# Olight S15 Baton Review



## firelord777 (Jul 21, 2013)

One of Olights most recent offerings is the S15 Baton, running on AA or one 14500 Li-on. It is a small flashlight, but it delivers a lot of photons.
If you notice later on, you’ll see in the images there is one S15 with extension tube and another without. Olight had previously sent me an engineering sample, but I decided that it would be better if I used it here in the review to demonstrate size and other aspects to better allow people to decide whether they want an S15 with or without an extension tube. The engineering sample has no extension tube nor a serial number.


























*Construction*
The S15 is in its one-battery form, is, well, tiny. My hand engulfs the S15, I have to mainly use my fingers to hold it and operate it. This is, in my opinion, a sign that it will be perfect for EDC (Every Day Carry). The button is really easy to find in the dark, and thanks to the moonlight mode which I will talk about in a bit, it’s now my midnight-bathroom-trips-flashlight. The hexagonal neck provides good anit-rolling capabilities, and the clip is strong and easy to clip on. The head is round and feels very smooth to the touch, the bezel is a flat one (You will need a special tool to remove it) and the glass feels as if it’s a ballistic lens. The XM-L2 is centered inside these four small, raised, white walls inside the light. The reflector itself is very smooth and free of blemishes on both samples. On the body, there is a pleasant but grippy knurling, with two small rectangles on either side with the words “Olight” and “S15 Baton” etched with clear, white lettering. The tailcap also has its own share of knurling, and on the bottom of the tail cap there is “www.olightworld.com”. On the side of the tailcap there is a cutout to attach a lanyard, which comes included. 





The threads come very well lubed and are anodized, which means physical, not only electronic (Olight allows you to lockout the light electronically without physically unscrewing the tailcap) lockout, is possible. The extension tube also has both ends anodized and only features knurling all around, it doesn’t have any other markings. The o rings themselves are black and fit very snugly, I don’t anticipate any problems with them anytime soon.






























As you can see below, the S15 is the “smallest of the smallest” in its kind.










Here is the S15 compared to the reflector sizes of other lights.















Here is the S15 with the extension tube on





This is the size compared to the one battery format





Here is the family, I’ll give you guys a sneak peak on the updated S20 and S10 in another thread















Here is another size comparison to some mid sized flashlights. Note, the S15 is actually a lot smaller and lighter than the pictures show.










*Whitewall (or better yet “white door”) beamshots*
The door is approximately five feet from the flashlight, and the reduced exposures are in equal intervals. The order goes like this: S15 (without extension tube on one AA NIMH), Xtar WK50, Fenix LD12, Crelant V11A, S15 (with extension tube and 2 AA NIMH), and Fenix TK20. All flashlights are on their max output and running on AA NIMHs.
Control:





Olight S15 without extension tube:





Xtar WK50:





Fenix LD12:





Crelant V11A:





Olight S15 with extension tube:





Reduced exposure:





Fenix TK20:





Reduced exposure:





*Olight S15 on one AA vs two AA*
First two pictures is the moonlight mode on the S15. It is approximately 0.5 lumens, regardless of battery setup. As mentioned, it is extremely useful to go on trips to the bathroom and navigate your way around your house during the night. In normally lit areas, this mode seems like nothing is coming out of the flashlight, but it’s amazing how much more brighter and farther reaching the beam is when your eyes are in “night vision mode”. This moonlight mode is not part of the regular mode cycle, to access it, your S15 has to be off and you must then press and hold the power button for one second, after which, the moonlight mode is activated. From there, you can switch to the regular low-mid-high modes, but the light will not cycle through moonlight mode. I personally find this very useful, because it is as if the S15 has a set of modes for normal use, and a dedicated mode for, you know, trips to the bathroom, night reading, or, I don’t know, “covert map-reading operations”.:devil:
S15 moonlight mode:










S15 (1XAA)
Low:





Mid:





High:





S15 (2XAA)
Low:





Mid:





High:





This is just a random picture of magnetic fun:





*Waterproof Test:*
Alright, one of our favorite activities! Looks are misleading, that faucet is pumping out 5,000 gallons of water per nanosecond, and that sink is actually deeper than a normal abyss. Well, at least for flashlights that is.





The tension is building:










That S15 is definitely EDC material…










…make that military material:





Dynamic water testing? Oh no, the S15 is already intergalactic-military spec certified!:tinfoil:










The aftermath: Good as new





Booyah!





Next in line please…










Military spec certified? Yawn, intergalactic-military spec like the other S15 is the new standard…





Now we’re talking!:devil:










Well, I gotta admit, I’m impressed; I’ll be taking these two bad boys with me on my next camping trip…on planet Mercury!





EDIT: we just got back from the trip, after surviving 10,000 degrees of scorching heat, -10,000 degrees of snowman paradise, 6 freefalls over a few cliffs, and 3 fights with other planet Mercury alien natives (they all wanted the S15s, but, well, so did I, so I fought them off. How? Well, I used one S15 to blind them, and the other to smack them, but I have a feeling the blinding thing worked the most, because they all had energy shields. Sucks for them, they should have invested in photon proof shields!
Here are the S15s, looks like they’re ready for round two!





The magnetic tails really come in handy:





Oh yeah, that’s what I call hardcore!





I invented this thing that allows the S15s to recharge their batteries by stealing a plants photosynthesis. Well, “stealing” is an intense word, I’d say we’re just “borrowing” their food…indefinitely!










Here is one of those aliens I was talking about, the S15s temporarily blinded them, so I took advantage and placed the S15s on her sides and took a souvenir photo. I miss Mercury already!





Alright ladies and gentlemen, I’ll just start wrapping it up right now. Starting with the most pressing issue after reading this review: No I did not really go to Mercury. I stretched the truth a little, sorry guys. I really just went to Jupiter. Pinky promise.:naughty:
Seriously though, the S15 surprised me by how Olight engineers were able to make a light that is way smaller and lighter than other lights in its respective class, and beat them all in the brightness department (at least in the AA NIMH):thumbsup:. I know brightness isn’t everything, but still, I was pleasantly surprised. The ergonomics of the lights does take a few moments to get used to, but other than that I don’t have any complaints. I really believe that this is a great flashlight for EDCing and you know, a reliable tool. Unfortunately, my heart goes out to those 14500 Li-on users because as much as I would love to provide feedback for you guys, I don’t have any 14500s. If you have any questions though regarding 14500s and the S15 please let me know and I’ll get back to you with an official response from Olight:rock:.
In conclusion, I think the S15 is one tough flashlight, I feel like it was designed, tested, and built to the same standards as other pricier, more larger sized lights from Olight, and the way it feels in my hand is enough to convince me of that.
If you guys have any questions, please feel free to send me PM or post your questions here,
Thanks to Olight for providing us the review sample, as said, I’ll try and have a pre-release sneak peak of the updated S20 and S10,:devil:
Cheers to all,
Alain


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## Norm (Jul 21, 2013)

Moved to Flashlight Reviews - Norm


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## Cereal_Killer (Jul 21, 2013)

Nicely presented review. 

This light has so many nice features I don't know how I'll not buy one eventually. The deep carry clip is such a nice feature to be included instead of as an upgrade. Another very appealing feature to me is the moonlight mode access, the same as on my zebras. 

They should include a little cap with the extension tubes to use it as a battery carrier. 

Do you know what kind of banana tree you have?


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## Badbeams3 (Jul 21, 2013)

The alien feline looks...not very impressed. Or maybe just in shock. Fun review. Nice that it can be extended. I`m betting it has good run times in the medium mode. For sure the S10 does. Despite my wishing it had the low batt warning like the S20...I like the light.


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## firelord777 (Jul 21, 2013)

Cereal_Killer said:


> Nicely presented review.
> 
> This light has so many nice features I don't know how I'll not buy one eventually. The deep carry clip is such a nice feature to be included instead of as an upgrade. Another very appealing feature to me is the moonlight mode access, the same as on my zebras.
> 
> ...



Hey cereal killer,

First things first: awesome username

Thanks for the compliments

It is a good flashlight, I concur 

Regarding the banana tree, I honestly don't know. I was under the impression that there was only one kind of banana tree I have the normal backyard, then there is this perimeter roughly 2 yards in length around the lawn where there are all these plants, spiders, snakes, and anoles. Mosquitos don't really count here in Florida, but the little rascals have been leaving me with chickenpox legs and arms!

All I see are vines, some sugar canes, and A LOT of papaya trees, which is kind of funny, because, well, I HATE papayas

ill try and talk to someone regarding your banana tree question if you would like,

Compliments on having a keen "plant" eye

Cheers


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## Cereal_Killer (Jul 22, 2013)

I know what it is, I was just seeing if you knew. Its a dwarf cavemdish but dont be fooled by the name, it grows to around 30' when fruiting when aloud to grow year round, it takes ~600 days to fruit (plants are just one of my many expertise) There are tons of kinds of banana, the DC is one of the most common in terms of decorative plants (its not the kind you get at the grocery, it would be more like fried plantains than the typical fruit) 

I have quite a collection of rare fruit trees from all over the world (I grow them under 2 1000watts low pressure sodium HID's during the winter here in Ohio) and the dwarf cavendish was the one that first got me into it. Last winter I had a 8' tree laying on its side in the basement along with a 5' grumachama (Brazilian cherry) in full bloom and several different species of younger/ smaller trees.


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## Ishango (Jul 22, 2013)

Thanks for doing the review. I like my S10 already and thought it would be nice to have an AA version of it. The review makes me want to put it on my wishlist (or is that purchase list)?


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## tobrien (Jul 22, 2013)

man, i tell you I was wondering if this was the same firelord777 because your photography skills look like they've improved exponentially in just a short amount of time! did you get a new camera?

great work as usual!


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## firelord777 (Jul 22, 2013)

Badbeams3 said:


> The alien feline looks...not very impressed. Or maybe just in shock. Fun review. Nice that it can be extended. I`m betting it has good run times in the medium mode. For sure the S10 does. Despite my wishing it had the low batt warning like the S20...I like the light.



Yeah, she actually seems kind of bored As far as I know, I haven't heard of any low battery warning yet, but that would be great. So far it has good runtimes even on high, I've been using them often these past few days,

cheers


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## firelord777 (Jul 22, 2013)

Cereal_Killer said:


> I know what it is, I was just seeing if you knew. Its a dwarf cavemdish but dont be fooled by the name, it grows to around 30' when fruiting when aloud to grow year round, it takes ~600 days to fruit (plants are just one of my many expertise) There are tons of kinds of banana, the DC is one of the most common in terms of decorative plants (its not the kind you get at the grocery, it would be more like fried plantains than the typical fruit)
> 
> I have quite a collection of rare fruit trees from all over the world (I grow them under 2 1000watts low pressure sodium HID's during the winter here in Ohio) and the dwarf cavendish was the one that first got me into it. Last winter I had a 8' tree laying on its side in the basement along with a 5' grumachama (Brazilian cherry) in full bloom and several different species of younger/ smaller trees.



Oh, so you were testing me I see? Yeah, I tried some of the bananas some time ago and they tasted slightly less tasty than the supermarket ones, I guess it needs some sugar or something.

Thanks for the fun facts man

and stay away from my cereal!


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## firelord777 (Jul 22, 2013)

Ishango said:


> Thanks for doing the review. I like my S10 already and thought it would be nice to have an AA version of it. The review makes me want to put it on my wishlist (or is that purchase list)?



No problem Ishango, my pleasure Sorry that your wallet is going to feel a bit lighter


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## firelord777 (Jul 22, 2013)

tobrien said:


> man, i tell you I was wondering if this was the same firelord777 because your photography skills look like they've improved exponentially in just a short amount of time! did you get a new camera?
> 
> great work as usual!



Hey buddy! Don't worry man, same me Thanks for always dropping by 

About your compliment, are you saying my past pictures sucked? Well, I guess you may be right...lol

I didn't get a new camera, I moved last September and I guess I found better lighting

thanks again bud,

cheers


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## NorthernStar (Jul 22, 2013)

Outstanding review,firelord777! The pic with the cat and the flashlights was funny.:



firelord777 said:


> Here is the family, I’ll give you guys a sneak peak on the updated S20 and S10 in another thread
> cheers


 

I KNEW that these upgrades was coming around the corner and now you provided evidence for it! I can see the text on the pic saying that the upgrades features XM-L2 diods!! I´ve got to ask you about the upgraded S10 and S20. Does the upgraded S10 and the S20 have the same UI as the S15? Can one attach extension tubes to them as well? You MUST start a thread with pics and feedback regarding the upgraded S10 and S20 asap.


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## tobrien (Jul 22, 2013)

firelord777 said:


> Hey buddy! Don't worry man, same me Thanks for always dropping by
> 
> About your compliment, are you saying my past pictures sucked? Well, I guess you may be right...lol
> 
> ...


haha no problem!

the past pictures did just fine! these pictures just have a different touch to em, maybe the lighting 

I think your work is spectacular regardless


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## firelord777 (Jul 23, 2013)

NorthernStar said:


> Outstanding review,firelord777! The pic with the cat and the flashlights was funny.:
> 
> [/color]
> 
> I KNEW that these upgrades was coming around the corner and now you provided evidence for it! I can see the text on the pic saying that the upgrades features XM-L2 diods!! I´ve got to ask you about the upgraded S10 and S20. Does the upgraded S10 and the S20 have the same UI as the S15? Can one attach extension tubes to them as well? You MUST start a thread with pics and feedback regarding the upgraded S10 and S20 asap.



Thanks man

It seems you're quite excited for the S10 and S20 models To answer your questions, yes, they have the same UI as the S15. About the extension tubes, I'm not quite sure, AFAIK, there aren't any. 

Ill ask Olight and get back to you,


cheers


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## firelord777 (Jul 23, 2013)

I just got back from Olight, and no, unfortunately they are not planning to make any extension tubes for the S10 or S20,

cheers


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## NorthernStar (Jul 24, 2013)

firelord777 said:


> Thanks man
> 
> It seems you're quite excited for the S10 and S20 models To answer your questions, yes, they have the same UI as the S15. About the extension tubes, I'm not quite sure, AFAIK, there aren't any.
> 
> ...



Yes i am quite excited for the upgraded S10 and S20 models. So far the most used and best allround flashlight that i´ve own happens to be the S20,so when it´s upgraded with a more powerful LED and with an improved ui,than i am eager about it. The magnet at the tail is very useful i think.The old S10 looks great as well,but i don´t like it´s ui,which has prevented me from buying it.



firelord777 said:


> I just got back from Olight, and no, unfortunately they are not planning to make any extension tubes for the S10 or S20,
> 
> cheers



Thank´s for that info. That´s a little pitty. I´d like to see extension tubes extending the runtimes. I will pay attention to the coming thread of the upgraded S10 and S20.


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## cyclesport (Jul 24, 2013)

Thx for the review fl...good job! Since this is an obvious competitor to the ZL SC52 I was interested in seeing a review and beam shots of the new S15 (especially since my SC52 and SC52w both suffer somewhat from a slight green & yellowish green tint respectively, that many have complained about) and had hoped the S15's emitter might be a better alternative to ZL's 1 X AA offering. But...MOTHER OF GOD... after seeing the astonishingly bright green tint of the S15 in your pics, I now feel much better about my SC52's, and have made me realize the ZL tints could have been _much_ worse! I'm not a camera guy, but unless your exposure setting is altering the perceived image...that's gotta be one of the greenest tints I've _ever_ seen out of _any_ emitter in recent memory?!


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## Lithium466 (Jul 25, 2013)

Nice review, thanks! Have to get one now...:mecry:

Just wondering what is this shiny blue light on the first pics? Or is it already written somewhere and I haven't seen it?


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## NorthernStar (Jul 25, 2013)

firelord777,can you ask Olight when the filters that fits the S10,S15 and S20 will be available?


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## holylight (Jul 29, 2013)

cyclesport said:


> Thx for the review fl...good job! Since this is an obvious competitor to the ZL SC52 I was interested in seeing a review and beam shots of the new S15 (especially since my SC52 and SC52w both suffer somewhat from a slight green & yellowish green tint respectively, that many have complained about) and had hoped the S15's emitter might be a better alternative to ZL's 1 X AA offering. But...MOTHER OF GOD... after seeing the astonishingly bright green tint of the S15 in your pics, I now feel much better about my SC52's, and have made me realize the ZL tints could have been _much_ worse! I'm not a camera guy, but unless your exposure setting is altering the perceived image...that's gotta be one of the greenest tints I've _ever_ seen out of _any_ emitter in recent memory?!



My s20 got some green in low and mid mode. One of the worst I had. But the green is gone in high and turbo. It belong to my dads now.


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## Mass. Wine Guy (Jul 31, 2013)

Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see any mention of this light's specific lumen output(s).


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## firelord777 (Jul 31, 2013)

NorthernStar said:


> firelord777,can you ask Olight when the filters that fits the S10,S15 and S20 will be available?



Sorry for the late reply bud,

sure, I'll go ahead and ask them right now

cheers


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## firelord777 (Jul 31, 2013)

Mass. Wine Guy said:


> Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see any mention of this light's specific lumen output(s).



Nope, you're right, I forgot to include it

From what I know, one AA will give you 220 lumens, and 2 AAs or more will give you supposedly 280, but I am under the impression that it gave at least 300

cheers


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## AngryDaddyBird (Aug 4, 2013)

Awesome review! That family photo of the batons are what I needed to see! thanks.


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## Badbeams3 (Aug 5, 2013)

NorthernStar said:


> Outstanding review,firelord777! The pic with the cat and the flashlights was funny.:
> 
> [/color]
> 
> I KNEW that these upgrades was coming around the corner and now you provided evidence for it! I can see the text on the pic saying that the upgrades features XM-L2 diods!! I´ve got to ask you about the upgraded S10 and S20. Does the upgraded S10 and the S20 have the same UI as the S15? Can one attach extension tubes to them as well? You MUST start a thread with pics and feedback regarding the upgraded S10 and S20 asap.



+1


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## Lithium466 (Aug 5, 2013)

Mine is on its way 



Lithium466 said:


> Just wondering what is this shiny blue light on the first pics? Or is it already written somewhere and I haven't seen it?



Any idea ?


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## NorthernStar (Aug 5, 2013)

Lithium466 said:


> Nice review, thanks! Have to get one now...:mecry:
> 
> Just wondering what is this shiny blue light on the first pics? Or is it already written somewhere and I haven't seen it?



The shiny blue light is a XTAR WK50.

Come on now,Firelord777!  You are holding both a S10-L2 and a S20-L2 in your hands. We want to see a mini review about them now,especially the S20-L2!


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## firelord777 (Aug 5, 2013)

NorthernStar said:


> The shiny blue light is a XTAR WK50.
> 
> Come on now,Firelord777!  You are holding both a S10-L2 and a S20-L2 in your hands. We want to see a mini review about them now,especially the S20-L2!



Hey man,

I know you must really want to see a "mini-review", but I'm afraid I'm on a short vacation As soon as I have it up ill PM you,

Cheers


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## NorthernStar (Aug 6, 2013)

firelord777 said:


> Hey man,
> 
> I know you must really want to see a "mini-review", but I'm afraid I'm on a short vacation As soon as I have it up ill PM you,
> 
> Cheers



Sorry,i did not think of the vacation season!  Enjoy your vacation and post the mini-review when you get back.


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## firelord777 (Aug 6, 2013)

Sure thing


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