Olight Baton 4 Premium Flashlight Review
The Olight Baton 4 Premium flashlight features a Luminus SST-40 and a metal-covered e-switch and still offers the neat “wireless” charging case! Read on!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a referral link to the Olight Baton 4 Premium flashlight product page.
Versions
The Olight Baton 4 Premium flashlight has been available for a while, and there are many versions (at least 8) available. There are non-premium versions available too, in even more colorways!
Price
This Premium Edition sells for $94.99 and can be bought through this referral link.
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What’s Included
- Olight Baton 4 Premium Flashlight
- Cell (customized 16340)
- “Wireless” charge case
- Charge cable (USB to USB-C)
- Cleaning cloth
- Lanyard
- Lanyard installation helper
- Manual and papers
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
I have tested a Baton 4 Premium edition before. The only difference in this version and that version is that this one is orange! That makes it better, of course.
I have a bunch of Olight Batons. I have some 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.
This orange version is great – better than the green (though that gold-colored clip really did set the green off!). Between this Baton 4 (premium and non premium), there have been some updated from the Baton 3. On the outside, not much has changed on the build. It’s still a small 16340 flashlight, with a two-way clip, a TIR optic, and an e-switch. All of these are good things. The old Batons were, by and large, very solid lights. You might have noticed that this version is updated in name and some features. Specifically, the switch is no longer silicone (or rubber or whatever – soft). The Olight Baton 4 Premium flashlight has a metal cover!
And not just a metal cover. Beside the switch are indicators, very similar to what we’ve seen on the bigger Olights lately. I appreciate congruity among a brand’s products, and this gets Olight in line!
Inside, the Olight Baton 4 Premium flashlight is like recent generations. The head has a bunch of contacts so that it can run the proprietary customized 16340. The tail has a spring.
Whatever else you might say about the lights, they’re good enough. The build quality is great. The user interface is great. The capacity is great (enough for EDC). The output: great, especially on this new edition.
Size and Comps
Weight Baton 4 Standard: 1.85oz / 52.5g (Battery Included); Baton 4 Premium: 6.84oz / 194g (Charging Case and Battery Included)
Dimension Flashlight: 2.48 x 0.83 x 0.83 in (63 x 21 x 21 mm); Charging Case: 2.56 x 1.26 x 3.46 in (65 x 32 x 88 mm)
If the flashlight can headstand, I’ll show it here. If it can tailstand, I’ll also show that here!
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 in the photo above, my Standard Reference Material (SRM) flashlight is the Hanko Machine Works Trident, an 18350 light. 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 to the inexpensive Convoy S2+, another great SRM.
Retention and Carry
We can speak about the Olight Baton 4 Premium 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.
There’s also a lanyard hole in the pocket clip.
Because of the two-way clip, the light can be used on a cap, too.
The tailcap has the standard magnetic charging base, which can still be used as a means to secure the light.
The included lanyard also includes a little puller. This is excessive but is actually useful – weaving that loop into the clip can be a hassle!
Also, of course, there’s the “wireless charging case,” which we’ll cover more below.
The case has a lanyard connection point too, which is a very nice touch.
Power and Runtime
The Olight Baton 4 Premium flashlight (and also the not premium edition) is powered by a single lithium-ion cell. It’s a customized 16340 (included), with both positive and negative terminals on the positive end. A “normal” (or “non-customized”) 16340 will not work in this light.
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.
Here are a few runtime tests. Pretty incredible output for a 16340 light! This is held for around a minute, which is also nice to see. At around that point, the temperature starts to increase enough that you really shouldn’t want that level of output to continue out of a light this small. The stepdown is to High level. Low voltage protection is observed, with a switch warning (red) and the light finally turning off.
I added a type of test to this review that I didn’t on the previous Premium test. This time, I performed a runtime on the highest mode with the light connected in side the open charging case. The output is approximately the same (just a touch lower) but the duration (after stepdown) is much longer.
It seems like the light shuts off around 2.6V on bench power, but with a cell I think it’s much higher according to the testing above.
Those new indicators (in this case, the ones on the right side of the switch) display the power level, as follows:
Three green dots: ≥60%
Two green dots: 10-60%
One green dot: 5-10%
One red dot: <5%
Charging
Also, a feature of the Olight Baton 4 Premium flashlight is the wireless charge case. This case appears to be essentially the same as the previous generation Premium Edition wireless charging cases. It’s definitely functionally the same.
On the case is a little display that doubles as a button. When the light is inside the case, you can turn the light on and off with this button.
For charging of the actual case, Olight provides an appropriate cable, which is USB to USB-C.
This means that with the Premium Edition, you do not get the standard MCC charger. I have no doubt that if you get the non-Premium (ie just the light), then you’ll get an MCC charger. However, and you’re probably not going to like this suggestion…. If you’re buying this light, I think you should actually buy two. Buy a Premium Edition to get the case. And buy a regular edition not for the MCC charger, but so you can rotate out your Baton 3 lights in the case!
This case states a capacity of 5000mAh, and that’s feasible if the cell inside there is a 21700. I don’t think there are any 5000mAh 18650 cells, though.
I tested charging two ways. First, just regular charging with a MCC charger. One of those isn’t included. I also tested charging the light and the case from USB-C to USB-C. Charging that way is very quick, but not terribly informative. Specifically, it’s hard to say what current the flashlight cell gets – probably not the full 3A (but if so, that’s too much.) Probably, the case is charged and then the flashlight charges from the case.
I didn’t disassemble the charging case. If you want to see the disassembly of a previous generation, check out this other review.
Again, I’ll reiterate how cool it would be if the cell inside this charging case were removable! If it could be pulled out and popped into one of the bigger Batons or a Seeker (if it’s 21700), that’d be so great.
So we’re all caught up:
- The Baton 4 has a typical magnetic charge base.
- The Baton 4 Wireless Case has (for charging the Baton 4) a charging base just like on the MCC chargers Olight has used for ages.
- The Wireless case itself is charged by USB-C.
A couple more points about the case, and I’ll do it here since I really don’t know where else. Yes, the light can be in an on state while in the case and the case open. Closing the case will turn off the light, though. I am completely unclear how this works….
Powerbank
One more thing about this wireless charging case. The USB-C charging port is not just for charging the built-in battery. The case can also be used as a powerbank!
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 1300/600/300 | 1.5m/2.5m/73m | 1298 (0s) 1272 (30s) |
3.00 |
| High | 600/300/60 | 7m/72m/16m | 569 | 0.94 |
| Medium | 60 | 8h | 50 | 0.05 |
| Low | 12 | 35h | 12 | 16.1mA |
| Moon | 0.5 | 30d | 0.09 | 0.5mA |
Pulse Width Modulation
There’s some sawtooth going on in the lower 3 modes, but I’m hesitant to call this PWM directly.
Click here to 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 4 Premium flashlight has an e-switch on the head end of the side of the body. The switch cover is metal (specifically stainless steel), and that’s a massive advance here. Yes, ultimately it’s not that big of a deal, but I still prefer this. All the way 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. Above, the top indicates the output level. The bottom indicates the battery level.
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 user interface table! You’ll know this user interface from years. The S1R Baton II (and others, obviously) uses the same user interface.
| 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.
There’s a second way to operate this light, too. The wireless charging case has a button.
On the case above, where there’s a little display saying “45” – that’s a switch! When the Baton 4 is inside this case, that button (on the case!) acts as the e-switch for (fully!) controlling the Baton 4. This switch will work with some of the other batons, but not as many as the case itself will charge.
When you close the case, the light shuts off automatically.
Modes while using the light with the case open are a little different. It’s not quite “ramping,” but it’s also not exactly discrete modes like the light has outside of the case. I would prefer the modes to be exactly the same.
LED and Beam
Olight has gone with the usual setup for the Baton 4: A press-fit bezel, a TIR optic, and a cool white CCT (“6000K-7000K”).
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
In practice, the CCT isn’t really over 6000K – that’s great! On the lower modes, it’s even neutral (ish) (at around 5400K). The output is a bit greenish, though, with the positive Duv demonstrating that.
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 Baton 4 Premium flashlight is another great iteration of the 16340-sized Baton series of lights. I love the updated switch (I strongly prefer metal covers!) and the indicators beside the switch are welcome too. I don’t care about the “wireless charging” case, but I can see how it’d be useful in a bag or something. So I support it, even though it’s not specifically useful to me. And obviously, orange is great!
The Big Table
| Olight Baton 4 Premium Flashlight | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Luminus SST-40 |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $94.99 |
| Cell: | 1×16340 |
| 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 | All except Turbo |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 1300 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 1272 (97.8% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 6.36 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 170 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 332lux @ 4.884m = 7919cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 178.0 (104.7% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | 5700-7000 |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 5500-5900 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, as usual
- Full package includes charging and cell
- The user interface retains neat features from previous models, like the 3 or 9-minute timer
- Output does hit the claimed specification
- Wireless case works suitably
- Case can be used for controlling the light output (and it shuts off when the case closes)
What I don’t like
- Proprietary cells don’t work in bay chargers
- Cool white tint
- Positive Duv (greenish beam)
Notes
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