Olight Warrior Mini 2 Mountain Sky Flashlight Review

Olight released a limited edition of the Warrior Mini 2 aluminum flashlight called the Mountain Sky. It features improvements over the original – read on for thoughts and testing!

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Official Specs and Features of the Olight Warrior Mini 2 Aluminum

Here’s a Shareasale link to the Olight Warrior Mini 2 Mountain Sky aluminum product page.

Versions

There are at least a few versions.  There’s the black aluminum (which I reviewed previously).  There’s also “Mountain Sky” which is a blue fade to gray (which you see here).  And finally, there’s a desert tan version.  These all have the same emitter.

Price

The solid colors are less costly, at $67.46.  The Mountain Sky version is just a bit more at $71.21.  All of those will be available as soon as ordering opens (later today!)  Please go through my Shareasale link, so Olight will be compelled to continue sending flashlights for the review!

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Olight Warrior Mini 2 Mountain Sky Short Review

Upfront I will report that the Mountain Sky version is functionally no different than the aluminum I previously reviewed.  So pretty much everything I said about it is true here too (with one exception).  In comparison to the original Warrior Mini, I should say I never really had any issues with the original Warrior Mini.  I know a bunch of people might have gotten burned pockets and all that, but in all my use I never faced this problem.  That said, the Olight Warrior Mini 2 in aluminum is a nice light and a solid offering.  Also pleasantly not too expensive!

Most importantly, the Mountain Sky is a fantastic colorway!

Long Review

The Big Table

Olight Warrior Mini 2 “Mountain Sky”
Emitter:	Luminus SST-40 ((Cool White))
Price in USD at publication time:	$94.95
Cell:	1×18650
Turbo Runtime Graph	High Runtime Graph
LVP?	Yes
Switch Type:	Both
Quiescent Current (mA):	?
On-Board Charging?	Yes
Charge Port Type:	Proprietary Magnetic
Charge Graph
Power off Charge Port
Claimed Lumens (lm)	1750
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	1741 (99.5% of claim)^
Candela per Lumen	8
Claimed Throw (m)	220
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	469lux @ 5.427m = 13813cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	235.1 (106.9% 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 Warrior Mini 2 Mountain Sky Aluminum Flashlight
• Olight 3500mAh customized 18650
• Olight MCC 1A/1.5A/2A charger (USB to proprietary magnetic)
• Lanyard
• “Carabiner” ring
• Manual

Package and Manual

 

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Mountain Sky Build Quality and Disassembly

There’s nothing at all to fault about the build quality of this Olight Warrior Mini 2.  It’s a robust light.  There are a few enhancements over the original, which I’ll cover later.

Notably, the grip pattern here is the same as before, and that’s fine.  This pattern provides excellent grip.

Only the head comes off of the light.  These threads are fairly short, square-cut, and anodized.  However, since the cell is “this type of” proprietary, it’s not possible to lock the light out mechanically.

Both head and tail have a spring.  The head end has both positive and negative contacts there in the center.  With the head unscrewed a little (which is normally the “mechanically locked out” position on most flashlights), the e-switch still functions!

On the tailcap is a tripod.

Here’s a bit of detail of what you’ll get when the bezel and optic are removed.

To the right (below), you can see the hole that goes through the shelf for the proximity sensor.

The photo below doesn’t show it but you can see the optic.  Also, you can see that (custom?) gasket.  Between those two parts is a glass lens.  This is an improvement over the original – you won’t have to worry about this being scratched anymore!

Despite whatever desires I have for this Mountain Sky version to be titanium, I believe it’s actually aluminum – the package doesn’t seem to say titanium anywhere.  I’ve asked Olight to confirm (and literally while I was typing this sentence, I got a notification that they confirm it’s aluminum).  So, aluminum too, just like the black version!

Size and Comps

Length: 4.65in/118mm
Head Diameter: 0.98in/25mm
Body Diameter: 0.91in/23mm

If the flashlight will headstand, I’ll show it here (usually the third photo).  If the flashlight 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 formats.

Below you can see the new version (the Olight Warrior Mini 2 in Aluminum) beside two of the previous generation lights.  It’s longer.  It’s definitely longer.

But that extra length comes with a few neat features – namely the pocket clip slot on the tail, which allows bezel down carry.

Mostly, these parts are compatible, but now what I’d call a “perfect fit.”  They thread together fine, but the diameter of the Warrior Mini 2 is greater.  Specifically, though, the tailswitch doesn’t work with swapped parts like this.  The e-switch does work fine.

Here’s where the extra length is made up (see below).  The head is longer!  Interesting, since the features were added to the tail end (the new pocket clip groove), and the head remains mostly the same…  Actually, the head is changed quite a bit from the original Warrior Mini – this head has a wider TIR, and just seems overall better.

Here’s the black Olight Warrior Mini 2 in aluminum beside the Mountain Sky.

Retention and Carry

A pocket clip is included and attached from the factory.  This is “two-way” clip, and has seen some improvements.

First, it’s much longer.  Second and most importantly, the clip now has a slot on the tail end too, which allows bezel down carry (without using the “second-way” aspect of the clip, which is terrible on all two-way clips).  The new clip has a bigger mouth too, so getting it on to pockets will be easier.

Secondly, there’s now a groove on the tail end of the light which accommodates the pocket clip.  You can see there’s also a keyring attached.  This is reversible with the clip – it’ll fit on the head end too.  It’s not possible to put both on the same end, though.

One more thing about the clip before I move on.  I hated how the clip ground over the body when removing the head for cell swaps on the Warrior Mini. Since the clip wasn’t reversible, there was no option – either just remove the clip entirely or deal with the scrape.  On the new version, just throw the clip on the tail and you won’t have this grinding problem anyway!  Also, this allows bezel down carry.  You don’t carry bezel up like a monster, do you?

I appreciate this option, but once I moved the pocket clip to this end, I no longer need this clip at all.

Also included is this carabiner-type ring, which seems intended to fit through the tiny split ring.

Probably great for attaching to a backpack or something, but I’m just not sure I trust the friction fit half-moon clip for this type of attachment.

However!  Regarding all those other improvements above, with the reversible clips and whatever – on this version (but not the black), this half-moon with the split ring does not actually fit on the head end.  Olight says they’re looking into it, and it will probably be improved.  If you don’t intend to reverse these two items (pocket clip and half-moon ring) then it’s no problem.  If you intend to use just the pocket clip on the tail end and not half-moon ring on the head, then it’s no problem.  In fact it’s not really a “half-moon” here – it’s just a bit bigger than half-moon (and that’s the problem).  Half-moon would be fine.  Three-quarters moon ring, and it’s too big (and fits as seen below.

Finally, there’s a lanyard included.  This lanyard can attach on the pocket clip or this split ring mentioned above.  It’s an unusual lanyard because it feels fully silicone.  That’s neat.

Power and Runtime

The Olight Warrior Mini 2 in aluminum is powered by a custom single lithium-ion cell.  The appropriate cell is included – a customized 3500mAh 18650.

The “custom” part is seen below – both positive and negative terminals are exposed on the positive end.  One great aspect that was retained from the previous Warrior Mini (and a massive improvement over previous iterations of this type of cell) is that the positive terminal is not recessed.  This means the cell can charge in a bay-style charger!  Unfortunately, that’s where the good news ends:  This customized type cell is required for operating the Warrior Mini 2.  This is still a step forward, though.

And the cell goes into the light in the “normal” way – positive terminal toward the head.  (This is in contrast to some of the other similar Olights like the S1R Baton II, a light that otherwise looks incredibly similar to the Warrior Mini).

Here are a couple of runtimes.  Runtimes on these lights are difficult because of the nearly impossible-to-disable proximity sensor.  Note that the proximity sensor is an improvement over the previous generation because of the pants-on-fire situations that were happening to some users.  Again I didn’t experience this but I get it – it happens.  This should be a good answer to that problem, and I doubt you’ll have hot pants again with a Warrior Mini 2.

Output steps down from an initial ~1800 lumens to over 1700 at for the first >1m.  Once the light steps down, the output is incredibly flat for hours.  Then there’s another stepdown, which lasts for under an hour, and then the light begins to decline in output.  The switch warns the user of low voltage along the way.  First green, then orange, then solid red, then flashing red.  The light doesn’t seem to shut off.

Again, remarkably well-regulated output for the duration of the runtime.

Regarding the proximity sensor – The mode that’s stepped down to (around 200 lumens) is interestingly not a mode that’s otherwise available – you can’t hit this 200-lumen mode any way except the proximity sensor action.

Charging

There’s also on-board charging, by way of a magnetic charge base and a magnetic charge connector in the tail (both parts are magnetic!).  The charging base is the common Olight MCC, which can charge at 1A, 1.5A, or 2A.  As I said above, this cell can be charged in a regular bay charger too!

Charging proceeds at well over 1A, and the 3500mAh cell is charged in around 4 hours.  The charging base is red when charging, and green when not being used or the cell is “completely charged.”  I noted in charge testing that the indicator on the charger would turn green before the trickle CV phase had stopped putting power into the cell.

Modes and Currents

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
Turbo	1750/500/200	4m/206m/40m	1744	4.30
High	500/200	218m/55m	471	0.73
[mode for stepdown only]	200	–	280	0.40
Medium	120	19h	111	0.15
Low	15	164h	3	0.01
Moon	1	45d	0.2	~

Pulse Width Modulation

Nothing really to mention here.  Note that I included the 200-lumen mode, seen below as the fifth graph.

For reference, here’s a baseline shot, with all the room lights off and almost nothing hitting the sensor.  Also, here’s the light with the worst PWM I could find.  I’m adding multiple timescales, so it’ll be easier to compare to the test light.  Unfortunately, the PWM on this light is so bad that it doesn’t even work with my normal scale, with is 50 microseconds (50us).  10ms.  5ms.  2ms.  1ms.  0.5ms.  0.2ms.  In a display faster than 0.2ms or so, the on/off cycle is more than one screen, so it’d just (very incorrectly) look like a flat line.  I wrote more about this Ultrafire WF-602C flashlight and explained a little about PWM too.

User Interface and Operation

There are two switches on the Olight Warrior Mini 2 in aluminum.  First is the metal tail switch which also is used in charging.

This two-stage switch is quite nice to use!

Next is the indicating side e-switch.

Here’s a UI table!  This is the same UI as is on the M2R Warrior Pro.

State	Action	Result
Off	Click Side Switch (SS)	On (Mode Memory)
Off	Hold SS	Moon
Off	Double Click SS	Turbo
Any (Except when the proximity sensor is being “tripped”)	Triple Click SS	Strobe
On	Click SS	Off
On (Except when the proximity sensor is being “tripped”)	Hold SS	Mode Advance (L>M>H) (Moon and Turbo are excluded from the cycle)
Turbo	Double Click SS	Return to previous mode (If previous was “High,” returns to Med)
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 (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 emitter of choice for this light is a Luminus SST40.  The temperature is Cool White, at 6000K-7000K.  This emitter is under a TIR, and there is a glass over the TIR.  That glass is an update from the original!  And an improvement.

I can say excitedly that this bezel will unscrew with no fuss at all.  At that point, the optic can be tapped right out.  Then the cup that holds the proximity sensor can be tapped right out too.  And only two wires are holding the mcpcb…  So if you have a favorite emitter with the SST-40 footprint (XM-L2, I think?) then you should be good to go with this light.  Emitter swapping will provide no hurdles at all.  You might need to modify the optic a bit though.

Also, the proximity sensor isn’t as easy to disable here as on other lights (like the Freyr).  It seems to actually be under the shelf.  It does seem like simply covering the sensor will disable it (but I have a few tests to do yet).  If this is the case, then it should be even easier to do internally by plugging that hole in the shelf…  And in that case, it’d be nice to have a replacement TIR that doesn’t have the cutout for this sensor.

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

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.

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

Conclusion

What I like

• Complete package
• Good user interface
• Very good beam profile
• Hits claims for output and throw
• New and improved clip over version 1
• Clip fits on both ends now
• Cell can be charged in bay charger

What I don’t like

• Cool white emitter
• Proprietary cell
• Proximity sensor

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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!
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