Olight Warrior Ultra Flashlight Review
The Olight Warrior Ultra flashlight has a new body pattern, “OAL” (Olight aluminum) for added toughness, and a few other upgrades, including higher output!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a referral link to the Olight Warrior Ultra flashlight product page.
Versions
There are three versions of the Olight Warrior Ultra flashlight. They differ just in body color, though – Olive Green (seen here), Navy, and Gray.
Price
The Olight Warrior Ultra flashlight is now selling for $139.99. This price includes a (new version) Olight Sphere, too!
What’s Included
- Olight Warrior Ultra Flashlight
- Olight 5000mAh Proprietary 21700
- Nylon Carry Pouch
- Charge cable (USB to proprietary magnetic)
- Manual, etc
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
This is the Ultra version of the Olight Warrior. There have been many Warriors, including the Olight Warrior 3S (in Dream Blue) seen here not too long ago. Physically, the lights are very similar! The Olight Warrior Ultra flashlight body has a more grippy spiral design, and the switch area has been updated. But the appointments are basically the same otherwise.
And that’s fine – the other Warriors (including the 3S) were great lights. Not much change was needed! Of course, this version also gets the “OAL” – Olight aluminum, too.
We still have the fairly standard tailcap setup here from Olight. The threads are so smooth, too. Just over 6 full turns are required for tightening the tailcap – quite long threads. One notable change here is that the threads are not anodized!
Both the head and tail have springs – that button on the tailcap is springy. Also, note the bit on the head end that makes the proprietary cell work. The spring is for positive contact, and the ring around it is for negative contact on the cell.
Size and Comps
Weight (g / oz) 178g/6.28oz (including battery)
Length (mm / in) 140/5.51
Body Diameter (mm / in) 29/1.14
If the flashlight will headstand, I’ll show it here. If the flashlight will tailstand, I’ll also show that here too!
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!
In the photo above, you may note that the SRM (standard reference material) flashlight for comparison has changed! I used a TorchLAB BOSS 35 for ages. Now what you can see as the 18350 SRM is the Hanko Machine Works Trident. While I have not reviewed or tested the Gunner Grip version seen here, I have tested a Hanko Machine Works Trident Total Tesseract in brass. I love the Trident, and it’s a striking contrast next to the inexpensive Convoy S2+, which also makes a great standard reference material.
Below you can see two products Olight is releasing today – the Olight Warrior Ultra flashlight and the Olight Oclip Ultra flashlight!
Retention and Carry
First off, I’ll mention the pocket clip. Not only does it fit on the head or tail end of the light, but it’s also a “two-way” friction fit clip. The clip is long and well-suited for this light. This clip gets the updated area just behind the mouth, too, which probably helps with retention.
There’s a nice nylon pouch, too. Both ends have a drainage hole but do not offer access to the light itself. The pouch opens not with velcro but with a little quick-release.
Still probably the highest-quality nylon pouch I’ve seen with a light. I love this thing. In fact, I use it with other lights, too!
The Olight Warrior Ultra flashlight does not ship with a lanyard.
Power and Runtime
The Olight Warrior Ultra 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 675 lumens (as claimed).
Charging
As mentioned, the Olight Warrior Ultra flashlight has onboard charging via a USB to a magnetic connector.
The name of this one is the MCC 1A/1.5A/2A, which is noteworthy since Olight makes a number of these charge bases.
Here’s a charge test – the charge rate goes up to around 2A and takes around 4 hours. That stepdown at 180 minutes is probably where the indicator turns green.
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 2500/32%/10% | 2.5m/162m/39m | 2511 (0s) 2316 (30s) |
Couldn’t test |
| High | 800/31% | 168m/39m | 760 (0s) 753(30s) |
1.39 |
| Stepdown from High/Turbo | – | – | 296 | 0.46 |
| Med | 200 | 13h | 214 | 0.33 |
| Low | 15 | 130h | 17 | 0.02 |
| Moon | 1 | 55d | 0.68 | [low] |
Interesting that the proximity sensor stepdown mode is not the same as medium!
Pulse Width Modulation
There’s no PWM on any mode.
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
There are two switches on the Olight Warrior Ultra flashlight. First is the metal tail switch, which is also used in charging. One of the new features of this version is that the tail switch has texture. This really does make a difference for grip.
I love the two-stage switch on these 21700 lights
Next is the side e-switch. How vastly the look of this switch has been updated makes the previous versions seem practically primitive.
This e-switch on the side of the head is flat and pleasantly large. On both sides of the switch are four green LEDs. The right side indicates the cell charge level. The four on the left indicate which output level is selected.
Here’s a user interface table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Click Side Switch | On (Mode Memory; Moonlight can be memorized but Turbo can not) |
| Off | Hold Side Switch | Moon |
| Off | Double Click Side Switch | Turbo |
| Any | Triple Click Side Switch | Strobe |
| On | Click Side Switch | Off |
| On | Hold Side Switch | Mode Advance (L>M>H) (Moon and Turbo are excluded from the cycle) |
| Turbo | Double Click Side Switch | Return to previous mode (High and Medium both return to Medium) |
| Off | Long Hold Side Switch | Lockout (Technically “Moon then lockout”) |
| Lockout | Click Side Switch | Indicator around Side Switch blink red for 2s to indicate lockout |
| Lockout | Hold Side Switch | Unlock to Moonlight |
| Any | Hold (“half-press”) Tail Switch | Medium (in Config 1, default) Turbo (in Config 2) |
| Any | Click Tail Switch | Turbo (in Config 1) Strobe (in Config 2) |
| Off | Hold Tail Switch, Click Side Switch | Switch between Config 1 and 2 (there is no confirmation. You can differentiate by actuating the tail switch and observing the mode.) |
| Within 5 seconds after proximity sensor stepdown | Double click Side Switch | Proximity sensor is disabled until the light is turned off. |
One huge upgrade that Olight has been making (included on the Warrior 3S and this Warrior Ultra as well) is that the proximity sensor can be disabled! Here’s how. With the light on, cause the proximity sensor to activate. Within 5 seconds from the light stepping down, double click. The sensor is now disabled for this session. Double clicking will enter Turbo output, but you can cycle the modes, and the proximity sensor will still be disabled. Turning the light off resets the proximity sensor!
LED and Beam
Olight doesn’t mention what emitter is used in the Olight Warrior Ultra flashlight. Whatever is used has no dome, so the throw should be good.
Also, the Olight Warrior Ultra flashlight uses a TIR, which further accentuates the already throwy emitter profile.
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
Here’s a CRI report for all modes. What can we say about this? No surprise that turbo turns cooler in the Kelvin range. Another thing we can say is that it has a decidedly low CRI (around 70). The third important point is “How are the reds” – the very negative R9 tells us this. And a final point is that the Duv being positive (and really a “not small” positive number) indicates there’s enough green here that you’ll probably notice.
CCT (Correlated Color Temperature) refers to the measurement of the color appearance of light, expressed in Kelvins (K), which indicates whether the light is warm (yellowish) or cool (bluish). A lower CCT (below 3000K) is considered warm light, while a higher CCT (above 5000K) gives cooler, bluish light.
CRI (Color Rendering Index) is a measure of how accurately a light source renders colors in comparison to natural sunlight. Scored on a scale from 0 to 100, higher CRI values indicate that colors appear more true to life and vibrant, similar to how they would look under the sun.
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.
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 Olight Warrior Ultra flashlight is not all that different from the Warrior 3S or M2R Pro. I happen to love my two M2R Pro’s… I have orange and the patriot edition. I’m not sure how much the use of OAL (Olight Aluminum) affects the light, but performance is good, the runtimes are good, the output is good, the user interface is good. All these things add up to a great light!
The Big Table
| Olight Warrior Ultra Flashlight | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Luminus SFT70 (probably) (Cool White) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $139.99 |
| Cell: | 1×21700 |
| Runtime Graphs | |
| 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) | 2500 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 2316 (92.6% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 8.66 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 320 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 810lux @ 5.982m = 28985cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 340.5 (106.4% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | – |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 5700-6500 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
- Nice build quality
- Fantastic beam profile
- Great dual switch interface
- Proximity sensor can be disabled
- The new “Fuel Gauge” trickling down from bigger lights to this one is a big positive
- Flat e-switch. This sounds minor, but it’s very pleasant.
What I don’t like
- Proprietary charging
- Customized 21700
- Cool white emitter
Notes
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