Olight Baton 3 Pro Skeleton Flashlight Review
The Olight Baton 3 Pro Skeleton flashlight is orange and has a Halloween skeleton design. Otherwise, it’s the same great Baton 3 Pro as previously tested.
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the Olight Baton 3 Pro Skeleton flashlight product page.
Versions
The Olight Baton 3 Pro rechargeable flashlight is up to quite a few body colors by now. There’s Black, OD Green, Desert Tan, Orange, Purple, White, and of course this Skeleton orange version. Some or all of those are available in neutral white (4000K-5200k) or cool white (5700K-6700K) (seen here.) Copper is also available now!
Price
The Skeleton orange version version seen in this post was $69.99 but is unfortunately sold out. Other versions are still available though, including orange!
What’s Included
- Olight Baton 3 Pro Skeleton flashlight
- Olight 3200mAh 18650
- Velvet Pouch
- Charge cable (USB to proprietary charge base)
- Manual(s)
- L-bracket for wall-mount
- Spare bracket sticker
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
The big point of posting about the Olight Baton 3 Pro Skeleton flashlight is of course, this neat skeleton/bat design on the orange body. Surprisingly I don’t think I’ve reviewed/tested this light in orange but I have tested a few other versions! White, “Silver Ridge“, “Black Lava“, and Forest Green. Those are all great but as an orange fan, it’s hard not to like this one best. (Though I have to tell you, that white version is still a favorite!).
I only just picked this up while looking at these photos – the top here has bats in the shadow! Very neat!
Here’s a detail of the skeleton. Pretty neat, and very suitable for Halloween! I’ll be happy to carry this one year-round, though!
The threads are square-cut and adequately lubed. One thing, in particular, I like about the knurling is that it makes unscrewing the body very easy. There is no [removable] tailcap; to remove the cell, one must hold the head and unscrew the body.
There’s a spring on the head and tail. The tail spring(s?) are for electrical contact and aren’t in any way for impact resistance. The spring on the head is quite stiff, though, so it should provide a reasonable amount of impact resistance.
Size and Comps
Length: 3.99 in (101.4 mm)
Head Diameter: 0.91 in (23 mm)
Body Diameter: 0.91 in (23 mm)
Weight: 3.63 oz (103 g) (Battery Included)
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
This light includes a pocket clip. The pocket clip has a specific place and orientation – just opposite the switch. This is a two-way clip, so technically could be carried bezel up or down, but the only reasonable way is really bezel up. Though the pocket clip is opposite the switch, I didn’t have any problems with accidental activation, and I didn’t tend to lock the light out.
The arms of this clip are much larger than in previous generations, too. This provides a much firmer attachment! In fact, it’s very firm.
The clip has a little hole, too, which is great for lanyard attachment. (Note: no lanyard is included.)
Of course, the base of the Olight Baton 3 Pro Skeleton flashlight is magnetic because of the way this light charges. But that magnetic base also serves as a great connection point for the Baton 3 Pro, too. Forgot to get a photo of that in action, though!
Olight includes a velvet pouch, too. One of these days I’ll conduct a survey to see who uses that pouch! Please let me know.
Power and Runtime
The Olight Baton 3 Pro Skeleton flashlight includes a “proprietary” 18650. There are both positive and negative contacts on the positive end, (and only negative on the negative end). This facilitates onboard charging. These lights will not charge any cells except these specific Olight cells. I say “proprietary” in quotation marks because it’s not the worst type of proprietary. It’ll still charge in bay chargers and would still work in other lights too.
Unlike the previous S2R Baton II, the cell on this Baton fits in the “normal” way – positive (button) toward the head. Despite that, regular button top 18650 cells will not work in this light.
Below you can see the runtime tests for the highest three levels. If you glanced back at any of the other Baton 3 Pro testing posts, you’d note that performance is remarkably similar. That’s one reason these repetitive posts are great. They corroborate data from previous versions!
I do note that output seems a bit lower on this version than on previous versions. I threw in one synthetic runtime in this group chart (and one more at the bottom of this section!)
While the Baton 3 Pro doesn’t seem to necessarily shut off with low voltage protection, the switch does give an indication that the cell voltage is low.
Here you can see two synthetic runtime tests. I tested one mode that is already tested above because I wanted to see how the synthetic system performed. Spoiler: about the same! I also added the next-lowest mode and noted a runtime of 4.5 days! Impressive. Also note, it’s on par with what Olight claims (100 hours). So that’s cool too! Here are those two graphs.
I’m looking at changing this from minutes to hours (or maybe in this case, days). 6200 minutes or 102 hours is around 4.5 days!
Since these are synthetic runtime tests, I don’t really know what to report as the final voltage. I’m still working on many details about this system!
One more note about both these synthetic runtime tests – both of these synthetic runtime tests were performed with a “dummy” 3200mAh 18650 – the same capacity as Olight uses. So this should be a 1:1 comparison.
Charging
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!
Charging proceeds at well over 1A, and the 3200mAh cell is charged in around 4-5 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 | 1500-600 | 2m-177m | 1284 (0s) 1231 (30s) |
3.46 |
| High | 600-120 | 180m-25m | 464 | 0.82 |
| Medium | 120 | 17h | 98 | 0.13 |
| Low | 15 | 100h | 13.9 | 0.01 |
| Moon | 0.5 | 120d | 0.12 | [low] |
These readings support that the output would be slightly lower than in previous generations. The current is lower here!
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. I will say, however, that the fifth mode (Turbo) does seems to have some squiggles which may be PWM. It’s not noticeable, but also supports that Turbo seems a bit lower on this light.
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 3 Pro Skeleton flashlight has an e-switch on the head end of the side of the body. The switch cover has a bit of texture and is proud enough that it’s easy to find. It’s also not so proud or soft that it will easily activate accidentally.
It’s an indicating switch, as I said above, too. It can indicate in green, red, and orange (seen above).
As far as I can tell, this user interface is the same as previous Batons – the S2R Baton II, for example.
Here’s a UI table! The UI is unchanged from the “historical version” of this light. Here’s a UI table!
| 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 “Click and hold” quickly. Any form of double click ends in Turbo or Strobe.
LED and Beam
This version of the Olight Baton 3 Pro flashlight is probably a Luminus SST-40 emitter, just like we saw on the S2R Baton II. But Olight doesn’t say. Either way, that emitter is coupled with a TIR and provides a very pleasant beam profile.
My white copy of the Olight Baton 3 Pro Skeleton flashlight is labeled as CW for “Cool White.”
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
Here’s really the main issue with this emitter. It tends toward green (though I would say less so than previously tested copies). This is more noticeable in the low modes. In the highest couple of levels, it’s trending “ok-ward”, but the positive Duv on the lower modes is not something I look for in an emitter. In fact, on Turbo, the Olight Baton 3 Pro Skeleton flashlight is dead on BBL.
It’s noteworthy though, that the CCT is on average warmer than the range that Olight claims. The CRI that Olight claims on the bezel is 70, but by these tests that number seems a bit optimistic – I’m seeing between 65 and 71 CRI. That’s low!
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
The Big Table
| Olight Baton 3 Pro Skeleton Flashlight | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Luminus SST-40 (Cool White) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $69.99 |
| Cell: | 1×18650 |
| Runtime Graphs | |
| LVP? | Questionable |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (mA): | ? |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | Proprietary Magnetic |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | Lowest 4 modes |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 1500 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 1231 (82.1% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 6.07 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 175 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 330lux @ 5.381m = 9555cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 195.5 (111.7% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | 6500 |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 5800-6600 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
- Build quality is quite good
- I really love the skeleton and bats on this Skeleton edition
- Complete package includes charging and cell
- The user interface retains neat features from previous models, like the 3 or 9-minute timer
- Knurling makes for great in-hand feel and usage
- Cool white is warmer than I would have expected
- Timer feature is neat
What I don’t like
- Proprietary cells are required for inside-light charging
- Green tint
- Very low CRI
- Regular 18650 cells do not work in the light
Notes
- This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
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