Olight S10R Baton II Thoughts

I was expecting this Olight S10R Baton II to be the perfect EDC light. It's perfect in almost every aspect. The one aspect it's not perfect in, the UI, makes everything I love about this light disappear. It doesn't matter how small, bright, or great a light is if it is not easy to use. The UI is so annoying and not user friendly in the slightest. I really wanted to love this flashlight, but I just can't get used to the user interface. I don't personally recommend it. If you're willing to learn or are already used to Olight's UI, then this would be a wonderful EDC flashlight.

I guess I'll talk about the UI first, since that is what I have my biggest issue with. I like lights where you can access the modes by clicking or twisting once to turn on and then keep clicking or twisting after that to get brighter and brighter. To me, that is very straight forward and easy to use. With this light, you press once to turn it on. Then in order to go to the next mood, you have to hold down the button until it gets to your next desired brightness. I suppose as I'm writing that out, it doesn't sound all that complicated. For me though, I just can't get used to this mode selection. I like lights where you click once for low, twice for medium, and three times for high. I don't want to have to mess around with pressing and holding. I'm not sure if Olight does this on all their lights or if it's on select models. Unfortunately, I think a lot of the new lights on the market are using modes like this. Maybe that's the way the industry is going, but I have to say, I'm not a fan at all.

Other than the UI, this light is pretty perfect. The clip kinda sucks. The light is a nice, compact size. The max output is 500 lumens, which is the perfect max brightness for an EDC light in my opinion. The blue accents on the button and head look sweet. I love that there's splashes of color on this otherwise boring, black light. The rechargeable feature is why I wanted this light in the first place. I don't want to buy batteries for my lights anymore. For $60, I felt like this was a good deal. It charges via a little USB base that comes with the light. This light will also take any CR123 batteries if you can't recharge it somewhere. I love that there's a magnetic tailcap. I honestly didn't think that'd be a useful feature, but boy was I wrong. It's so convenient to be able to stick it onto random magnetic surfaces. This flashlight has some nice knurling on the body that provides some extra grip. The beam has a nice tint to it as well. 

All in all, everything about this light is great except for the UI. On paper, it looks like the perfect light yet no one ever mentions the horrible UI. I really was hoping this light would end my search for the perfect EDC flashlight. Unfortunately, it didn't, but it did give me a better idea of what I personally need in a flashlight. I wish I wasn't so bothered by the UI. I like things that are easy to use, and I don't think the UI fits that criteria. It's a shame a perfect light is ruined by a crappy user interface. There's a lot of people that really seem to love this light, so again, I could just have an unpopular opinion. Thanks for looking!