. I use hobbyist-level equipment for testing, including some I made myself. Try not to get buried in the details of manufacturer specifications versus measurements recorded here; A certain amount of difference (say, 10 or 15%) is perfectly reasonable.

What’s Included

Olight M2R Pro Warrior Patriotic Edition
Olight 5000mAh Proprietary 21700
Nylon Carry Pouch
Lanyard
Charge cable (USB to proprietary magnetic)
Manual

Package and Manual

A box containing an Olight M2R Pro Warrior flashlight with an American flag design is shown. The packaging lists features: throw distance of 300 meters and maximum 1800 lumens.

Back of a flashlight box detailing features, specifications, and package contents for the OLIGHT M2R Pro Warrior. Text includes battery capacity, runtime, charging details, dimensions, and manufacturing information.

A white product box with text detailing the features, specifications, and package contents of a battery-powered device sits on a wooden surface next to a partially unwrapped clear plastic bag.

A box featuring a red, white, and blue flashlight with stars and stripes sits on a weathered wooden surface next to a crumpled piece of clear plastic packaging.

An open box on a wooden surface reveals a card with a thank you message on the left and a yellow instruction sheet with images and steps for using an Olight M2R Pro Warrior flashlight on the right.

An open white box on a wooden surface contains a black fabric pouch and grooming tools. The left inner lid displays a printed message in blue text.

Build Quality and Disassembly

Wow what a colorway, right? First of all regarding the red white and blue – in person it’s great. I hope it comes through in the photos, but in person it really pops.

You’ll note below (and in all the photos really) that the tailcap and body lines do not line up. Since the lines on the body and tail are the same width, of course, they aren’t going to line up…. This could be distracting, and yes I wish Olight had fixed it… It’d mean that the lines on the tailcap were thicker than the lines on the body – would you consider that a win? Bit of a wash for me.

A flashlight with a design resembling the American flag, featuring red and white stripes on the top half and white stars on a blue background on the bottom half, standing upright on a wooden surface.

A metallic flashlight featuring a red, white, and blue design with white stars, resembling the United States flag, is standing upright on a weathered wooden surface.

A flashlight with a red, white, and blue design resembling the American flag, standing upright on a wooden surface. The body has red and silver stripes, and the base is blue with white stars.

A flashlight standing upright on a wooden surface, featuring a design with red and white stripes on the top and blue with white stars on the bottom, resembling the American flag.

But just generally regarding build quality, this light is outstanding.

You can see the little tripod around the tail switch here. This allows tailstanding and also is one of the charge contact points.

The shape of the body isn’t really knurling at all but provides good grip.

And old-school flashlight fans will probably like (or possibly hate) these faux teardrops on the tailcap.

The threads are so smooth, too. Just over 6 full turns are required for tightening the tailcap – quite long threads.

Both the head and tail have springs – that button on the tailcap is springy. Also, note the bit on the head end that makes the proprietary cell work. The spring is for positive contact, and the ring around it is for the negative contact on the cell.

One interesting thing that the above contact points mean is that the light will work with just the cell and no tailcap if you hold the cell in place tightly.

The bezel is very aggressive!

Here’s a better idea of how the lines don’t match up.

Size and Comps

Weight (g / oz) 179 / 6.31
Length (mm / in) 136.50 / 5.37
Head Diameter (mm / in) 29.5 / 1.16
Body Diameter (mm / in) 26.20 / 1.03

I actually weight this at 177g, and that does include the cell.

A flashlight with an American flag design lies on top of a two-dollar bill on a weathered wooden surface.

A red, white, and blue flashlight with a stars and stripes pattern lies vertically on a rustic wooden surface, placed in front of a two-dollar bill featuring Thomas Jefferson.

A red and white poker chip is positioned upright and centered, viewed from above, with a U.S. two-dollar bill underneath it, placed on a wooden surface.

A single dollar bill lies flat on a wooden surface, with the top view of a cylindrical flashlight and its battery centered above the bill, partly obscuring it.

A hand holds a flashlight designed with an American flag pattern, featuring blue with white stars on the top and red and white stripes on the bottom, against a blurred grassy background.

A hand holding a flashlight with a red top, silver middle, and blue bottom decorated with white stars. The background is green and blurry grass.

A person holds a flashlight decorated with an American flag design, featuring blue with white stars and red and white stripes, against a blurred green background.

A hand holds a cylindrical object horizontally, viewed from above so that the round, yellow end with a white center is visible. The background is a blurred grassy surface.

A hand holds a flashlight decorated with an American flag pattern, featuring blue with white stars at the top and red and white stripes below, against a blurred green background.

Two flashlights standing upright on a wooden surface; one is solid brown, and the other has a red, white, and blue design with stars and stripes resembling the American flag. A blurred wooden fence is in the background.

Close-up of the ends of two cylindrical batteries placed side by side on a wooden surface, showing their contact points and different designs.

Retention and Carry

First off I’ll mention the pocket clip. Not only does it fit on the head or tail end of the light, it’s also a “two-way” friction fit clip. The clip is long and well suited for this light.

A close-up image of a flashlight with a red, white, and blue design featuring white stars and stripes. The flashlight has a black pocket clip and a button on the blue section.

A close-up of a flashlight with a red, white, and blue design; the upper part has red and white stripes, the lower part is blue with white stars, and a black clip runs vertically down the center.

You’ll want to know if moving the clip scratches the finish. Yes and no – it looks more like the black from the clip is rubbing off on to the finish than the clip is scratching the finish. But your mileage may vary here.

Also included is a lanyard, which attaches in the hole seen above.

There’s a nylon pouch too, which is quite nice. Both ends have a drainage hole but do not offer access to the light itself. The pouch opens not with velcro, but with a little quick release.

Power and Runtime

The M2R Pro Warrior is powered by a proprietary 21700 cell. It’s proprietary in that both positive and negative terminals are exposed on the positive end of the cell. It will not be charged in a bay type charger. Also, traditional 21700 cells will not work in the light, and can’t be charged by the light.

A teal and silver cylindrical 21700 lithium-ion battery lying horizontally on a weathered wooden surface, with the positive terminal facing the camera.

A close-up of a teal cylindrical battery lying horizontally on a weathered wooden surface, with the positive terminal facing the camera. The background is blurred.

The cell goes into the light in the “normal” way – positive end toward the head.

Here are three runtimes. The three highest outputs. Turbo steps down completely in under 5 minutes, but it takes over 1 minute to begin the dramatic decline. Once it’s stepped down, the output is exceptionally stable at around 750 lumens (as claimed). A final stepdown to around 250 lumens happens at ~150 minutes. These are timed stepdowns, per the manual.

Note upfront that in all these runtime tests the light did not exhibit LVP. The cell was at a “tripped” or 0.00V level when the test was over. The charge circuit in the light reset this trip without issue. The switch does indicate that the voltage is low, as follows:

Green: >75%
Orange: ~30%-70%
Red: <30%
Blinking Red: <10%

The output on High looks about like the output on Turbo, aside from the first 5 minutes of actual Turbo output. The duration overall is about the same.

Medium 1 is even more remarkably stable than the above two.

Charging

As mentioned, the M2R Pro Warrior has onboard charging via a USB to magnetic connector.

A blue USB cable with a flat black cord and a red circular accent near the connector rests on a weathered wooden surface outdoors.

A close-up of a blue and red magnetic USB charging cable with a USB-A connector, lying on a weathered wooden surface. The cable is partially coiled and the connector is in focus.

The name of this one is the MCC 1A/1.5A/2A, noteworthy since Olight makes a number of these charge bases.

The light will stand while on the charge base.

Here’s a charge test – charge rate goes up to over 2A and takes around 4 hours. My logger seems to be on the fritz and I attribute these dropouts to the logger and not the light. I tested charging with another device and I do not see these same dropouts.

The charge connector has a red/green indication, too. While charging, the indicator is red. When charged, this indicator switches to green.

Modes and Currents

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
Turbo	1800/750/250	4.5m/45m/45m	1914	5.83
High	750/250	60m/40m	763	1.46
Med 1	250	10h	250	0.39
Med 2	60	40h	61	0.09
Low	15	130h	14	0.03
Moon	1	50d	~	0.01

Pulse Width Modulation

No PWM on any mode.

An oscilloscope screen displays a mostly flat yellow waveform near the center, with grid lines, HOLD in red at the top left, and time, voltage, and mode information along the bottom.

Oscilloscope display showing a repeating sawtooth waveform with a peak-to-peak voltage of about 1V. The horizontal scale is set to 50 microseconds per division. Indicators show HOLD and WAITING status.

A digital oscilloscope screen shows a periodic waveform signal centered near the zero line, with vertical scale set to 2V and horizontal scale set to 50 microseconds per division.

An oscilloscope screen displays a mostly flat yellow waveform along the center horizontal axis, with grid lines, and indicators showing 2V, 50μs, AUTO, Int, and -0.24V at the bottom. The status reads Waiting.

Oscilloscope screen displaying a flat horizontal line along the zero axis, indicating no significant signal. The display shows 5V per division, 50 microseconds per division, and the status is Waiting and HOLD.

A digital oscilloscope screen displays a mostly flat yellow line near the center, with grid lines and various measurement settings shown along the edges, including 5V, 50µs, and -0.60V. The word “Waiting” is at the top.

Here you can see a “baseline” – a chart with almost no light hitting the sensor.

Then there’s the Ultrafire WF-602C flashlight, which has some of the worst PWM I’ve seen. It’s so bad that I used a post about it to explain PWM! Here are multiple timescales (10ms, 5ms, 2ms, 1ms, 0.5ms, 0.2ms) to make comparing this “worst” PWM light to the test light easier. That post also explains why I didn’t test the WF-602C at the usual 50us scale.

User Interface and Operation

There are two switches on the M2R Pro Warrior. First is the metal tail switch which also is used in charging.

Next is the indicating side e-switch.

Here’s a user interface table!

State	Action	Result
Off	Click Side Switch (SS)	On (Mode Memory)
Off	Hold SS	Moon
Off	Double Click SS	Turbo
Any	Triple Click SS	Strobe
On	Click SS	Off
On	Hold SS	Mode Advance (L>M2>M1>H) (Moon and Turbo are excluded from cycle)
Turbo	Double Click SS	Return to previous mode (If previous was “High,” returns to Med 1)
Off	Long Hold SS	Lockout (Technically “Moon then lockout”)
Lockout	Click SS	Switch indicating lockout (red for 2s)
Lockout	Hold SS	Unlock to Moonlight
Any	Hold (“half press”) Tail Switch (TS)	Med 2 (in Config 1, default) Turbo (in Config 2)
Any	Click TS	Turbo (in Config 1) Strobe (in Config 2)
Off	Hold TS, Click SS	Switch between Config 1 and 2 (there is no confirmation except the modes seen per Config)

LED and Beam

The manual, product page, and an email I got when I asked, state only that this is a “High-Performance NW LED.” Some searching indicates it’s probably a dedomed (by Olight) NW Cree XHP35 HD. The light uses a TIR, and the beam is a very even spot. I am by no means an expert on weapon lights, but this seems suitable.

And it’s actually NW, too.

These beamshots always have the following settings: f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure. These photos are taken at floor level, and the beam hits the ceiling around 9 feet away.

A mostly black image with a faint, barely visible circular shape in the center. The text ZEROAIR.ORG appears vertically along the left side.

A faint, circular light is centered against a dark background. The website text “ZEROAIR.ORG” is vertically aligned on the left side of the image.

A circular, hazy white light is centered against a dark background. The text ZEROAIR.ORG appears vertically along the left side of the image.

A circular beam of white light is projected onto a dark surface, creating a bright central spot with a gradual fade to darkness. The text ZEROAIR.ORG appears vertically along the left side of the image.

A bright flashlight beam is shining on a plain wall in a dark room, creating a circular spot of light. The text ZEROAIR.ORG is visible along the left side of the image.

A bright circular flashlight beam shines on a plain white wall. Some ceiling fixtures and part of a vent are visible near the edges. The text ZEROAIR.ORG appears along the left side.

Tint vs BLF-348 (KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b version) (affiliate link)

I keep the test flashlight on the left and the BLF-348 reference flashlight on the right.

A white flashlight beam and a smaller yellowish beam are cast on a dark paneled surface, with a hand holding the flashlight at the bottom edge. The text ZEROAIR.ORG appears vertically on the left side.

A hand holding a flashlight points it at a closed white door, causing a bright glare and overexposure in the center of the image. The text ZEROAIR.ORG is visible along the left edge.

A hand holds a flashlight aimed at a white door, creating a bright circular light spot on the door. The words ZEROAIR.ORG are faintly visible along the left edge of the image.

A hand holds a flashlight shining a bright beam of light onto a white, paneled door, creating a strong glare in the center of the image.

A person points two flashlights at a white paneled door, creating two bright circular beams of light side by side on the doors surface.

A hand holds two flashlights, projecting two beams—a smaller yellowish beam on the left and a larger white beam on the right—onto a closed white door in a dark room. The website ZEROAIR.ORG is visible on the left.

I compare everything to the KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!

Conclusion

What I like

I really do love the Patriotic Edition-ness of it
Build quality is great
Runtimes match claim very specifically
Output is extremely well regulated!
Complete package including cell
user interface is easy to grasp and not overly complicated
The beam profile

What I don’t like

Proprietary cell
Overall it’s a bit big
I don’t like Olight being cagey about the emitter. Just tell what it is.

Notes

This light was provided by Olight for review. I was not paid to write this review.
This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
Use my amazon.com referral link if you’re willing to help support making more reviews like this one!
Please support me on Patreon! I deeply appreciate your support!

JasonWW

2020-07-15 at 4:58 pm

You can get the tail cap to line up if you sand the battery tube end down just a tiny bit. Don’t over do it. Lol

Shawn

2020-07-18 at 8:58 pm

So how do you sand it?

JasonWW
2020-07-18 at 10:47 pm

Take the tail cap off, stand the light with led facing up. Put some sandpaper on a flat surface, maybe 600-800 grit, and move the light around in a figure 8 motion. The end of the battery tube is already raw aluminum so by taking off just a little material it gets shorter and allows the tail to be tightened just a tiny bit more.

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Olight M2R Pro Warrior Patriotic Edition Flashlight Review

Olight M2R Pro Warrior Patriotic Edition Flashlight Review

Official Specs and Features

Versions

Price

Short Review

Long Review

The Big Table

What’s Included

Package and Manual

Build Quality and Disassembly

Size and Comps

Retention and Carry

Power and Runtime

Charging

Modes and Currents

Pulse Width Modulation

User Interface and Operation

LED and Beam

Tint vs BLF-348 (KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b version) (affiliate link)

Conclusion

What I like

What I don’t like

Notes

4 thoughts on “Olight M2R Pro Warrior Patriotic Edition Flashlight Review”

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