Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue Flashlight Review

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue Flashlight Review

The newest Olight Warrior Mini 2 is this Regal Blue edition. It packs the punch the previous models had but rocks a gorgeous blue body!


Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue flashlight product page.

Versions

There are at least a few versions.  There’s the black aluminum (which I reviewed previously).  There’s also the “Mountain Sky” edition” which is a blue fade to gray.  There’s a desert tan version.  There are almost certainly other versions, too! These all have the same emitter.

Price

While the list price is around $95, during the Valentine’s Day sale you can buy this light for $71.21.  Here’s my shareasale link for the Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue.


Short Review

I can safely report that the Regal Blue version is functionally no different than the other versions I previously reviewed.  So pretty much everything I said about it is true here too.  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, this Regal Blue absolutely pops!!

Long Review

The Big Table

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue Flashlight
Emitter: Luminus SST-40 ((Cool White))
Price in USD at publication time: $71.21 during the sale (which ends today!)
Here’s my Shareasale link.
Cell: 1×18650
Turbo 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 with cell: all modes
without cell: no modes
Claimed Lumens (lm) 1750
Measured Lumens (at 30s) Unable to determine (because of proximity sensor!)
Candela per Lumen 7
Claimed Throw (m) 220
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) 622lux @ 4.677m = 13606cd
Throw (Calculated) (m) 233.3 (106% of claim)^
Claimed CCT 6000-7000
Measured CCT Range (K) 5500-6000 Kelvin
Item provided for review by: Olight
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 Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue what's included

  • Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue 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 Regal Blue box

manual manual

Build Quality and Disassembly

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue

There’s nothing at all to fault about the build quality of the Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue.  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.

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue bezel

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!

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue contact springs

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue head design

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

bezel removed, inside headoptic cup

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

bezel removed, inside headoptic cupoptic cup

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!

opticoring bezel and lens

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).

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue in hand

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.

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue beside torchlab boss 35

Retention and Carry

A pocket clip is included and attached from the factory.  This is a “two-way” clip and has seen some improvements over previous generation Olight two-way clips.

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.

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue two-way pocket clip

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.

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue two-way pocket clip on tailOne 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?

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue parts apart Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue pocket clip off

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

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue ring attachment

One great thing about this version, specifically vs at least one of the other versions of the Warrior Mini 2 is that the half-moon keychain clip fits perfectly in the pocket clip area.  There were some versions of the Warrior Mini 2 (specifically the Mountain Sky) where this half-moon didn’t fully seat in the head area.  I can happily report that’s not a problem here.

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue retention Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue retention

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue split ring Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue split ring Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue split ring tail end

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.

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue lanyard

Power and Runtime

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

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue with included 18650 Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue included 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.

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue included 18650

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).

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue included 18650 installed

Here is one runtime.  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 does shut off (which is a difference from previous iterations of the Warrior Mini 2 that I’ve had.)

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.

The indicating e-switch does display the charge level while the light is on, too.  Except in moonlight, that is, where the power indicator is not enabled.  Here’s what the colors mean:

Green: >60% power
Orange: 10-60% power
Red: 5-10% power
Red blinking: <5% power

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!

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue charging cable Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue on charging cable

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 1750 4.56
High 500/200 218m/55m 0.75
[mode for stepdown only] 200 297 0.42
Medium 120 19h 115 0.15
Low 15 164h 11 0.01
Moon 1 45d 0

Pulse Width Modulation

Nothing really to mention here.  None of the modes seem to be using PWM.  That wave graph on the second to lowest mode is fun, though.

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, which is 50 microseconds (50us). 10ms5ms2ms1ms0.5ms0.2ms.  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.

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue tail switch

This two-stage switch is quite nice to use!

Next is the indicating side e-switch.

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue e-switch Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue e-switch

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blue e-switch indicating green

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.

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blues emitter

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.

Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blues emitter on Olight Warrior Mini 2 Regal Blues emitter on

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.

LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)

You know, despite whatever the claim by Olight is on the CCT of this Luminus SST-40, it’s really not that cool.  It stays under 6000K for all but the highest output level.  Now, it does have a fair bit of “positive dUV” to it – that means it can appear greenish.  The CRI is fairly low, too, at around 66.

Beamshots

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

Notes

  • 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.com!
  • 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!
Liked it? Take a second to support zeroair on Patreon!
Become a patron at Patreon!

Leave a Reply