New Olight Valkyrie Turbo LEP – Laser Weapon Light? Full Review

Olight just released the first ever LEP weapon light for pistols or compact rifles, the Valkyrie Turbo. It’s small enough to fit your Glock 19 and has enough output to be used on your PDW. Powered by two CR123A batteries, the Valkyrie Turbo LEP puts out an impressive 70,255 candela. That means the Valkyrie Turbo can reach out to 580 yards thanks to the LEP technology.

What exactly is LEP? It stands for Laser Excited Phosphor. In short, a crystal substrate with a phosphor layer is placed in front of a blue laser emitter. After passing through the phosphor layer, the light is converted to an intense, highly concentrated, white light. The beam seems to stretch out to infinity and has virtually no spill. It’s incredible how they managed to concentrate the light into such a tight beam.

The Valkyrie Turbo is currently offered in black and desert tan with an MSRP of $149.95. Olight is running a “free” battery replacement promotion for all Valkyrie Turbo owners until the end of 2023. All you pay is the $5 shipping fee. All shipping fees are waived if you’re buying something else valued over $49. While this isn’t totally free, it’s still the least expensive, highest quality, CR123A’s I could find. With that said, please don’t use cheap batteries in any device or mix new and old batteries together.   

First impressions

Just like the rest of my Olights, the Valkyrie Turbo is solidly built with flawless machining. It features an all-aluminum housing with Olight’s signature quick release lever with polymer activation switches and battery cover. There are no rattles or loose parts on the Valkyrie Turbo. It just feels like a well-made light. There’s nothing cheap about it.

Powering it on for the first time made me smile. Aside from the incredibly tight beam pattern, I immediately noticed the color of the light. Olight significantly improved the temperature of the Valkyrie Turbo LEP. The Odin Turbo LEP had a green tint to it, while the Valkyrie Turbo is closer to a cool white. The beam pattern is so tight and focused.

Specs:
Light Output – 250 lumens
Light Modes – Continuous On, Momentary On, Strobe
Light Intensity – 70,255 candela
Max. throw distance – 580 yards
Weight – 4.7 oz
Length – 3.55 in.
Width – 1.44 in.
Body Height – 1.33 in.
Max. run time – 180 minutes
Battery – 2 x 3V CR123A (Removable)
IPX6 rating – water resistant against high pressure water from any angle

In the box you’ll find the Valkyrie Turbo with 2 x CR123A Olight batteries, a picatinny STD-1913 rail adapter, Allen wrench, extra screws, and the user manual. Olight provides everything you need to get started using the light immediately which I appreciate. The Valkyrie Turbo comes pre-installed with a Glock adapter rail. I’ve found this to be functional on almost all my pistols, but if yours feels loose at all, switch to the 1913 adapter.

Installing the Valkyrie Turbo LEP is simple with Olight’s quick release mounting system. Simply open the lever, squeeze to expand the sides, pop it on your rail, and close the lever. Just make sure you open the battery cover first and remove the plastic battery safety cover or it won’t turn on!

The Valkyrie Turbo features ambidextrous rear side-press activation switches. You can press and hold a single switch for momentary use, or a quick press and release for continuous use. Squeezing both switches at the same time activates strobe mode. The switches provide positive tactile feedback while being easy and intuitive to use.

At the range, I put over 500 rounds through various pistols and my .223 COX ARMS USA WULF Pistol with no problems. The only issue I had is when I swapped batteries. I didn’t close the battery door properly which was completely my fault. It resulted in the battery door opening slightly and the light turned off. As soon as I closed the battery door, everything worked again.

The runtime of 180 minutes is a little ambitious. The light technically does still stay on around the 180-minute mark, but it’s not very usable. During my testing, I was able to get about 160 minutes of usable light. Still very impressive for a constant run time. The Valkyrie Turbo does gradually step-down light output after being continuously on for over 4 minutes. I’ve also noticed the Valkyrie Turbo doesn’t get nearly as hot as traditional LED lights.

At 15 feet, the beam is just 18 inches in diameter. By comparison, the Olight Valkyrie PL PRO with an LED produces a 4-foot diameter beam at the same distance. That’s a ton of light intesity concentrated in a small area which results in a very high photonic barrier. This makes it nearly impossible for the subject to look directly back at the light. On the other hand, you need to be precise with it to make sure it stays on their face if you’re within 15-20 feet. I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of the strobe feature.

With such a tight beam, using the Valkyrie Turbo in a close quarter scenario could be challenging. The LEP doesn’t create a lot of spill light to see the room in the beam periphery. It’s doable, and you can see other objects in the room, but an LED is much better for this.

However, the Valkyrie Turbo could also be used for faster instinct/spot shooting. The beam at 15 feet is about the size of an adult torso. So, if your light is covering the subject, your hits will probably be on target. And this is what I found from my experience at the range – I was able to make consistent hits on target without using my sights and just spot aiming with the light.

Outside, the Valkyrie Turbo truly shines. It felt great installed on my WULF AR Pistol and would be the perfect companion light on nighttime stalking hunts. I’ve had success hunting with my Odin Turbo, and the Valkyrie Turbo performs no different. I’d feel comfortable taking shots at night within 125 yards. It’s easy to see targets looking through my 2X prism scope at night. As far as the claimed throw distance of 580 yards, I wasn’t able to test to that distance. It had no problem lighting up trees 300 yards away at the local pond.

Overall, the new Valkyrie Turbo LEP is an impressive weapon light. It delivers one of the highest (if not THE highest) candela output of any pistol light on the market. The removable CR123A batteries offer greater flexibility for operating in the field. It’s quality construction and ease of installation make this a good choice for anyone looking to upgrade their home defense or PDW weapon light. The long distance throw make it a suitable choice for nighttime hunting within 125 yards. If you’re looking for a light with almost no spill and high runtime, the Valkyrie Turbo is for you.

Available from Olight