The Olight Javelot is a relatively compact 1350 lumen torch with an impressive 730 metre focused beam, magnetic charging and both a side and programmable tail switch for everyday and tactical use. I’ll run through all its features and thoroughly test all its claims to find out if it’s the right torch for you.
Overview
The Javelot comes with a hard nylon reinforced plastic holster, a magnetic charging cable, a pocket clip and the instruction manual. An optional remote switch and rifle mount is also available.
There’s a proprietary 21700 battery already installed – you just need to unscrew the tailcap and remove the protective film before turning it on.
The torch is relatively compact considering its 5000mAh battery and large head which houses the deep smooth reflector. It weighs 197g with its battery and is 138mm long with a 40mm head and 26mm body. The reversible pocket clip easily snaps onto the torch but is a little harder to remove. Bezel down you’ll get deep carry with the torch almost completely disappearing in your pocket. But the head is a little large for this to be comfortable in anything but the baggiest pockets. Bezel up almost half of the torch will stick out of your pocket.
The torch is made almost entirely of an aluminium alloy and typical of Olight the finish is very good. I have the matte black version, but an OD green version is also available. It’s fully waterproof to IPX8 and has been drop tested to 1.5m. It feels very comfortable in my hand. The head has wide notches that stops the torch from rolling off your table.
Like most Olight torches the Javelot charges with the included MCC3 magnetic charging cable. A full charge takes around 4.5 hours at up to 2A. Unfortunately unlike the Olight Warrior X 4, there’s no USB-C charging option. Although the base is magnetic, it’s not powerful enough to support the torch’s own weight for hands free use. And whilst we’re talking about the base of the torch, although it will tail stand on a smooth surface – it’s not super stable.
Charging is complete when the cable’s LED indicator changes from green to red. The metal side switch turns the torch on with a single click. It also displays the battery level: green for over 60% charge remaining, orange 10-60%, red 5-10% and blinking red, less than 5% charge remaining.
Holding the button down cycles between the 7.5 day 15 lumen low mode, 30 hour 150 lumen medium mode and the 270 minute 650 lumen high mode. Double clicking this side switch with the torch on or off activates the 1350 turbo mode. This lasts just 2 minutes before stepping down to 600 lumens for 155 minutes, although I’ll test how accurate these claims are shortly.
There is also a 72 day 0.5 lumen moonlight mode which you can access with a long press of the side switch with the torch off. If you turn the torch on with the side switch, the torch will memorise the last brightness mode it was in including this moonlight mode. And you can cycle up from this moonlight mode to the low, medium and high modes. A triple press of the side switch with the torch on or off access the strobe mode.
The Javelot also has a tail switch for operation. A short half press and release will turn the torch on in its 15 lumen low mode. A short full press and release activates the 1350 lumen high mode.
If you hold the button with a half or full press the torch will stay on in low or high mode respectively, only while you hold the button down.
This is the default mode or operation, but you can also activate tactical mode. To do this, press and hold the tail switch down fully and press the side switch. Now a full press activates momentary strobe mode, and a soft press accesses momentary medium mode.
Unlike many Olight torches, there’s no timer mode on this torch if that was something you were after.
Performance
There’s a single LED behind the deep smooth reflector. As usual Olight don’t specify the exact LED used but this torch is only available in cool white with a colour temperature ranging from 5700 to 6700K. In its medium mode I measured a colour temperature just below this range of 5652K with my spectrometer, with a colour accuracy or CRI of 65 and a tint of 0.0211 Duv.
As with every Olight I’ve tested the CRI is disappointing, even lower than the CRI of 70 Olight spec. For decent colour reproduction you really want a CRI of at least 80 and ideally over 90. Often this doesn’t matter too much for a torch like this, but I’m not particuarly keen on the quality of light from this torch – perhaps it’s the combination of low CRI, colour temperature and its tint.
I tested the runtime in its highest 1350 lumen mode with a fully charged battery in my calibrated DIY lumen chamber. I got 1381 lumens at turn on, which only dropped to 1358 lumens at the ANSI FL1 standard 30 second mark and didn’t start noticeably dropping off until around 3 minutes in. It then stayed beautifully regulated at around 630 lumens for 1 hour 20 minutes. So it met Olight’s claims with regard to its output, at least in my measurements, but runtimes were considerably shorter.
I did measure the temperature of the torch with my thermal imaging camera. After just over a minute it reached around 51°C at the base of the head – which feels pretty warm to the torch. The temperature then started coming down, so it appears the torch is being thermally regulated, dropping its output based on its temperature. Outside in real use, typically with a cooling breeze, runtimes will likely be better.
It’s worth noting there’s no proximity sensor on this torch, so be careful leaving it in turbo or high mode in your jacket pocket. Head down on a table, the bezel is cranulated which does at least remind you if you’ve left it on.
The main selling point of this torch is its beam with 730 metres of throw, or 134,000 candela in turbo mode.
Even with this range it does have a decent amount of spill around this central hotspot, which also makes the torch useful for general use.
In Olight’s range it’s very similar to the Warrior X 4 I looked at recently. The Warrior is brighter though with more spill. You can see how it also compares to the Olight Marauder Mini’s and the Sofirn IF30’s Spotlight mode.
Conclusions
The Javelot is a compact thrower with the usual Olight build quality and attention to detail. It’s always a compromise with these spotlight torches – Olight could have squeezed out a more impressive range with a different optic and still kept the small size. But an even more focussed beam with barely any spill would make the torch less useful for everyday carry (EDC).
The Thrunite Catapult Mini is tiny compared to the Javelot but has almost the same range with its TIR optic.
But although that is an impressive torch for its size, I barely use it since you really need to carry another torch to see a closeup of your surroundings.
Out of the torches I’ve tested, its greatest competition is Olight’s very own Warrior X 4. It has almost the same range, but with almost double the lumens it has far more spill and is more of an all round torch. I also prefer its quality of light. And it has USB-C and magnetic charging which I was really hoping was going to be the norm from Olight. But it is a little bigger and heavier, doesn’t have the easy to use side switch and costs more too. Olight also has the smaller Javelot Mini if you don’t need the runtimes of the Javelot.
In typical Olight fashion the torch met its marketing claims with regard to lumens and with a beautifully regulated output too in all modes except Turbo. Unfortunately I didn’t achieve the runtime claims in Turbo mode but even at the lower outputs the range is pretty decent and there’s plenty of capacity with the 5000mAh 21700 battery.
This probably wouldn’t be my first ever torch, but overall if you’re after a relatively compact torch with lots of range, excellent build quality and an easy to use user interface, I’d add this to your shortlist.
If you need more help trying to find the perfect torch, take a look at my roundup of pocket, keyring, and head torches.
Buy direct from Olight – it helps support this site and my YouTube channel and if you use the discount code OLIGHT10 you’ll get 10% off non-sale items!
Olight Javelot:
UK: https://www.olightstore.uk/s/BYK4OV
US: https://www.olightstore.com/s/JFELBY
Leave a Reply