Contents

• Pricing & Availability
• What comes in the box?
• Design & Construction
• The Pivoting Head
• Size & Measurements
• User Interface
• Emitter & Beam
• Mode Chart
• Runtime
• Driver & Regulation
• Switch
• Carry & Ergonomics
• Batteries & Charging
• Competition
• Conclusion

Pricing & Availability

Olight sent me this light in exchange for making an honest review of it and including some information about their upcoming Christmas Sale (Dec. 11-16) where this light will be discounted. Here are links to their website, the official product page, and the temporary bundle page where you can see current pricing. Those are affiliate links that let them know I sent you, but I’ve chosen not to earn any commission. Code “tgreviews” is 10% off most items that aren’t on sale. All customers can get a free keychain light during the sale as well.

What comes in the box?

Arkflex comes in Olight’s simpler box design. It’s made of folded cardstock and has high-quality printing all around to show off the light and its features. There’s a vacuum-formed plastic insert inside that holds the contents in place.

• The light itself
• User manual & safety booklet
• Magnetic charging cable

Design & Construction

Arkflex’s design is a departure from the rest of the Arkfeld series. Instead of having flat sides, they’re rounded. Instead of a switch on the wide face of the light, it’s on the curved edge. There’s no rotary toggle since it’s a single channel. And of course, there’s a pivoting head. I really like that the pivot mechanism doesn’t stick out at all. The light is perfectly sleek when the head is pointed forward. I don’t care for the blue accents but they’re unobtrusive enough.

Build quality is top-notch. Olights always have a feeling of quality, fit, and finish that you can’t get from budget brands. The anodizing is particularly nice. It’s smooth with a deep satin finish. Even the moving parts on this light feel solid and well-built.

The Pivoting Head

This is the Arkflex’s key feature. The head can pivot from 0 to 90 degrees and anywhere in between. The pivot mechanism is smooth and stiff. There are no detents nor roughness of any kind. It does have a great deal of friction though to hold the angle you choose. Even if it gets bumped and jostled, it should stay put.

Size & Measurements

Olight Warrior 3S | Skilhunt MiX-7 | Olight Arkflex | Olight Arkfeld Pro | Mini Maglite

Measurement	Measured (mm)
Width	30.1
Thickness (mode)	16.7
Thickness (maximum, including clip)	24.7
Length	108.3
Switch Length	15.6
Switch Width	6.5
Switch Proudness	0
Pocket Clip Width	6.3-12.5
Pocket Clip Thickness	1.0

Weight: 101g

User Interface

This is a good, simple UI. It has all the core features you need and none you don’t.

The actions are # of presses followed by a hold (H) or a release (C). So, “1C” is one click and release. “2H” is two clicks but you hold down the last one.

State	Action	Result
Off	1C	On (mode memory)
Off	1H (short)	Moonlight (memorized)
Off	1H (long)	Lockout
Lockout	1C	Battery indicator glows red
Lockout	1H (long)	Unlock (to Moonlight)
Moonlight	1H	Low
Any	3C	Strobe
Any	2C	Turbo (memorized as High)
Turbo	2C	Return to previous mode (mostly*
On	1H	Cycle mode (low-med-high)

What they got right:

• Clicking turns the light on/off and holding the button changes modes. That’s the way almost all e-switch flashlights should work. It’s intuitive and quick.
• The common shortcuts work. Moonlight, Turbo, and Strobe all have shortcuts that work the same way as most other lights. They work very well and there’s no learning curve for these when switching lights.
• There are 5 brightness levels, which is just the right amount. Enough to have options but not so many that it’s cumbersome to use.
• Strobe is hidden behind a triple click outside the main rotation. You won’t activate it by accident.
• 1H from Moonlight goes to Low. That means you can get to Low mode without having to go through brighter modes if you don’t have it memorized.

What they got wrong (all minor nitpicks):

• Turbo & Moonlight are memorized. They shouldn’t be memorized because they each have their own dedicated shortcut for quick access. Since they’re memorized, accessing them will override your memorized mode.
• Turbo is memorized as High. Not only does accessing turbo overwrite your memorized mode, but it doesn’t even memorize properly as Turbo.
• High only stays memorized for a few minutes. If you turn the light off in High (or Turbo) and then don’t reactivate it within a few minutes, the next time you activate the light it will be in medium mode, not High. Modes should either be memorized or not memorized. This time-based memorization change feels more like a confusing bug than a feature and it should be removed.
• Lockout/unlock is 1H from off. That’s too easy to accidentally deactivate and there’s no mechanical lockout on this light. Many other makers are moving to 4C to lock/unlock and I prefer that.
• Soft Start. Sometimes when you enter or exit Turbo or High mode, it will softly ramp up/down to avoid being jarring. It takes less than a second, but it makes the light feel weirdly unresponsive and I don’t like it. It’s also inconsistent. It usually does that, but sometimes it’s instant. I don’t know why.
• There’s no timer. That’s a handy feature on most of Olight’s EDC-oriented models and it’s missing from this one.

Emitter & Beam

I think these are Osram P9 LEDs. They’re a fine choice for high brightness and efficiency, but they don’t have the nicest color properties. I believe Arkflex will only be available in cool white, which is a shame. It would have been nice to have a neutral white, high CRI version with Nichia 519As also available. The LEDs sit behind a custom TIR optic but I can’t tell if there’s also a glass lens in front. I didn’t try disassembling the head because I didn’t want to accidentally damage the light.

The beam is floody with a wide, defined hotspot. The spill is a bit square but otherwise is pretty clean. It doesn’t throw very far but it’s a great beam shape for a portable hands-free light.

In the beamshots below, the basketball goal to the right of the hotspot is 39M away and the power pole in the center is 185M away.

Mode Chart

Disclaimer: All of my measurements are taken at turn-on. Lumen measurements were taken on a Texas Ace 3.5″ Lumen Tube. A candela measurement was taken at 10 meters with an Opple Light Master III on the highest brightness, and other candela figures were calculated relative to that. CRI, CCT, & DUV data were taken for each mode from a few feet away at the center of the hotspot with the Opple Light Master and Waveform DUV Calculator. Runtime tests were performed with the Ceilingbounce app on my smartphone. All of these tests were performed with a fully charged included battery unless otherwise specified. I cannot measure moonlight directly, so moonlight readings are calculated based on the brightness relative to the next-lowest mode. None of this is professional equipment, so take all of these measurements with a grain of salt.

Above are the official specs, followed by my own measurements below.

Level	Lumens	Candela	Throw (Meters)	CRI (Ra)	Color Temp. (K)	DUV (Tint)
Turbo	840	1900	87	71	6390	0.0036
High	340	769	55	70	6260	0.0051
Medium	92	208	29	70	6190	0.0057
Low	12	27	10	70	6170	0.0058
Moonlight	1.8	4	4	69	6110	0.0058

Runtime

Performance is good. Turbo time (2.5 mins) and sustained output (~350lm) are both impressive for a light with such a small head. That’s a lot of heat in a small space with no cooling fins.

Thermal regulation is a timed step-down from Turbo only. There is no active thermal regulation. That means the light will perform very consistently but may also overheat in hot weather or leave some performance on the table in cold weather.

LVP (Low Voltage Protection): The light does have low voltage protection for the built-in battery. It shuts off when the battery is depleted.

Driver & Regulation

I’m not sure what kind of driver is being used here. Olight tends to use Buck or Boost drivers, and this could be either because there are two LEDs.

Regulation performance is poor. I like maximum output to be achievable until the battery is less than half charged. Here, maximum output isn’t achievable unless the battery is near full.

Note: All regulation measurements are taken at turn-on so they do not reflect any thermal or low voltage stepdowns that may occur. A value of 0 indicates low voltage shutoff immediately upon activation.

PWM: No PWM is visible to my eyes or camera, nor audible to my ears.

Parasitic Drain: I was unable to measure parasitic drain due to the built-in battery.

Switch

Arkflex has the switch mounted on one of the rounded edges instead of on the face like other models in the Arkfeld series. It’s blue anodized with four raised bumps and a power logo on it with no backlighting. The location is a bit awkward to access and I don’t find it very ergonomic, but it does enable a wide variety of grips. In some grips, my finger doesn’t even have to be on the button. Just squeezing the light is enough to actuate the switch.

Carry & Ergonomics

Ergonomics: It’s a bit slipperier than my Arkfeld Pro because of the smooth rounded surface despite the scallops on the edges. The button is a bit awkward to access, but it works well enough. The key is that it works in a wide variety of grips. Half the time, my finger doesn’t even need to be on the button, and simply squeezing the light will be enough to actuate the button and turn it on/off.

Clip: The included carry method is a large, bidirectional pocket clip. It’s screwed on near the head so it can’t pop off or rotate out of place. Olight has a history of using extremely strong thread lockers on these, so be extremely careful if you remove the clip. It’s a bidirectional clip that loops back over itself so you can clip it bezel-up or bezel-down. That’s particularly handy in this light because of the pivoting head and the variety of ways you might want to use it.

Stowing the light in your pocket? Clip it bezel down. Inspecting a ceiling? Clip it bezel-up to your shirt pocket and point the head forward a bit. Need some hands-free light for walking at night? Clip it bezel-down to the outside of your shirt collar and point the head forward a bit. Wearing a baseball cap and heed hands-free light? Clip it to your hat and point the bezel down a bit. It’s extremely versatile.

Magnet: There’s a strong magnet embedded in the tailcap. It’s strong enough to hold the light securely in any orientation on every ferrous surface I tried. I wouldn’t expect it to stay stuck on a car frame driving down the highway, but short of that it’s good to go. The tail is nice and flat too, so it’ll tailstand even without the help of the magnet.

Batteries & Charging

The battery is built-in and is not user accessible. It’s advertised to be a 1050mah LiPo, which is a little smaller than I expected. The built-in battery is what allows Arkflex to have such a unique shape, but it also means you can’t replace the battery when it wears out.

Charging is facilitated by Olight’s proprietary magnetic tailcap charging system. A USB-A charging cable is included that magnetically snaps onto the tailcap of the light. The puck has an LED indicator that glows red while charging and glows green when not charging. It’s easy to see but it’s a little too bright to have on your nightstand at night. The light is usable while charging.

This magnetic charging system is tremendously convenient if you have a designated spot where you always charge your light because you can just wave the light near the charger and it will connect. When you’re finished, just grab the light and pull. It’s not very convenient if you like to charge in different locations or on the go because you have to have that proprietary charging cable. It’s worth mentioning that I haven’t found these magnetic charging systems to be as reliable as a traditional USB port. On rare occasions, they just don’t work for no apparent reason. If that happens, re-plugging the USB end and/or cleaning the contacts usually fixes it.

Battery Indicator: There are four battery indicator LEDs on the largest flattest face. They light up to show battery status for a short time after the button is pressed. I love this indication system as it’s obvious, precise, and doesn’t require any extra user input. Some lights use a series of clicks and holds to enter a battery check mode that blinks out the voltage or does several blinks to tell battery status, but that’s ambiguous and isn’t glanceable. This solution with LED indicator bars is perfect. Anyone can pick up the light, turn it on, and immediately understand what the bars mean.

Competition

Here are some lights in the same class and how they compare.

Wuben L1:

• same price
• higher brightness
• unattractive traditional cylinder design
• much larger and heavier
• dual LEDs (one for flood, one for throw)
• standard USB-C charging with powerbank function
• two LED options including Nichia 519A
• dual switches
• standard, user-replaceable, and much larger 21700 battery
• worse pocket clip
• worse battery indicator
• dramatically more throw

Wuben X3:

• same price
• small brick design with a clear body
• different proprietary charging system but also supports wireless charging
• white and red LEDs
• LCD display
• worse clip
• optional charging/carrying case

This section is not comprehensive. If I didn’t include a particular light here, it doesn’t mean it’s bad or doesn’t deserve to be here. I simply cannot list every possible competitor. In this particular case, I didn’t find any other pivot-head lights that looked worthwhile and were still available for purchase.

Conclusion

This light is a great addition to the Arkfeld series. It’s got the same built-in battery and proprietary charging that some enthusiasts may gripe about, but it’s also got the same slim form factor that made previous Arkfeld models so pocketable. The flex head is well-implemented, performance is solid, the UI is simple and unintrusive, and the pocket clip is thoughtfully designed. If I were looking for a light with a pivoting head, this is the one I would buy.

Thanks to Olight for sending me this light for review!