Olight Ark Pro Review: Four Years of Everyday Carry, Upgraded

I've carried an Olight Arkfeld Pro in my pocket for the better part of four years. It's the one thing I grab every single time I leave the house. So when Olight put out its replacement — the Ark Pro — I had one question: does it earn a spot in my pocket for the next four years? I put it up against the light I've actually carried every day, and against the flashlight a lot of people call the one to beat. Here's what I found.

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"But my phone has a flashlight"

I already know the comment coming, because I get it every time I pull this out: I have a phone, and my phone has a flashlight. Everybody does. Apple even added beam control a few updates ago so you can widen or narrow it. Fair enough.

But a real flashlight is brighter, faster, and more useful — and it's not close. By the time you've woken your phone, swiped to the flashlight, and aimed it, I've already pulled this out of my pocket and turned it on in one motion. It doesn't drain my phone's battery either, which matters when I'm in a crawl space or an attic trying to look up instructions on that same phone. I clip the light to a stud or my hat, and my phone stays free to do the thing I actually needed it for.

What it actually does

What's kept this in my pocket isn't one feature — it's that it does the job of about five tools in a flat body that disappears next to my keys and pocket knife.

White light. A wash, not a spotlight — up to 1,300 lumens on turbo with around 100 meters of reach. It lights up a whole room or the path in front of me, which is what I want most of the time.

Moonlight mode. This one never makes the spec sheet, and it's my favorite. Under a single lumen — barely a glow. It's just enough to check a keyhole, look in on a sleeping kid, or find something in a dark room without blasting 1,300 lumens at a light-sensitive spouse.

UV light. Great for the obvious stuff — leaks, stains — but where I actually reach for it is backstage during a live show. It lets me spot obstacles and find what I'm after without spilling light everywhere or lighting up a room I'm not supposed to.

Green laser. I didn't buy it for this, and I use it constantly. In an auditorium or a gym, being able to point and say "the camera goes there, power's over there" is worth more than I expected. (And yes — instant cat toy when I'm visiting people with pets.)

Reversible clip + magnetic base. The clip flips, so it either deep-seats in your pocket or clips onto the brim of a hat as a headlamp. And the base is magnetic — it's how the light charges, but it also means I can stick it under a car hood, on a shelf bracket, or on a steel doorway and light up whatever I'm working on with both hands free.

That's a pocket light, a work light, a headlamp, a laser pointer, and a UV light in one flat package. That's why I stopped shopping around.

What's new in the Ark Pro

The Ark Pro is the replacement for the Arkfeld Pro, and it fixes the handful of things I'd quietly wished for. Four real changes:

1. A USB-C port. This is the big one. The old light only charged on its magnetic puck — I had one at my desk and one at my bedside, until I went on vacation, the light died, and I had no way to charge it. The Ark Pro keeps the magnetic base (so all my old chargers still work) and adds a USB-C port behind a solid little flap that snaps shut. That alone almost sells it.

2. A dual beam. The old light was wash-only. The Ark Pro gives you that same wash plus a real spotlight that throws about 180 meters, and turbo bumps from 1,300 to 1,500 lumens. You won't feel the extra 200 lumens getting blasted in the face, but the added throw is genuinely useful.

3. A bigger battery. 2,000 mAh, up from 1,500 — so the brighter turbo doesn't cost you runtime.

4. A dedicated laser button. On the old light the laser was buried in the mode cycle. Now there's a button on the side, and you can fire the laser while you're already in spot, wash, or UV.

One more thing that isn't a headline feature: the clip. The clip on my old one has real play in it — it rattles, it's worn from riding against my pocket knives, and if I hit a bump in the car it sometimes falls out. The Ark Pro's clip has zero play. It slides in and stays.

The competition: Streamlight Wedge

The Ark Pro isn't the only light in this space, and the one people bring up most is the Streamlight Wedge. The Wedge is a purist: one beam, done really well, with a 1,000-lumen burst when you push the bar forward, USB-C charging, a tank of a build, made in the USA with a lifetime warranty. If you want a light you press once and it just works, the Wedge is a great answer.

But the Wedge has no UV, no laser, no magnetic base, and a single, non-reversible clip — so no headlamp trick. Everything I just spent this whole review telling you I love, the Wedge doesn't do. That's not a knock; it's a philosophy. The Wedge is a standard pocket knife. The Ark Pro is a Swiss Army knife. If you want simple and indestructible, get the Wedge. If you want one thing that does everything, this is it.

The verdict

For me it's the multi-tool every time — which is why the Ark Pro is my new everyday carry.

Is it a mandatory upgrade if you already own an Arkfeld Pro? Honestly, no. The Pro is still fantastic, and mine isn't going anywhere. But the USB-C port alone almost seals it, and the dual beam pushes it over. If you've never carried a light like this, don't overthink it — just get one. It's the kind of thing you don't know you need until you have it, and then you're reaching for it constantly.