Get That Light Out of My Eyes!
My father was forever searching for the perfect flashlight. He had a collection that spanned underwater diving lights, Maglites, Pelicans, Evereadys, and Rayovacs. He was always hunting for that one light with the perfect beam, bright enough to illuminate what you were working on, but with enough throw to reach far-off objects. Since he was an avid boater who spent much of his time on and around the water, it also had to be water-resistant.
And he definitely didn’t want to have to shake the dang thing to get it working.
Just before he passed, he found what he believed was the Holy Grail of flashlights, the SureFire A2 Aviator. And what a great light it was when it came out. I remember virtually burning pine needles off trees across the bay, it was so bright. Its Xenon bulb, powered by two CR123 batteries, pushed out a whopping 50 lumens for a full hour. That was utter craziness compared to the flashlights that came before it.
Fast-forward to 2025, and Dad’s been gone ten years. Being my father’s son, I’ve carried on his quest for the ultimate flashlight. Like him, I want brightness, throw, and durability… but I want more. I want it brighter and to run longer. I want to be able to mount it to a rifle with a pressure pad, and I want it to be affordable – because unlike my dad, I’m not a surgeon.
Too much to ask? I thought so… until I found the Olight Warrior X4.
The Olight Warrior X4 throws a stunningly brilliant beam. Its pressure-sensitive tail switch lets you instantly select the mode you want without cycling through menus. One short, firm press and release, and bam 2,600 dazzling lumens explode from your hand. That’s enough light to illuminate objects 630 meters away.
That is an incredible amount of light, and it’s no surprise the Warrior X4 can’t sustain that level forever. The flashlight gets warm up front, where it features heat-dissipating fins. After three minutes on turbo mode, it automatically steps down to 1,000 lumens, still a massive amount of light, and maintains that for 140 minutes. After that, it drops again to 30 lumens and runs for another 20 minutes before shutting down.
That’s a total of 163 minutes of runtime from a single high-power activation. A hard, long press of the tail switch instantly turns the light off. It takes a little practice, but once you get the feel for it, transitioning from short tactical bursts, like what you’d use for room clearing, to continuous illumination becomes second nature.
A light press of the tail switch activates low mode, which outputs 30 lumens for a full 8 hours, with an effective range of 210 meters.
While I’ve just described the high and low modes, the Olight Warrior X4 offers more. You can select between Tactical Mode and Normal Mode. To switch, turn the flashlight on, unscrew the tail cap until the light shuts off, then screw it back on. Once that’s done, both modes are available.
In Tactical Mode, a firm press of the tailcap activates an extremely bright strobe that blasts 2,600 lumens for up to 330 minutes. The low mode remains unchanged, providing 8 hours of steady light.
Those are impressive runtimes – but even great lights can run dry in tough, all-night situations. Fortunately, the Warrior X4 is rechargeable two ways. It can go from empty to full in as little as 3.5 hours via its USB-C port, and the battery is removable, so you can carry spares and keep the light running indefinitely.
So beat it up. Use it until it’s deader than dead. Then swap the battery and keep going.
You might be thinking, “Yeah, but with a USB-C port, it’s probably vulnerable to dust or water.” Not this one. The Warrior X4 lives up to its name – it’s IPX8-rated, meaning it can be continuously submerged in up to one meter of water for 30 minutes. A locking ring protects the charging port from dust and debris. It can also charge via its magnetic tail cap, though the MCC3 magnetic charger isn’t included and must be purchased separately.
What else can you buy separately? Plenty. There are mounting options for everything from bicycle handlebars to rifles, plus remote pressure pads for quick activation no matter how you mount it. And since extra batteries are available, the runtime is virtually unlimited.
In the box, you’ll get a USB-C charging cable and a well-made molded holster.
All of this comes at an extremely reasonable price point.
I just wish Dad were here to see the Olight Warrior X4. I think he’d dig it.
