Review Olight BALDR Mini Pistol Light [Red & Green]

In this review guide, let's take a look at the Olight BALDR Mini red or green laser.

This is a powerful 600-lumen LED compact size light that comes with a green or red laser, a step up from the Olight Valkyrie Mini 2 for compact and full-size handguns.

We will check out Olight BALDR Mini's core specs, beam pattern, laser-quality, control ergonomics, compatibility, and battery performance.

So let's check out what's new.

Olight BALDR Mini Core Specs

• Beam Distance: 130 meters
• Max. Performance: 600 lumens
• Candela: 4225 cd
• Laser: Class 3R, 5mW Green Laser or Red
• Charge type: Magnetic USB charge base
• Battery: Customised Li-Ion
• Weight: 3.07 oz
• Head Diameter (in): 1.29
• Body Diameter (in): 1.41
• Length: 2.24
• LED: High-Performance Cool White LED
• Price: $139.95

What's Included In The Packaging

The Olight BALDR Mini comes with the following:

• Baldr Mini (battery built-in) x 1
• Picatinny (MIL-STD-1913) Rail Mount Adapter x 1
• HM2.5*4.5 Socket Cap Screw x 2
• MCC (Magnetic Charging Cable) Special Edition x 1
• H1.5 Allen Wrench x 1
• Oval Point Set Screw x 1
• Cone Point Set Screw x 1
• User Manual x 1

Core Features

Beam Pattern, Lumens & Candela

For a compact pistol light with only 4225 cd, the light can only be effective at a close range up to 50 - 80 meters, regardless of what the maximum 130-meter throw distance labeled on the packaging.

In a room-size environment, the 600 lumens cool white hotspot of the light is about 18" in diameter at about 20 feet away, and the flood beam can illuminate as much as the whole room to provide peripheral illumination.

It's not bad for a light this small. Please see the image below:

In that case, we highly recommend using the Surefire XH30 with a more powerful 11,300 candela.

Light Beam Color Tint

The Olight BALDR Mini features a cool white LED bulb, which helps with identifying object's subject contour, color, details and gradation.

It's important to have the emitted light beam to have the right color tint for specific situations.

For the practical application of a compact size weapon light for conceal carry and home defense, it's preferred to have a higher Color Rendering Index of 75% or more

(CRI expressed from 0-100, it describes how a light source makes the color of an object appear to human eyes and how well subtle variations in color shades are revealed. The higher the CRI rating is, the better its color rendering ability.)

Modes & Built-In Laser

The BALDR series weapon light all comes with lasers, and the BALDR Mini's 5mW 510-530nm green laser is very visible in low light, and with the laser bouncing off reflective surfaces in the environment almost like a light that can lit up the scene just enough for you to see everything.

We tested both green and red laser on a full battery charge, and the Green laser is definitely brighter and it has a bit of starburst, while the red laser is much rounder

The position of the laser is another feature we like a lot, which is very similar to weapon lights like the Steiner, where the laser sits close to the bore as much as possible to eliminate the point of impact offset.

The laser can be activated by the control switch by toggling down. You can hold the button for momentary laser on, or tap it to stay on constant.

In addition, the shooter can choose among 3 modes:

• Laser ONLY
• Light ONLY
• Laser & Light combo

Simply toggle the mode switch on the bottom of the light to change modes.

Activation Switch Ergonomics

The light features two simple ambidextrous toggle switch on both sides, and the shooter can easily control the switch without any issue.

Press and hold for momentary light activation, and tap to engage constant on.

Some users find the the momentary light activation a bit challenging because they can't just tap the switch, instead they have to consciously press and hold the switch for momentary on and off.

I find with a little bit of practice to get used to the control.

Battery Endurance

The light has a built-in 3.7V 230mAh Rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery that can be charged via a different MCC cord (labeled "SPECIAL" that comes with the package.

Just like most Olight products, the magnetic charging capability saves tons of money buying batteries, and the user can charge the BALDR mini anytime they want to and from the range, in the car, at home with a laptop or any USB battery bank.

The battery life is as follow:

Please note that if you have other USB Olight charging cords from products like the Olight M2R or Valkyrie, please do not use them on the BALDR Mini.

Construction Quality

The Olight BALDR Mini is made from aluminum alloy for extremely high strength and reliability close to 6061 T6.

The overall construction of the light unit is very streamlined and it's black anodized on the surface.

Overall, the build quality of the BALDR mini is very similar to Olight BALDR Pro and other Olight products, so there is no complaint here.

QD Mount & Adjustable Slider

The Olight BALDR Mini comes with the standard QD lever mount that can go on any M1913 picatinny rail.

The light also comes with a GL rail adapter for a better mount with less slack on a Glock pistol frame.

In addition, the BALDR Mini featured the same adjustable slider as the Valkyrie mini, so the light can be slid back and forth on the sliding rail to the best position, which makes it even more compatible to various firearms.

We find pushing the light all the way towards the trigger guard is the best position for the shooter to effortlessly reach the activation button one-handed.

For shooters with short index finger, this is a great adjustable feature to have.

Price Comparison

The Olight Valkyrie PL mini 2 is a successful compact size light and many people loved its performance at its low price point ($89.95) compared to something like the Surefire XC-1 ($239).

The Olight BALDR Mini runs about ($139.95) with a built-in green or red aiming laser. For anyone new to pistol weapon light or for someone who doesn't want to spend over $399 on a Surefire X400, then the Olight BALDR Mini is the product you should give it a shot.

For the price, this is absolutely a steal and be sure to use the 10% OFF coupon code OLIGHTSTORE10 on OlightStore.com

If you don't think the Olight BALDR mini is up to your taste, please check out other great pistol weapon lights here in this guide.