Olight ArkPro Nebula Violet Flat Flashlight Review

A new color ArkPro is out! The Olight ArkPro Nebula Violet flat flashlight still features flood and throw, now with a purple body! Read on!

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Official Specs and Features

Here’s a referral link to the Olight ArkPro Nebula Violet Flat flashlight product page.

Versions

Of the Olight ArkPro specifically, there are many body colors. Most of them offer only cool white emitter options, but at least one (matte black) is available in neutral white and cool white, too. The one shown here is not the neutral white version.

There are also two other ArkPro variants: ArkPro Lite and ArkPro Ultra. One of those two is more Lite, the other is more Ultra!

There are three Olight ArkPro Nebula Violet Flat flashlight versions, too – all Nebula Violet, but one plain (as seen here) and two with laser etching on the front.

Price

MSRP for the Olight ArkPro Nebula Violet flat flashlight is $109.99.

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What’s Included

• Olight ArkPro Nebula Violet flat flashlight
• Charging base
• Manual

Package and Manual

Note that this manual is for all three versions of the ArkPro, and I do not like that. I found the manual quite hard to follow! But I’m sure a ton of work was put into it (that’s the only way it could be so confusing).

Here’s one little point about the confusion. The image below implies to me that a light might have all three options. But that’s not the case. Only some of the ArkPro versions have some of these three options.

All of the ArkPros I have gotten for review have these three stickers or covers that have to be removed before the first use. In fact, you also need to attach the light to a charging base (such as the one included) to activate the light. I am not sure you can get the light to reenter this “activation needed” state, but it’d be neat!

Build Quality and Disassembly

The Olight ArkPro Nebula Violet flat flashlight is essentially the same as other ArkPro flashlights I have reviewed. Here’s the Matte Black Cool White version, for example, and the ArkPro Orange and ArkPro Silver. You can view this post mostly for the photos of this Olight ArkPro Nebula Violet Flat flashlight, but the runtimes and most testing is made specifically for this version.

Of course, there’s no cylindrical cell in there to rattle around or be removed, or whatever. The cell is 100% built-in. That’s good and bad, of course. Building the cell in means Olight can get reliable performance, but it also means you can’t change the cell when it wears out in a number of years.

Whatever the case about the battery, the build here is great. I love the anti-roll shape. Not only that, but the Olight ArkPro Matte Black cool white flashlight fits into the pocket where I normally carry an 18650 light in a much more comfortable way.

I have already disassembled an Arkfeld, and I did not do so for the Olight ArkPro Matte Black cool white flashlight version. You’re invited to check out the photos from that review, though. Here’s a link. (Note: I didn’t get too far with disassembly.)

Size and Comps

The Olight ArkPro Nebula Violet flat flashlight is 124mm x 27mm x 16mm and 115g.

Here’s the light in hand:

Here’s the test light with the venerable Convoy S2+. This is a brass version, which is a good bit heavier than aluminum, but has the same dimensions: 24mm in diameter by 117.5mm in length.

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

The Olight ArkPro Nebula Violet flat flashlight has a two-way pocket clip, which is so much better than some earlier edition Arkfeld-type lights. This clip allows great deep carry and has a two-way option. I don’t care at all about the two-way, but I love the deeper carry.

Interestingly, the Olight ArkPro Nebula Violet flat flashlight does not have a lanyard hole in the pocket clip like some previous Ark-type lights.

There’s a magnet in the tail because that’s the way the charger connects. It’s also strong enough to hold the ArkPro.

Power and Runtime

Olight states this as a 2000mAh battery, and that’s perfectly logical. (A Reddit user has confirmed it, too.) I was unable to gain any access to the LiPO, but I did run a couple of output tests. There is a battery indicator surrounding the switch, and it does indicate when the voltage is low. The light finally shuts off, too.

Here’s a bit of data I’ve never included with any of the ArkPro lights. A runtime test for the ultraviolet mode! There’s no “output” axis, just a “here’s how long it runs” really. There’s a big stepdown after a few minutes.

The temperature lines in these charts are included as general context, not precise measurements. The values represent the range (min to max) during testing, but should not be taken as exact readings. A temperature sensor is not always attached to the bezel (or even the hottest spot, assuming that could be defined). Even with ideal placement, too many variables affect temperature to definitively state a specific max value.

Charging

The Olight ArkPro Nebula Violet flat flashlight offers USB-C charging! The charge port is covered by the same type of cover we have seen recently on some of the Oclip lights (for example, the Oclip Pro).

The cover feels metal, and I would guess that the charge port is waterproof, as the hinged door doesn’t have any gaskets.

A second option is available for charging, too! Olight includes this proprietary MCC charger.

That works just fine too, but with USB-C as an option now, I don’t anticipate using this charging base!

I only tested charging with USB-C. USB-C charging works great with A to C and C to C both. Charging completes in about 1.5 hours.

Modes

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens
Turbo – Flood	1500-520	4m+140m	(0s) (30s)
High – Flood	520-100	155m+10m
Med – Flood	100	13h
Low – Flood	15	72h
Moonlight – Flood	1	14d
Turbo – Spot	800-400	4m+130m	(0s) (30s)
High – Spot	400-100	125m+10m
Med – Spot	100	10h
Low – Spot	15	66h
Moonlight  – Spot	1	14d

Pulse Width Modulation

Nothing really to mention here. None of the modes seem to be using PWM.

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 ArkPro Nebula Violet flat flashlight has two switches. Surrounding that e-switch is a selector knob of sorts, which points to either white LED output, ultraviolet, or laser output. Functionally, this is exactly the same as the Arkfeld Pro and Arkfeld Ultra.

They say the LED e-switch is great for thumb use, and I am inclined to agree. There’s a nicely sized pad area for my thumb to rest. The concave around the rotary helps with this, too. But you can use an index finger too.

One big and fantastic update in the ArkPro is the indicators, seen above. They’re in a ring between the rotary and the e-switch. The left side indicates the output level, while the green right side indicates the charge status. Not pictured, but there’s a little illuminated lock icon when the light is put in lockout mode, too!

The second e-switch is this one on the side. It operates (only) the laser.

The action on this laser switch is very low and I like it!

This only applies when the selector is in either LED position. The user interface is the same for flood and spot LEDs. The user interface is really the same for UV and laser, too; it’s just with a separate button.

State	Action	Result
Off	Click	On (mode memory)^
On	Hold (release at desired mode)	Mode cycle (L, M, H) (no Moon or Turbo)
Off	Hold	Moonlight
Any	Double click	Turbo
Any	Triple click	Strobe
Strobe	Click	Off
Strobe	Hold	Previous Mode (or Moonlight, if strobe from off)
Off	Long hold (past Moonlight)	Lockout (indicated by a lock icon near the battery indicator)^
Lockout	Hold	Unlock to Moonlight
On	Click then Click and Hold (quickly)^^	Timer (Single blink: 3 minutes, Double blink: 9 minutes)
Timer	Click then Click and Hold (quickly)^^	Switch between 3- and 9-minute timers.
Any	Click the laser button	Laser on (doesn’t change LED state)
Laser on	Click the laser button	Laser off
Laser on	Turn LED(s) off	LEDs and laser off
UV selected – Off	Click	UV on low
UV on	Hold	Iterate between UV high and low
UV on	Click	Off
Laser off	Hold	Momentary laser (memory)
Laser on	Hold laser button	Iterate between laser high and low

^ Moon, Low, Medium, and High are memorized. Turbo is memorized as High.
^^ The manual doesn’t mention the timers as far as I can see.

LED and Beam

I was certain I’d seen somewhere that Olight designed these emitters themselves, but I can’t find that information now. I’m not totally sure it matters, since we can see the CRI and CCT in the next section. These emitters have the best type of optic for their purpose. The flood emitter has a shallow TIR, and the spot emitter (right, below) has a deep, smooth reflector.

LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)

The CCT for either emitter is cool white. Note that some body colors (black, at least) do offer neutral white as an option. The CRI is also low for both LEDs.

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.

That third row above is the LED on with the green laser on as well.

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

Say whatever you want about the Olight ArkPro Nebula Violet flat flashlight, but it’s definitely a neat little light! The high-capacity battery is a welcome addition, as is a throw emitter. Having laser and UV still built in is a bonus (in particular, that the laser has a dedicated button)! I love that there’s a neutral white option. And finally, I’m pleased that the intro price seems to be a bit lower than it has been in prior releases.

The Big Table

Olight Arkpro Nebula Violet
Emitter:	Unstated
Price in USD at publication time:	$109.99
Cell:	Internal
Runtime Graphs
LVP?	?
Switch Type:	E-Switch
Quiescent Current (mA):	?
On-Board Charging?	Yes
Charge Port Type:	USB-C and Proprietary magnetic
Charge Graph
Power off Charge Port	All modes except turbo of either LED
Claimed Lumens (lm)	Flood: 1500 Spot: 800
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	Flood: 1195 (79.7% of claim)^ Spot: 652 (81.5% of claim)^
Candela per Lumen	Flood: 1.6 Spot: 17
Claimed Throw (m)	Flood: – Spot: 205
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	Flood: 171lux @ 3.965m = 2688cd Spot: 416lux @ 4.953m = 10205cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	Flood: 103.7 Spot: 202.0 (98.5% of claim)^
Claimed CCT	Flood – Spot: –
Measured CCT Range (K)	Flood 6600-7300 Kelvin Spot: 7000-7300 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

• The laser operation was moved out of the main switch
• USB-C charging
• Good throw channel
• Bigger battery
• Little LED icons around the switch
• Great beam shape on the spot emitter
• Neutral white available (in some body colors)

What I don’t like

• Built-in battery
• High CCT
• Low CRI

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Notes

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