Olight S15 baton

Olight S15 review:

Introduction:

This S15 Baton was the latest in the S-Baton line from Olight in 2013. It offered an XM-L2,  and can use 1, 2 or 3 AA batteries. Or a single 14500 cell.

I`ve was drawn more towards AA type flashlights in 2013, and the Olight S15 seemed to be a nice addition to the AA family with its 250 lumens from a single AA battery.

What you get:

Unfortunately, the S15 arrived in cheap looking plastic case. It contained:

1. The S15 baton flashlight
2. Clip
3. Magnet (already built in)
4. Manual
5. Lanyard
6. O-rings
7. A rubber “washer” to replace the magnet
8. An AA extender to use with 2AA batteries.

The S15 baton is well made. Its head is a little wider than the body. The clip is fairly strong, and helps with grip.
One of the first things that drew my attention was the blue switch-button, which feels great. The engraving is also nice thick and sharp!
The XM-L2 is very well centered.

Handling of the light

I used to own a Eagletec D25A, and one of the things I didnt like, was the size, too tiny, light and thin. (87mm x 17mm, and 25grams). I also owned the infamous Xeno E03 (97x21mm 48gram), which I liked much more due to its size. And the Olight S15 baton is again a step back from the Xeno E03 due to its size and weight, but not as bad as the Eagletac D25A. I prefer something heavier, bigger. In the tailcap is a fairly strong magnet. So you can attach it to metal objects, which can be very helpful and handy at times.  The magnet however can be taken out and replaced by a rubber ring.
The light has a few short-cuts to its output modes.

Dimensions and weight:

Pictured below are the Olight eos i3 titanium, M5, Olight S15 baton and the Sunwayman V11R mirage.

	Olight S15 baton	Eagletec D25A	Sunwayman V11R	Fenix LD12
Length 1xAA	87mm	87mm	100mm	105mm
Length 2xAA	138mm
Width tailcap	19.5mm	18mm	23mm	21.5mm
Width head	23mm	18mm	23mm	21.5mm
Weight:
1xAA	46gram	24gram	60gram	54gram
2xAA	60gram

Magnet: The included magnet in the tailcap is very strong. It easily holds the light in different positions even with the extender and 2 AA batteries.
You can replace the magnet with a circular coin-like rubber that is included in the set.

User Interface:

Here it comes! The first negative impression on this S15 was the UI. After using it for a few days I got a little more used to it, but I still dislike it. From OFF: short-cuts to 3 different output modes.

1. Click: Last mode
2. Press and Hold 1 sec: Moonlight mode
3. 2 Fast clicks: Highest mode

Switching modes:

• Press and hold (which is something I really, really don’t like)

From Moonlight mode:

• Next is Low, Medium, High, Low, Medium, High, etc…
  Moonlight mode is not part of the main modes, and therefore inaccessible from the main modes!!!
  If you want to go back to moonlight, you have to turn the light off, and then Press and Hold the switch again for 1 seconds.
  This is far from useful.

Strobe:

• It has Strobe, but it’s hidden, which is a huge PLUS.
• Enter it from any mode, inclusing moon-mode by 2 fast clicks.
• To get out of the strobe mode, simply press and hold the switch for 2 seconds.
  This will bring it back to the 3 main modes, low medium and high.

Electronic Lockout (so the light will not turn accidentally by pushing the button)

From OFF:

• press and hold for 2 seconds, it turns to Moon-mode and directly off… THEN release the switch.
  Now its locked.. If you click on the switch, nothing will happen.
• Except: 2 seconds press and hold, for Moonlight.

If you want a mechanical lockout, untwist the tailcap that breaks the circuit. This is safer and simpler. You wont have parasitic drain this way.
According to Olight, the S15 has an extremely low standby current:
0.5uA while using 1.5V battery; 1.2uA while using a 4.2V battery

One more thing that I noticed with this light, is that when you click the switch too short, it turns back on again.
I would prefer to have this setting removed from the S15 successor.

Mode Memory: It has mode memory. So any mode will be memorized once its turned off. As far as I could test, there was no lag. So, turning it off and quickly on again will work as well. (not double click). PWM:
Nothing I could detect.

Performance:

According to the specs of Olight using a 14500 battery

• High (280lumens : 45min),
• Med. (70lumens : 4h),
• Low (7lumens : 32h),
• Moonlight (0.5lumens : 15days)

Current draw by my testing:

	1 *AA	2* AA	14500
Moon	0.01A	0.01A	0.01A
Low	0.04A	0.02A	0.03A
Medium	0.50A	0.22A	0.25A
High	2.10A	1.02A	0.92A

My run-time check:
Like with all other AA flashlights reviews, I used an AA eneloop battery: Runtime on High is; around 50min. After that it drops to Low, where it stays for a little longer.
The S15 has no Low Voltage indicator or warning.
At this point the battery will be depleted, but you have time to look for another battery in mean time, as it will have a few lumens until it dies.

Overall conclusion Olight S15

Postive points:

1. Pocketable EDC.
2. AA batteries and 14500 lithium compatible.
3. Can run off 2 and 3 AA batteries using extender(s).
4. Strong pocket clip.
5. Squared threads
6. Very long runtime in Moonlight.
7. 3 shortcuts from OFF.
8. No PWM.
9. Strobe is hidden.
10. Lock out(Electronic) and (Manual/mechanical)

Negative points

1. Run-time on High is only 50minutes. (I would prefer a slightly lower output but with a longer run-time)
2. When removing the clip it leaves scratches and markt on the anodizing.
3. Not easy to modify and change led.
4. Press and Hold to change modes.. A horror to use.
5. Because of the side switch it can activate the light accidentally and drain the battery.
6. Entering the Electronic Lockout is difficult to achieve.