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Olight Baton 3 Pro Max EDC Torch Review | 2500 lumens, Magnesium | The Good & Not So Good!

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The Olight Baton 3 Pro Max is a compact EDC or Every Day Carry torch made of a lightweight magnesium alloy with a 2500 lumen turbo mode. More importantly for most people, Olight claims it can maintain its 800 lumen high mode for up to four hours thanks to its larger 5000mAh 21700 Lithium-ion battery. I’ll test its lumen and runtime claims and run through all its features. I’ll also compare it to other similar torches from Olight and other brands.

I’ve done a full roundup of keychain torches, pocket EDC torches and head torches so please do check those articles and videos if you’re interested. The keychain torch article and video might be particularly useful for an introduction to some of the terms I use in this video if you’re new to all this.

So let’s take a closer look.

Overview

The Baton 3 Pro Max comes with a proprietary 21700 battery already installed, a soft pouch, a magnetic USB charging cable, a metal bracket to store the torch for easy access, and the graphical user manual.

There’s also a removable two way pocket clip installed so you can carry it bezel up or down in your pocket. It’s much easier carrying it bezel up. Bezel down, almost 3cm or just over an inch will stick out from your pocket. And you need two hands to use it bezel up, with only a slight lip on that side of the clip. 

Although described by Olight as an EDC or Every Day Carry torch, it’s a little too big for most pockets, so the clip’s more useful for attaching it to something like a rucksack strap. It is still very compact for a 21700 torch. You can see how it compares to other 21700 torches in Olight’s range and the Thrunite T2 and Wurkoss TS25. It’s the smallest Olight in this comparison, although the Perun 2 head torch  is close. I’ll discuss how it compares later.

The more powerful Thrunite T2 and Wurkoss TS25 are marginally shorter, but a little fatter, at least in their heads. The Baton 3 Pro Max is 114mm long with a diameter of 26mm at its widest.

Olight offers quite a few variants of this torch which usually suggests they expect it to be a popular model. I’m testing the magnesium alloy Desert Tan version with a cool white LED. But I also have the black aluminium version with the warmer neutral white LED to compare it to. It’s also currently available in orange, green and a newly released purple.

Both this magnesium alloy version and the aluminium version feel very well made but the magnesium torch weighs 13g less than the aluminium torch at just 136g which is noticeable.  They’re both drop proof to 1.5m and have an IPX8 waterproof rating.

The head of the torch is smooth, not cranulated like on the larger Warrior 3S and Seeker 3 Pro. So you won’t know that it’s left on, bezel down on a smooth table.

But this model does have a new improved hidden proximity sensor that will drop down the brightness level in high and turbo mode if obstructed. This is a safety feature to prevent it burning a hole in your pocket. I found this kicked in at around 10cm. 

Fortunately this proximity sensor can be temporarily or semi-permanently disabled. The new hidden proximity sensor on the Baton 3 Pro released last year caused a lot of issues. It was over sensitive and couldn’t be disabled. Olight ended up re-releasing the Baton 3 Pro with this proximity sensor disabled at their factory.

You can temporarily disable the proximity sensor with a double press within five seconds of the dip in brightness. With the torch charging you can press and hold the power button for two seconds to toggle the proximity sensor. The LED turns on briefly and enters locked mode. Remove from the charger and press and hold the power button for one second to unlock it. Now the proximity sensor is disabled and the torch won’t dim if obstructed. 

The 5000mAh proprietary 21700 battery is charged in the torch with the supplied USB magnetic charging cable that snaps positively to the magnetic base of the torch.

It can charge at up to 2A with a full charge taking up to 4 hours. The torch can’t use a standard 21700 battery even if you find one that fits.

But you can theoretically charge the battery in a standard charger if you add a little magnet to the recessed positive terminal of the battery. However it’s too long to fit in my SkyRC MC3000 charger.

The only charger I could use it in is the XTAR SC1 Plus which is a handy portable option if you don’t want to be tied to the magnetic charging cable. I personally love the convenience of Olight’s charging cable, but I’d like Olight to introduce a USB-C charging port on the battery itself. Just in case you don’t have the magnetic cable with you or it fails. For travel in particular, taking additional cables is a bind.

The LED on the magnetic charging cable changes from red to green when it’s fully charged, although it will often trickle charge for an hour or so even after it turns green.

The magnetic tail cap is useful for charging but also makes it a useful work light. The magnet is pretty strong and the torch can support itself in most orientations which is useful for hands free operation.

If you’ve owned an Olight, the user interface will be mostly familiar to you. And it’s one of my favourite user interfaces.

The torch turns on and off with a single press of the side switch. Holding down the side switch cycles between a 15 lumen, 180 hour low mode, a 120 lumen 23 hour medium mode and a 800 lumen 4 hour high mode that then drops to the 120 lumen medium mode for another 1 hour 20 minutes. 

If you double press the side button with the torch on or off you’ll enter the 2500 lumen turbo mode which lasts for just one minute. It’ll then drop to the 800 lumen high mode for 4 hours. I’ll come back to my measurements of actual runtimes shortly. A triple press of the power button with the torch on or off activates the strobe mode.

You can access the 60 day one lumen moonlight mode with a long press of the side button with the torch off.

You can also lock and unlock the torch with a long press of the side switch with the torch off. Wait until moonlight mode turns off. If you try to turn the torch on in lock mode, the LED will glow red. The torch will come out of lock mode in moonlight mode.

The side button has a shake activated battery level indicator that flashes for around 5 seconds but often needs a fairly vigorous shake to trigger it. The battery level indicator is also lit constantly with the torch on. It’s green for more than 60% battery remaining, orange for between 10 and 60%, red for between 5 and 10% and blinking red for less than 5%. In moonlight mode the battery indicator remains off which makes sense – you generally wouldn’t want any additional light in this mode.

Finally like a few other Olight torches I’ve tested there’s a timer mode. Choose the brightness level and double press holding the second press. The torch will blink once or twice alternatively each time you do this. One blink for a 3 minute timer, 2 blinks for a 9 minute timer. It’ll switch itself off automatically after 3 or 9 minutes. This is useful if you have the torch hanging in a tent or use it as a bedside light.

Performance

There’s a single LED behind the TIR (Total Internal Reflection) lens. Olight don’t specify the exact LED used, but they offer two variants.

This magnesium alloy version has a 5700-6700K cool white LED. The black and orange torches have a cool white and neutral white option.

In my black torch I have the neutral white LED with a 4000-5200K LED. I’ll measure both of their LEDs precisely shortly.

I tested the runtime in turbo mode with a fully charged battery in my calibrated DIY lumen chamber. Olight torches are some of the best regulated torches I’ve tested but I had mixed results with the Baton 3 Pro Max. I measured 2758 lumens at turn on, 2521 lumens at 30 seconds and after one minute it’d dropped to 782 lumens. So it did meet its spec’d 2500 lumens which is based on the ANSI FL1 standard. This is the output measured 30 seconds after switching the torch on. But the magnesium torch didn’t last the full one minute Olight claim is possible at this maximum output. Its brightness started dropping rapidly after 30 seconds and was already at 780 lumens after 50 seconds. 

More disappointingly it should stay at its high 800 lumen output for 240 minutes or 4 hours. I found it dropped to less than 600 lumens after 30 minutes, and after just 1 hour 45 minutes it dropped to its medium lumen mode at around 125 lumens.

The aluminium Baton 3 Pro Max fared a little better but had still dropped to its medium brightness mode after 2 hours 15 minutes, which is just off the graph.

It’s worth noting that runtimes in real use, typically with a cooling breeze will be better. It’s likely the torch is dropping its brightness at a certain temperature. I did measure the temperature of the torch with a thermal imaging camera and the head does get over 50°C as you can see.

The Baton 3 Pro Max has a very floody beam – it’s rated at 135m range (4482cd) in turbo mode. This is actually less than the much smaller Baton 3 Pro with 166m (6889cd) of range. 

And the Olight Warrior Mini 3 I’m also testing has 240m (14400cd) of range again in a more compact form factor. You can see how its beam compares to various torches above.

I’d prefer a slightly more focused beam but that’ll come down to personal preference. If you’re after a torch in Olight’s line-up with a more focussed beam, that also runs off a 21700 take a look at the Warrior 3S with 300m (23000cd) of range – but it’s a fair but bigger than the Baton 3 Pro Max.

The magnesium version of this torch only comes with a cool white LED which I measured at 6535K with a very  slightly rosy tint of -0.0013 Duv. 

Ideally you want this Duv value close to zero but a negative number resulting in a rosy tint is generally preferred to a positive number with an associated green tint.

The black aluminium version I also have has a neutral white LED which I measured at 4732K with a more neutral tint of 0.0005 Duv.

Olight doesn’t claim very impressive colour accuracy and I confirmed its spec’d CRI of 70 again measured with my colour spectrometer.

Conclusions

Olight has quite a few torches running off the popular 21700 battery and the Baton 3 Pro Max is a nice addition to this range if you’re after a powerful, compact and floody torch. I really like the magnesium version. It’s only a little lighter than its aluminium counterpart, but it is noticeable and I do like how it feels in my hand. It’s a shame there’s no neutral white LED option though. 

It didn’t quite achieve the runtimes Olight specify – and I repeated the measurements multiple times with both the magnesium and aluminium variants, always making sure the batteries were fully charged – I left the torches charging a good few hours even after the cable’s charging indicator changed to green.

Olight Seeker 3 Pro (4200lm)

Nonetheless this is a very capable torch in a nice form factor with the usual Olight build quality, excellent user interface and convenient magnetic charging.

In Olight’s range if you want something a little more powerful there’s the 4200 lumen Seeker 3 Pro that also runs off a 21700 battery. It’s a fair bit bigger, but still easily fits in a jacket pocket.

If you’re after a budget option, the Wurkkos TS25 is brighter, has RGB auxiliary LEDs and runs the hugely configurable but perhaps confusing Anduril. For a little more money there’s the Thrunite T2 which is very similar in size to the Baton 3 Pro Max, also has a simple user interface and is USB-C rechargeable. Both these also run off 21700 batteries.

If you can cope with fewer lumens and shorter runtimes, in Olight’s range I really like the Baton 3 Pro and Olight’s new Warrior Mini 3 that both run off the ubiquitous 18650 batteries.

Don’t forget to take a look at my YouTube video at the top of the page, and subscribe to my YouTube channel where I’m releasing videos every week on the latest technology and how to get the most out of it. If you tap the bell icon when you subscribe you’ll get a notification as soon as I release a video, and there’ll be a link to my site here for the written article. YouTube is also the best place to leave a comment. I read all of them and respond to as many as I can!

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