Review: Olight R50 Pro Seeker Flashlight
Kevin Felts 06.25.18
The Olight R50 Pro seeker is a handheld flashlight that uses a single 26650 battery and has a maximum rating of 3,200 lumens.
With typical Olight fashion, the R50 was packaged in a cardboard box that is held together on one side with magnets. This makes opening and closing to box very simple.
Once the box is opened, the first thing the customer may notice is the Olight R50 nestled in a cutout. Extras, such as charging cable and carry pouch, are in compartment inside the box.
Olight R50 Pro Seeker Specifications
Specifications are from my personal testing sample.
- Turbo: 3,200 lumens
- High: 1,500 lumens
- Medium: 400 lumens
- Low: 60 lumens
- Length: 5 1/8 inches
- Weight: 9.15 ounces
- Body diameter: 1 1/4 inches
- Bezel diameter: 1 5/8 inches
- Battery: 26650, 3.7 volts.
- Battery included: Yes
- Wall charger included: Yes
- Lanyard: No
- Carry pouch: Yes
- Waterproof rating: IPX8
OLight R50 Pro Seeker Tests
The Olight R50 Pro Seeker was subjected to the standard tests, which is submersion and drop testing.
I wanted to throw the R50 in a creek that runs through the farm, but it does not have a lanyard. So a dogs water bowl was used to submerge the light. Before the light was dropped in the water, the o-rings were checked for grease, and yes, the o-rings came greased from the factory.
The R50 was dropped in a water bowl that was around six inches deep, and left there for around an hour and a half. Upon taking the flashlight out of the water, the outside was dried, then the housing was opened and inspected. There was not a single drop of water inside the housing.
Next test was to hold the Olight R50 around 48 inches off the ground, turn it on, and drop it several times. The goal of the drop tests is to see if the flashlight flickers, stops working, or even changes settings.
After being dropped several times, the R50 did not change settings, flicker or stop working.
Nighttime Testing
This is where the Olight R50 Pro Seeker really shines, literately. The 3,200 lumens was amazingly bright, bright enough in fact to light up a field.
For these pictures, the camera was set on a tri-pod, then a timer was set. This made sure there was no vibration in the camera while taking pictures.
The pictures are unedited and exactly as the camera took them. The only thing added is the AllOutdoor watermark.
Let’s just say I was very surprised at how bright the R50 Seeker is. The 3,200 lumens lit one of the fields here on the farm up with no problems.
While using the flashlight on its highest setting for several minutes, it got warm, and then hot. However, that is not a complaint. We can not expect a flashlight to run at 3,200 lumens and not get hot.
Final Thoughts
The Olight R50 Pro Seeker uses a specially designed magnetic tailcap charging system. To charge the flashlight, plug the wall outlet charger into a 110 volt outlet, plug in the included USB cable, then touch the charger to the tailcap of the flashlight. There is an LED on the USB that will glow red when charging, and green when fully charged.
I tried charging the flashlight using the USB ports on my computer, but the wall outlet seemed to work best.
Carry pouch seems to be good quality and will fit one MOLLE webbing strap. There is a ring at the top of the pouch to attach it to help secure the pouch.
The only change I would make to the Olight R50 Pro Seeker would be to make the on/off switch easier to find at night. Maybe put an LED under the button?
I am going to give the Olight R50 Pro Seeker a score of with a 9.7 out of 10. This is a wonderfully designed flashlight, excellent charging system, and amazingly bright.
Full disclosure: The Olight R50 Pro Seeker was supplied at no charge for the review.
