Hello, my name is Patrick and welcome to my review.
I’m a mid 30’s Australian who likes to collect knives, torches and other EDC type gadgets.
As a collector and hobby reviewer, I am always searching for the ultimate “Buy It Once For Life” product that I can genuinely recommend to other people. I am a firm believer in “value for money” which to me means that a product should be something that is reliable, high quality and could potentially last a very long time. A well informed decision is a good decision, so through many hours of research and years of personal experience, I aim to deliver clear, honest reviews that cover the good, the bad and everything in between.
Today we will be talking about the latest release from Olight, the Marauder Mini 2. I was lucky enough to test one of these out for a few weeks before it launched and I am pretty surprised by it! It’s not exactly something you would call an EDC item, it’s more designed for specific roles like search and rescue, hunting, park ranger type tasks. It is a heavy duty, super bright and solid piece of gear, but does it do enough to warrant the price tag? Let’s take a closer look…
Overview & Specs
The Olight Marauder Mini 2 is the new and improved version of the original Marauder Mini.
The original Marauder Mini definitely had a lot going for it, especially if you were into hunting or night fishing. It had a spot light, flood light, and Red, Blue and Green light modes which, while great features, I personally felt like they weren’t very useful for the average consumer like myself. While extra features are good, if not specifically useful to the everyday user, it can make the higher cost of something like the Marauder Mini harder to justify. But what about the Mini 2? Well I am pleased to note that the new Marauder Mini 2 has done away with the previous editions Blue and Green lights and focuses more on what it is best at - Massive Lumen output!
It still features a Red light mode - more specs on that below- But the main selling point for the Marauder Mini 2 is the whopping 10,000 Lumen brightness. Yes, 10,000 lumens. That is 3000 more than the previous Marauder Mini!
It also now has the ability to use both Flood and Spotlight together, making it the perfect tool for locating people in the dark dense bushland of a national park or finding a lost bag in the wilderness somewhere.
It weighs in at a hefty 465g or 16.4oz (including the battery) which is definitely too heavy for an EDC item, however it is comfortable and well balanced enough to hold onto for long periods of time. It has a total Length of 133.mm (5.24 inches), a maximum girth of 66mm (2.6 inches) at the lens end, but a body diameter of 43mm (1.69 inches) where you hold it. It definitely fills up your hand nicely and has a good, solid feel to it.
It boasts a very impressive IPX8 waterproof rating to 2m which is great considering it now includes a USB - C Charging port. It operates within an optimal working temperature between 0-40 Degrees Celsius which should suit most normal use scenarios. The manual states it is drop tested to withstand up to 1m (3.28ft) but based on previous reviews and youtube tests, Olight products can generally handle a fair bit more than that, however being such a heavy unit I wouldn’t recommend testing that unless you want dents in your floor.
Its body material is the standard Olight A6061- T6 Aluminum Alloy which feels very smooth and velvety in the hand thanks to the beautiful smooth anodized finish. But I can’t help but wonder why Olight didn’t use their new super OAL for this torch? It’s definitely an item that would benefit from that more rugged, scratch resistant material as this is an item that will inevitably get dropped or kicked or knocked about while frantically searching for something in a dark forest. However, to their credit, Olight has included a very premium feeling pelican style case complete with a customer foam cutout for torch AND the wrist strap. Speaking of which, the wrist strap is yet another example of why Olight is the industry leader in technology innovation and engineering. Why? Because this wrist strap is actually a secret USB - C charging cable! I honestly could not believe it when I figured that out. It feels like a nice, sturdy but gentle on the skin wrist strap, but the quick release mechanism hides the charging cable ends! To me, this is absolutely brilliant and shows how much effort Olight really does put into refining their designs.
Another change from the original Mini Marauder is the addition of a tiny “Side light” on the underside of the head. I’m not exactly sure what this is supposed to be used for to be honest, but I can tell you that if you have it on the highest setting and you accidentally touch it with your finger, it does not feel very pleasant. How bright is it?
Well the Marauder Mini 2 has a total of 5 different lighting modes each with multiple steps and with varying runtimes, so rather than bogging the review down by listing them all, I have just listed some of the more key details. The full list of all the details is actually quite impressive and I highly recommend downloading a copy of the manual from the Olight website if you are looking at purchasing this light.
White Light Modes:
Spotlight: A Cool White LED listed at CCT: 6500K and CRI: 70
Highest Setting = A powerful 1350 Lumens for 4 minutes before dropping down to 600 Lumens for 170 minutes before stepping down to 400 Lumens for a final 50 minutes.
Medium = 600 Lumens for 3 hours reducing to 400 Lumens for 1 hour then further dropping down to 100 Lumens for another 3 hours of runtime.
Low = 100 Lumens for a whopping 30 hours which is pretty awesome.
Moonlight = 0.5 Lumens for a full 95 days! That is absolutely insane.
Olight claims that the spotlight has a maximum throw distance of 750 meters (2460 feet) on highest mode which is pretty amazing. This would definitely come in handy while hunting or for search and rescue scenarios. The converging lens really makes the beam so solid and clear that I could actually still use it in broad daylight!
Floodlight: 9 Cool White LEDs listed at CCT: 6500K and CRI: 70
Highest = 10,000 Lumens for 2 minutes before decreasing to 2500 Lumens for 90 minutes. This was astonishingly bright.
Medium = 1200 Lumens for 3 hours of runtime before stepping down to 600 Lumens for 1 hour before dropping back to 150 Lumens for another solid 3 hours.
Lowest = 50 Lumens for an incredible 83 hours of runtime. That is incredible!
Moonlight = 1.5 Lumens for a mindblowing 50 days. 50 entire days! If you only used it at night then you could extend that to 100 days which is pretty amazing.
It also has a Strobe function but there is no runtime listed for this. However, having tested it, I would not recommend using it unless you really wanted to permanently damage someone’s eyes. It really is painfully bright and very disorienting.
The specs for the combined Spotlight+Flood are also very impressive and pretty much gives you the best of both worlds.
Red Light Mode:
Highest = 400 Lumens for 2 hours before stepping down to 120 Lumens for 5 hours then finally decreasing to 40 Lumens for another 10 hours! That is a very impressive run time for what is a relatively small torch.
Medium = 100 Lumens for 15 hours before reducing to 30 Lumens for another 10 hours. That is awesome!
Lowest = 5 Lumens for 8.5 days!
Moonlight = 1 Lumen for 35 days!
There are 2 Red LEDs that work together but Olight has somehow managed to make it look like one very well diffused light. It is bright enough to light up a dark room and throws up to 120 metres which is great for long night walks on dark trails.
Side Light Mode:
The Marauder Mini 2 now features an interesting little side light underneath the main head. It is good for lighting up a table to read a map or if you wanted to quickly check your leg for a creepy crawly without having to turn the flashlight around and risk burning your eyes out in the process.
Highest = 200 Lumens for 2 hours of run time before decreasing to 100 Lumens for another 3 hours and then finally dropping down to 30 Lumens for another 11 hours.
Lowest = 5 Lumens for a very long 10 days.
Moonlight = 0.5 Lumens for a staggering 150 days! Who would ever need that? I don’t know, but that is extremely impressive.
Be warned though, that little light gets very hot so if you accidentally touch it, like I did, you will burn yourself.
Battery
Powering all of these functions is a 27.75Wh, 3.7volt, 7,000 mAh Customised 32650 Rechargeable Lithium-ion Battery which is a noticeable increase over the previous Marauder Mini. This battery is completely removable and replaced in the unlikely event of it failing. The Marauder 2 Mini also includes a USB-C charging port on the bottom side of the base which is protected by a small retractable port cover which opens and closes like the world's smallest garage door. This allows it to maintain its IPX8 waterproof rating.
The Marauder Mini 2 still includes the amazingly convenient magnetic charging plate on the base of the unit, however it does not come equipped with one of those awesome cables in the box. A small oversight perhaps, however most Olight users would most likely have several spares laying around anyway. I love the magnetic charging cable and I think it’s such a cool feature. But I know there are many customers that have been asking for USB-C charging for a very long time so they have the best of both worlds with this unit. The full charging time listed for the battery is 3.5 hours.
So with all of those things considered, how does the Marauder Mini 2 actually perform? Below I have broken the rest of my review down into two sections: Presentation and Performance - where I grade both aspects out of a potential 10 and then offer some concluding thoughts.
So let’s take a look at the Presentation side of things.
Presentation:
As usual, shipping was easily tracked and arrived in record breaking time. It arrived in a pretty unassuming brown cardboard box, but when I opened it up, inside was this beautiful, black, tactical looking pelican style case with the orange Olight badge on top! It feels very sturdy and has a nice solid carry handle. The locking clips also seem nice and durable too which is a huge plus because that is usually the first thing to go on these types of cases.
Inside the case was the Marauder Mini 2, snuggly cradled in the custom cut black foam. It reminded me of some cinematic super weapon you would see in a spy film. There is something oddly satisfying about opening it up and for the briefest moment feeling like an unstoppable Bond villain.
The overall design aesthetic of the Marauder Mini 2 seems almost identical to its predecessor barring the addition of the new covered USB-C port and Side Light. I received the vibrant Orange variant and I must say, as much as I personally don’t normally like Orange items, the specific shade they use is actually very nice. I would legitimately order another product in this colour.Yes, it is that good. Olight does such a fantastic job with the anodisation on their products too that it makes me almost afraid to use them outdoors because they look so pretty and feel so nice and smooth. It’s like metal covered in velvet!
The fit and finish of the Marauder Mini 2 is absolutely flawless as we have all come to expect from Olight.
The new Marauder Mini 2 also features these amazing laser micro-perforated battery and brightness indicators either side of the rotary knob and light up whenever you turn it or select a new mode. It’s the attention to tiny details like this that consistently prove that Olight is the market leader in design and precision quality.
Overall the presentation of the Marauder Mini 2 and its cool carrying case are fantastic and I have no notes! I give the Marauder Mini 2 a Presentation Rating of 10/10.
How does it perform?
Performance
The new Marauder Mini 2 not only looks great though, it performs great too!
The control scheme is pretty straightforward and easy to use like the previous Marauder Mini and its big brothers, but with slightly more intuitive controls. The central power button with rotating brightness dial is still present - however I believe it has been tuned up a bit so it feels more tactile. Encircling that is now a rotator selector switch which allows you to rapidly change between Red, Side and White light modes. Below that is a selector switch that toggles Spotlight, Spotlight+Flood or Flood. This switch is smooth to operate and doesn’t irritate your thumb like some switches can.
Something that I really like is the automatic lockout feature which kicks in once the torch has been off for roughly 10 seconds. To me, this is such a great feature because with a light this bright, you really don’t want anyone accidentally turning it on while it’s pointing at somebody’s face. Yes, there is an option to disable it or change how it works for those who don’t like it, but honestly all you have to do to unlock it is rotate the brightness dial a quarter turn and it's ready to go. I can understand why some people may find this inconvenient, but honestly it could potentially prevent some serious ocular damage or even a fire. The Marauder Mini 2 is not a toy. It has some serious power and if not used correctly, like most things, could be dangerous. So I really appreciate the effort that Olight has made to install this feature on the torch. It shows they genuinely care about their customers wellbeing and want to deliver great products.
Another feature that proves this is the included wrist strap. Now, on initial inspection I thought it was a nice wrist strap that felt pretty comfortable but maybe a tiny bit stiff. However, when I pressed in the tabs to unclip it, I discovered why… It is actually the USB - C charging cable!
This absolutely blew my mind! Whoever the genius is that came up with that idea deserves a massive raise and shares in the company! That is the most convenient, genuinely useful product innovation I have ever seen. I was wondering why there was no charging cable in the box, but then I discovered it was actually disguised as the wrist strap this entire time! This is a brilliant idea that I hope they can continue to add to further products in the future.
In regards to the lighting modes themselves, the white light modes cover almost every possible lighting need you can think of and then some.
The Red light mode has got you covered for even the longest of night time trail hikes or hunting expeditions. It is also great for if you live in a city and want to brightly light up your path on a night walk without waking up the whole street.
The Side Light is kind of useful, but I wish there was more than one. If it was diffused properly or there were multiple of them, then it would do an incredible job of lighting up a whole table or a campsite, but being only on one side, it does seem to kind of limit its functionality to checking yourself for bugs or finding the right key in the dark etc.
After using it for a couple of weeks, I can definitely say that it is a powerful beast and a very worthy investment for anyone looking for a solid beast of a torch.
There is definitely some room for improvement with the Side Light feature, but overall I think the Marauer Mini 2 is brilliant and I can’t fault the performance at all. I award it the full 10/10 rating.
Final Thoughts
The Marauder Mini 2 is a powerful, well built and heavy duty torch that is tailor made to fit the needs of any search and rescue operator, hunter or park ranger. You can signal helicopters or spot bad guys from almost a kilometer away! If you need something relatively compact but as bright as the sun, this is the torch for you. It is a tough and very capable flashlight and being able to replace the battery means I would definitely class this as a “Buy It Once For Life” item.
I have been using Olight products for a long time now and I have to say, the ability they have to consistently refine their products and to innovate is unlike any company I have ever come across. The Marauder Mini 2 is another epic example of this and I award it the maximum 20/20 score and the Patrick seal of Approval.
