Olight Obulb MC Multi-Color Lantern Review

The Obulb MC is a new “bulb” lantern by Olight with multi-color features! It uses the standard Olight charger, and has a neat carry handle!

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Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Olight Obulb MC Multi-Color lantern product page.

Versions

There’s just one Olight Obulb MC Multi-Color lantern, but there are options.  The first option is body color – black, white, or brick red (seen here).  You get to pick this option.  The second choice is with the Osling (you’ll see later):  blue, white, or red.  The color here is chosen randomly; you do not get to pick.

Price

Olight has a sale going right now that puts the Olight Obulb MC Multi-Color lantern at $23.96, including Osling.

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Short Review

Every time I’ve seen these before, I’ve just overlooked them.  This Obulb MC is my first Obulb of any sort, and I have to say, I really, really like it.  The very warm temperature of white output is great as a nightlight.  And with full waterproofness (and ability to float), it’s a very fun toy!

Long Review

The Big Table

Olight Obulb MC Multi-Color Lantern
Emitter:	RGB
Price in USD at publication time:	$23.96
Cell:	Internal
Switch Type:	E-Switch
On-Board Charging?	Yes
Charge Port Type:	Proprietary magnetic (MCC 1A)
Power off Charge Port	Yes all modes
Claimed Lumens (lm)	75
Candela per Lumen	0.4
Claimed Throw (m)	–
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	4lux @ 1.813m = 13cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	7.3
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 Obulb MC Multi-Color Lantern
• Googly eyes (2)
• Olight MCC 1A charger
• Metal mount with sticky back
• Manual

Package and Manual

Feature Photos

I’m not going to test the Olight Obulb MC Multi-Color Lantern with runtime graphs, and charge graphs…. At $24, it’s very easy to say you need one of these.  Even if you have opinions about Olight.  Even if you don’t need one.

It’s really just too fun to pass up.

I only learned after using the lantern for a while, that despite having exposed charge contacts, this thing is “so fully waterproof” that it can be used as a floaty light in a bathtub!!

Size and Comps

Weight:  2.05 oz/58 g (Including Battery)
Height: 1.89 in/48 mm<
Body Diameter: 2.13in/54mm

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.

Retention and Carry

I honestly thought this little metal coin was just that – an Olight challenge coin of sorts.

But no, this thing cleverly has a sticky back, and can be stuck somewhere…  Couple that with the magnet base of the Olight Obulb MC Multi-Color Lantern, and you have a “stick anywhere” (once) base for placing the lantern!  I find that to be exceptionally clever.

Of course, the magnetic base of the Obulb MC itself can be stuck to more places than just this metal sticky thing.  The magnet holds the Obulb MC very securely.

The second option for carry is the “Osling.”  Mine came in a separate package, and according to the fact that Olight says you can’t pick a color, your Osling will probably be separately packaged too.  Mine’s white.  Maybe translucent, or opaque.

It’s very silicone-y, and overall…. again better than you’re probably thinking it is.  It’s very compelling.

When in the Osling, the Obulb MC can still be charged.  The Obulb MC can go into the Osling the other way too, and maybe have more water protection.

 

Charging

The charging base for the built-in battery in the Olight Obulb MC Multi-Color Lantern is the standard Olight MCC 1A.  This is the same as any other MCC charger, and any of those will work too.

I’ll throw in that when the Obulb MC is sitting on a flat surface, the button can’t be pressed by pushing down on top of the Obulb MC.  But when on the charging base, pushing down from the top does actuate the switch.  This is a nice feature.

There are also other charging bases available now in the MCC format.  One is built into the side of a wall wart, such that the Obulb MC can be used very much like a nightlight.  Unfortunately, in what testing I could do (without this type of charger), it does not seem to come on when the power goes off.  This would be a great feature.

One more option for charging this Olight (or really “any” Olight with this type of connection) is a charging base that has room for four items at one time.  I don’t have one of those either, so no testing on that, too.

Modes and Currents

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime
White High	75	3h
White Low	3.5	40h
Color Fantasy	3-7	7h

Pulse Width Modulation

None of the outputs have PWM.

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

The switch is on the bottom of the device.

It’s an e-switch, and I think the user interface will be very familiar.

Here’s a user interface table!

State	Action	Result
Off	Click	On (Mode Memory)
Off	Hold	On (White Low)
On	Click	Mode advance (White Low > White High > Red > Green > Blue > “Fade between colors” > Cycle between colors > Flashing Red > Off
On	Hold	Off
Off	Click >20x	“Special mode” where “flowing colorful light appears, and the speed slows down over time.”  Switches to White Low after 30s. At random. (I was unable to activate this mode!)
Off	Hold >2s	Lockout (indicated by short flash)
Lockout	Hold >1s	Unlock to White Low

LED and Beam

Nothing about the emitters is specified by Olight.  There are some interesting results below, though.

LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)

I tested all the steady colors.  They’re in order of appearance through the mode cycle (which can be seen in the user interface table above.

White Low > White High > Red > Green > Blue

My spectrometer didn’t know how to report the Green and Blue, so I made those two reports in a more manual way.  I’m extremely pleased that the white mode is around 2500K.  It’s …. super perfect.  I could not be happier with that emitter.  CRI is 86 too, so not even all that bad.

Beamshots

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.  You’re not expecting much.  Even the 75 lumen output level is so floody, it’s nearly impossible to see on the ceiling.

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!

Go buy the Olight Obulb MC Multi-Color lantern at $23.96, including Osling!!

Conclusion

What I like

• Easy access to White Low
• 2500K CCT on the white is fantastic
• Floats!
• Easy user interface
• There are some fun modes with the colors
• Osling seems gimmicky but is actually quite neat
• Actually, the whole thing seems kind of gimmicky, but honestly, it’s great
• Magnet base works very well
• Very floody output
• Low cost

What I don’t like

• Special mode sounds neat but I couldn’t access it
• Pretty much nowhere to hold on to the thing, except to completely hold the thing.

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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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