Olight torch throwdown: One of these slim flashlights is our new go-to
I’m a bit of a flashlight hoarder. Bike lights, work lights, EDC lights, head lamps, even night vision … I have far too many, but try as I might, I can’t seem to get rid of them. Olight asked if I wanted to review the ArkPro and the Baton 4, and my eyes turned to saucers. Olight sent me all three versions of the ArkPro (Ultra, Standard, Lite) and both of the Baton lights (Ultra and Pro). And for full transparency, we did not get paid to write this, but we will earn commission should you decide to buy one using our links. That doesn’t affect my thoughts below. For the main purposes of this review, I’m going to talk mostly about the Ultra versions of each. Right off the bat, this little ArkPro torch is different: it’s rectangular, which sounds weird right up until you actually hold it, and it just feels right. Not to mention how much more comfortable it is in your pocket, right up to the point you forget it’s even in there. It’s about 4.9 inches (124 mm) long and weighs in at 4.23 ounces (120 g), though the ArkPro Lite version is about a quarter-inch shorter (6.4 mm). The ArkPro Ultra is a perfect fit in my handJS @ New Atlas It’s made from “OAL,” which is some sort of proprietary aluminum that Olight says is super-duper tough. Olight states that it’s “1.73x harder than 6061 aluminum, 1.73x more tensile strength than TA2 titanium, and 1.44x the yield strength of TA2 titanium.” I have no means of verifying any of those claims, but I can tell you that it feels strong, it’s lightweight, and it’s weirdly hard to scratch. I watched SensiblePrepper take a key, knife, and drill bit to ’em in a torture test. Looked like a pass to me. It’s bright. The Ultra is cracking out a 1,700-lumen rating in “Turbo” flood mode for 3 minutes before it steps down to standard “high” mode at 520 lumens for another 140 mins. That’s real bright. Even at 520 lumens. And it’s equally dim when you need dim with its “moonlight” mode, which is a single lumen’s worth of light that’ll last 14 days on a single charge. That’s proper emergency-light status – like being stuck in a pitch-black flooded cave, waiting for rescue … one lumen is a lot more comforting than none. I tried to lock exposure on my phone’s camera to keep everything level. As you can see, the ArkPro Ultra is brighter overall, but more importantly, the Ultra has 10,640 candela whereas the Lite is 2,225 candela … meaning the Ultra has over double the throw than the LiteJS @ New Atlas The ArkPro (non-Ultra) is rated to 1,500 lumens max, while the cheapest of the line, the ArkPro Lite, still cracks out a solid 1,200 lumens in Turbo. If you know you’re not going to be around a charger but still need a fair bit of light, high mode will last you between 125 and 155 minutes – mostly depending on spot vs flood – across all three ArkPro models. They will get a little toasty on the business end when you’ve got it bright. Fortunately, the ArkPro has a button lockout to prevent accidental heating of your giblets via your pockets. The ArkPro and ArkPro Ultra both feature UV light, spot, flood, and green laser modes. Both the UV and the green laser have two levels of brightness adjustability, while the spot and flood have five levels, plus a strobe feature. The ArkPro Lite, on the other hand, drops both the laser and the dedicated flood mode in favor of a red light. I do love the red light that’s only on the ArkPro Lite modelJS @ New Atlas It’s a pity that the Ultra and the standard model skipped the red light. A good red beam genuinely comes in handy for keeping your night vision while out in the wild, or even just for trying not to disturb your fellow campers when you wake up at 3 AM to water a tree. The red light alone makes the cheapest of the three lights maybe the best option if you don’t need a laser or flood beam. Sure, it’s less lumens overall, but I sure do like that red light. All three versions have a UV light, which is a lot of fun, right up until you use it to inspect the bathroom of the $200-a-night hotel you’re staying at. Then it’s much less fun … sometimes you’re just better off not knowing. Where it is fun, on the other hand, is snipe hunting with the kids at night. So far, we’ve only found jellyfish and scorpions. Oh, and I found where the leak in my car’s AC was coming from, too. The shoreline is pretty fun with the ArkPro’s UV light. I wish it were a little brighter/stronger, but it’s still good fun.JS @ New Atlas The side button on the two pricier ArkPro models is for the green laser. It’s not the most powerful green laser I’ve ever used, but it’s still good enough to see in the daylight for jobsite use, etc., let alone for pointing out which stars and constellations you’re telling your kid about on a camping trip. Outside of testing how good the laser is, I haven’t really had any uses for it, but it’s neat to have. It also works while using the spot, flood, or UV beam. I guess that’s cool? Um … yeah, that’s a laser on the ArkPro and ArkPro UltraJS @ New Atlas One thing that I don’t really care for is the magnetic charger – Olight’s proprietary magnetic puck that snaps to the bottom of the also-magnetic flashlight to charge. I may be the outlier on this too. But one drop of the flashlight into sand or dirt and it’s going to pick up iron dust and grit stuck to the bottom of it. That
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