Olight Open 2 Review (Pen + Flashlight)

Preface

The Olight Open 2 (or Olight O’Pen 2) is the second generation version of the original Olight Open (or Olight O’Pen) but it now features the inclusion of an actual pen.

This Olight Open 2 model is the first official pen release from Olight.

Let’s check out the merits and demerits of this new generation Olight Open 2 model.

Packaging & First Impressions

This is what the pen + light will come with as shown below.

Well-thought-out packaging with plastic casing to protect the Open 2 and its accessories.
The threads and o-rings were lightly lubricated. Threads were fairly smooth and clean (no gritty feeling).
The “L-shaped” bolt action pen mechanism is very easy to activate and deactivate (deploy or retract the pen refill’s tip).
The pen comes with a spare Olight pen refill (OL1826 BK). It is also compatible with the Schmidt Capless Rollerball Mini 8126 refill as well.
The head electronic switch requires a rather firm and deliberate press to activate and will help in preventing any unwanted activation of the light.
The clip comes pre-installed from factory and is not reversible.
Anodizing of the pen + light is uniform without any missing specs, as expected from Olight.
No holster is included.
The included proprietary battery is sealed and is not user-replaceable.
Scanning the QR code with your phone/tablet on the box’s side would bring up the Olight Open 2’s product page.

Front:

Back:

Sides:

Box Contents:

Quick Overview (Manufacturer Specifications)

Body Material: Black HAIII Aluminium
LED: Osram P 3737 (Cool White)
Battery Format: Included Proprietary Battery (sealed)
Output & Runtime (with included Olight 3.7V/110mAh battery):
- “Moonlight” (5 lumens / 8h) → (3.5 lumens / 2h)
- Low (20 lumens / 2h) → (15 lumens / 20min)
- Mid (60 lumens / 40min) → (48 lumens / 10min)
- High (120 lumens / 20min)
Max Beam Distance: 16m
Beam intensity: 64cd
Waterproofness: No Information
Impact Resistance: No Information
Dimension: 145mm (length) x 12.7mm (diameter)
Weight: 38g (including batteries)
PWM
Accessories Included:
- 1*Olight 3.7V/110mAh battery (sealed)
- 1*Refill (OL1826 BK)
- 1*Pocket Clip
- 1*USB-C Cable
- 1*Spare Refill (OL1826 BK)
MSRP: ~$50

UI (User Interface)

UI for this light is good for Every Day Carry (EDC) as it is rather straightforward to use.

Switching ON and OFF is done by the head electronic switch on the light. However, momentary activation (“MOONLIGHT” mode) is possible.

Deploying or retracting the pen refill’s tip can be done with the “L-shaped” bolt action pen mechanism.

Normal Operation – Light

From OFF:

1 Click – Direct access to “MOONLIGHT”.
2 Click – Direct access to TURBO; 1 Click to switch OFF or HOLD down to switch modes.
HOLD (~1 sec) – Direct access to Momentary “MOONLIGHT”.

From ON:

1 Click – Light will switch OFF.
2 Click – Direct access to TURBO; 1 Click to switch OFF or HOLD down to switch modes.
HOLD – Mode change (light cycles through LOW, MID & HIGH only; “MOONLIGHT” is not part of the sequence).

Normal Operation – Pen

The pen operation is typical of most bolt action pens.

Deploying the pen refill’s tip
1. Slide the bolt downwards and along the “L-shaped” track.
2. Release the bolt at the end of the “L-shaped” track.
Retracting the pen refill’s tip
1. Slide the bolt downwards and backwards along the “L-shaped” track.
2. Release the bolt at the end of the “L-shaped” track.

Form Factor

For flashlight + pen (penlight) that are intended to use on a daily basis (EDC) and for possibly an extended period of time, form factor is extremely important.

The pen feels rather well-balanced in a medium sized hand. There was minimal fatigue experienced for extended usage (~ 1 hour) except that it is noticeably heavier than the equivalent pen made of plastic, due to the material used.

With the twist grooves on the pen, it gives the pen a flair of modern style whilst still providing a good grip on the pen even with wet/sweaty hands. However, with the bolt activation mechanism near the centre of the pen, there are limitations for the most comfortable orientation of the pen, when writing.

Clip-wise, the retention is extremely strong so there should not have any concerns losing the Open 2, when it is attached to a pocket/bag (as long as it is less than 3mm thick).

Pen Components

Olight made a great decision in using a non-proprietary pen refill style for the Open 2 and even went a step further by including a spare refill. As mentioned earlier, the pen is compatible with the Schmidt Capless Rollerball Mini 8126 refill.

Replacing the pen refill can be done using the following steps:

Unscrew the pen’s tip.
Remove the spring on the Olight pen refill (OL1826 BK).
Remove said Olight pen refill from pen.
Install the spring on the new Olight pen refill (OL1826 BK) or Schmidt Capless Rollerball Mini 8126 refill.
Insert said new pen refill into the pen.
Tighten the pen’s tip.

Note: The Mini 8126 refill (Length: 76.2mm) will fit only. The full size 8126 refill will not fit.

Writing Sample

The included Olight refill (OL1826 BK) is a water-based ink. Hence, it is best to avoid having the pen portion of the Open 2 in contact with water.

Writing with the Olight refill (OL1826 BK), has been mostly a pleasant experience with the exception that on extended usage (~ 1 hour of note taking session), the ink may start to get faded. However, swinging the pen in a downward direction, helps to eliminate this issue (forces ink toward the pen refill’s tip).

As mentioned earlier, with the bolt activation mechanism near the centre of the pen, there are some limitations for the most comfortable orientation of the pen when writing.

The following photo is a writing sample with the Olight Open 2 as well a photo of the Open 2 in one of our team member’s hands (medium sized).

Charging Process

With the provided USB C charging cable, the battery was charging at ~0.19A.

The light is capable of operating on all modes when charging (at the expense of a slower charging rate). However, it is recommended to use “MOONLIGHT” or “LOW” only, to ensure that the battery does get charged.

Solid RED indicator near the LED portion depicts charging in progress.
Once the solid RED indicator switches OFF, charging has completed.

Since charging the Open 2 requires unscrewing the light portion from the pen portion, the pen portion can still be used during the charging process.

Beam Style/Beamshots

For this light, there is no reflector/TIR (Total Internal Reflection) optic to focus the beam profile but rather the LED can be plainly seen in a “Mule” style. As such, the beam is more suited for up-close usage only.

The above beam profile is a rough interpretation of what is seen when white wall hunting.

The beam is pretty much all spill with no hotspot and/or corona due to its “Mule” full flood nature. There are some beam artifacts when white wall hunting but is not visible in real world usage.

All of the beamshots taken below are done so with the following camera settings (“MOONLIGHT”: 1.3sec, F3.5, ISO100, 5000K WB, LOW: 0.5sec, F3.5, ISO100, 5000K WB, MID: 1/4sec, F3.5, ISO100, 5000K WB and HIGH: 1/5sec, F3.5, ISO100, 5000K WB).
Some pictures have been adjusted slightly to depict as close as to what is seen in real life. The distance of the light from the door is 4.6m.

Control shot:

“MOONLIGHT” (5 lumens):

LOW (20 lumens):

MID (60 lumens):

HIGH (120 lumens):

Mode (Output) Spacing

Mode spacing appears to be progressively brighter to the eye and the modes are well spaced enough to be able to know which mode one is currently in. With that in mind, TLR tend to view mode spacing as battery life indicators (amount of runtime left) rather than the specific output (lumens).

We were rather surprised that Olight is continuing the trend of doing away with a true MOONLIGHT mode of under 1 lumen with the Open 2 model. Even with the “Mule” style lens, the “MOONLIGHT” mode of 5 lumens is a tad too bright for bedtime night snack runs or with night-adjusted eyes, but is more suited for other up-close tasks in day-to-day usage.

Tint & CRI

Olight did not disclose the tint (color temperature) and/or the CRI (Color Rendering Index) for the LED used in their light. For this light, a guesstimate would be in the 6000K and 70CRI ballpark.

However, there are tint shifts throughout the beam profile. The ‘hotspot’ is a cool white tint (with slight hint of purple tint) whilst the corona possess a slight yellowish green tint.
This is not as noticeable in real life usage.

Waterproofness

The Olight Open 2 should not be subjected to water submersion/exposure due to the exposed pen refill’s tip portion (water-based ink refill). However, the light portion should not have issues to slight water exposure as the charging port is sealed with an o-ring.

Lockout Capability

No electronic lockout and/or mechanical lockout is possible when needed, like during transportation in a bag.

Hence, we do not recommend leaving this penlight (pen + flashlight) in an enclosed area such as a bag or purse. Nonetheless, if the Open 2 does get switched ON accidentally, it will by default, switch ON to “MOONLIGHT” mode.

Quick Comparison to Olight O’Pen 2 and Olight O’Pen

Description	Olight O'Pen 2	Olight O'Pen
Penlight Type	Pen and Flashlight	Flashlight only
Color Options	HAIII - Black	HAIII - Black HAII - Blue, Red and Brown
Battery Used	Proprietary and Sealed	2 x AAA (Non-proprietary)
Charging Function	Yes, USB-C Charging	No
Light Switch Type	Electronic	Reverse Clicky
LED Used	Osram P 3737	Cree XP-G2
Max Output	120 Lumens	180 Lumens
TIR/Reflector-based	No, "Mule" style	Yes, Reflector
Mode Options	"Moonlight", Low, Mid & High	Low, Mid & High

Scale Comparison (Ruler)

Summary

To sum up, we believe that the most important part of any review is if given the chance to purchase the same light for our own EDC or to gift to our loved ones out from one’s pocket (wallet), would we still do it?
For this light, it is a YES, if the lack of a true Moonlight mode is not an issue for your usage.

The extremely straightforward UI with Direct Access to Momentary “MOONLIGHT”, “MOONLIGHT” & TURBO from OFF, USB-C charging, inclusion of an actual pen that can utilise a non-proprietary pen refill (Schmidt Capless Rollerball Mini 8126), strong clip, “L-shaped” bolt action pen mechanism and a detachable flashlight portion so that writing with the pen portion can be continued, even when there is no ambient lighting or during charging of the flashlight are all plus points for this penlight.

That said, we do hope that a true moonlight mode will continue to be a mainstay for future Olight models.

Here are 2 bonus size comparison with some of the other similar sized flashlights and some of the other pens.

From Left to Right: Olight I1R EOS, Olight Open 2, Nitecore TIP2, Foursevens Mini MKIII, Olight Perun Mini and Acebeam TK16.

From Top to Bottom: Olight Open 2, Fellhoelter TiBolt Pen Deluxe, Pilot G2 and Nitecore NTP40.

As with all gears, two is one and one is none.

Stay safe,
The Lite Review

Disclaimer: Penlight was provided for by Olight (manufacturer) for this review. No other compensation was provided.

Where to Buy Links

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Olight Open 2

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Schmidt Capless Rollerball Mini 8126 Refill