Can't choose between handheld torches and headlamps? Lucky you, as the brilliantly compact and powerful Baton 4 from Olight offers the best of both worlds.
It's definitely more of a hand torch than a headlamp, although it’s small and lightweight enough to attach to the peak of a cap with the strong clip it comes equipped with, making it a de facto head torch.
Performance-wise, the Baton 4 boxes well above its weight and size, and it has multiple modes and settings to suit a range of adventurous scenarios and routine tasks. Strategically positioned, it can even work as a bonsai camping lantern.
One of the Baton 4’s most impressive features, however, is the length of time it can provide light, thanks to the customised carry case-cum-docking station it comes with.
This station doubles as a wireless charger and a power bank for other electrical gadgets. All this combined makes this nifty little device extremely useful for travelling and adventuring.
Olight Baton 4 review
Price and availability
The Olight Baton 4 flashlight can be purchased now directly from Olight for a recommended price of $99.99 in the United States and £99.99 in the UK. Want some money off? Olight offers 10% off to T3 readers by punching in the code 'T3O10' at the checkout.
Specifications
- Weight (flashlight & battery): 52.5g / 1.85oz
- Weight (flashlight in docking station with lanyard): 199g / 7oz
- Length (flashlight only): 63mm / 2.48in
- Dimensions HxWxD (docking station): 9 x 6.5 x 3cm
- Flashlight battery: Rechargeable 650mAh 3.6V (2.34Wh)
- Max brightness: 1,300 lumens
- Max range: 170 metres
- Modes: 5 (moonlight / low / medium / high / turbo/ strobe)
- Max run time: Up to 30 days (on ‘moonlight’ mode)
- Ingress rating: IPX8 (waterproof to 1m)
- Inclusions: Customised wireless charging dock, charging cable, pocket clip & lanyard
Design and features
The defining features of the Olight Baton 4 flashlight are its diminutive size and svelte weight, which sit in complete contrast to the incredible power it packs and performance it offers. At just over 6cm in length, it’s smaller than my very average-sized thumb, yet it can throw a 1,300-lumen beam 170 metres on the Turbo setting.
Available in several colours, the casing of the Baton is highly textured metal, so you can keep a nice secure grip on it, and it can also be used while locked in its docking box.
Robustly built, and with an ingress rating of IPX8, the Baton 4 is fully waterproof and can be submerged to a depth of 1 metre without sustaining damage. There is a strong brass clip attached to the little light unit, offering a range of ways to wear the torch or position it inside a tent or on other structures. It also comes with a lanyard, which helps prevent accidental loss, and this can be attached to the torch (via the clip) or the docking station.
Although the Baton 4, like all Olight products, comes in very nicely styled packaging, the user instructions are pretty minimal and more cautionary than explanatory. That said, this torch is pretty simple to operate, with a single stainless steel on/off button controlling all the settings. There are indicator lights positioned on either side of this button; the three lights on the right tell you how much battery power remains, and the ones on the left let you know what brightness setting you have the flashlight set to.
There are five main modes: moonlight (0.5 lumens, providing a faint glow for weeks on end), low (12 lumens, which has a range of 18 metres and can last 35 hours), medium (60 lumen, 38 metres, 8 hours), high (up to 600 lumens, dropping to 300 lumens after 7 minutes, with a maximum range of 110 metres, which can be used for around 1½ hours) and turbo blast setting, which burns through battery reserves pretty quickly (in minutes) and makes the unit heat up but is capable of properly shattering the night when required.
When you turn the torch on, it will recall the mode you were using when you turned it off. To toggle through the settings, you simply press the button and hold it for a second. A double press will take you to turbo mode, and a triple press activates the epilepsy inducing (but sometimes useful) strobe setting.
The Baton 4 comes with a customised docking unit that resembles a large Zippo lighter in its shape and the way it flips open, which serves multiple purposes. For starters, this casing protects the Baton from damage (although the torch is a nuggetty little unit anyway and very hard to break) and storing it in this box makes it less easy to lose.
More importantly, however, the casing is a wireless recharging dock and a power bank, with 5000mAh battery capacity. Use the supplied USB cable to charge the dock (with or without the Baton 4 inside), and then it will hold enough power to recharge the torch a further five times.
You can also use it to charge other electrical items, including phones. A button on the outside of the unit can be used to turn the torch on and toggle through the modes while it’s in situ. This button boasts a digital display that tells you how much percentage of power remains in the bank.
Performance
I have been using the Olight Baton 4 flashlight for the latter part of winter – where it has proved itself enormously useful in a whole range of scenarios during dark mornings and early evenings – and whilst camping and adventuring in the outdoors throughout spring.
The plucky little light’s range and burn time is exceptional, and it is really useful to have to hand (or in your pocket) whether you’re walking the dog after dusk or attempting some campsite task once the sun has set.
The Baton 4 will really excite people who are into everyday carry culture, which I’m not personally, but this is definitely a flashlight I have on numerous occasions stashed in the pocket of a fleece jacket, hiking trousers, waterproof jacket or hiking backpack just in case the walk or whatever activity I’m doing takes longer than expected and I get caught out by nightfall (or I come across a feature like a cave or tunnel that needs exploring somewhere along the trail).
While I would like to see a red (or green) light option – to use when you want to do something such as check a map without shattering your night vision – the light settings available on the Baton 4 are otherwise pretty much perfect. The ‘moonlight’ mode lasts (appropriately) for an entire month of constant use and supplies enough glow to reassure a nervous child or navigate your way out of a shared tent without waking everyone up.
The turbo setting offers a blinding blast of light should you need to communicate across large distances or throw a beam a long way for some other reason (including in emergency situations – when the strobe mode could also be a lifesaver). The low, medium and high modes are there for everything and anything in between, from shining the way along a trail to wildlife spotting and reading.
One addition that would improve the Baton 4 slightly is a magnetic base, seen on some competitor products, which enables you to attach a torch to anything metal (like a vehicle), and can be super useful. However, I love the clip on the Baton 4, and I have used it in multiple ways, from attaching the torch to the peak of a cap to convert it into a super bright headlamp to hanging it up in my tent so I can read.
As brilliant as the Baton 4 is, however, the casing it comes with is arguably the best thing about it. Besides offering a place to safely store this stunning little torch (which I would surely misplace without it), I love the fact that you can operate the Baton while it is docked in the housing, using the power indicator button to turn the light on and off and change the brightness mode.
Although chunkier to hold, this is quite a comfortable way to handle to this tiny torch. It also gives you options for standing it up or positioning the Baton 4 in a way that points the beam where you need the light to shine.
And the fact that you can fully recharge the Baton from the docking station five times (and/or recharge other electrical devices) is brilliant – this is definitely a torch I will be taking on longer outdoor expeditions and travelling escapades, as well as using at home and on weekend escapades.
Verdict
The Olight Baton 4 is a fantastic little flashlight, offering all the settings and modes you could ask for or need while you’re out adventuring after dark (except a red bulb). It’s ridiculously small and light, perfect for everyday carry, but the inclusion of a clip and a lanyard offer protection from loss. It’s a tough torch, too, totally waterproof and submergible, and it can be carried in multiple ways.
However, like a kid at Christmas who wants to play with the box as much as the toy, I’m just as impressed with the docking station this flashlight comes with as I am blown away by the Baton itself. Being able to recharge the torch five times while out on the trail or travelling is super useful in so many scenarios.
I also love having the ability to operate the Baton while it’s housed in its casing; this, combined with the inclusion of the clip on the shaft of the torch, makes this a really versatile light. You can stand up or attach it to the peak of a cap or a flap, cord, or pocket in a tent to provide just the right level of light.
Also consider
If you’re searching for a more budget-oriented flashlight, check out the cheap but very functional Lifesystems Intensity 370 LED Hand Torch. Or, if it’s mega power you’re interested in, and you don’t mind a torch that’s much bigger and heavier, shield your eyes and take a look at the night-busting AceBeam X75 Power Bank Flashlight. Lastly, for a different angle, peruse Nebo's Big Larry 2, a torch that has magnetic properties and can be attached to metal objects; it also features an interesting side light that makes it extra useful in various scenarios.
