Olight Prowess Bidirectional Flashlight Review
The Olight Prowess bidirectional flashlight is a new design that offers cool white for high output and warm white for “lantern-style” usage. Very neat! Read on!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a referral link to the Olight Prowess bidirectional flashlight product page.
Versions
I see just this one version of the Olight Prowess bidirectional flashlight right now.
Price
What’s Included
I forgot to get the holster in the photo above. It’s included in the regular package, too!
- Olight Prowess bidirectional flashlight
- Olight 5000mAh 21700 (customized, proprietary)
- Charging cable
- Holster
- Wall mount for holster (with screws, stickers, etc)
- USB-C charging base
- Manual etc
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
The Olight Prowess bidirectional flashlight has a fairly standard “flashlight” look. But it’s hiding a neat trick! Under the head (or on the rear of the head, however you want to say it) is an array of warm white emitters!
The build quality here is great – no surprises. More on the switches later but I do find the mechanical switch that selects front/rear output to be very stiff!
I appreciate this diamond body milling pattern. It really reminds me of the FidgetHQ Aonic flashlight.
There’s not much disassembly of the Olight Prowess bidirectional flashlight that can be done (at least non-destructively). Above you can see the tailcap button (which has some side-to-side movement but is not really springy) and also the dual springy contacts in the head.
Size and Comps
Weight 9.49 oz (269 g) (Including Battery)
Length 5.63 in (143 mm)
Head Diameter 1.93 in (49 mm)
If the flashlight will headstand, I’ll show it here (usually the third photo). If the flashlight will tailstand, I’ll also show that (usually in the fourth photo).
Here’s the test light with the venerable Convoy S2+. The version below is a custom laser-engraved Convoy S2+ host by GadgetConnections.com. I did a full post on an engraved orange host right here! Or just go straight to GadgetConnections.com to buy your Convoy S2+ now!
Also above is the light beside a TorchLAB BOSS 35, an 18350 light. I reviewed the aluminum version of that light in both 35 and 70 formats. I also reviewed that specific edition, the “Oveready BOSS FT Collector Vintage Brass” 35. I love it!
Retention and Carry
Olight intends for the Prowess bidirectional flashlight to be carried in the holster. There’s really no other way. The holster is a plastic affair, and very solid.
There’s no pocket clip on the light but the holster of course has a belt attachment. This is not movable.
The charging port is accessible through the bottom, if you use the older style. It doesn’t allow use of the USB-C charging base.
You’ll need to put the light into the holster with the switches out this way. It’ll fit another way but it won’t be comfortable.
An accessory to the holster is this wall-mount bracket. This has a sticky back as well as screws for secure mounting on a wall.
That’s it! No other carry options are included.
Power and Runtime
The Olight Prowess bidirectional flashlight 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 – the positive end toward the head.
Here are runtime tests on the three highest outputs. Turbo steps down completely in under 2 minutes, but it takes over 1 minute to begin the dramatic decline. Once it’s stepped down, the output is exceptionally stable at around 600 or so lumens. A final stepdown to around 130 lumens happens at ~150 minutes.
And here’s a runtime on the highest mode of the rear lights. I am not calibrated for such an emitter setup, so I just (maybe naively?) set the output to what Olight claims. It’s bright – I can easily believe it’s 800 lumens!
Charging
The Olight Prowess bidirectional flashlight does have Olight’s normal charging connections on the end. That’s not the intended way or the best way to charge this light though. The best way is through this charging base.
It’s a completely separate piece and has a USB-C connector.
The light rests in this base very securely through a magnetic connection. In fact, you could safely carry the light in this setup if you wished (just not in the plastic holster!)
This charging base can also be mounted to things by means of the tripod threaded hole (and/) or the grippy base. There’s also a sticky sticker for this circle, too!
I still need to confirm but superficially the base of this light is different from the base of other Olights with built-in charging. I do not think this charger will work for previous-generation Olights.
A USB to USB-C cable is included. Olight’s old-style charger base is not included.
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 5000-1200 | 3m+140m | 4404 (0s) 4372 (30s) |
9.24 |
| High | 1200-300 | 150m+30m | 1074 (0s) 1071 (30s) |
1.43 |
| Med | 300 | 10h | 299 | 0.37 |
| Low | 50 | 50h | 55 | 0.06 |
| Moon | 5 | 20d | 6.4 | [low] |
| Turbo “Reverse Light” | 800-600-400 | 20m+135m+55m | – | 1.71 |
| Low “Reverse Light” | 2 | 20d | – | 0.02 |
Pulse Width Modulation
None of the modes use PWM! The order below is lowest to highest first from the front (5) and then from the rear (2).
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 user interface of this Prowess is solid. First, there’s a toggle to select front or rear output – the front has five lines (seen below) that go “more forward (and also point outward from the front of the light) and the rear light has three lights that appear to be more floody (they are!) (and also point toward the rear of the light).
After that is the clicky e-switch.
Here’s a user interface table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off (Selector forward) | Click | Front on (Memory) |
| Off (Selector forward) | Hold | Front Moon |
| Off | Long Hold (>2s) | Moon of selected output then Lockout |
| Locked | Long Hold (>1s) | Unlock to Moon of selected output |
| Any (Selector forward) | Double click | Turbo |
| Any (Selector forward) | Triple click | Strobe |
| On | Click | Off |
| On | Hold | LMH advance |
| On (Selector rearward) | Hold | Stepless ramping (Rear light) |
| Rear ≥ 70% brightness | Double Click | Direct to Moon^ |
| Rear < 70% brightness | Double Click | Direct to Turbo^ |
^ This is really a weird implementation to “direct to” for the rear light.
The switch also indicates how much power is left. There’s a little dot right in the center that can indicate in red, orange, and green. It doesn’t seem to indicate while in Moonlight, though. The colors are as follows:
Green: ≥60% power
Orange: 10-60% power
Red: 5-10% power
Red blinking: <5% power
LED and Beam
Olight doesn’t say what any of the emitters are. You can get a good look at the front ones below, though. The optic used is shallow and provides a clear view. They’re probably Osram P9 emitters.
I think these front emitters are ripe for an emitter swap. The bezel is not glued so access should be reasonably easy.
The other array of emitters is warm white, at around 3000K. This seems to be a COB-style array and is very floody.
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
The order below is lowest to highest first from the front (5) and then from the rear (2). CCT for the front emitter array starts neutral with low CRI and ends (on Turbo, that is) as a little cooler (but still “neutral” at around 5600K) and low CRI.
The rear emitter array also has surprisingly low CRI but has a very pleasant CCT of around 3000K. I do appreciate that the Duv is negative, so there’s no green at all in the rear emitter output!
Beamshots
These beamshots are always with 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. The order below is lowest to highest first from the front (5) and then from the rear (2).
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. These photos are taken around 18 inches from the door. The order below is lowest to highest first from the front (5) and then from the rear (2).
I compare everything to the KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!
Summary and Conclusion
I find the Olight Prowess bidirectional flashlight to be very novel, and I love novel things. The warm white emitters are great for lantern-style use and also have very nice (if low CRI) output. Those front six emitters provide incredibly high output (on Turbo) and a good range of other modes. I like the user interface (it’s new but familiar) and the selector switch is firm enough that you will definitely not flip it accidentally. This is a great new style of light by Olight!
The Big Table
| Olight Prowess | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Unstated Cool white (6) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $139.99 |
| Cell: | 1×21700 |
| Runtime Graphs | |
| LVP? | Yes |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (mA): | ? |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | USB-C (charging base) |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | “With cell: all modes without cell: no modes” |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 5000 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 4372 (87.4% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 3.75 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 245 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 645lux @ 5.451m = 19165cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 276.9 (113% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | – |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 5400-5600 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 I like
- Neat lantern setup
- Warm white lantern
- User interface is familiar
- Bezel is not glued (emitter swaps should be possible)
- Uses USB-C charging
What I don’t like
- Low CRI for both emitter arrays
- Seems to only be able to charge from the charging base (and not the old style chargers)
Notes
- This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
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