On Flashlight Reviews (and some Olight PL Mini thoughts)

I recently sold a friend some Olight PL Mini lights. He's LEO and wanted them for testing as a low cost alternative to the more popular options. Here's some choice quotes of his first impressions:

First impressions, its small, bright AF, fits tight and the body housing feels well made. The QD are thin and feels chincy[SIC]. The cable should be longer, its only about a 2 ft cord so charging while the light is on the gun on a bedside table will be more difficult. The biggest issue I have is the switch. The switch is TERRIBLE and I dont understand how no one talked about it

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The switch is a button, and they basically designed a little ear on a pivot near the top of the light to swing down and activate the actual button. It is designed as a momentary type switch that if you press down and release a little micro controller toggles the light. when held the mc acts as a momentary toggle. The issue is that the switch mechanism is exposed and uses a little rubber triangle to act as the rebound for the switch. The levered switch is short and sharp so you REALLY have to push the switch button to activate and deactivate

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I plan on removing some of the rubber to try and make the switch easier to use but wanted to play with it a little more stock first. It is a PAIN IN THE [REDACTED] to toggle when Im doing drills. It feels like they did not ask people who actually train with lights and deploy them regularly. They just looked at other designs and asked consumers with no real world experience what they thought they would like. The light feels really unnatural to turn on/off when drawing and holstering, that coupled with the really stiff shitty levered switch button makes it difficult to use well. Now, if your plan is to put it on a gun and turn it on before looking down a hallway and never having to toggle on/off to move tactically, it will work fine but thats not me

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I didn't bother watching all the youtube reviews he mentioned but I did check out some written reviews and it seems like people are reviewing it as a flashlight, instead of how it performs at its intended task. I'd like to make this post as a call to reviewers to please review a light as its intended to be used, and give your opinion as an expert in the field. That's why people are reading reviews, because they don't know everything and know that they don't, they look to someone that does and trust your opinion so share it!

It seems most reviews, even the good ones, focus on photos of the product and maybe some runtime or output tests. If you're lucky there's a short paragraph at the end that goes over some positives and rapidly glosses over negatives. Now, this thread isn't about biased reviews or shilling, we all know that's unacceptable. Neither is this about the experts that have specific expertise and equipment and focus on that as their niche, CRI, PWM measuring or legitimate output data for example. I'm also not writing this to criticize any of our great reviewers as they contribute lots to the community and double checking the manufacturer's claimed numbers is an unfortunate necessity, I'm very grateful there are reviewers that do that.

This is simply a request, or even a vote of confidence, for reviewers to share more of their opinions.You guys look at hundreds of lights, tell us how you FEEL about it! If you go diving, take that divelight underwater with you. If you work in a club, try out the UV light for a bit before using it. Use that headlamp for a couple weeks and tell us how it was. Don't just take some photos, stick it on a shoebox (or questionable PVC tube ) and post a graph.

Of course many of you will disagree. I'm sure over half of the review readers are just there for the numbers. That's OK. Myself, I gave up on reading reviews (unless there's some specific piece of data I'm looking for) because they're just so boring. Why can't they be an enjoyable read? I'd love to read a review that takes the approach of a persuasive essay "I like this light and you will too, here's why". Or of course, the opposite. The quotes above are great, forget the light and whether it's good or bad, I enjoyed learning how an expert looks at a light of this sort and his thoughts. I want more like it.

Well, that is interesting. I find the Mini's design so much better than the Surefire XC1 that I sold my Surefire.

I am not intentionally hard on my gear, nor am I putting 100's of repetitions/cycle on my light, but you can buy three Mini's for the price of one XC1.

I think many police officers might be better served with a dedicated grip switch. The ultimate answer to all question is "it depends". Context is everything.

The mini is a small concealed carry WML vs the PL2 which is more of a duty light.

I have a holster made by Last Line Of Defense that allows the light to be charged without removing it from the holster. It is very convenient. I think Olight should make a rechargeable version of the full sized PL2 Valkyrie.