# Olight M1X Striker (XM-L2, 2x CR123A/1x 18650, 1000 lumens) Review



## kj2 (Jun 21, 2015)

Olight has released a new light, in their self-defense section. The M1X Striker, which is the successor of the M18 Striker. The M1X shares the same looks, but has more output, modes and improved runtimes. 
They added a side-switch for mode changing.
The stainless steel strike bezel is still present, for defense purposes. Using a XM-L2 cool white led, the M1X has a max of 1000 lumens.

*The packaging:

*The M1X comes in a see-through plastic box, with information and specs printed on it. 




















The M1X comes with a manual, Olight leaflet, CR123 battery magazine, lanyard and spare o-rings. Pocket-clip is already attached to the light. 






*Features and Specifications: *_(given by Olight)

_* Beam Distance: 190m
* Candela: 9,000cd
* Waterproof Rating: IPX8 (waterproof up to 2 meters)
* Impact Rating: 1.5m
* LED: Cree XM-L2 CW
* Compatible Batteries: 2 x CR123A or 1 x 18650
* Dimensions: 136mm (Length), 26mm (Diameter)
* Weight: 80g (excluding batteries)

MSRP: 69.95USD






The M1X steps-down, if needed, after 5 minutes to prevent over-heating. It's very honest from Olight to mention the step-down in the specifications. Most manufactures don't mention it so clearly.

The manual gives information on specs, user interface and more. Always handy to read before usage 

































As you can see, the M1X can headstand but it can't tailstand because of the protruding tail-switch. The pocket-clip is reversible, so you can choose to carry head-up or head-down.
The side-switch features a low-voltage warning led, which lights-up red when it's time to change or charge the battery. The strike-bezel is aggressive, but it won't tear-up your pants. 
Knurling is quite smooth. Most grip I've on the light, comes from the clip. I wish the knurling was more aggressive, so you would've enough grip even when wet or when wearing gloves.
There are small ridges on the side-switch to provide so grip.

It isn't possible to remove the strike bezel, but it's possible to unscrew the whole bezel, which gives you access to the reflector. There is a o-ring to keep water out, but you
do want to make sure, the bezel is tightened.
















Anodizing is quality is good, although my review-sample has some chips. But that happens often with review-samples 
Laser engraving is nicely white and sharp. 












Low-voltage indicator in the side-switch.

*User Interface:

*To turn the light On, fully click the tail-switch. Click again to turn Off. The M1X has mode memory for any mode.
When On, click the side-switch to cycle between modes. Press and hold the side-switch for about one second, to enter Strobe. When you enter Strobe this way, and you would turn Off the light, it will turn On
in Strobe the next time.
From Off you can enter moonlight mode. Press and hold the side-switch and then click the tail-switch.

From Off half press once for momentary, two half presses for High and half press three times for Strobe.






Nicely centered led with smooth reflector.

Tail-switch is easy to operate, because it protrudes. Even in dark, the switch is easy to find. The side-switch can be tricky to find, at night.
The lanyard can be attached to the tailcap.














Dual-springs for extra shock resistance. 

Threads are well cut, and came very well lubed out of the box.









*Size comparison:


*




Olight 18650, Fenix TK12 (TK09), Olight R20, Olight M1X, Fenix PD35

*Indoor Beamshots:
*ISO400, 1/100 sec, f/4.5, auto WB - Canon 500D. Light approx 0.25m / Camera 0.75m away from wall. Eagletac 18650 batteries were used.
M1X moonlight not on photo.












































*Outdoor Beamshots:
*ISO400, 2.5 sec, f/5 - Path about 60 meters deep.
















*Conclusion:

*The M1X is a nice new addition to the Olight line-up. It's very bright and with his metal teeth, bad guys (or girls  ) will probably think twice.
Operation of the light is simple, although you must remember what your last used mode was. Entering Turbo from Off, while you used the Low mode last, is tricky. Two half presses in a stressful situation,
is almost impossible to do. I do like, that you can have Strobe directly from Off. But yet again, that mode has to be last used. A big positive is that you can change the clip position for head-down or up carry.

All-in-all the M1X has received his place in my EDC-rotation. The clips holds on tightly and the strike bezel doesn't tear-up my pants. Because you've such a wide output range with this light,
you can use it for multiple tasks.

_M1X Striker was supplied by Adola for review, on behalf of Olight.


_


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## kj2 (Jun 21, 2015)

Reserved for updates...


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## WarRaven (Jun 21, 2015)

Thanks for the review, well done.

Though this is way too aggressive for a normal Joe like myself I can understand it may be just the ticket for others.

Bizarro beam distortion, that on top of crenelated bezel make sure its in someone else's pocket.

Have a great one.


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## kj2 (Jun 21, 2015)

WarRaven said:


> Thanks for the review, well done.
> 
> Though this is way too aggressive for a normal Joe like myself I can understand it may be just the ticket for others.
> Bizarro beam distortion, that on top of crenelated bezel make sure its in someone else's pocket.
> Have a great one.


Thank you


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## LeafSamurai (Jun 21, 2015)

Thanks for the great review! Have one myself and like the way it's designed with the strike bezel which is suitable for my own use


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## newbie66 (Jun 27, 2015)

Thanks a lot for the review! Love the look of the strike bezel.


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## Joe Talmadge (Jun 28, 2015)

Thanks for the review!

The one perplexing design decision, to me, is the decision to make HIGH instantly accessible from off, rather than TURBO. Can you confirm the manual is correct? Two half presses from off gets you to high, not turbo -- only way to get to turbo is to turn the light on and click the side switch in sequence (or else count on memory mode from off)?

Realize it would add cost, but the other nice thing might be replaceable bezels ... strike bezel at night, lower profile crenelated bezel at other times, maybe...


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## kj2 (Jun 28, 2015)

Joe Talmadge said:


> Thanks for the review!
> 
> The one perplexing design decision, to me, is the decision to make HIGH instantly accessible from off, rather than TURBO. Can you confirm the manual is correct? Two half presses from off gets you to high, not turbo -- only way to get to turbo is to turn the light on and click the side switch in sequence (or else count on memory mode from off)?
> 
> Realize it would add cost, but the other nice thing might be replaceable bezels ... strike bezel at night, lower profile crenelated bezel at other times, maybe...



Checked it. Used High as last used mode. Single half press from Off, gives me High ( of course  ). Two half presses is clearly brighter, so it must be Turbo. 

AFAIK, Olight didn't use a 'Turbo' mode before. Think therefore there is a mis-print between manual and packaging. For example: the M3XS case label says Turbo is the highest mode. The manual talks about High being the highest.

Replaceable bezel would be nice. I can imagine some people don't need a strike bezel, like this one. I'm sure Olight reads this forum/topic, so they maybe can include it with coming lights.


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## Joe Talmadge (Jun 28, 2015)

Thanks for the quick reply! That's what I was hoping, it's a mis-print in the manual. Direct access to high rather than turbo, on a light that has a turbo, didn't seem to make sense.

Replaceable bezel has a lot of uses,to my mind. Low-profile bezel for daily social/work carry, but aggressive bezel for night carry. Low-profile bezel to carry through security checkpoint, switch to aggressive bezel onsite. Low-profile bezel for when I lend the light to my kids. This is what I love about the Klarus XT11 -- it doesn't actually have two bezels, just one crenelated bezel, but you can remove that crenelated bezel and just end up with a smooth bezel underneath.


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## Omenwolf (Jun 28, 2015)

*User Interface:

*To turn the light On, fully click the tail-switch. Click again to turn Off. The M1X has mode memory for any mode, *except for moonlight*.

Mine has mode memory for moonlight.


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## kj2 (Jun 28, 2015)

Omenwolf said:


> *User Interface:
> *To turn the light On, fully click the tail-switch. Click again to turn Off. The M1X has mode memory for any mode, *except for moonlight*.
> Mine has mode memory for moonlight.


That's true. Clearly a mistake. Thanks


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## Novan3 (Jun 28, 2015)

Excellent review.

Was going to buy another Surefire E2D Ultra but this new Olight Striker looks like where the smart monies' at.


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## Javora (Jun 29, 2015)

Great review! Sadly this light would get me fired at work because of the bezel. Otherwise I would buy this light.


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## kj2 (Jun 29, 2015)

Novan3 said:


> Excellent review.
> 
> Was going to buy another Surefire E2D Ultra but this new Olight Striker looks like where the smart monies' at.





Javora said:


> Great review!


Thanks


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## SVT-ROY (Jun 29, 2015)

I have compared the older 800lm M18 vs the M1X this past week. I still prefer the old version. I didn't realize how small the M18 was. Adding lumens added size. It's a dam fine looking light and I do enjoy it! The woman runs the M18 anyway.


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## Novan3 (Jun 29, 2015)

Can you comment on the durability potential of the light?

The last Olight I had, M20-SX, the rubber of the clicky switches developed a rip in less than 2 months of use.


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## kj2 (Jun 29, 2015)

Novan3 said:


> Can you comment on the durability potential of the light?
> 
> The last Olight I had, M20-SX, the rubber of the clicky switches developed a rip in less than 2 months of use.



That's something time will tell. It's not built overly tough, with extra tick walls and heavy switch. I'm sure it can handle some beating but using it 'military' style will probably kill it.


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## jjwolf (Oct 15, 2015)

Great review thanks...aided me in purchasing one!

For me, using the light as my duty AND edc light it's perfect! I just ensure before a shift that i have it on turbo mode ready for any situations. The ability to have what my old Klarus NT10 did on top of a 1000 lumen mode is brilliant.

For real world use as well, the beam pattern to me is near perfect (apart from the odd edges due to the bezel). It seems to have a perfect balance of throwing light a long way with the hotspot area and flooding the surrounding areas with the rest.

I'm well chuffed. And for £70 i got it, a charger, a battery and an LED LENSER a5!


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## kj2 (Oct 15, 2015)

jjwolf said:


> Great review thanks...aided me in purchasing one!


Thanks, glad I could help


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## Prepped (Nov 27, 2015)

Apparently this thing must not have been a hit. It's gone on the Olight website. Shame, because I was about to pick one up.


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## kj2 (Nov 28, 2015)

Prepped said:


> Apparently this thing must not have been a hit. It's gone on the Olight website. Shame, because I was about to pick one up.



Received their new catalog yesterday, and the M1X is still listed in it.


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## DDCKL (Nov 30, 2015)

Thanks for your review! It reinforces my personal findings about the M1X Striker, which happens to be this newbie's first purchase of a "new-gen, hi-tech flashlight" (the last "quality" pocketlight I had was a AAA Maglight from some 15 years ago ...!)

I've had it for about a month now, and I love the UI of the Striker, especially compared to the UI of my Eagletac D25A Clicky Ti! 

As for finding the side mode button in the dark; I align the pocketclip so that the tip points directly at the button ... I slide my thumb down the clip and have never failed to locate the mode button at the end of it 

Looking forward to more of your reviews! Damn, I'm definitely fast tracking myself to flashaholic ownership status!


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## kj2 (Dec 1, 2015)

DDCKL said:


> Thanks for your review! It reinforces my personal findings about the M1X Striker, which happens to be this newbie's first purchase of a "new-gen, hi-tech flashlight" (the last "quality" pocketlight I had was a AAA Maglight from some 15 years ago ...!)
> 
> I've had it for about a month now, and I love the UI of the Striker, especially compared to the UI of my Eagletac D25A Clicky Ti!
> 
> ...



Thanks for reading 
More to come in the coming weeks. Testing the SR Mini II and S2 Baton, at the moment.


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## jetslipper (Feb 26, 2016)

Hello,

Planning to buy this one as my first "branded" light. Not looking for anything fancy, just a relatively small-ish light, and this literally caught my eyes. Anyway, would like to hear some inputs regarding this light compared to the following:

A. Nitecore P12GT
B. Eagletac D25LC2-Clicky
C. Jetbeam EC-R26 or MS-R26

I have read reviews about each of the above lights but I really don't have the expertise or experience to decide which one to buy. I hope you could help me. Thanks!

As to why I chose to compare the M1X to these lights, these are the only lights I can find in my location.


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## kj2 (Feb 27, 2016)

Can't really tell anything about the lights you mentioned. Have seen or used those, so can't say which one would be better. But maybe someone else could jump into this question.


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## jetslipper (Feb 27, 2016)

Yup I guess so too, anyway, I couldn't wait for the opinions/suggestions. I took the jump and bought the m1x 😊.


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## kj2 (Feb 27, 2016)

jetslipper said:


> Yup I guess so too, anyway, I couldn't wait for the opinions/suggestions. I took the jump and bought the m1x .


Let us know what you think about it, once received :thumbsup:


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## jetslipper (Feb 27, 2016)

kj2 said:


> Let us know what you think about it, once received :thumbsup:


Will definitely do [emoji3].


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## jondextan (Mar 12, 2016)

How big the diff is with the M1X and M18? Does any body have both and post comparison pics?


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## Overclocker (Mar 12, 2016)

jondextan said:


> How big the diff is with the M1X and M18? Does any body have both and post comparison pics?




M18-Striker has the correct UI: always starts at max since this is supposed to be a tactical/defensive tool

M1X screwed up w/ the mode memory


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## jetslipper (Mar 24, 2016)

kj2 said:


> Let us know what you think about it, once received :thumbsup:



My impressions of the Olight M1X:

●lighter and more compact than my Nitecore P12 (although the difference is not that big)
●decent throw for a compact light (definitely not a flooder, the smooth reflector is a little bit deep with respect to the head diameter)
●hotspot is well defined and spill is not that dim (still quite useful for illuminating the surrounding area)
●the crenulated bezel is aggresive but I am not bothered by it
●does not come with a lanyard pin (unlike my Olight S2 Baton 😊)
●Turbo mode requires two half presses of the tail switch from Off (difficult to get at first but finally got it after a short practice)
●momentary On is great
●the reversible clip is a nice touch too

All in all, this is a compact FL with a decent throw perfect for EDC.


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## jondextan (Mar 29, 2016)

This review made me hit the buy button, thanks!


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## kj2 (Mar 29, 2016)

jondextan said:


> This review made me hit the buy button, thanks!



Glad I could help!


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## jetslipper (Apr 2, 2016)

kj2 said:


> Glad I could help!



Does the IPX8 rating still apply when operating the switch(es) under water?


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## KeepingItLight (Apr 3, 2016)

jetslipper said:


> Does the IPX8 rating still apply when operating the switch(es) under water?




In a word, no. At least that's what selfbuilt explains in his essay about the ANSI/NEMA FL 1 standard.

I always chuckle when I see a flashlight reviewer pushing all the buttons with a flashlight underwater. It may be a good test, but it is not required for an IPX8 rating under ANSI FL 1.


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## kj2 (Apr 3, 2016)

jetslipper said:


> Does the IPX8 rating still apply when operating the switch(es) under water?





KeepingItLight said:


> In a word, no. At least that's what selfbuilt explains in his essay about the ANSI/NEMA FL 1 standard.


Lights shouldn't be operated under water. Turn on/off and switch modes above water. Only true dive-lights can be operated under water.


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## jetslipper (Apr 4, 2016)

KeepingItLight said:


> In a word, no. At least that's what selfbuilt explains in his essay about the ANSI/NEMA FL 1 standard.
> 
> I always chuckle when I see a flashlight reviewer pushing all the buttons with a flashlight underwater. It may be a good test, but it is not required for an IPX8 rating under ANSI FL 1.





kj2 said:


> Lights shouldn't be operated under water. Turn on/off and switch modes above water. Only true dive-lights can be operated under water.



I am glad I asked [emoji3] thanks for the answers gentlemen.


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## Theodore41 (Sep 26, 2016)

Is it possible to change the led to a XP-L Hi,so as to increase throw?I have told that the internals are all glued,and so it is not possible to do this change.


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## kj2 (Sep 28, 2016)

Theodore41 said:


> Is it possible to change the led to a XP-L Hi,so as to increase throw?I have told that the internals are all glued,and so it is not possible to do this change.


Expect that would be very difficult because, as you say, a lot inside is glued.


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## Theodore41 (Sep 28, 2016)

kj2 said:


> Expect that would be very difficult because, as you say, a lot inside is glued.




Thank you very much kj2.


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## jetslipper (Apr 13, 2017)

kj2 said:


> Lights shouldn't be operated under water. Turn on/off and switch modes above water. Only true dive-lights can be operated under water.


Just to revisit the "operate the switch underwater" argument, I received a reply from Olight tech support stating that it's OK to operate the switch of their light underwater as long as it is within the IPX7/IPX8 specs (although my question to Olight relates to a different light, not the M1x).


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## ligerpaw (Apr 18, 2017)

well done. it is very Convenient for the power use as i can use 2 CR123 or one 18650, it will be better with a XPL HI or 219B LED.


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