Olight has released the Freyr RGB flashlight – not just RGB of course, but also a main white emitter.  This flashlight is fitting into the “customized, proprietary 21700” platform by Olight, so there’s plenty of cross compatibility.  Read on for some testing and thoughts!

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Official Specs and Features

Here’s an affiliate link to the product page.

Versions

Right now there is just the one version, which you will seen in the review.

Price

The going price of the Olight Freyr RGB flashlight is $129.95, and you can get yours here.  Unfortunately the pre-sale ended yesterday – I just couldn’t get the review out by then.  The price was around $95 or so at that time.

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Short Review

First of all, I love the format of this light.  The 21700 size is perfect, and the head flares just right.  It’s a very flashlighty flashlight.  Now, I don’t love the beam profile that the RGB causes through the optic – this really squares off the white beam (you’ll see this later).  The RGB is certainly neat, and if that’s the kind of thing you use, then this is a good choice for you.  The proximity sensor is much too aggressive (I desoldered mine!)

Long Review

The Big Table

Olight Freyr
Emitter:	Luminus SST-40 (Plus RGB)
Price in USD at publication time:	$129.95 at olightstore – referral link
Cell:	1×21700 (included)
High Runtime	Low Runtime
LVP?	Yes
Switch Type:	Both
Quiescent Current (mA):	4.41
On-Board Charging?	Yes
Charge Port Type:	Proprietary Magnetic
Chargetime
Power off Charge Port	with cell: all modes without cell: no modes
Claimed Lumens (lm)	1750
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	1612 (92.1% of claim)*
Candela per Lumen	20.3
Claimed Throw (m)	360
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	2350lux @ 3.863m = 35069cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	374.5 (104% of claim)*
All my Olight reviews!

• Measurement disclaimer:  I am an amateur flashlight reviewer.  I don’t have $10,000 or even $1,000 worth of testing equipment.  I test output and such in PVC tubes!!  Please consider claims within 10% of what I measure to be perfectly reasonable (accurate, even).

What’s Included

• Olight Freyr RGB flashlight
• Olight 5000mAh customized and proprietary 21700
• Olight branded nylon pouch
• Diffuser
• Pocket clip
• MCC Charge cable (USB to proprietary magnetic)

Package and Manual

Build Quality and Disassembly

I wish I understood the name better.  The branding is right there on the side of the light – Freyr.  All I can think of when I see that is Friar Tuck.

But like Friar Tuck, this light is built very solidly.  The 21700 cell really adds a weight that feels substantial, and in hand it’s really just about perfect.

Here’s the optic – the “legs” you see aren’t actually legs to support the optic.  They’re legs that push the color RGB emitter beams out.  Also at the 5 o’clock position is a little proximity sensor.  More on that later.

The tail end is the now-standard dual stage switch, with a tripod for tailstanding.

Olight has introduced some fan-like cooling fins on the head.  These were first on some Olight I don’t have – I know the Marauder 2 has them, but possibly other/earlier lights too.  I’m not sure just how functional they are, but they certainly look neat.

The body knurling is great for preventing the Olight Freyr from slipping out of your hand.

Below, see that the tailcap allows tailstanding still.

This diffuser ships as seen below.  It fits into the carry pouch too (as seen above).  It’s nice that the whole thing can be carried as one unit, and you won’t have to have parts stored elsewhere.

The tailcap has a springy brass colored button.  I doubt it’s actually brass, though.

Threads here are like other newer 21700 Olights.  Very smooth, moderately fine, square cut, anodized, and quite long.

Below you can see why this light requires the customized and proprietary cell.  The center spring (in the body) is for positive contact.  The external ring (with the three nubs) is for negative contact.  That external ring is likely what allows power to the tailcap, and/or charging.

Size and Comps

Weight (g / oz) 202/ 7.13
Length (mm / in) 136/ 5.35
Head Diameter (mm / in) 40.5/ 1.59
Body Diameter (mm / in) 25.6/ 1.01

If a light will headstand, I’ll show it here (usually the third photo).  If a light will tailstand, I’ll show that here, too (usually the fourth photo).

Here’s the test light with the venerable Convoy S2+.  Mine’s a custom “baked” edition Nichia 219b triple.  A very nice 18650 light.

And here’s the light beside my custom engraved TorchLAB BOSS 35, an 18350 light.  I reviewed the aluminum version of that light in both 35 and 70 format.

Retention and Carry

A pocket clip is included with the Freyr.  It’s Olights usual two-way clip.

My opinion is that it works best as seen below – connected on the tail-end.  Here it is really a deep carry clip, though you might not want the wider head of this light in your pocket.

But the pocket clip also fits on the head end.

Second is of course, the nylon formed pouch.  The pouch is intended for carry with the diffuser, so if you opt out of that, the light will be just a little bit loose in there.

The pouch has a hole in the top, but no access to the switch or output.

Power and Runtime

The Olight Freyr 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.

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

Here are a couple of runtimes.  High steps down completely in under 3 minutes, but it takes over 1 minute to begin the dramatic decline.  Once it’s stepped down, output is exceptionally stable at around 950 lumens.  A final stepdown to around 300 lumens happens at ~115 minutes.  These are timed stepdowns, per the manual.

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

Here’s the Low output.  It’s extremely stable for a over 9 hours, just like the manual states.

As mentioned, the Freyr has on-board charging via a USB to magnetic connector.  The name of this one is the MCC 1A/1.5A/2A, noteworthy since Olight makes a number of these charge bases.

Here’s a charge test – charge rate goes up to over 2A and takes around 4 hours.

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
High	1750/850/300	2m/150m/28m	1612	4.84
Low	300	9.5h	298	0.46
Moon	5	15d		0.01
Red	30	22h	30	0.19
Green	60	14h	60	0.35
Blue	25	12h	25	0.38

PWM

There’s no PWM seen here.  Photo order is Moon, Low, High, Red, Green, Blue.

For reference, here’s a baseline shot, with all the room lights off and almost nothing hitting the sensor.  And here’s the worst PWM light I have ever owned.  Also one of the very first lights I ordered directly from China!

User Interface and Operation

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

Next is the indicating side e-switch.

Here’s an example of it indicating in green, while the main output is red.

Here’s a UI table!  The user interface for the Olight Freyr RGB flashlight is very similar to the M2R Pro Warrior, except of course that the M2R Pro Warrior doesn’t have RGB!

State	Action	Result
Off	Click Side Switch (SS)	On (Mode Memory, including RGB)
Off	Hold SS	Moon (White)
Off	Double Click SS	High
Any	Triple Click SS	Strobe
On	Click SS	Off
On	Hold SS	Mode Advance (Moon>Red>Green>Blue)
High	Double Click SS	Low
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)	Low
Any	Click TS	Turbo

LED and Beam

While Olight doesn’t state what the emitter is, I’m fairly certain it’s a Luminus SST-40.  Olight does state it’s 6500K.  Also on the light are red, green, and blue emitters, which can be seen in the “legs” of the optic below.

The RGB emitters affect the TIR optic in such a way that the beam of the white emitter is changed very dramatically because of them.  They’re also … “regular”… emitters – not the usual 5mm RGB emitters.  So if you wanted to reflow something else to those, it’d be pretty easy.  The secondary board is a separate ring from the main Luminus board, too.

Also see that little black spot in the optic – that’s the proximity sensor.  I found this sensor to be way too aggressive, and I desoldered it (!!!) to just completely disable it.  The sensor will cause the Freyr to step down from High to Low if bounce is detected…. I found this to happen within about 2 feet (feet) of an obstacle.

These beamshots are always with the following settings:  f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure.

In order to demonstrate how the RGB comes out of the light through those legs in the optic, please see below – I’m holding the light steady in one position, and cycling through the colors.

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

Test light is 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

• Excellent flashlighty shape!
• Nice complete package
• White emitter really throws
• RGB is a fun novelty
• Well regulated output
• Easy access to

What I don’t like

• RGB sort of ruins the white output beam shape.
• Not enough white modes.
• CW emitter with no NW option.

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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!
• For flashlight related patches, stickers, and gear, head over to PhotonPhreaks, another site where I write!
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