Hands-on with Olight Obulb Plus: An easy-to-use 360° LED light that everyone should have

Today, we’re taking a look at one of the latest products from Olight with the Obulb Plus. Launching now, we’ve spent the past few weeks with the latest wireless light, which delivers several upgrades over the previous-generation models. For starters, there’s no on-light control for brightness, it uses the latest Olight app, and it gets brighter than the Obulb Pro S. Ready to find out how our hands-on experience is with the Olight Obulb Plus? Keep reading to find out more.

The Olight Obulb Plus will become a must-have part of my emergency kit

Let’s get the initial comparison to the Obulb Pro S and Obulb Plus out of the way to start with. The Obulb Plus delivers an additional 60 lumens of brightness, is a little larger overall, and utilizes the latest Olight app for smartphone functionality. In addition to all that, Olight also added on-device brightness control with tap-to-hold, something that many users of previous-generation models have been wanting for a while.

Now, let’s dive into how it is to use the latest Olight Obulb Plus portable LED light. Initially, I didn’t quite know what to think about it. I have had Olight flashlights for years, but never an Obulb. I’ve seen them around but just never pulled the trigger on it. Honestly, after having the Obulb Plus for a few weeks, I can see why so many love having this around.

It’s a cute little light that is honestly quite bright. Even though it maxes out at 300 lumens (whereas the Obulb Pro S topped out at 240 lumens), that’s still quite bright, thanks to its near-360-degree illumination. There are several lighting modes to choose from, all of which can be accessed through the app and many on-device through the touch interface.

The Obulb Plus is RGB and even has multicolor support at the same time. This allows it to be used in various ways, including a low-output candle mode that “flickers” to give off the ambience of a real fire without any of the danger associated therein. This is actually one of my favorite color modes and is something I could see myself using at night if I just wanted a little illumination that wouldn’t really dilate my eyes and still be kinda fun.

Cycling through the different illumination stages starts you at the candle mode, then goes into twinkle (to mimic stars), then you’ll move into a blue/aqua that is somewhat similar to water. After that, there’s a colorful explosion that’s similar to the twinkle but without the yellow glow and with more colors. From there, there’s a rainbow mode that starts at the top and falls down. Another cute mode comes after the rainbow and looks like clouds in the sky, which is actually a pretty unique mode if I do say so myself. And finally, you have the white illumination mode.

All of these modes can have their brightness changed through the app, though now you can also control that on the Obulb Plus itself, though I only found myself using a handful of the modes. I do wish that you could customize what modes landed where so I could put my most-used modes (talked about a little further down) all back to back.

To change the brightness, tap and hold the top of the Obulb Plus, and it’ll cycle the brightness down to near-0% and stop when it reaches the bottom. Then, tap and hold the top again, and it’ll cycle up to 100% brightness, stopping when it reaches the top. Brightness is done in a stepless manner, which is actually pretty nice. Doing it stepless means that it’s a smooth transition between all brightness steps, instead of the typical, more jarring experience that many lights off. Simply pull your finger off the top when you’re at the desired brightness, and it’ll stay there.

My favorite modes are the standard white, the candle, and the firefly, though the clouds is also a pretty fun preset for the Obulb Plus. I like the standard white because it delivers plenty of illumination and disperses it basically 360°, making it ideal for lighting up a larger area of a room, your tent, or even outside with relative ease. The candle flickering is just a fun mode. It can add some ambience to a room, and when used in a tub (more on that below), it just sets the scene for sure. Then, the clouds. Honestly, the cloud mode is just more fun than anything else. I don’t see a real practical application here outside of entertaining yourself or the kids, but hey, sometimes it’s the simple things that are the most fun.

Speaking of young ones, the Obulb Plus is so simple that even kids will be able to turn it on (single tap), off (double tap), change the modes (single tap once on), and adjust the brightness (tap and hold, releasing when you get to the desired level.) Honestly, I think the ease of use is absolutely crucial to the Obulb Plus user experience, and Olight nailed it this time around.

Another thing that I love about the Obulb Plus is that it’s IPX7 waterproof. Yes, waterproof. You can turn the Obulb Plus on and simply place it in a body of water and watch it float around. While I wouldn’t use it in saltwater, Olight does say that you can put it in a pool without worry. (I don’t have a pool to test, so take Olight’s word for it on this one and test yourself to verify.) However, we have watched the Obulb Plus float around in our tub, and it adds a fun bit of ambience to bath time for either you or the kids, depending on whether it’s in a colorful mode or the candle flickering scene.

Another great feature, one that I haven’t used much yet but can see myself using in the future, is that the base of the Obulb Plus is magnetic. You can set the base against anything metal, like a fridge, workbench, or table outside, and it’ll just hang around in midair there. This is a feature that can really come in handy during a power outage or when camping. You could even take a pocket knife, drive it into a tree or dead log on the ground, and magnetize the Obulb Plus to the knife’s blade to really expand where the light can be used.

All-in-all, the Obulb Plus is a solid portable light to add to your emergency kit. Mine will stay charged and by my bedside table in case the power goes out, and it will become an essential part of any overnight camping trip that I eventually do. (I want to be a hiker and camper, but… I’m not quite yet. Maybe one day.)

With a $69.99 list price, the Obulb Plus is currently available on a launch sale of $48.99 direct from Olight starting tomorrow when the pre-sale for VIP members is up. When the sale ends, however, you can still use our code 95TOY10 to save an additional 10% off anything from the Olight store, outside of sale items or the X9R.

9to5Toys’ Take

The Olight Obulb Plus has a place in my lighting kit because of how versatile it is. I love that it delivers all the various lighting modes but, most importantly, a bright white light when needed. The magnetic base, IPX7 waterproof nature, and floating design make it versatile to use in almost any scenario. And the fact that you can now control brightness via the Obulb Plus itself means that you won’t have to worry about pulling out your phone and using the app for every little adjustment.

If you’re looking for a solid 360° light to add to your arsenal, then the Obulb Plus is a great choice all around, especially while it’s on sale for less than $50 for the launch.

Buy the Olight Obulb Plus

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