Olight iXV Ti Keychain Flashlight Review
Olight has updated an older keychain light and released the 15th anniversary iXV Ti, This little twisty light uses USB-C charging!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the official product page.
Versions
It seems that there’s just one version of the Olight iXV Ti keychain flashlight but this is another iterative design from Olight. In fact, this iXV Ti shares a manual with the i1R 2 Pro!
Price
The Olight iXV Ti keychain flashlight is currently selling for $39.95 at olightstore.com (referral link). Because of a sale going on at Olight right now you might find the price is a little cheaper, or you could bundle some things and get this light for free!
Short Review
Making this keychain light out of titanium as an anniversary celebration seems like a good choice! And despite whatever else you think about the CCT Olight usually uses, this one hovers in the 5100K range, which is perfectly great. It’s a very simple flashlight offering USB-C charging. Especially if you get it with some other purchase at a discount, it seems like a fun light to have.
Long Review
The Big Table
| Olight iXV Ti | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | CSP LED |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $39.95 |
| Cell: | 1×10220 (Built-in) |
| High Runtime Graph | Low Runtime Graph |
| LVP? | ? |
| Switch Type: | Twisty |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | USB-C |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | Can’t use while charging |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 180 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 209 (116.1% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 3.6 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 48 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 81lux @ 3.283m = 873cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 59.1 (123.1% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | – |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 5000-5200 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 iXV Ti keychain flashlight
- Charging cable (USB to USB-C)
- Manual
Package and Manual
The i1R 2 Pro manual is linked from the official iXV Ti product page, so that’s what I’ll include here.
Build Quality and Disassembly
This is a fairly simple light, I’d say. Maybe that’s because it’s just a two-mode twisty. But actually, it offers USB-C charging, so it’s not that simple internally. The build quality seems great, with a design choice here or there that is a bit annoying.
I love the titanium look, and it does feel like real titanium, too.
The tailcap has a spot for a split ring to be attached. This bump out does not come off.
These grooves you see in the exposed part of the body are not threads. The threads that hold the light together and that you’ll tighten and loosen for operation are hidden away in the head. I’m not sure what’s the purpose of these ribs…
Size and Comps
Weight: 1.08 oz / 30.7 g (Including Battery)
Height: 2.02 in / 51.3 mm
Body Diameter: 0.64 in / 16.2 mm
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).
Just a random comparison, but I happened to have an AA battery handy. The Olight iXV Ti keychain flashlight is approximately the same size, but a little thicker.
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
The only means for carrying the Olight iXV Ti keychain flashlight is this split ring on the tail end. The part where the split ring attaches is not removable – even if you remove the split ring, that little knob will still be there.
The split ring is tiny but perfectly sufficient for attaching the Olight iXV Ti keychain flashlight to a keychain!
Just like on the Surefire Titan Plus, I’d rather this little knob be gone. It’s probably possible to permanently grind that off!
Power and Runtime
The cell that powers the iXV Ti is built-in. It’s a 130mAh 10220 cell. As far as I can tell, there’s no way to access it or change it. Thus, when the battery reaches end-of-life, the light essentially does too.
Here are runtimes for both modes, High and Low.
Charging
On-board charging on the iXV comes thanks to a built-in USB-C charging port. To access this port, loosen the head completely. The head is captured – it will not fall off and get lost. However, it’s captured to exactly the point you can see below – the USB-C port is “fully exposed” here.
That level of exposure is not quite enough for me. Yes, the charging cables I used work fine, but they’re a bit hard to get into the port.
Near the charging port is this charging indicator. When the iXV Ti is charging, this indicator is red. When charging is complete, this indicator turns blue.
An appropriate cable is included: USB to USB-C.
Here you can see that the charge port really needs more access.
And here’s one charge cycle.
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | 180 | 23m | 209 | – |
| Low | 5 | 12h | 9 | – |
Pulse Width Modulation
Neither mode uses 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 Olight iXV Ti keychain flashlight is a twisty. There are markings on the tailcap to help a user know what to do, but of course it’s very simple.
The markings are shiny, so from the wrong angle, they’re nearly invisible.
Using the light with one hand is fairly easy.
Below you can see the gap in a state of “just” for each mode. Left is “just off” – the biggest gap. Middle is “just Low” – the mediumest gap. And the rightmost photo is when the light is in High, which is the smallest gap.
Here’s a user interface table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Tighten head | Low |
| Low | Tighten head | High |
| High | Loosen head | Low |
| Low | Loosen head | Off |
LED and Beam
Olight surprisingly does state what emitter is used in the Olight iXV Ti keychain flashlight, though I am completely unfamiliar with it. They say it’s a “CSP LED.” Anyway we can see the tests below and know what we need to know.
The new-to-me emitter is paired with a TIR optic.
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
Olight went with this new/unknown LED, but it’s nice to note that the CCT is around 5100K. That’s great! Perfectly acceptably great. Thank you Olight! The downside is that the CRI is not great, but still above what I typically just straight out call “low CRI.” This one clocks in around 75 CRI, which is probably “low to middle” CRI.
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.
I love this type beam profile – the nearly solid circle of uniform brightness – the Olight Warrior 3 and Warrior 3S and Warrior M2R Pro all have similar profiles, and it’s great to see it in this small light.
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
- Nice titanium construction
- Very simple user interface
- 5100K output!
- Great beam profile
What I don’t like
- Low to medium CRI
- Battery is completely inaccessible
Notes
- This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
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This would be perfect with an sst20