# Olight X7R Marauder review with measurements (3xXHP70, 4x18650)



## maukka (Aug 18, 2017)

*Disclaimer: The Olight X7R Marauder was provided for testing by the manufacturer free of charge

*






The X7R Marauder is the successor of the X7 Marauder released a year ago in september 2016. Here's what's been changed on the X7R compared to the X7:

+ 33% more claimed output, 12000 vs. 9000 lumens
+ Integrated USB charging (Type-C connector)
+ Lanyard attachment point (a nice lanyard comes in the box too)
+ "Proximity sensor" to automatically lower output (actually a light sensor)
+ Backlit sideswitch (lights up automatically when you touch the flashlight)
- No user replaceable battery (can't use your own 18650's)
- Requires a special tool to get access to the battery compartment
- IPX7 (up to 1 meter) instead of IPX8 (3 meters on the X7), because of the charging port

By the looks of it, the output increase hasn't been achieved by switching to the newer and more efficient XHP70.2 emitters. So the X7R is just driven harder and/or has higher binned emitters.

Olight has gotten some critique on the exposed contacts on their USB rechargeable lights. Nothing to worry here, there's only the USB Type-C connector visible and when not needed it hides neatly behind a sliding door which can be opened by twisting the tailcap. Choosing the Type-C connector was a good call, since it has significantly lower contact resistance than Micro USB. The X7R comes with a high quality USB A to Type-C cable and a USB power supply too.

A bit of a disappointment is the proprietary battery pack, which can't be accessed at all. Neither the head or the tail can be opened without some special tool. The original X7 had removable 18650's. The charging system on the X7R does work very well though.

The new "proximity" sensor on the front is actually just a light sensor. It measures the reflected light and dims the light if there's too much of it. That's why it will activate at longer distances with highly reflective surfaces and nearer on dark materials. Output limiting typically happens at 5-15 centimeters depending on the output level. When it activates the light drops to low (~380 lumens), which won't burn anything even if it's right next to the leds.



The backlit side switch is very sensitive and starts glowing in a breathing manner when you move the flashlight even lightly. The indicator is very dim and ideal in pitch black where you actually need to locate the switch. This was one of the feature requests after the X7 came out.

*Manufacturer's specifications*
Batteries: 4x 18650, high drain battery pack, not user replaceable
LED: 3x Cree XHP70 in cool white
Strobe: 
Waterproof: IPX7
Mode memory: yes, except turbo and turbo s, which revert down to high, which in turn is memorized for 10 minutes and reverts to medium
Low voltage protection: side switch led indicator when battery voltage low, automatic power cutoff at critical levels
Thermal regulation: yes, reduces output to prevent overheating

*Output specs*
Maximum output: 12000 lumens for 3 minutes + 3000 lumens for two hours minutes (test conditions not specified)
Other output levels: 7000/3000/1000/500/10 lumens
Light intensity: 36100 candela
Beam distance: 380 m

*Measured dimensions and weight*
Length: 128.5mm
Head width: 68.3mm
Handle width: 51.8mm
Weight: 659g

*Box and contents*
















The X7R comes in a colorful and sturdy retail box just like their other premium lights. Accessories are packed in a separate carton, while the light is clearly visible right after you open the magnetically attached top lid.











*Bundled in the box with the light:*
USB power supply (5V/4A) with a USB A to Type-C cable
Lanyard
Holster
User manual

No o-rings in the box as there's nothing for the end user to open on the light.










The holster can be modified to acommodate bigger belts by removing the blue thread.

*Physical appearance*






There's some new design cues on the X7R (right) compared to the X7 (left). The physical size is the same, but the handle part now has grooves for fingers on the opposite side of the switch. Knurling is also styled differently. There's also a blue protruding lanyard attachment point. Overall, not much has changed, but side by side you can definitely tell them apart.















The side switch has a translucent Olight O with a backlight underneath. The biggest difference is of course the USB Type-C charging port on the tailcap. It is normally hidden behind a small round door which opens neatly by twisting the tailcap.










On the business end, the only difference is the light sensor, which is used to dim the light automatically when there's too much reflected light. No burning things anymore. Otherwise it is identical to the original X7. Three cool white XHP70's inside shallow orange peel reflectors. No XHP70.2's here. The blue bezel can probably be screwed open with some sticky surface (silicone or rubber mat) just like on the X7 to get access to the emitters for swapping. Didn't have time to check that yet though.











*User interface*

The light is operated via a backlit electronic side switch. The backlight glows green when batteries have enough charge, red when they are nearly depleted.

The button has a good tactile feel but is quite stiff. There's little chance of it activating by accident, but locking the light electronically is possible (hold the switch down from off for a couple of seconds). 

Operation is as follows
From off:
Single click turns the light on on previously used mode (except turbo, turbo s and strobe or high after 10 minutes)
Double click turns the light on on turbo
Triple click turns the light on on strobe
Press and hold to access nightlight (moonlight)
Keep pressing for electornic lockout, repeat to unlock

From on:
Single click turns the light off
Long press and hold cycles low, mid, high starting from the next mode or from low if moonlight or turbo was selected
Double click activates turbo
Double click on turbo activates turbo s
Triple click for strobe

Strobe can be activated with a rapid series of clicks amounting to at least three, so in panic you'll probably get it right.

The two highest modes turbo and turbo s are memorized as high. High is memorized for 10 minutes after which it reverts to medium. Strobe is never memorized.

*Battery pack and charging*

There's no user replaceable 18650's in the X7R. The light is sealed and requires a special tool to open it. You just plug in a usb cable to charge it.

The X7R is bundled with a high current (4A) USB power supply. It outputs five volts to the light via a USB-A - Type-C cable. According to Olight the charger is three times faster than your normal Micro-USB chargeable light.






The bundled USB A to Type-C cable is a healthy 80 cm long with a low resistance of 70 mohm. Even the best short Micro-USB cables rarely go below 100 mohm. Low resistance is important with high currents, to not waste power by heating up the connections and cables.






Kudos to Olight for supplying the whole charging system with the light. Most manufacturers only include a cable, not the power supply. The high current requirement does limit your spare supply options a lot, since there's not a lot of 5V/4A USB power supplies around. Slower charging is of course possible.

Charge time for a completely drained set of batteries is about 3h 30min to 3h 45min with a maximum charge current of 3.5 amps just before the CV phase.






The power supply holds the output very stable at 5.15 volts regardless of load. Efficiency is good at 84% (energy out / energy in = 62.93Wh / 52.87Wh). For reference, the Apple iPad charger is only 78% efficient.

Olight specs the 4x18650 high current battery pack as having a total capacity of 4x3000mAh = 12000mAh and energy content of 50.4Wh. The latter probably isn't true since the highest energy 18650 with 3000mAh is the Sony VTC6 at 11Wh. Another 3000mAh battery, Samsung 30Q, clocks in at 10.5Wh. Maximum capacity batteries (LG MJ1, Samsung 35E, Sanyo GA) also only have about 12Wh. Judging by the marketing images, the batteries do look like Sanyo NCR18650GA.

The four 18650 batteries are non accessible to the end user. Neither the head or the tailcap can be removed, at least without excessive force. To get to the batteries a special tool is needed to open the tailcap so I couldn't verify them. That's why all the efficacy numbers have been done assuming VTC6 is used.

If we assume the VTC6 is used and the energy is 4x11Wh, this results in a DC-DC charging efficiency of 83% (44Wh / 52.87Wh) not taking into account the wasted energy in the meter or in the cables and connections.

Althought the USB charging works tremendously as it is, I would have still preferred to be able to remove and swap the batteries. Now if you run out of juice, you can't just put in a fresh set. In some ways the choice seems to cater more to the needs of non-flashlight people.

The charger gets a bit hot during the maximum current phase, but nothing to worry about.






*Beamshots*

White wall animation






Links to individual images: X7R, X7, PT60, M43

Just X7R vs. X7






Woods #1






Links to individual images: X7R, X7, PT60, M43

Just X7R vs. X7






Woods #2






Just X7R vs. X7






Links to individual images: X7R, X7, PT60, M43

*Beam, tint and color rendering*

There's no surprises here. Cool white domed XHP70's in shallow reflectors result in some visible tint shift. Hotspot is greenish, spill is cool. This doesn't bother everyone, so that's your call. I have had good results with swapping in neutral white (4500-5000K) and high CRI emitters and slicing the domes.






I had two review samples, but there's hardly any difference in color temperaure or tint between them, so the results for the second sample only as links.





Tint in different brightness modes. As is usually the case there's some shift when the current is increased, because PWM is not used. Link to sample 2.





Tint in different parts of the beam. Shifts to cool towards the edge of the spill. Hotspot is clearly greenish (delta uv ~0.0100) and moreso on the lower modes. The other sample was a bit worse (duv 0.0114 on turbo s).

*Spectral data and color rendering*

For spectral information and CRI calculations I use an X-rite i1Pro spectrophotometer with HCFR, Babelcolor CT&A and ArgyllCMS spotread for the graphs and data. For runtime tests I use spotread with a custom script and an i1Display Pro because it doesn’t require calibration every 30 minutes like the i1Pro.

*Explanation of abbreviations (click link to read more)*

CCT = correlated color temperature, higher temperature means cooler (bluish)
CRI (Ra) = color rendering index consisting of 8 different colors (R1-R8), max value 100
CRI (R9) = color rendering index with deep red, usually difficult for led based light sources, max value 100
TLCI = television lighting consistency index, max value 100
CQS (Qa) = Proposed replacement for CRI, RMS average of 15 color samples
CRI2012 (Ra,2012) = Another proposed replacement for CRI, consists of 17 color samples
MCRI = Color rendering index based on the memory of colors or 9 familiar objects
*NEW Read more about the IES TM-30-15 method here (link is external) *
TM-30 = The newest color rendering method using 99 samples. Preferred for comparing LEDs.
TM-30 (Rf) = Accuracy of colors, fidelity index. Replaces CRI(Ra).
TM-30 (Rg) = Gamut of colors, saturation index. Higher number means more saturated colors.
Tint dev. (“Duv” in the CTA screenshots) is the tint’s distance to the black body radiator line in the CIE graphs. The higher the number, the greener the tint. 0,0000 means absolutely neutral white and negative numbers mean rosy/magenta tint. Anything over 0,0100 can be described as visibly green.

If you have an hour to spare, I recommend watching this presentation on IES TM-30-15 which also shines light into color rendering in general.







CRI data for the X7R (other sample)





CRI table for different brightness modes.

*Output and runtimes*

Both of my review samples had problems reaching the claimed 12000 lumens on turn on. Olight's output numbers are specced at 0 seconds. I got 10365-10600 at 0 sec and a hair under 10000 lumens at 30 seconds. The numbers were verified by another reviewer. Not that the difference between 10600 and 12000 is visible to the naked eye, but still, it's a numbers game.

All the lumen measurements have been done with a new sphere, so they cannot be compared to my previous reviews. I measured the original X7 again to have a reference. Previously the X7 measured at 8940 lumens on Turbo S at 30 seconds, this time with the more professional setup it read 8300. However, this time I couldn't test the X7 with the bundled Samsung 35E batteries, since one of them broke (protection circuit had a loose part) and had to be thrown away. The test was conducted with button top Samsung 30Qs.

Because the proximity sensor limits output on high and above, only the three lowest modes (nightlight, low, medium) were measured in the sphere and the rest (high, turbo, turbo s) outside of it comparing the relative differences to medium.






In reality, the maximum output has increased 20 percent from the X7 instead of the specified 33 percent. At 30 seconds shown in the table the gap closes to 14%. This means that in real life, their output is visually similar even though a camera and a meter can pick up the difference.

This time around I also used the spectrometer for throw numbers. The X7R and X7 were measured from 2.5 meters and the difference was 20 percent as expected after the lumen measurements. The X7R falls short of manufacturer intensity of 36100 at 27819 cd, but the X7 numbers are very close: Olight says 24500 and I got 23800. The previous X7 review had flawed throw measurements with a not up to par lux meter, which behaved unpredictably with led flashlights.

To save time, runtimes were done on two different samples, so the efficacy and output numbers will have some discrepancies. The table however has the numbers from the brighter sample. There was a 2-4% difference in brightness depending on the mode. Either way, as usual for Olight, the efficacy is very high, meaning that the driver doesn't burn much of the energy as heat and most of it goes straight to the leds.

All the output and runtime tests were performed without external cooling. The light stood on its own on the floor or on a table. Ambient temperature was 24-25°C.





















In a breeze the output stays higher on turbo s. First ten minutes graphed.





*Temperature*

Olight has tuned the temperature sensor and behavior since the X7. The stepdown happens gradually a bit earlier, which prevent the overshoot in temperature seen in the X7. The head or the body never rise above 53 degrees celsius.






First 10 minutes on maximum output with max temperature measured from the head. Graph including the average temp of the handle





In 25°C ambient temperature the regulation has to kick in on all levels from high and up. On medium (1080 lm) the temperature climbed only to a hand holdable 40°C.



*PWM*

No PWM is used on any mode, but there is some ripple on all of them. Its amplitude is strongest on the nightlight mode (about 50%) and can be picked up on camera with some shutter speeds. It varies between 1-2 kHz. On low, middle and high, the ripple is low frequency (~100 Hz), and low amplitude. On turbo s, the frequency is very high and has components at 60-170 kHz.

I couldn't detect any flickering with the naked eye during my testing.

In the following scope screenshots, zero output line is the middle horizontal line.

Nightlight





Mid





Turbo S





The flickering is possibly visible to a camera





*Verdict*

The X7R is a worthy successor to the X7. The improvements focus mostly on usability, since the integrated usb type-c charging is fast and convenient. I would have however liked being able to swap out a fresh set of batteries when needed. Now the whole light has to be shipped for servicing if and when the batteries wear out. In normal use this isn't anything to worry about, but running out of juice when you need it and not being able to use the light for the duration of the charge isn't nice.

Output, color rendering, tint and everything that has to do with the light quality is practically the same as on the X7. The tint is still greenish and cool white, but will surely impress most people. At least everybody I showed the X7R was amazed at it's light output.

The same goes for the fit and finish. Everything feels absolutely premium from the tactile side switch to the flawless anodizing and snappy usb port cover. The switch is also now backlit and glows dimly when you touch the light. The grip is more secure and comfortable than on the X7 and the (very nice) lanyard brings in extra security.

Most importantly, the X7R is very safe to use, since the thermal regulation keeps the light at a bit above 50°C on high and turbo modes. Burning a hole in your pocket or backpack is also a thing of the past, since the light sensor in the front automatically dims the light if it receives too much reflected light from a surface near the head. Combined with a simple user interface you don't need to be a flashlight aficionado to pick it up and safely put it to use.

+ Lots of light
+ Build quality is top notch
+ Simple and familiar user interface
+ Backlight on the side switch
+ Thermal regulation works really well, will not burn your hands
+ Reflected light sensor lowers output automatically when something gets right in front of the light
+ Usb type-c charging is fast and the light comes with a powerful usb power supply
- Non user replaceable proprietary battery pack
- Can't use normal 18650 batteries
- Neither of the two review samples could reach the claimed output of 12000 lumens
- No moonlight mode (1 lumen or less)
- Visible tint shift from hotspot to spill
- Greenish hotspot
- No neutral white or high CRI option


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## kj2 (Aug 18, 2017)

Thanks for the review 
I like the new head design, but prefer the X7 body style. The added sensor is a nice bonus.


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## maukka (Aug 18, 2017)

Beamshots added.


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## cre8ure (Aug 18, 2017)

Awesome review. Thank you so much. Really liked the beamshots. X80 comparison would be also interesting.


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## noboneshotdog (Aug 18, 2017)

Great steps forward with the light sensor. Making this a safer light. 

Great steps backwards with the sealed battery pack. 

If the battery pack was at least replaceable this would have been a real winner. But without...... Not so much.


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## Keitho (Aug 19, 2017)

Great review, Maukka, lots of effort is much appreciated


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## maukka (Aug 19, 2017)

Added data about temperature

Olight has tuned the temperature sensor and behavior since the X7. The stepdown happens gradually a bit earlier, which prevent the overshoot in temperature seen in the X7. The head or the body never rise above 53 degrees celsius.






In 25°C ambient temperature the regulation has to kick in on all levels from high and up. On medium (1080 lm) the temperature climbed only to a hand holdable 40°C.


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## maukka (Aug 20, 2017)

Added:

*Output and runtimes*

Both of my review samples had problems reaching the claimed 12000 lumens on turn on. Olight's output numbers are specced at 0 seconds. I got 10365-10600 at 0 sec and a hair under 10000 lumens at 30 seconds. The numbers were verified by another reviewer. Not that the difference between 10600 and 12000 is visible to the naked eye, but still, it's a numbers game.

All the lumen measurements have been done with a new sphere, so they cannot be compared to my previous reviews. I measured the original X7 again to have a reference. Previously the X7 measured at 8940 lumens on Turbo S at 30 seconds, this time with the more professional setup it read 8300. However, this time I couldn't test the X7 with the bundled Samsung 35E batteries, since one of them broke (protection circuit had a loose part) and had to be thrown away. The test was conducted with button top Samsung 30Qs.

Because the proximity sensor limits output on high and above, only the three lowest modes (nightlight, low, medium) were measured in the sphere and the rest (high, turbo, turbo s) outside of it comparing the relative differences to medium.






In reality, the maximum output has increased 20 percent from the X7 instead of the specified 33 percent. At 30 seconds shown in the table the gap closes to 14%. This means that in real life, their output is visually similar even though a camera and a meter can pick up the difference.

This time around I also used the spectrometer for throw numbers. The X7R and X7 were measured from 2.5 meters and the difference was 20 percent as expected after the lumen measurements. The X7R falls short of manufacturer intensity of 36100 at 27819 cd, but the X7 numbers are very close: Olight says 24500 and I got 23800. The previous X7 review had flawed throw measurements with a not up to par lux meter, which behaved unpredictably with led flashlights.

To save time, runtimes were done on two different samples, so the efficacy and output numbers will have some discrepancies. The table however has the numbers from the brighter sample. There was a 2-4% difference in brightness depending on the mode. Either way, as usual for Olight, the efficacy is very high, meaning that the driver doesn't burn much of the energy as heat and most of it goes straight to the leds.

All the output and runtime tests were performed without external cooling. The light stood on its own on the floor or on a table. Ambient temperature was 24-25°C.





















In a breeze the output stays higher on turbo s. First ten minutes graphed.


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## Olightworld (Aug 22, 2017)

Great review! Thank you for the thorough analysis as usual!


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## narmattaru (Aug 23, 2017)

thanx a lot!


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## dsmboost (Aug 23, 2017)

Green-ish tint still, just like my X7. I could never get the full 2 minutes of Turbo S with my X7 as Olight claimed. Didn't matter if I used the proprietary Olight cells, HG2's, VTC6's. There may have been an issue with mine, not sure. This seems to hold full brightness pretty well.


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## stephenk (Aug 23, 2017)

Fantastic review. Good to see some incremental improvements.


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## SonShine (Aug 25, 2017)

Great review. That took a lot of time. I appreciate the effort as I have been looking at buying the X7 or X7R for some time. 

1. I am trying to read between the lines. Am I correct that maybe one should wait until Olight addresses the fact that you can not instal fresh batteries? That almost ends the deal for me. When light is needed.... it is needed. Right now we are looking at Hurricane Harvey. I would prefer to have two sets of batteries, with one set always on charge. 

2. I am on Lydias Facebook page. It says 30% discount from the Olight/ Amazon store. I tried a number of things, but no discount became available. Any Ideas?


Oh BTW Hi Everyone ! I have been reading posts here for some time. Just never felt the need to post, so I did not join. Good Forum and thanks in advance for ideas, and advise!


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## Toby (Aug 28, 2017)

Thanks for the review!


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## Keitho (Aug 28, 2017)

SonShine said:


> Am I correct that maybe one should wait until Olight addresses the fact that you can not install fresh batteries?



If you want to swap batteries, X7 (or the X7VN) is what you want. Households or departments that don't want to deal with a separate battery charger will like the built-in battery pack, but I'm with you--I want to swap cells. I do like the added safety features on the "R", though, and hope to see more of that in the future.


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## Olightworld (Sep 5, 2017)

It is still possible to remove the battery pack but it is not something that is easily done on the go. For warranty purposes, we can always change the battery pack if that is the issue with the light. I have not heard of a 30% off discount on the X7R. There could have maybe been one on the X7 but not the brand new one. If you really want to be able to take the batteries out easily, you could still go with the X7. 



SonShine said:


> Great review. That took a lot of time. I appreciate the effort as I have been looking at buying the X7 or X7R for some time.
> 
> 1. I am trying to read between the lines. Am I correct that maybe one should wait until Olight addresses the fact that you can not instal fresh batteries? That almost ends the deal for me. When light is needed.... it is needed. Right now we are looking at Hurricane Harvey. I would prefer to have two sets of batteries, with one set always on charge.
> 
> ...


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## Olightworld (Sep 5, 2017)

I would recommend seeing it in person. I don't see much of a green tint with the one i am looking at right now. Let us know if you would like to send in your X7 to be looked at. Send us an email to [email protected] and we would be happy to. 



dsmboost said:


> Green-ish tint still, just like my X7. I could never get the full 2 minutes of Turbo S with my X7 as Olight claimed. Didn't matter if I used the proprietary Olight cells, HG2's, VTC6's. There may have been an issue with mine, not sure. This seems to hold full brightness pretty well.


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## RedBaron (Sep 21, 2017)

noboneshotdog said:


> Great steps forward with the light sensor. Making this a safer light.
> 
> Great steps backwards with the sealed battery pack.
> 
> If the battery pack was at least replaceable this would have been a real winner. But without...... Not so much.



Agree with you on this, noboneshotdog. Maybe they'll create a replaceable version, then I'd be interested. This would be more for a stand-by/ emergency light. IMHO, of course.


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## grioces (Sep 24, 2017)

Hello. After a few days with this light I would like to note for the record that I see no green or other tint in the of this particular sample. The Noctigon Meteor with NW (3D) emitter has perhaps a bit more of a "creamy" quality to its white but I can't say whether this is evidence that it is purer white or whether it is itself a coloration not seen it the Olight. I do own an M3X UT and see the green that is referred to earlier in this thread. I recognize that color perception is a personal experience but I am sensitive, ie don't love, a green tint and am pleased with this beam. Surprisingly I did not miss playing with batteries as much as I thought I would. A keeper for me with the caveat regarding the inability to switch out batteries in an emergency


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## Bazar (Sep 27, 2017)

maukka said:


> *
> 
> 
> A bit of a disappointment is the proprietary battery pack, which can't be accessed at all.
> ...


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## maukka (Sep 28, 2017)

The sensor is not very sensitive. I've had no trouble ceiling bouncing on turbo s. You can also always just block it with tape.

I think the output discrepancy is because of manufacturing, not their measurements, which seem to usually match with my calibrated sphere. I assume this because there has been some X7Rs that do reach 12000 lumens initially when the light is turned on. Also, Olight's specs for the X7R do not specify the 12000 lumens at 30 seconds but for maximum in the beginning. That's what they told me when I got my low numbers.

Olight also says should the battery wear out they will replace the battery pack. You can send the light in for service or they can send you a new one with a tool to open the tailcap and instructions on how to change it yourself. In normal use the pack will no doubt last a long time.



> Olight World: You can take the battery pack out and it is serviceable. We can either send it to you and tell you how to do it or you can send it in.



Here's the battery pack opened by a reviewer



Here's Goinggear visiting the Olight factory. They seem to actually test the lights and not pull the numbers out of you know where.


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## Rikt (Nov 26, 2017)

Hi flashaholics! 

I'm reading reviews for weeks now and this is my first post, need some advice. 
First of all, thank you for your thoroughly build up reviews, learned a lot. :twothumbs

I'm looking for something like the x7r with a little more throw and a comparable output, cost and size.
I will be mainly using it for walking in the woods. (Also strobo would be nice because over the past year my dog caught two burglars).

The PT60 also intrested me but the output on high (2470lm 2h19) doesnt do it for me. Medium is 500lm, thats to low in my opinion. I need min. 1000+ lumen for min. 3-4hrs.
The marauder does that but i sometimes (animals/burglars) like to see to further then 300m.

I like high flood/spill so i can see my feet and my surroundings verry wel. But also would like a +400 meters hotspot on turbomode.

lights that intrested me:
fenix tk35ue xhp50 (not enough spill?, not rechargeable)
tm06s (not rechargeable, incl batterys and charger its too expensive also regarding its battery problems)
pt60(bad runtime on +1000lm)
meteor m43 (not rechargeable)

x7r(like to throw little further, dont need 12000lm at my feet, but for me the best one that i know off)

It is also possible that i am too demanding 
but then again 350 dollars realy is alot of money for me, so better safe then sorry.

Thank you guys,
greetz from belgium (and excuse me for my bad english)
R.


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## noboneshotdog (Nov 26, 2017)

Maybe look into the Acebeam x45.

Edit: I don't want to hijack this thread, so maybe it would be best if you open a new thread under "recommend me a light". You might have better luck with responses.


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## Keitho (Nov 26, 2017)

Welcome to cpf, Rikt! I'd also recommend putting a more focused, concise description of your needs in the "recommend me a light" forum. I will say that the X7, X7r, and X7vn are all very capable lights for a lot of purposes; but, they are not great for _every_ purpose. Above you mentioned tactical uses, walking in woods, high output, long runtime, throw, and flood. Those are all competing considerations which, for me, mean that I often have multiple lights with me or available. Usually, that combination of lights adds up to a system that is cheaper and lighter weight than my single X7vn.

I'll also say that the X7 family is fantastic for a lot of purposes; but, on high, in the woods, the output is only useful to me when dialed _way_ back (reflections off the ground and foliage is blinding on high--I use that setting, often, because it makes me giggle, but not because it is useful). To give you an idea of what I consider "useful" at night in the woods, I normally have a very floody headlamp set to 500-900 lumens, plus a handheld thrower with a focused beam that I'll shine every once in awhile at something in the distance (also less than 1000 lumens).

Best of luck!


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## Rikt (Nov 26, 2017)

Thank you for your replies! Appreciate!
After i get a look into top nodge headlights i will defenitly move my question to 'recommend me a flashlight'. Wouldnt want to hijack this topic neither, great review .

The X45 is not rechargeable which is a con for me. Also its rather big. But i like the output, enough flood and has a good reach. thank you for your recommendation.

The floody headlight + a thrower in a holster is accually a great idea! 
Nevermind my girlfriend who gave me a weird look when i told her i want to buy a flashlight for over 300 dollars. :duh2: Now i will have to tell her its possible i will buy 2. :devil:

Thank you!
Greetz, R.


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## Cpt. Thomas (Jul 12, 2018)

I was looking at this light right up until not user serviceable / able to be opened / non-replaceable battery. I like Olight's quality and so far their innovation..... up till this. This is not innovation for Olight or ANY other mfg. targeting field / serious or emergency use, it's unfortunately a across the board deal breaker for me and my us needs anyway. If the target market is the occasional user Joe that wants to light up the barn behind the house or scorch a stray dog down the driveway and leave it plugged in all the time, I think they have winner.

I don't know how may times I have had a o-ring leak and saved a light by quickly opening and drying it out. Scrounged mis-matched cells or used a cobbled up spacer just to get back in operation etc. Will Olight replace batteries at 3 am on day 2 of a 10 day power outage (or longer?) due to a Typhoon .... or 5-6 years from now? I don't think so. During our Typhoon 2yrs ago, this light would have not made it through night 3, but my TM11 went 12 days on several sets of charged and ready to go 18650's and a *** load of 123's (only 2000L but better than a dead light that can't swap fresh cells!). What about when the batt pack goes disco from them? Just toss it in the trash? I really hope they and the other Mfgs are not headed in this direction to be eventually across the board with all / most of their product lines in the future. I and those like me that gotta have it operational now, just can't and won't do this type of "innovation". Sorry, just my two cents.

Cpt. Thomas


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## Keitho (Jul 12, 2018)

I'm at the same place as you Cpt. That's why I got the X7vn--replaceable batteries, and WAY more output than stock. I like the Olight strategy they sometimes use of releasing similar or the same products, one version with built-in cells, one with replaceable. Two different markets that they can serve with very similar production lines and tooling.


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## jmsodpc (Nov 15, 2018)

looks like this one is on sale for black friday....great...just what i need...another high lumen flashlight for $168


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