# Olight M22 Warrior- Review



## FlashLion (Aug 12, 2013)

Hello
This is one of the brightest 1x18650 flashlights from Olight.
Excellent heat dissipating design provides high efficiency.



 
First impression-There are beautiful cooling fins on the entire head;It has a smooth reflector with larger diameter than
the normal 1x18650 light;Thick stainless steel crown bezel.


 
Anodizing is excellent everywhere on the body without gaps and scratches.Beautiful matte black type III hard anodizing.
Nice polished stainless steel bezel.
M22 can be found also with black coated bezel.


 


 
Olight M22 Warrior comes in nice small plastic case.


 


 
The case contains-the M22 flashlight,interesting semi-hard holster,very useful diffuser,adapter(carrier) for using 2xCR123A batteries,long sturdy lanyard,3 spare O-ring,spare switch cap-it is even glow in the dark,user's manual and warranty card.Sometimes comes and with two CR123A batteries.


 


 
The case is very convenient for carrying spare batteries,diffuser and filters,well protected and organized. 
There are optional accessories such as weapon mount,color filters,tactical remote switch. 


 
I found it not easy for use.There are holes at the top and bottom of the holster and it is made of semi-hard rubber.It's not easy to put the flashlight in it(actually mine is too narrow),mounting it to my backpack is also not easy.It has one pocket on each side.Good to carry batteries,knives or smaller flashlights.
I prefer a maximum closed holster(to protect the glass from dust and impact),easy to attach to backpack. 


 




*Now let see the technical specifications from Olight:*

-Aluminum body with anti-scratching type III Hard anodization.
-Dimension: (L)144mm , (Head) D41mm, (Tube)D25mm
-Weight 146 g (without battery)
-LED Cree XM-L2
-Battery: 2xCR123A OR 1x18650 Rechargeable Battery
-Reflector: Smooth Reflector
-Lens: Tough ultra-clear tempered glass,with anti-reflective coating.
-Three output modes: High 950Lm(1h),Mid 250Lm(3h), Low 20Lm(30h)
-Beam intensity 23,256 cd
-Maximum Throw 305m
-Waterproof IPX8
-Impact Resistance 2m











The cooling fins are very smooth,beveled to avoid sharp edges.The whole body of the flashlight is very well made.No bad edges for my hand.


 
The pocket clip is good serious sturdy clip,very well attached and locked by the tactical ring.Accidental detaching is not possible.


 
The tail switch is forward clicky with momentary on activating.
M22 can't be used in candle mode(tail standing) because the switch is too protrude and there is not enough periphery around it.
But this makes it easy to use.The switch itself is just right hardness-not too stiff,not too loose.


 
The tactical grip ring is metallic,securely locked in place-no free moving,rotating.Some people prefer to remove the ring,but I don't recommend that,because the tactical grip ring is very important for the good stable grip.
There's no sharp edges around the switch.


 


 


 
Olight M22 is equipped with LED Cree XM-L2.


 
Anti reflective coated,ultra clear glass.
The LED is perfectly centered to provides maximum concentrated spot in the beam. 










 
M22 uses a special red sealing O-ring for the glass lens.It is not regular circular cut.It is C shape and seals he glass in front,back and side position.
Also provides excellent impact protection.
The bezel is thicker than usual and also helps for better protection on the glass lens and reflector.
Can be used also for tactical purposes and self defense.








The flashlight body can be disassembled into three main parts.




The screw threads on the head side are square cut,very well made with smooth screwing.




Screw threads on the tail cap are also square cut.They are anodized excellently for better resistance and lock-out is possible here,to prevent accidental activating the light.The O-rings are well greased,the anodized thread is also greased for smooth screwing.




The battery tube is thinner than expected for a flashlight with so thick bezel and maximum power of 950 lumens.
Actually the cooling fins have a large cooling surface and they take out the heat very successfully.
The thinner walls make the flashlight lightweight and it is very comfortable to carry and if it is gun mounted.
There is a spring at the head,to protect the battery and driver board from impact.
There is enough space for thick protected batteries like Sanyo 18650 protected.







*Excellent performance with a Keeppower 3400mAh protected battery.*
















Thanks to the Wide smooth reflector,the beam has very good concentrated hotspot with good smooth spill.
The light from the XM-L2 LED used in my sample is cool white with yellowish tint,visible mwhen compared to other whiter(cooler) XM-L2 lights.





*User Interface*
M22 has very nice simple UI.
Three constant lighting modes and one flashing-strobe.
Low-Medium-High lighting mode can be selected by twisting the head.
Fully press the tail switch to turn ON/OFF.
When turning OFF,the last used mode will be memorized(instantly-no need to wait 3 sec.)

M22 uses forward tactical switch and that is also used in the UI.
From OFF - single half pressing activates last used mode;
- double half pressing activates High mode;
- triple half pressing activates strobe;
Fully press(click) to lock the mode.
I like the quick access to High and Strobe,but to do this the light should be in OFF position(because we use momentary ON for controlling the driver).

Something that I miss here is possibility of using the momentary ON for signaling.It is just impossible in this flashlight.

Current draw measurements-input current
Battery Keeppower 3400
U=4.197V
I high=2.85A
I mid=760mA
I low=71mA

*Discharge test
*
Sanyo 2600 Vs Keeppower 3400




The value of the step down is a little different because the curve is calculated by the percentage of the initial brightness.

*High-Medium-Low* in percentages










Beamshots

1meter, 1/20sec , WB locked








Lumintop TD16, XTAR B20, Klarus ST11, Klarus XT11, 52mm SMO XM-L, C8 XM-L U3, C8 XP-G2
















5 meters, 1/6sec, WB locked
Fluorescent room lighting, Olight M22, Lumintop TD16, XTAR B20, Klarus ST11, Klarus XT11, 52mm SMO XM-L, C8 XM-L U3, C8 XP-G2






















Olight M22 with diffuser.




Outdoor Beamshots
Olight M22 Low-Mid-High




Olight M22 Low-Mid-High Diffused




*Comparison to other lights
*The place where I took this pictures is great.There is a tree on the right that help us to see how wide is the beam.This tree also has different colored leaves.We can see the difference in the color reproducing between the light from these flashlights.





Some of the other flashlights




The grip is very good thanks to the tactical ring.M22 is shorter than I expected,but is sufficiently handy.










*Video*


As usual in my new reviews I test the flashlights in the river.
Olight M22 successfully passed the test.:thumbsup:


 


 






 





In conclusion I can say that the Olight M22 is excellent flashlight if you need powerful well throwing flashlight with nice big,smooth reflector in comfortable size.
There are some cons personally for me that I already described above,but they are absolutely not a deal breaker.This flashlight is recommended for every flashaholic.







*Thanks for Reading!
*



-Special thanks to Olight and their distributor for providing M22 Warrior for review.-


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## Andrey_Nikolov (Aug 12, 2013)

Тhank You for this wonderful review!


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## markr6 (Aug 13, 2013)

Damn why did I sell mine?!?!!? I really miss this light. I was impressed most by the quality.


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## foxxkat (Aug 13, 2013)

love the outdoor/grass backdrop for the review :goodjob:

i still have the old M20 and loving it.


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## tobrien (Aug 13, 2013)

absolutely phenomenal work!


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## FlashLion (Aug 13, 2013)

tobrien said:


> absolutely phenomenal work!


Thank you!:thanks:
I work hard to give the best in this reviews and will add also video and runtime info when possible.


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## FlashLion (Aug 13, 2013)

foxxkat said:


> love the outdoor/grass backdrop for the review :goodjob:
> 
> i still have the old M20 and loving it.


Thank you!
Glad you like it.


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## tobrien (Aug 13, 2013)

FlashLion said:


> Thank you!:thanks:
> I work hard to give the best in this reviews and will add also video and runtime info when possible.



well you certainly succeed


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## 880arm (Aug 13, 2013)

Very excellent review. Great detail and photo work FlashLion!


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## FlashLion (Aug 15, 2013)

880arm said:


> Very excellent review. Great detail and photo work FlashLion!


Thanks!
Video added.


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## Confederate (Aug 16, 2013)

I love my Olight M20S 320 lumens light, but it boasts a 600 hour runtime at the lowest setting. Later, the lumens and runtime numbers changed on this same model, so I'm a bit taken back by that. Anyway, the M22 is undoubtedly a rugged light, but its lowest setting runtime is pathetic. I have a Klarus XT11 and ST11, and both have excellent low lumen runtimes and blinding top blast settings. In my flashlights, I want bright OTF and I want a low setting I can read by...forever. Low runtime rates are a bummer for whatever setting, particularly the lowest setting. 

As I said in a recent post, I use the lowest setting on my Olight M20S to let the cat out at night and it's strong enough to read by when my wife wants the lights out. Fifteen lumens is too high. Ten lumens is too high. One lumen is fine, and I'd like a few hundred hours on that setting as well. The M18 Maverick is 5 lumens for 120 hours, which is so-so, but the M22's lowest setting is only 30 hours at 20 lumens which, again, is too bright and too brief. 

So until Olight gets it down to one lumen at 400+ hours and a side switch, I'll pass. 

They are tough lights, though. The only gripe I have with my M20S is that the light tinge is green. Other than that, it's fine. And 320 lumens isn't much these days.


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## FlashLion (Aug 17, 2013)

Thank you for your comment.
It's impossible one flashlight to serve everywhere.There are different lights for different needs.
Just use the light that is most comfortable to you in the particular case.


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## Confederate (Aug 17, 2013)

Yes, different lights serve different needs; however, as much as I like Olight, I'll take a Klarus XT11 or ST11, which will give me far superior runtimes on LOW setting. The same is probably true of the Nitecore. I'd even take an older M20 with me only because it has superior runtimes on LOW.

The Klarus ST11 and Nightcore SRT7 are my favorites. The former has an advertised 700 hours on its lowest setting. It's not bright, but it's enough to read by in a dark tent!

Thank you, though, for a great review.


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## Rinaldo (Aug 21, 2013)

Confederate said:


> Yes, different lights serve different needs; however, as much as I like Olight, I'll take a Klarus XT11 or ST11, which will give me far superior runtimes on LOW setting. The same is probably true of the Nitecore. I'd even take an older M20 with me only because it has superior runtimes on LOW.
> 
> The Klarus ST11 and Nightcore SRT7 are my favorites. The former has an advertised 700 hours on its lowest setting. It's not bright, but it's enough to read by in a dark tent!
> 
> Thank you, though, for a great review.



An extra battery is an option too


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## maba (Aug 25, 2013)

Great review! Thx :thumbsup:


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## FlashLion (Sep 8, 2013)

I had a free time and tested the runtime of the Olight M22 with two different batteries.
*Sanyo 2600mAh* Vs *Keeppower 3400mAh*





The value of the step down is a little different because the curves are calculated by the percentage of the initial brightness.
*Keeppower 3400* definitely keeps a higher current in the first minutes.


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## bladesmith3 (Jul 20, 2014)

does anyone know how hot to the touch this light gets on turbo? how long can it be comfortably held in your hand without external cooling?


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## F89 (Jul 21, 2014)

bladesmith3 said:


> does anyone know how hot to the touch this light gets on turbo? how long can it be comfortably held in your hand without external cooling?



You can pretty much run it on high for as long as you like without it getting uncomfortable to hold.
I have a heap of fairly similar tactical type lights (Klarus XT11 XML2, Sunwayman T20CS LED swapped from XML to XPG2, Eagletac T200C2, Xeno F42 XML2, Oveready 6P with 219 triple etc etc etc) and I'd have to say this one is a fair stand out and possibly the best in its class and price range.
An awesome light indeed.


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## groutboy_1 (Jul 21, 2014)

I have an Olight M22 Warrior, I like it...Its my #2 go to EDC light. Has a large XML-2 Hotspot with okay long range...Just Large floody hotspot..My #1 EDC light is The Fenix TK15 s2 with its side button dimmer 
Ctrl. , it's 400lm dual- frequency strobe, and of course 400lms with decent throw...#3 goes to the Mag Tac, when it returns from repairs....Bad switch...maybe....But, yes M22 stays fairly mildly warm...Not to bad...Light goes into thermal protection if it senses light has been on to long.....


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## F89 (Jul 21, 2014)

The light has a timed step down from high but it's quite reasonable I should have mentioned, however I find in use you can give it good runs on high with little worry about heat.
This light has a nice beam shape with wide spill and good compromise of throw and flood. The only lights in my collection that are similar single 18650 tactical style that out throw it are my Xeno F42 XML2 neutral white and my Sunwayman T20C2 with XPG2 R5 3C warm/neutral tint which are about the same lux and noticeably brighter in the hot spot than the M22.


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## bladesmith3 (Jul 21, 2014)

I ordered the m22. I walk the dog late at night and here in Colorado there are hungry critters that think dog tastes like chicken. lol. I like a tactical size light that I can keep on high without making my hand cook like bacon and attract even hungrier critters.


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## groutboy_1 (Jul 21, 2014)

bladesmith3 said:


> I ordered the m22. I walk the dog late at night and here in Colorado there are hungry critters that think dog tastes like chicken. lol. I like a tactical size light that I can keep on high without making my hand cook like bacon and attract even hungrier critters.



Seeing that your in a somewhat" pro-2a state", far out side the CCCP/ Eastern Bloc States. (Re: Where Local Law Enforcement represents the deceased critters, and most likily would charge the human for animal cruelty....) I suggest a large caliber wheelgun , or auto...With taclight support...Anything larger than a" chupacabra, approaching Sasquatch size". May require something even larger...A Safari rifle...


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## F89 (Jul 21, 2014)

bladesmith3 said:


> I ordered the m22. I walk the dog late at night and here in Colorado there are hungry critters that think dog tastes like chicken. lol. I like a tactical size light that I can keep on high without making my hand cook like bacon and attract even hungrier critters.



I think you'll be happy with this one, it makes a great (dog) walking light.
The M22 has a wider spill than most similar lights but still plenty of throw and the UI is great. You can run it on low or medium while walking and easily access high via a couple of button taps rather than having to scroll through head loosen/tighten movements (which isn't so bad as it is).
The light feels great in hand too and even though it has a slightly larger head diameter than some in its class it also pocket carries really comfortably too due to the nice taper of the head.


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## groutboy_1 (Jul 22, 2014)

Kind of looks like this! Beamshot at about 10ft at 950lms! And Picture of main EDC a TK15 s2


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## bladesmith3 (Jul 25, 2014)

well I did get mine and I walked the dog with it last night and it got vey uncomfortable to hold after about 15 mins........ My dream light would be......... I want a light this size and power but with a much better heat sink. I know that is a lot to ask but if anyone has an idea then I have an open mind. BTW. thanks for the help. also. I took my new xm-l2 m21 and they are so close in performance and beam that I could not tell them apart except by the head shape. both heated at the same rate. the tailcap readings on both lights are exactly the same. so it seems that the m22 is not driven harder then the m21. both drivers are exactly the same.


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## groutboy_1 (Jul 26, 2014)

bladesmith3 said:


> well I did get mine and I walked the dog with it last night and it got vey uncomfortable to hold after about 15 mins........ My dream light would be......... I want a light this size and power but with a much better heat sink. I know that is a lot to ask but if anyone has an idea then I have an open mind. BTW. thanks for the help. also. I took my new xm-l2 m21 and they are so close in performance and beam that I could not tell them apart except by the head shape. both heated at the same rate. the tailcap readings on both lights are exactly the same. so it seems that the m22 is not driven harder then the m21. both drivers are exactly the same.



Tac lights are really (currently) designed to be used in only short intervals at there high/turbo settings... The low settings are designed for longer term use....950Lms May not be ideal for walking the dog vs a lower setting....Then ramping up to a higher level when danger, or an issue arises....Or get a large Olight as a main carry light and the M22 in high mode as the go to light.....


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## F89 (Jul 27, 2014)

bladesmith3 said:


> well I did get mine and I walked the dog with it last night and it got vey uncomfortable to hold after about 15 mins........ My dream light would be......... I want a light this size and power but with a much better heat sink. I know that is a lot to ask but if anyone has an idea then I have an open mind. BTW. thanks for the help. also. I took my new xm-l2 m21 and they are so close in performance and beam that I could not tell them apart except by the head shape. both heated at the same rate. the tailcap readings on both lights are exactly the same. so it seems that the m22 is not driven harder then the m21. both drivers are exactly the same.



Not good to hear of your disappointment. I've never had a heat problem with mine even on walks of about 2hours, but I do generally switch between medium and high rather than stay on high the whole time.
I think you need something beefier, the M3X would be a good choice but for walking I think you'd probably benefit from a diffuser to make the beam more suitable. It does have decent spill but would definitely perform better with a diffuser for walking.
I really like my M3X and I have used it on walks and while I don't have a diffuser it would be better for the task.
For what it's worth my favourite walking lights are: Oveready 6P with 219 triple, Eagletac SX25L3 with MTG2, Fenix TK75 and PD32UE, I'll also have to ad the Olight M22.
Yes, I have too many lights


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## Stainz (Jul 27, 2014)

This excellent review sold me on the M22 - and I already had an M21 - and I am a 'Surefire' lover. Last fall saw me adding two acknowledged serious 'throwers' - SF M3LT-S and LB3T - but I still grab the M22 for the night noise investigations. It's overkill for the middle of the night bathroom trips - aka cat hairball avoidance. My SF 6PX Pro and T1A share that glorious duty. Also, the M22 introduced me to the 18650. Now I have several such users! A belated thanks for that, too... there can be happiness beyond CR123's!!

Stainz


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## CSSA (Jul 29, 2014)

I live in Colorado in the foothills and also walk dogs at night in an area frequented by Cougars (the type with 4 legs). My preferred flashlight is one of the Four Sevens Maelstrom line. The Maelstrom X-10 while outdated is my preferred light. The MMU-HD comes out when there is an active Cougar in the area, but it is a little large except when I really want to reach out and see what is behind the shining eyes watching us. Currently I'm debating upgrading to a MMU-X, but would rather have a low power below 150 Lumens, or an MM-X with burst mode. 

I normally scan the meadow and bordering scrub oak at full power then drop back to a low power (something around 5 lumens preferred) for most of the walk unless I want to investigate something. This works well for me and preserves night vision as well as battery life between recharging.

I also have a .45 GLOCK on by belt should Mr. Kitty become overly interested.


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## glidagida (Feb 14, 2015)

Just ordered mine here in Aus. for a hunting light.

The beam looks ideal with a good bright centre and a floody outer. Narrow bright beams can be a pain to actually locate your animals at night.

A bonus for the M22 is the rat tail remote which takes advantage of the memory function plus ability to add red/green filters depending on the prey.

I have researched for a while and it is relatively difficult to get all those in a reasonably priced package with good throw.


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## D6859 (Feb 15, 2015)

Confederate said:


> As I said in a recent post, I use the lowest setting on my Olight M20S to let the cat out at night and it's strong enough to read by when my wife wants the lights out. Fifteen lumens is too high. Ten lumens is too high. One lumen is fine, and I'd like a few hundred hours on that setting as well. The M18 Maverick is 5 lumens for 120 hours, which is so-so, but the M22's lowest setting is only 30 hours at 20 lumens which, again, is too bright and too brief.



I think that M22 is really aimed for tactical/security personnel. If you were working as a guard you wouldn't want to have a light that might come on at firefly level when the light is suddenly needed. Especially when both of your hands are needed to change the mode (unless you double tap). The low level is enough for checking dark corners and blinding people and you can be sure it'll do that when you turn on the light regardless which mode is one that it is last used. If the light should have low low mode, I think it should be hidden, otherwise the light would be just like an EDC with too large head to really EDC.

I noticed going to the bathroom after waking up in the middle of the night with the low mode on really hurts my eyes, but this is the light that I keep near to my bed for the uninvited guests, not for trips to bathroom.

Flashlion: Excellent work with the pictures! I've seen your work earlier but these pictures (especially gifs) are like a new level. Thank you!


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