# Olight S1 Mini Baton CW+HCRI review with measurements (XM-L2/XP-G3, 16340)



## maukka (Dec 2, 2017)

*Disclaimer: The Olight S1 Mini Baton was provided for testing by the manufacturer free of charge*







The S1 Mini is currently the smallest 16340/RCR123 flashlight in Olight's Baton S series of compact EDC lights. It is very similar to the special edition S Mini being only slightly smaller than its copper/titanium brethren.

What sets the S1 Mini apart from the model lineup is the new usb chargeable battery. The light omits Olight's magnetic tailcap with usb charging contacts and replaces it with the battery charging circuit. This offers the benefit of being able to charge the depleted cell while the light is in use.

The S1 Mini is only available in aluminum, but there's a choice of a cool white CRI70 and a neutral white CRI90 version with a more accurate color rendering. The CRI70 utilizes a Cree XM-L2 emitter just like the majority of the S Batons, but the CRI90 model has a Cree XP-G3 with a frosted TIR optic.

The HCRI version as Olight calls it was designed flashlight enthusiasts in mind. But most of us have already experienced the mediocrity that is the XP-G3 so it was interesting to see if Olight has been able to make it work.

*Manufacturer's specifications*
Battery: 16340/RCR123 (only button tops work), comes with a usb rechargeable battery
LED: Cree XM-L2 in cool white (6500K), Cree XP-G3 in neutral high CRI (5500K)
Waterproof: IPX8
Mode memory: yes, except turbo and strobe
Low voltage protection: side switch led indicator when battery voltage low, LVP in the battery
Thermal regulation: no, timed stepdown

*Output specs*
Maximum output
Cool white: 600 lumens for 1 minute + 300 lumens for 55 minutes
HCRI: 450 lumens for 1 minute + 250 lumens for 55 minutes
Other output levels
Cool white: 300/60/15/0.5 lumens
HCRI: 250/50/12/0.5 lumens
Light intensity
Cool white: 2500 candela
HCRI: 1220 candela
Beam distance
Cool white: 100 meters
HCRI: 70 meters
Special modes: strobe

*Measured dimensions and weight*
Length: 54.2mm
Head width: 21.2mm
Handle width: 20.0mm
Maximum width with clip: 29.6mm
Weight: light 26g, battery 18g for a total of 44g

*Box and contents*
















All the statements on the box are not accurate. The Jaxman E2 was the first cool white high CRI flashlight on the market.






Bundled in the box with the light:
Olight ORBC-163C06 650mAh 16340/RCR123A battery
50cm micro usb cable
Lanyard
User manual

*Battery and charging*

The light comes with a special usb rechargeable 16340/RCR123A battery. You just insert a micro usb cable to the battery and the other end to a usb power supply like the one that came with your phone.











Olight ORBC-163C06 battery measurements
Length: 34.6mm
Width: 16.7mm
Capacity: 633mAh @ 1A, 712mAh @ 100mA
Energy: 2.2Wh @ 1A, 2.6Wh @ 100mA
Maximum current (OCP): 5.3A
Minimum voltage (LVP): 2.49V
Internal resistance (Ri): 173mOhm (measured at 2A DC)

Tested batteries track each other well with very little difference (1.3%) in actual capacity. Above numbers are the average of the two tested batteries.






The internal resistance is a bit lower than on Olight's previous protected 16340s, which I have measured at 210mOhm (550mAh version) and 240-270mOhm (650mAh version). I wasn't able to use a flat top battery + magnet in the S1 Mini. The magnet in the tailcap makes the battery magnet slide to the side.

Charging using the integrated micro usb input takes a bit under 2.5 hours with a maximum input current of 0.35A measured from the usb power supply. The charger terminates at 30mA. I measured 4.21 volts from the battery right after charging. It takes around 3200-3600mWh to fully charge the battery via the micro usb port so you can expect slightly under three complete charges out of a good 18650 power bank.






*Standby drain*

There's insignificant parasitic drain on the battery when the light is switched off.

26µA for the CW
24µA for the HCRI

It will take about 3 years to drain a battery which was forgotten inside the light. Still, if you're not going to use the S1 Mini for a while, just open the tailcap a quarter turn to break the electrical circuit.

*Physical appearance*

The cool white and high CRI versions can be distinguished from each other by bezel on the head. The HCRI tailcap is also a dead giveaway.
















The tailcap magnet isn't as strong as say on the H1R Nova, but it will keep the light S1 Mini attached well enough.





Olight S1R, Olight S1 Mini, Olight S1 Copper. The S1 Mini is the smallest S series Olight yet. Missing from the picture is the S Mini, which is just a tiny bit bigger.





The two way pocket clip enables bezel up and down carry. The clip can only be installed to the head on the grooves beside the switch. I would have liked a bit smaller clip.

*User interface*

The light is operated via an electronic side switch. The user interface is similar to other S series Batons. There's a dim red LED behind the switch to indicate low battery charge and lockout mode.

Electronic and physical lockout are both possible. Electronic lockout also affects the tailcap switch.

Operation is as follows
From off:
Single click turns the light on on previously used mode (high is memorized for 10 minutes, turbo and strobe are not memorized)
Double click turns the light on on turbo
Triple (or more) click turns the light on on strobe
Press and hold to access moonlight
Keep pressing for electronic lockout, repeat to unlock (side switch backlight glows red when pressed if lockout is on)

From on:
Single click turns the light off
Long press and hold cycles low, mid, high
Double click activates turbo
Triple click for strobe
Double click and hold for a 3 minute shutdown timer, do it again for a 9 minute shutdown timer

Only thing I would critizise is that you can't go back to the previously selected mode by double clicking on turbo unlike on some other Olights.

*Beam and tint*






The cool white version has the familiar Olight TIR beam, large and well defined. I noticed some blemishes in the middle of the beam. The HCRI version is closer to a reflector light with a bad tint shift from the center to the corona caused by the XP-G3.














































*Tint in different brightness modes*











I have a new setup for more accurate characterization of the beam. The beam properties were measured by controlling a small servo with a computer (Pololu Micro Maestro + Futaba S3151). The flashlight under test was attached to the servo with a rubber holder and a velcro strap. The servo was turned one degree at a time and a measurement was taken with the i1Pro spectrophotometer between the turns. The process takes about 15 minutes and it was repeated twice. The results are the average of these two cycles.

Even with my personal prejudice against XP-G3 I really wanted the first high CRI Olight to be pretty and all, but it just isn't. The beam has a very nice pure white hotspot, but it turns green and ugly very fast. This XP-G3 rainbow isn't anything new though and Olight must have known about it. They even went and installed a heavily diffused TIR optics, but it wasn't enough.

The normal cool white version on the other hand is okay. Even though it's objectively speaking a bit greenish in tint, that doesn't really matter, since the large hotspot is consistent. There's hardly any change in the beam color within the brighter area of the beam. Outside of that the intensity drops off very quickly and the cooler temperature isn't an issue.

On the following measurements, you should look at the shift during the first 20 degrees. That's the area where the output drops down to 10%. Beyond that the shift isn't really visible. On the HCRI version the shift is very strong right from the start while the normal cool white version stays very consistent. The little squiggles on the graphs is barely visible in the beam as small variations in brightness.











The rainbow manifests itself as the hook in the HCRI measurements. You can see the tint changing rapidly to warmer and greener and then reversing its direction when the readings are taken towards the edge of the beam. This is much more visible than a linear and gradual change towards either direction like on the normal S1 Mini.





















*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.























*Output and runtimes*











The supplied 16340 battery has a significantly higher capacity at lower discharge currents, which explains the comparatively larger lumen-hours figures. The actual efficiency also increases a bit (8%) on mid, but not as drastically as you would expect from the 28% increase in integrated output over time.






The output drops very gradually during the first minute after which it steps down a bit faster and reaches the high level at three minutes.






Here I try to run the light on as high a mode as possible by resetting the turbo with a double click after it has tapered down to the high level. After 20 minutes of this the light wouldn't go to turbo anymore unless I shut it off first and then it only stayed on turbo for 10-15 seconds. All in all, the turbo will function properly with cells discharged down to 25% of their capacity.











*Flicker*

I measure the flicker with a Thorlabs DET36A/M photodetector and an oscilloscope. I transfer the scope's sample memory via LAN to the computer where a script parses, performs an fft and other calculations to spit out a bunch of metrics. Then another script draws a graph which represents the output of the light source relative to time. This graph also has the metrics calculated previously.

Here are the metrics:

Frequency – the rate of flicker in hertz. If this is over 10kHz, there's usually no reason to worry about visible flickering
Modulation – also known as percent flicker which is calculated by (max level – min level) / (max level + min level). 100% modulation means that the light is turning completely off during the cycles like on PWM controlled output
Duty cycle: the relative time the light spends above the mid level during one cycle. 50% means that the light is above mid (“on”) 50% and below mid (“off”) 50% of the time. Lower duty cycle results in more visible flickering or strobe effect
Index: flicker index is calculated using the area under the curve (link is external). This integral is separated into area above and below the average output. The index is the area above that average divided by the total area. A pwm light with a duty cycle of 50% will have a flicker index of 0.5, but it is more useful with more complicated periodic waveforms, especially those whose modulation is less than 100%.

Snob index: a rating, which tries to convey a single number of flicker visibility
0% - No flicker, completely stable output
<1% - Could be considered flicker free unless photographed with a super high shutter speed with the camera stuck on the LED
1-5% - Probably not visible to the naked eye (high frequency PWM, >10kHz or low modulation at lower frequencies)
5-10% - Might be visible to the most sensitive people who know what to look for and try hard enough (incandescent)
10-20% - Sensitive people will see it at least on bright reflections, probably not a dealbreaker yet in general use
20-50% - YMMV area. If you can usually spot mid frequency PWM, you'll easily see the flicker
>50% - Visible to most people at least on some occasions (low frequency PWM, <200 Hz)

There's some possibly visible flickering on moonlight mode. Low and mid modes also have significant ripple, but its frequency is too high to see with a naked eye. Click here for all of the flicker measurements.






*Temperature*

The S1 Mini never gets uncomfortable to hold, thanks to its quick stepdown. Unless of course you keep resetting the turbo...

*Verdict*

So far the smallest 16340 Olight has a great mechanical and electrical engineering behind it. Too bad the emitter choice lets the high CRI version down. While it does reach the advertised CRI of 90 on low modes, the beam is very uneven in color which makes the CRI unimportant. Some previous lights like the H1R Nova and S Mini in neutral white are much more pleasing. If you like cool white, then the normal CW version of the S1 Mini will not disappoint. Still waiting for Olight to embrace the beauty that is Nichia.

+ Very good efficacy (long runtimes with high output for a 16340 light)
+ Holds up turbo well even with a mostly depleted battery
+ Nice actuation and feel on the switch
+ Very small, can't get much smaller with a 16340
+ Comes with a high quality usb rechargeable battery
- The HCRI model has a very uneven and greenish tint (rainbowy)
- Small artifacts (blemishes) on the CW beam
- Possibly visible flicker on moonlight mode
- Pocket clip is a bit too big for a light this small
- Difficult to try different emitters


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## TCY (Dec 2, 2017)

Thanks for the review maukka. Gotta say that NW flavour look much better in this case.


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## vadimax (Dec 2, 2017)

Holy cow... Impressive piece of science  Perfecly done!


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## Ozythemandias (Dec 2, 2017)

vadimax said:


> Holy cow... Impressive piece of science  Perfecly done!



When it comes to tint and CRi Maukka is your man


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## Tachead (Dec 3, 2017)

Thanks maukka, another impressive review as usual. They seem to get better all the time. Keep up the good work sir:thumbsup:.


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## maukka (Dec 3, 2017)

After noticing that the S1 Mini worked quite well in freezing temps being able to activate turbo when some other lights didn't, I conducted some discharge tests on 16340 batteries. First I charged them fully and placed them outside in 1-3°C temperature for an hour and brought back inside for discharging. The results would be even worse if I would have done the discharging outside or if the batteries would not have been fully charged before the test.

The internal resistance of a lithium ion battery rises significantly when the cell is cool, which shows as a big voltage drop when a high current is applied. This is why a partly discharged 16340 has often trouble activating turbo on the powerful Olights if you only use the lights outside only intermittently or mostly on the lower levels where the battery doesn't stay warm.

The new usb rechargeable Olight 16340 fares quite well in the test and doesn't sag too much at 1.3A discharge. I chose 1.3A as it's what the S1 Mini draws on turbo. An unprotected Windyfire 600mAh IMR is clearly the best in this test. My old 650mAh Keeppower is pretty much useless during the winter. The Olight 550mAh is the battery that came with the S1R and the Olight 650mAh with the H1R.


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## jon_slider (Dec 3, 2017)

Thanks for the detailed info, and the new Flicker Index..

collected clips of maukka's images


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## Olightworld (Dec 5, 2017)

Thanks for thorough and well mapped out review!! Good to see so much effort and thought put into this. I'll make sure the feedback makes it back up the chain. Thanks again!


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## Tac Gunner (Dec 5, 2017)

Very disappointed in the HCRI model. I really like the NW tint of my H1R and was there for really looking forward to this new light. I wish Olight would just release either this model or the regular S1 with the same NW XML2 as the H1R has.


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## Skaaphaas (Dec 5, 2017)

Tac Gunner said:


> Very disappointed in the HCRI model. I really like the NW tint of my H1R and was there for really looking forward to this new light. I wish Olight would just release either this model or the regular S1 with the same NW XML2 as the H1R has.



I must say the H1 NW has a really pleasing tint


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## gottawearshades (Dec 5, 2017)

Very impressive review. One stupid question: is the magnet removable, like in other models?


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## Nichia! (Dec 5, 2017)

The old xpg2 is better led and it has better CRI! No one likes the new xpg3 especially the High CRI folks and I am one of them

But for the ultimate CRI experience you should go with the nichia219b.


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## Boris74 (Dec 6, 2017)

Skaaphaas said:


> I must say the H1 NW has a really pleasing tint



Yeah, my H1R has the best NW tint to it. My s Mini Ti has a great NW tint too. I haven’t seen either of the new minis to campare side by side real life so far. I might like it, I might not. It’s just too hard to know without seeing no matter how good graphs, videos or pictures are. I have no clue what LED is in the protac 1L-1AA but side by side to my NW Ti Mini, it makes it look cool white. That light has the perfect tint to it. It would be a solid gold winner in the SMini.


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## toobadorz (Dec 7, 2017)

That USB rechargeable 16340 battery looks pretty much like the same thing as the Fenix ARB-L16-700U, which also comes with Fenix CL09 lamp, and your discharge test matches my impressions. To get a even longer runtime, you may also try Fenix ARB-L16-700 (or the Klarus equivalent) because it can give ~700mAh when discharged down to 2.5V at 2A load, making it one of the best choice for a 16340 light. However the ARB-L16-700 is not USB rechargeable...


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## Capolini (Dec 7, 2017)

Thanks for the review.

I thought I saw that it can only use BT batteries?

I see that you used an unprotected windyfire in your test. Isn't that a Flat top?

So we are able to use our own 16340, correct?

,,,,,,,,,Thanks


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## maukka (Dec 7, 2017)

Capolini said:


> I see that you used an unprotected windyfire in your test. Isn't that a Flat top?



I only used the Windyfire in the discharge test.


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## Capolini (Dec 7, 2017)

maukka said:


> I only used the Windyfire in the discharge test.



ok,thanks,,,,,,,,,,,,Do you have to use the provided Olight USB battery or one with the same usb battery hookup?

Basically can I use another non usb BT Battery?


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## maukka (Dec 8, 2017)

Capolini said:


> Basically can I use another non usb BT Battery?



Yes.


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## Capolini (Dec 9, 2017)

Thanks again for your review and answering my questions. 

It is helpful,ESPECIALLY since I just WON the Light!!!!


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## Capolini (Dec 9, 2017)

Final question!

I do not understand this. The LAST sentence.

What sets the S1 Mini apart from the model lineup is the new usb chargeable battery. The light omits Olight's magnetic tailcap with usb charging contacts and replaces it with the battery charging circuit. "This offers the benefit of being able to charge the depleted cell while the light is in use."

Maybe I am missing something? How can you charge the depleted cell and use the light at the same time? Using another cell while it is charging is the only thing I can think of.


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## Nev (Dec 9, 2017)

Maybe by using a powerbank?


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## Nev (Dec 9, 2017)

With a long lead.


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## bartonjd (Dec 11, 2017)

No, there is no way to close the flashlight If there is a micro usb cable plugged into the battery.


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## Capolini (Dec 11, 2017)

After thinking about it more I most certain I know hat he means.

Some of the other models used Magnetic charging. The CELL had to stay in the light when charging[you therefore can not use the light]. This S1 mini you take the battery out and charge it with a USB cable. Therefore all you need to do is put another battery in and you are able to use the light while the usb battery is charging!


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## LightObsession (Dec 11, 2017)

Thanks for the thorough review.

I would be buying the high CRI version, if the beam tint was more even, like the cool white beam is. 

I like the small size and the two-way clip - since I like to have a light on me that can be clipped on my hat brim for hands-free use. I currently use the Factor Equipment Mizpah 130 for this purpose, but it's not high CRI or as high of an output.

The form factor may end up motivating me to buy the cool white version, even though it's low CRI and cool white.


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## scout24 (Dec 11, 2017)

Quick question, and if I missed the answer I apologize... Do the new Mini's have a lens over the TIR optic, or is the acrylic exposed like the older model?

PS- And, moving this to the reviews section... :thumbsup:


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## maukka (Dec 12, 2017)

Naturally you need two batteries to use the light while charging the battery.


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## Capolini (Dec 19, 2017)

*
Got my cool little OLIGHT S1 Mini yesterday!*:thumbsup:*

THANKS OLIGHT!! FAST DELIVERY AND A BEAUTIFUL POWERFUL LITTLE TORCH!!!

*






*
My GAW gift along with his Brothers,,,ALL little guys! **S10/i3S-CU-S1 Mini-USB Battery

*


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## Nos2 (Dec 31, 2017)

Finally some high Cri lights, thanks for test.


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## sbslider (Jan 7, 2018)

Capolini said:


> After thinking about it more I most certain I know hat he means.
> 
> Some of the other models used Magnetic charging. The CELL had to stay in the light when charging[you therefore can not use the light]. This S1 mini you take the battery out and charge it with a USB cable. Therefore all you need to do is put another battery in and you are able to use the light while the usb battery is charging!



Actually, you can use the Olight S1R (as well as other tailcap charged Olight lights) while charging. The light does not care if the battery is being charged or not. 

Great review here, too bad olight does not make this light with Nichia emmiter AND copper. I know they make a copper mini (eyeing this . . . ) but if it had a nichia emitter then it would make a great light even better.


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## Soverign (Mar 11, 2018)

Can the magnetic tail cap and matching battery be used from another Olight and put on this one?


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## maukka (Mar 12, 2018)

Yes, works fine.


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