Olight Baton Turbo Flashlight Review

The Olight Baton Turbo flashlight is a very familiar light with an outstanding new feature: great throw! This baton has a smooth e-switch, and indicating LEDs!

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Official Specs and Features

Here’s a referral link to the Olight Baton Turbo flashlight product page.

Versions

The Olight Baton Turbo flashlight is available in black (seen here) or green. Either body color has the same cool white emitter.

Price

The Olight Baton Turbo flashlight bundle price at release is $58.49. I believe that the price will go up north of $90 after the introductory price.

Olight is releasing a bunch of other stuff soon, so stay tuned and click through the other recent posts to see those items!

A Patreon Aside

As an aside before this (maybe onslaught?) of Olight reviews (there are two more coming immediately), I’d love to put out a reminder that I have a Patreon page. I love the support I get on Patreon and from time to time, Patreon members get special members-only reviews! I also take requests there! I’d love it if you went there and joined!

https://www.patreon.com/zeroair

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What’s Included

• Olight Baton Turbo flashlight
• Cell (customized 18350)
• Charge cable
• Lanyard
• CR123 adapter
• Carry case
• Manual and papers

Package and Manual

Build Quality and Disassembly

This Olight Baton Turbo flashlight is very clearly a Baton. On the other hand, it uses a 18350 cell (not the traditional Baton 16340). That’s a good improvement that I fully support!

I have a bunch of Olight Batons (I mean, a bunch of Olight Batons). Some I have reviewed, sure, but I have so many that I haven’t even reviewed. And a few of those batons are just about my most used lights – stock emitter and all. I am a big fan of the Olight Baton series. A big fan. A normal-sized fan with great fervor for the Baton series. And this throw version of the Baton fits right in with my collection…

Build quality on this light is great, as expected!

Below you can see one difference in the Olight Baton Turbo flashlight compared to newer Batons. More on that later, but first, you can see the spring in the head and anodized threads.

The tail end has a spring too – in fact, dual springs!

Size and Comps

Length: 3.22 in / 81.7 mm
Body Width: 0.94 in / 24 mm
Head Width: 1.14 in / 29 mm
3.21 oz / 91g (Including Battery)

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 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

We can speak about the Olight Baton Turbo flashlight having two carry methods. First is the pocket clip, which is mostly the same as previous generations, but with small tweaks.

It’s a two-way clip, which I don’t often love, but this is a reasonable implementation – being two-way doesn’t cause too much extra size.

Because of the two-way clip, the light can be used on a cap, too.

There’s also a lanyard hole in the tailcap of the light. (Unlike previous Batons, the pocket clip does not seem to have a lanyard hole!)

A magnet is used for connecting the charge base, and that magnet is plenty strong to hold the light on some surfaces.

Power and Runtime

The Olight Baton Turbo flashlight is powered by a single lithium-ion cell. It’s a customized 18350, with both positive and negative terminals on the positive end. A “normal” (or “non-customized”)button-top 18350 will work in this light but not for charging. That’s a refreshing change, even if you won’t be able to charge the non-proprietary 18350.

Not only that but the positive terminal is recessed into a plastic shroud. This shroud will prevent charging of the cell in most if not all bay chargers.

The cell goes into this light “backward” – with the negative end toward the head.

One big note here, and something I bet Olight will change in future iterations. There’s a battery icon to the right of the switch (you can see it below.) That icon does not represent the cell orientation. It’s just to show you that those LED indicators near the switch are for the battery level.

Olight includes an adapter so you can still use a CR123 cell if you wish.

Here are a few runtime tests. High output is not at all the point of the Baton Turbo. The point here is throw, and I’d say this light accomplishes that remarkably.

Those new indicators (in this case, the ones on the right side of the switch) display the power level, as follows:

Four green dots: ≥75%
Three green dots: 50-75%
Two green dots: 10-25%
One red dot: <10%

One annoying note is that those indicator LEDs (all 8 of them) have some pretty distracting PWM.

Someone in the comments asked about using a proprietary Olight 16340 from lights in the Baton series. That’s a great question! Here’s what I found:

Batons older than the Baton 4 have cells with a smaller positive contact. The Baton 4 has a bigger positive contact. The Baton 4 cell works in the Baton Turbo. Anything older than the Baton 4 can not be used in the Baton Turbo!

Charging

Like many other Olights, the Olight Baton Turbo flashlight uses Olight’s very common proprietary magnetic charging connector.

Modes and Currents

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
Turbo	1000-300	2.5m+92m	1040 (0s) 994 (30s)	3.10
High	300-60	103m+18m	285 (0s) 284 (30s)	0.49
Medium	60	10h	53	0.08
Low	10	60h	10	[low]
Moonlight	<1	50d	0.03	[low]

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.

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 Baton Turbo flashlight has an e-switch on the head end of the side of the body.  The switch cover is metal, and I really love it. It’s bigger than that of the Baton 4, for example.

Yes, ultimately it’s not that big of a deal, but I still prefer this. Down to my Convoys, and up to my BOSSes, I prefer a metal switch.

The switch area has a couple of indicators, too. These indicators aren’t technically on the switch but in the surrounding bit of black plastic. One (the left side) indicates the output level. The right side indicates the battery level. It also gains an indicator on each side of the switch, for 8 total. In the photo above, you can see on the “left” side (or bottom of the switch in the photo) there are two indicators. Moon and Low both indicate as “one” and four being lit indicates turbo (technically level 5).

This switch is a bit more flush than the slight dome of previous (non-metal) switches. I like it! If you place the light “switch-down” (clip-up, ayy), the switch can not be pressed by mashing the light against a table. (Ie it doesn’t protrude that much or that way.)

Here’s a UI table! You’ll know this user interface for years. The S1R Baton II (and others, obviously) uses the same UI.

State	Action	Result
Off	Click	On (mode memory)^
On	Hold (release at desired mode)	Mode cycle (Moon, L, M, H) (no Turbo)
Off	Hold	Moonlight
Any	Double click	Turbo
Any	Triple click	Strobe
Strobe	Click	Off
Strobe	Hold	Previous Mode
Off	Long hold (past Moonlight)	Lockout
Lockout	Hold	Unlock to Moonlight
On	Click and Hold (quickly)^^	Timer (Single blink: 3 minutes, Double blink: 9 minutes)
Timer	Click and Hold (quickly)^^	Switch between 3 and 9-minute timers.

^ Moon, Low, Medium, and High are memorized.  Turbo is memorized as High.
^^ The manual states this as “Double click and hold” but I think it should be  “click and hold” quickly.  Any form of double click ends in Turbo or Strobe.  The manual hasn’t been corrected yet, after all these years of this model.

LED and Beam

Olight has gone with the usual setup for the Baton Turbo:  A press-fit bezel and a cool white CCT (“6500K-7500K”). A big difference for this Baton Turbo is that it uses a reflector! The emitter here is apparently the new Luminus SFT25R. It’s a round emitting area, which probably plays into the great beam shape and throw!

The beam is really much tighter than indicated in the photo below.

LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)

CCT is in fact cool but maybe not as cool as Olight claimed (6500K-7500K). The coolest I read was around 7100K. CRI is low and Duv is positive. I would still not call this a bad combination – the light is very much made for EDC-throw and this suits.

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.

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.

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

Summary and Conclusion

I’m pleased that this light is available. The Baton series is one of my favorites, and this one has (at least) two things I love: a tight hotspot and 18350. There are other things, too – I like reflectors. This e-switch is great. I look forward to other body colors, but both black and green are nice, too. The cost is even reasonable!

The Big Table

Olight Baton Turbo Flashlight
Emitter:	Luminus SFT25R “High Performance Round LED” (Cool White)
Price in USD at publication time:	$58.49 as part of a bundle
Cell:	1×18350
Runtime Graphs
LVP?	Yes
Switch Type:	E-Switch
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)	1000
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	994 (99.4% of claim)^
Candela per Lumen	65.04
Claimed Throw (m)	510
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	2020lux @ 5.94m = 71273cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	533.9 (104.7% of claim)^
Claimed CCT	6500-7500
Measured CCT Range (K)	6300-7100 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

• Throw!
• Uses 18350
• Good indicators near the switch
• Metal e-switch cover
• Familiar user interface

What I don’t like

• Very cool white
• Proprietary cell
• Proprietary charging

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Notes

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