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 Olight Arkfeld Ultra. A brand new offering in the Arkfeld family of products claiming to have some great new features. But are these new upgrades really impressive enough to warrant the upgrade? Let’s take a closer look…
Overview & Specs
The Olight Arkfeld Ultra is a member of the very sleek and elegantly designed Arkfeld family. Meaning it is a small, flat design and very easily pocketable flashlight. It is a 3-in-1 flashlight that features a White Light, a UV Light and a Green laser.
It Weighs in at 119 grams or 4.20oz with a total Length of 120.mm (4.72 inches), a Width of 27mm (1.06 inches) and a Thickness of 16mm (0.63inches). It boasts a very impressive IPX7 waterproof rating with an optimal working temperature between 0-45 Degrees Celsius. The manual states it is drop tested for up to 1m (3.28ft) but I have seen videos online of it surviving much more than this.
Below are the specs and runtimes for the different light modes.
White Light Modes:
The “Cool White” LED has a maximum output of 9W, a CCT range of 5700-6700k and a CRI 70 rating. Olight claims that this torch has a throw distance of about 103 meters and at max brightness it definitely looks like it hits that and then some!
The “Turbo” mode blasts out a maximum brightness of 1400 Lumens for a full 4 minutes before dropping down to 30% for a further 121 minutes of runtime.
High = 420 Lumens for 135 minutes reducing to 24% brightness for a further 12 minutes of runtime.
Medium = 100 Lumens for an impressive 9 hours and 45 minutes.
Low = 15 Lumens for 55 hours of runtime.
Moonlight = 1 Lumens for a pretty mind blowing11 DAYS! That is very cool!
UV Mode:
The UV light has a maximum output of 1.8W and runs at an Optical Power 900mW with a Wavelength of 365nm. It boasts a pretty substantial run time of 315 minutes which means you have plenty of time to check even the biggest of hotel suites for cleanliness! It also works great for checking pets for nasties like Ringworm too.
Laser Mode:
The laser is a 0.39mW (Class 1) green laser with a Max Runtime of 174 hours. That is enough to get you through an entire week of business presentations or some very intense play sessions with an army of cats. It shoots a very bright beam that goes on for a distance far greater than I was able to measure.
Powering all of these impressive figures is a 5.55Wh (1500mAh 3.7V) Lithium Polymer Battery which takes roughly 2.5 hours to fully charge. The battery is not removable which would normally be seen as a negative, however, Olight is gracious enough to offer a full lifetime warranty on their products so if there were to be any long term battery issues I’m sure they would sort something out for you.
So on the surface this might sound very similar to the highly acclaimed Arkfeld Pro. However, there are a few key differences.
The first being the extra 1000 Lumens in Max brightness output offered by the Ultra.
This might not sound like a big deal but there is a pretty noticeable difference when comparing the two units side by side.
The second key difference is the front lens material. The Arkfeld Pro has a front lens made of plastic. The lens on the Arkfeld Ultra has been upgraded to glass. This is quite a substantial change when it comes to the long term durability of the flashlight. It also means if you are running the light for a long time on the higher modes, you don’t have to worry about the front lens melting. That may seem like a fairly improbable issue for normal users, however, when considering the increased power output of the Arkfeld Ultra it does make sense.
The most notable difference between the Arkfeld Pro and the Ultra though is something that is an absolute game changer. Olight being the creative geniuses they are, decided that the standard 6061 Aluminum that they use, which we all know and love, wasn’t tough enough for this new Arkfeld Ultra. So they invented a brand new material called “OAL”.
“OAL” is Olight’s exclusive, proprietary aluminum alloy that is just as lightweight as 6061 but far tougher. How tough?
Well according to the Olight website, OAL is 1.77x harder than 6061 Aluminum.
1.46 Stronger in yield strength than TA2 Titanium and also 1.7x stronger in Tensile Strength than TA2 Titanium. So what does all that mean? Well essentially it’s super tough, super durable and very scratch resistant.
One of the only drawbacks for me when using the beautiful Olight products, is when they inevitably get scratched. Those smooth anodized finishes are very appealing to the eye, but when the scratches start to show it can be a bit of a downer. The Perun 3 was very susceptible to this unfortunately. (Maybe they can make the next one out of OAL?)
However, with this incredible new material on the Arkfeld Ultra, that seems to be a thing of the past! I have watched some videos where people have tried scratching it, but it appears it’s fairly impossible to do - especially within normal use cases. That is a game changer for anyone who loves using things while also keeping them in great condition. It catapults the Arkfeld Ultra from super cool EDC gadget to an insane new level of toughness and durability.
But does all this toughness mean the Ultra has lost its stylish Arkfeld charm?
I have broken 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.
Let’s take a look at the Presentation side of things.
Presentation:
As usual, shipping was very fast and was well packed. Waiting for me inside the package was a very sleek, matte black box with a beautiful metallic blue “Olight” embossed on the top and “Arkfeld Ultra” in silver on the sides. The packaging actually reminded me of the new Samsung phone boxes actually as it is very minimal, but still stylish and premium feeling.
Inside the box was the Arkfeld Ultra in an opaque protective sleeve and set inside a foam insert. Below that was an incredibly beautiful brass “challenge” coin which I was not expecting but instantly fell in love with, followed by another thin cardboard box containing the instructions and charging cable along with a yellow “lockout mode” warning sheet.
The Arkfeld Ultra comes in a very striking olive green/almost gold colour.
Olight states that the OAL is anodised without any added pigments so I’m guessing this is the natural colour of the material or very close to it. It is a very nice colour that would suit almost any occasion.
The overall design aesthetic of the Arkfeld has been revamped with some new flat plane style lines added to the top face making it look more futuristic and adding a slight amount of protection for the selector switch for when it’s in a pocket.
The diagonal cut grip lines on the sides of the Pro have been replaced by an expertly crafted grip texture that looks like a type of straight line knurling. The entire surface of the Arkfeld Ultra feels much grippier than its predecessor and definitely has a nice texture to it.
Another very awesome feature is the laser perforated battery indicator. Normally you see some little LED lights there, but on the Ultra they are hidden beneath the rugged OAL shell. The attention to detail it would require to design and implement this is really impressive.
Overall the presentation of the Arkfeld Ultra is very stylish and futuristic. The colour and texture of the OAL is very nice and the coin that comes with it is a super cool touch.
I give the Arkfeld Ultra a Presentation Rating of 10/10.
Performance
The Arkfeld Ultra not only looks great, it performs great too!
The control scheme is pretty straightforward and easy to use with a central on/off button surrounded by a rotating selector switch. This allows for very fast and easy mode selection and to be honest is just fun to fidget with.
It also features a new, broader pocket clip that glides nicely in and out of the pocket while still securing it firmly. Because of its double folded design, you can even clip it onto a hat brim and go for a very well lit evening stroll.
The white light modes cover almost every possible lighting need you can think of; and because of its flat design, it wont roll away from you if you set it down while you're busy trying to do something. The magnetic base is super handy for any late night car trouble you may have too as you can just stick it onto the underside of the hood and investigate the problems with both hands free.
There is also a strobe light function which I’ve been told works great for law enforcement purposes.
The UV light works great for checking the cleanliness of anywhere you go. It is genuinely scary what you can see with it! I love using this for rock hunting, charging up glow in the dark materials and even for checking for counterfeit currency. It is a super handy function to have.
The laser function is super bright and will help you present your business models even in the brightest of rooms. My cats absolutely love chasing it too.
I honestly can’t fault the performance of the Arkfeld Ultra at all and I award it the full 10/10 rating.
Final Thoughts
The Arkfeld Ultra takes everything the Pro does and turns it up to 11. While the improvements may not seem ground breaking at first glance, Olight’s mind blowing OAL material has really taken it to the next level in EDC capability.
It has retained all the charm of the Arkfeld designs, but added a rugged durability that one would never expect to see in such a sleek form flashlight.
Considering the price is only a few dollars more than the Pro model, I would definitely say this is worth the money. The build quality and attention to detail on the Arkfeld Ultra is just phenomenal. This is definitely a “Buy It Once For Life” item and I award it the maximum 20/20 score.
I highly recommend this product and I can not wait to see what other cool things Olight come up with next!
