Olight I1R EOS Flashlight Review

The Olight I1R EOS is a keychain flashlight that runs on an internal cell, and offers onboard charging. Read on for thoughts and photos!

Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Olight I1R EOS Flashlight product page.

Versions

There is only one version of this light.

Price

MSRP is $16.99.

Short Review

This is a fun little light, with nice reeding that allows easy operation. I like the full package, but with low was a little lower.

Long Review

The Big Table

Olight i1R EOS
Emitter:	Philips LUXEON TX
Price in USD at publication time:	$16.99
Cell:	Internal
Runtime	–
LVP?	No
Switch Type:	Twisty
On-Board Charging?	Yes
Chargetime
Power off Charge Port with no Cell?	–
Claimed Lumens (lm)	130
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	180 (138.5% of claim)^
Claimed Throw (m)	54
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	48lux @ 4.078m = 798cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	56.5 (104.6% of claim)^
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’s Included

Olight I1R
Charge cable (USB to micro-USB)
Manual

The cell is internal, and not removable (but is included).

Package and Manual

This package continues the trend of Olight’s “new” packaging. It’s serialized and sealed with a tear strip. It’s also very slim overall, which I appreciate.

A small white box with “i1R EOS Tiny Rechargeable LED Keychain Light” printed on it, showing an image of a black cylindrical keychain flashlight, placed on weathered wooden planks.

A white rectangular box with a QR code and the words LEARN MORE printed near the bottom, photographed vertically against a weathered wooden background.

A white product box for an Olight keychain flashlight stands upright on weathered wooden boards. The back label shows product information, technical details, specifications, and a barcode.

A white box features a black barcode and the number 05210734 printed below it, resting on a weathered wooden surface with visible grain and gaps between the planks.

The light is held securely by this tray. That clear plastic tab at the top allows separation of the back, where the manual and cable are stored.

The manual is good. This is a simple light, but the manual does a good job describing things with pictures and text. Quite thorough.

A printed user manual for the Olight i1R EOS flashlight, showing product specifications, operation instructions, a diagram, and charging details, resting on a wooden surface.

Instruction sheet for a flashlight on a wooden surface, showing diagrams for operation, warnings, warranty, battery info, customer support contacts, QR codes, and compliance details. Text and graphics are printed in black on white paper.

Build Quality and Disassembly

Most of the small lights I have like this are brass. So the first thing I noticed when I picked this one up is that it’s very light. But being surprisingly lightweight isn’t an indication of poor build quality. In fact, it’s welcome in this small keychain light.

Something I’ve already mentioned that I’ll say again that I like about this light: the reeding on both the head and tail. This promotes great grip and allows easy twisting of the light for switching between off and the two modes.

A small black cylindrical object labeled Nitecore standing upright on a weathered wooden surface with blurred horizontal planks in the background.

A small black flashlight with a keyring attachment stands upright on a weathered wooden surface with sunlight casting shadows across the planks.

A small black Olight flashlight stands upright on a weathered wooden surface with blurred outdoor surroundings in the background.

A small black cylindrical object with a keychain loop on top is standing upright on a weathered wooden surface with sunlight and shadows.

The body has the cell encapsulated, and there’s a brass button coming off that. The head has aluminum contact points, and the positive contact is actually a button that allows switching between high and low. The threads on the body are unanodized but there is no physical connection with the positive terminal until the light is actually on. Ie, there shouldn’t be any parasitic drain. The positive terminal is surprisingly ever so slightly springy.

Two small cylindrical metal objects lie parallel on a weathered wooden surface, both with one end facing the camera. The left cylinder shows a white circular center, while the right one has a dark, hollow opening.

Two small cylindrical objects with metal ends, possibly batteries or flashlight components, are lying on a rough wooden surface with a blurred background.

Size

Officially 41mm x 14mm, and 12g. This is a tiny light.

A two-dollar U.S. bill clipped to a wooden surface with a black binder clip, showing Thomas Jeffersons portrait and bill details clearly.

A US two-dollar bill with a hole punched through its left side is placed on a weathered wooden surface. The bill features the portrait of Thomas Jefferson.

A black USB flash drive is placed horizontally across the portrait of Thomas Jefferson on a two dollar bill, both lying on a wooden surface.

Here’s how it stacks up against the Lumintop Tool AAA, the Maratac PCL, Mecarmy Illuminex-3, and the Convoy S2+.

This light is essentially the same size as just about all the 10180 lights.

Three batteries of different sizes are lying horizontally on a wooden surface, viewed from the positive terminal end. The focus is on the batteries, while the background is blurred.

A small black flashlight and a small brass flashlight are standing upright side by side on a wooden surface with a blurred background.

Retention

There’s only one option for attaching to the I1R. That’s the split ring, that comes installed on the tail of the light. It’s a very small split ring, but still sticks out a little past the body of the light. It is removable.

Unfortunately, the peg that this attaches to is not removable. That means the light will not tailstand at all, which is a little frustrating. I’d love for this to be a quick release, but that’s probably a bit much to hope for.

Power

The cell built into the light isn’t named so far as I can see, but it’s a Li-Ion cell, most likely a 10180. Common 10180 cells are around 70mAh. The cell can not be replaced.

Here’s a runtime on High. The output seems to track with cell voltage fairly obviously, and with the light also having no LVP, this is a simple driver. I’d like to see at least a short amount of time at a steady output, and I’d certainly like to have LVP.

My meter can’t reliably pick up 5 lumens, so the runtime on Low (which I did perform) was full of useless data.

Charging

As you’d expect with an internal, non-replaceable cell, this light has onboard charging. This is done by micro-USB. The port is hidden under the head on the body, and the head must be removed fully to charge the light.

The charge graph looks great and gives us an indication that the cell is actually around 75mAh as we expected. Charging finishes within the 1h15m that Olight claims.

User Interface and Operation

The light is a twisty. It’s very simple to operate too. Twist for Low. Twist tighter for High. Loosen from High for Low. Loosen from Low for off. That’s it.
The grip for this light is well thought out, and helpful

Modes

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
High	130	20m	179	0.22
Low	5	7h	6	~

LED and Beam

The emitter is a Philips LUXEON TX, which is the same as in the I3T. It’s a fine emitter, but a little cool for my tasks with this light. The reflector isn’t a reflector, it’s a TIR. Possibly my favorite type TIR, too – the beam is tight (but not throwy) and gives a good spotlight with sharp edges. You might want something more floody if you’re using it on your keys, but I think it’s very good as it is.

I do with that Low was a little lower, even though it’s rated at 5 lumens.

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.

A white door with vertical panels is illuminated by two overlapping circles of bright light. A hand holding a cylindrical object, possibly a flashlight, appears at the bottom of the image.

A flashlight beam is shining on a white paneled door in a dark room. The beam creates a bright circular spot with softer edges and some light spill to the left. Text reading ZEROAIR.WORDPRESS.COM is visible on the left side.

Random Comparisons and Competitive Options

Here’s a relevantly filtered page on parametrek.com. There are many twisty 10180 lights. This one’s nice (?) because the cell is internal, and one less thing you have to futz with. That also means it’s not replaceable.

Conclusion

What I like

Light weight and size
Charging is good
I like the beam profile

What I don’t like

Low isn’t low enough for me
Tint is too cool
No tailstanding because of the unremovable peg for the split-ring

Notes

This light was provided by Olight for review. I was not paid to write this review.
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