I really like what Olight does with all of their rechargeable lights and nice looking designs; however, one aspect of their lights always annoys me, the UI. Their press/hold and multiple clicks to access modes is something I've never been a fan of. I prefer UIs where I can just press individually for each mode. That's more "old-fashioned" in this day of high tech lights, and unfortunately is something new flashlights are starting to move away from. I had the chance to borrow this S2A Baton last year, and while I loved the design, the UI ruined it for me. Olight has brighter and more compact lights now, so those might be better options than this one.
Like I mentioned earlier, the design of the Batons has always appealed to me. I love what Olight did with the colored rubber grip section. It of course gives you extra grip while making the light look cooler and easier to find. There were a few different color options, like blue, glow-in-the-dark, and black, which is something I always like to see. I wish they had done the magnetic tailcap, as that's surprisingly useful. I didn't get a straight-on photo of the clip, but I hated it. I hate the deep carry clip trend on knives and the same can be said for flashlights. I wouldn't carry this light in anything other than a bag anyways due to how long it is. It's a 2 AA light that comes in around 5" long. The extra output/runtimes from 2 AAs are nice, but you can generally find the same brightness in much smaller packages nowadays. Still, if it's a longer light you're after, this isn't a bad option. The quality is what you'd typically expect from any Olight.
I dig the blue accents around the button and head of the light. The button is slightly raised and has a rubberized texture to it which helps you find it easier. It clicks well, and besides my problems with the UI, it worked well.
The output is very impressive with 550 max lumens in turbo for 4 hours on a lithium/rechargeable battery. The turbo mode can only be used for about 3 minutes until it ramps down. You can run alkalines in this light, yet that will get you lower runtimes and means you can only go up to 260 lumens max. For other modes, there's high (260 lumens for 4 hours and 5 minutes), medium (120 lumens for 10 hours), low (20 lumens for 80 hours), and moonlight (0.5 lumens for 50 days). There's also a strobe if you ever need it. The beam was a whitish tint and more flood than hotspot. This light is more than enough for any basic EDC tasks you need to do. I already mentioned the UI of press/hold and multiple clicks, so if you end up picking this light up or any Olight for that matter, just read the manual. It's not that hard to get used to, but I'm stubborn and don't like to change since most of my lights require pressing for modes individually. There's no momentary on sadly, though there is mode memory which makes getting through the modes less annoying.
These are a decent deal, going for around $50. For that much money, you can buy a more newer Olight with better performance in a smaller package. Again, the design is great, but I'll never enjoy an Olight if all of their clickys use this crappy UI. I'd rather have a twisty than use a light with this sort of UI. What can I say, I like what I like and have a hard time changing what I'm used to. I personally say skip it. Thanks for looking!
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