Review: Olight X7R (Flood Light, 12000 Lumens, USB C Charging)

Budda

Enlightened
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Nov 30, 2009
Messages
590
Location
Italy
I received the X7R from Olight for the review.
The review is still ongoing, there are still some data and plots that I need to elaborate, as well as thermographic videos. The review will be kept updated as the new data is available.

The X7R is the upgraded version of the Olight's famous X7 flood light. While the X7R conserves size and some design elements of the X7, there are some changes:

  • the max output is increased from 9000 (X7) to 12000 lumens (X7R),
  • the X7R is powered from a not removable battery pack (4 x 18650 3000mAh),
  • it is possible to recharge the integrated battery pack via USB-C port,
  • there is a LED under the switch, actioned by a motion sensor,
  • there is a lanyard attachment,
  • there is a proximity sensor that causes the output to decrease when the frontal part of the LEDs are distant less than 20 cm from an object.


The X7R Comes in this box
Olight_X7R_01.jpg

Olight_X7R_02.jpg

Olight_X7R_03.jpg


Inside the box: X7R, USB power supply (max output 4A), USB C cable, Lanyard, sheath, manual.
Olight_X7R_22.jpg


The X7R (129 mm in length, 68 mm width at the head and 52 mm at the tailcap, weight 665g)
Olight_X7R_04.jpg

Olight_X7R_05.jpg


Some finger grooves
Olight_X7R_14.jpg


Vertical millings on the body
Olight_X7R_16.jpg


The hidden lanyard attachment point
Olight_X7R_12.jpg

Olight_X7R_13.jpg


The head with the 3 XHP70 emitters. Under the blue bezel there is some light blue GITD powder
Olight_X7R_06.jpg

Olight_X7R_07.jpg

Olight_X7R_11.jpg


The tailcap is flat and now hosts the USB C port for charging the light. To access the port you need to twist the tailcap (the milling on the tailcap do help the grip since it is required some strength to activate the mechanism).
Olight_X7R_08.jpg

Olight_X7R_15.jpg

Olight_X7R_17.jpg

Olight_X7R_23.gif


All in the X7R is glued and can't be untwisted or unscrewed. The only removable thing I see is this screw at the tailcap.
Olight_X7R_09.jpg



The electronic switch now features a LED underneath it that works both as a locator and a battery gauge.


The cordura pouch.
Olight_X7R_18.jpg

Olight_X7R_19.jpg

Olight_X7R_20.jpg


I always like holsters: they protect the lights and IMHO makes the more comfortable to carry, and so to use. In this regard, the sheath is well done: has a plastic D-ring and is MOLLE compatible
In case you need to fit the pouch on wider belts, you can cut and unstitch the blue wire
Olight_X7R_21.jpg



Compared with the Old X7 the dimentions are basically the same
Olight_X7R_33.jpg



UI
The UI is the same as the one of the X7:
A single click turns the light on – off.
To change level when the light is on keep pressed the switch, and the light will cycle low, medium, high mode, in loop.
From off a long click will activate moonlight mode.
To access Turbo, make a double click. To access TurboS, make a double click when you are in Turbo mode.
A triple click will activate strobe mode.
Has memory only for moonlight, low, med and hi modes. Turbo and TurboS will be "remembered" as high mode.
From off, keep pressed until the light turns on and off to activate electronic lockout.

But now some extra features:

  • When the light is charging, a led near the USB C port will glow red if the charging is in progress, green when finished. The glow is quite dim and can be seen only when standing on the port.
Olight_X7R_30.jpg



  • The LED under the switch is activated by a motion sensor: if you pick up the light (first pic below), wave it, or simply bump on the table (seond pic below)where the light rests, it will activate and glow in a breathing pattern (from off it ramps up in intensity, then decreases slowly, in loop) and will turn off after a few seconds of inactivity.
Olight_X7R_31.gif
Olight_X7R_32.gif




  • When the Light is on the LED under the switch will glow red when batteries are running low.
  • When you get the head closer than 20 cm to an object, and you are on a high output, the output will be reduced and the light will return at its original output when the object is removed from the proximity of the head.




Beamshots, 100 meters
Olight_X7R_24.jpg

Olight_X7R_25.jpg

Olight_X7R_26.jpg

Olight_X7R_27.jpg

Olight_X7R_28.jpg

Olight_X7R_29.jpg


Compared to the X7, the extra 3000ish lumens help the flood light to gain a bit more of throw, but overall the X7R remains a great flood light with a wide beam.
No surprises here from the 3 XHP70s in small relfectors. The spill as you can see comes out almost perpendicurlarly from the light, enlighting well your walking plane.
Like the X7, the tint is between a CW and a NW.



Output and runtime
Olight_X7R_Output.png

Olight_X7R_Runtime1.png

Olight_X7R_Runtime2.png

Olight_X7R_Runtime3.png

Olight_X7R_Runtime4.png

Olight_X7R_Runtime5.png

Olight_X7R_Runtime6.png



Preliminary Thermal Analysis




My thoughts
The light is well built and finished, as you would expect from a light of this price.
How good is the upgrade from the X7 to the X7R, beside the increased max output?
Not only fixes a few minor flaws of its predecessor:

  • The lacking lanyard attachment now it is present and can be hidden when not in use,
  • The less visible side LED that indicated low battery now is in plain sight under the switch.
And introduces other improvements:

  • motion activated locator,
  • proximity sensor,
  • integrated fast charging of the battery pack (equivalent of 1A per battery) with a not proprietary connector that still provides IPX7 waterproofness (the X7R is still submersible) thanks to the cool and practical "disappearing" cover.

The main difference from the X7 is the integrated and not removable/swappable battery pack.
This makes both an advantage, making the recharging aspect much more convenient (since it is more probable for you to access a USB power supply than a 18650 charger with 4 slots), but you can't swap batteries when they are empty. For example, when I am driving down the road for beamshot, It is for me more likely to charge it in the car with a normal cigar plug USB charger, than charge the 4 18650 cells in the old X7R. Still, when the batteries run out or I need a set of fresh cells for new beamshots or simply to have again the max performance, I can't do that.
About the USB power supply: the provided one has a rated output of 4Amps, which should provide around 1Amp for each battery (a bit more than 3 hours for a full charge of completely discharged cells), using less potent power supply will lead to longer charging times.
Personally, I am not worried about the breakdown of the cells in a not removable battery pack: unless you have a problem with them, they will still be good for years and by the time they would need to be replaced, you would probably opt for going for the new flood flashlight, capable of 15-20-25 thousands lumens.
The USB C connector is a novelty as a charging port for a flashlight, but it allows the passage of more current (making the charging faster) and it is a not proprietary port.

I'd like the X7R to have an indicator for the charging process: I'd like to know at what point the charging I'm at (10? 30? 90? 99?).
I'd like to see the X7R come in a warm / HICRI version.

Thanks to: AntoLed for the camera help, the thermal camera, the luxmeter; Zampa for the tripod.
 
Last edited:

Chaitanya

Banned
Joined
Jun 22, 2014
Messages
182
Location
Pune(India)
Nice to see USB-C being adopted with new flashlights. That's a right step forward towards universal connector for charging devices.
 

Keitho

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 7, 2017
Messages
781
Location
CO, USA
Nice review, thanks for all that work. Seems like a very nice light for police and rescue departments that don't want to fiddle with batteries. Some of those "R" features might sell some folks--I like Olight's direction and vision. I'm enjoying my brand new X7VN 70.2 way too much, so it is hard for me to imagine paying $280 for an X7R when only $55 more gets you the 21,000 lumens and driver VNX2.
 

Budda

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 30, 2009
Messages
590
Location
Italy
I finished the testing on both of my X7R Samples.
They are consistent as far as output goes, very consistent... except for the TurboS mode. One model has 12'062 lumens, the other 10'449 lumens. On the other levels, the difference is below 100 lumens.

As I saw in other reviews, like the one of Maukka, it looks as there are around samples that varies in the TurboS output for 1-2000 lumens at the max output.

Given this difference, all my plots and measurement have been re-done using the sample which gave the higher output and shorter runtimes (For example, the 10'449 sample had more gentle stepdown curve in TurboS mode).



Olight_X7R_Runtime3.png


Olight_X7R_Runtime4.png
 
Last edited:

flashflood

Enlightened
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
Messages
608
Buyer beware: this is NOT real USB-C. It does not work with USB-C Power Delivery chargers. It is just a USB-C-shaped plug that, in my testing so far, does not work with any charger except the bundled one. Really disappointing, because I'm trying to move everything to USB PD so I don't need 20 different chargers.
 
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