Olight Sphere Review – Best Obulb Yet, but Not Perfect

1. Pricing & Availability
2. What comes in the box?
3. Design & Construction
4. Size & Measurements
5. User Interface
6. Emitter & Beam
7. Runtime
8. Switch
9. Batteries & Charging
10. Competition
11. Conclusion

Pricing & Availability

Olight sent me this light in exchange for an honest review. Here is the official product page where you can see current pricing. At the time of writing, it’s $20 USD. That’s a tracked link so they know I sent you, but I have chosen not to receive any commissions from sales generated by that link.

What comes in the box?

Sphere comes in Olight’s simpler box design. It’s white, printed cardstock. Inside is:

• The light itself
• Paperwork
• Protective sleeve
• Magnetic USB charging cable
• Adhesive magnetic base
• Adhesive googly eyes

Design & Construction

The Sphere is slightly different from Olight’s Obulb series because more of its surface is translucent and almost the entire surface is clear, showing a diffused white ball inside. It looks cool but will scratch if you aren’t careful with it.

Build quality seems fine. It feels reasonably well made with no sharp edges or rattles. It is almost all plastic and silicone so it doesn’t have the usual, dense, high-quality feel like Olight’s aluminum flashlight models. It’s much higher quality than I expected for only $20.

Size & Measurements

Olight Sphere | Skilhunt MiX-7 G2+| Olight Warrior 3S | Mini Maglite

Measurement	Measured (mm)
Diameter	60.1
Maximum Head Diameter	~51.5
Weight (g)	91

User Interface

This UI has a glaring issue you’ll notice every time you use the Sphere. Double-click to turn it off.

You can actuate the switch by pressing the charging contacts on the bottom or by pressing the top of the sphere while it’s on a flat surface. 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
Off	1H (short)	Low white
Off	1H (long)	Lockout
On	1C	Cycle mode
On	1H	Adjust brightness (smooth ramping)
On	2C	Off
On	3C	Pairing
Lockout	1H	Low white

What they got right:

• Clicking turns the light on. Holding the button adjusts brightness. That’s easy and intuitive.
• Basic functionality is available without the app. I don’t like having to have an app for everything, and it’s nice that I can get most of the features without needing the app.
• Low white has a shortcut from off. 1H from off turns it on the lowest brightness in the white mode. That’s nice because it’s probably my most used mode. It’s also consistent with Olight’s other models and most e-switch lights.

What they got wrong:

• Double-click for off. I cannot imagine why Olight’s UI designers thought this was acceptable. It’s unintuitive, confusing, and persistently annoying. Almost every time I think I’m turning the light off, it turns red instead. Even after using the light almost daily for several weeks, it still catches me off guard if I’m not thinking about it.
• 1 click changes the mode. 1 click should turn it off and a double click should change the mode.
• No color selection without the app. I wish there were a mode where I could just hold down the button to adjust the color. It should be a continuous sweep around the outside of the color wheel. The shortcut would probably need to be 2H from the red mode.
• Brightness adjustment speed isn’t great. It’s a little too fast to get the brightness you want, especially on the low end. I would have preferred stepped levels or a slower adjustment ramp.

The App gives you some extra functionality. It’s mostly just more patterns and animations. There’s a little whack-a-mole type game you can play with it and a music rhythm mode that basically just makes the light flash arbitrarily. It’s all pretty gimmicky except for the timer function, which will make the light turn off or on after a configurable amount of time. I can see that being useful. I appreciate that it doesn’t require you to log in to use the app for controlling the Sphere. It’s also nice that you can choose which 4 patterns are available on the light (in addition to white, red, and red blinking that are always available). Just navigate with the sphere’s button to the pattern you want to replace, and then choose the new pattern you want in the app. You cannot add or subtract any modes though, there will always be seven. The app also lets you update the Sphere, so hopefully they can push an update to fix the awful double click for off!

Emitter & Beam

Sphere has a spherical addressable RGBW array under its clear housing. That lets it do all sorts of colors and patterns. It doesn’t get super bright, so it works best indoors if you’re trying to light a space. If you’re just wanting it to be visible and look cool, it works equally well outdoors. The white is 3130K and 82 CRI with a dead neutral tint (0.0005 DUV).

Here are some comparisons between Sphere, a proper lantern (Olight Olantern Stretch), and a Skilhunt MiX-7 Gen 2 Plus with a diffuser.

Runtime

Performance is fine. I tested the highest brightness level because there aren’t any stepped modes. Maintaining the highest brightness for an hour and a half is great for such a small light that presumably has a tiny battery.

PWM: I didn’t notice any. I even checked the white mode with my Opple and found no PWM at any brightness level.

Parasitic Drain: I can’t measure parasitic drain because the battery is built in.

Switch

The switch sits underneath the charging contacts on the bottom of the Sphere. You can actuate it by picking the sphere up and pressing the charging contacts or by pushing down on the sphere while it’s sitting on a flat surface. That’s a clever idea. Double-clicking by pushing down on it is a little tricky though, so it’s hard to turn off without picking it up. That would be a non-issue if one click turned it off.

Batteries & Charging

The battery is built in and not user-serviceable. I don’t see any obvious way to get it apart without damaging it either. When the battery eventually wears out, you can’t replace it. That sucks.

Charging is facilitated by Olight’s magnetic charging system. There’s a cable included with USB-A on one end and a magnetic puck on the other. That magnetic puck and the bottom of the Sphere have mating charging contacts and snap together magnetically. It’s convenient if you always charge in the same spot, but it’s a special cable you have to bring when you travel. It can also attract magnetic debris. It’s fully functional while charging.

Note: It did NOT charge using the cable from my Warrior 3S I’ve had for a year and a half, so it may not be compatible with older Olight charging cables you already have. The cable lit up red like it was charging, but the light would not accept the charge. I had to use its included cable to charge.

Competition

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

Obulb: simpler, better option for utility

• similar price
• single click on/off
• just 4 modes (white high, white low, red, red flashing)
• no app
• built-in battery
• proprietary magnetic charging

Black Diamond Moji Series: replaceable battery & more brightness

• more expensive
• higher brightness
• most versions use AAA batteries
• most do not have a magnetic base
• the RGB version is discontinued
• no app

Wuben F5: adjustable CCT option

• More Expensive
• Brighter
• Adjustable CCT, but no colors
• USB-C charging
• Built in battery

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.

Conclusion

This is a neat light. I’m impressed with how much functionality Olight packed in at such a low price. I only have one gripe, but it’s a big one: double-click-off. It’s unintuitive and frustrating almost every time I use this light. If that’s something you think you can put up with and you want all the cool addressable RGB features, then buy one. Personally, I’d rather have an original Obulb because it has single-click on/off, and I wouldn’t miss all the RGB features or app control.

Thanks to Olight for sending me this light for review!