Best Flashlight Buying Guide – Step by Step Comparison

If there’s one piece of emergency equipment that provides the most benefits for the greatest number of situations, it’s probably the flashlight. There’s really no need to list down all the possible situations in which a flashlight can prove to be handy. You already know that a good flashlight keeps you from fumbling around in the dark.

So how do you find the best flashlight for the money these days?

You’ll want to consider factors such as brightness and beam distance, size and weight, and the run time of the battery. It should be comfortable to handle and durable enough to keep working even if you drop it. The price is important too, of course. And you may also want to look at the special features of each model.

However, first you need to pick the right type of flashlight for the situations in which you’ll most likely need it. The needs of a biker, hunter, or a police officer may be different from the needs of regular folks.

With these factors in mind, let’s take a look at several excellent recommendations for various types of flashlights.

Best Flashlights - Comparison

Best Flashlights for 2020 - Reviews

LEDs are among the most efficient types of illumination in the market today, and they’re also eco-friendly. Sure, they’re a bit more pricey than conventional flashlights, but they’re actually cost-effective in the long run. They can last for a decade, and that’s a benefit you can’t overlook.

Here are some of the best and most highly regarded LED flashlights you can get right now:

Any list of reliable flashlights must at least mention the Maglite, and it’s not a random choice that it’s the first one mentioned in this entire article.

The Maglite brand is perhaps the most respected name in the industry. Ever since it first came out in 1979, it’s been the first and only choice of countless professionals such as cops, military personnel, and emergency first responders.

This flashlight is available in 3 sizes, ranging from the small yet functional 1-battery size to the full-sized version that needs 3 Alkaline D-cell batteries. And now they come with LED bulbs that offer even more effective illumination. 

If the idea of just 168 lumens doesn’t quite seem bright enough for you or if you’re looking for a rechargeable option, this is the flashlight you need. With this one, you’ll no longer have any reason to complain about the dark.

It incorporates 5 Cree XHP35 High Intensity LED lights that will truly banish the darkness around you.

But its brightness is just one of the reasons why you’ll love this flashlight. It’s also very tough and easy to use. 

Sometimes people just prefer the convenience of using easily found AA batteries. If that’s you, then this is one of the brightest LED flashlights you’ll find in this category. After all, it comes with XHP50 lights, and “XHP” stands for Extreme High Power.

This flashlight comes with a light output of 2150 lumens at maximum setting, and its throw distance reaches up to 462 meters. It also gives you 5 different brightness levels as well as 3 special modes so that you can enjoy wide-angle illumination.

With low settings, you can make the 8 batteries last for as long as 810 hours. 

Also Read: 10 Cool Flashlights – List of Super Bright Models

The Best Emergency Flashlights

With typhoons and hurricanes often in the news, there’s a chance that you may experience a power outage or blackout at some point in your life. And when that happens, you’ll need something reliable to find your way around the house. Having a light is almost always a very effective way to calm everyone down as well. 

Now if you really want an LED flashlight with multiple power options, this one certainly qualifies. It looks a bit futuristic in its design, but this just emphasizes how advanced its features are. This one can function as a 250-lumen flashlight or a floodlight with 70 lumens.

What really differentiates the Torch 250 is that you can power it in several ways. It has a 4400 mAh battery which you can recharge through a USB port. You can then be fully recharged in 7 hours. It also has a built-in solar panel on the top, though this way it needs 23 to 46 hours for a full recharge. A third option is to simply connect it to a compatible solar panel.

And last but not least, you can just use its crank shaft. Crank it up for a minute, and you have 2 minutes of light. 

If you’re looking for a really affordable emergency flashlight, this model from ECEEN can fit the bill. It may seem ordinary at first glance, but it comes with a built-in solar panel so you can recharge it during the day even when there’s no power. When power is restored, you can continue charging it with a USB cable or an AC charger. That’s because it already comes with a rechargeable battery.

This is another LED flashlight, and even though it only has a 1W LED, it offers up to 150 lumens and a throwing distance of up to 50 meters. 

The Best Headlamp Flashlights

Sometimes you really don’t want to bother having to hold a flashlight in your hand, but you still need to light your way. In those situations you need a headlamp that provides ample illumination while it sits comfortably on your head. 

If you want a great headlamp, consider getting the Tikka+. It’s an improved model over a previous version that delivers excellent performance.

It may seem just a bit cute at first when you see this light strapped on a headband contraption. But it’s a serious flashlight nonetheless, with 160 lumens that can light up to 40 meters. You get 3 continuous light modes, with another 2 strobe modes. This headlamp also has a red LED function to help you preserve your night vision.

It uses 3 AAA/LR03 batteries, but you can also use the CORE rechargeable battery. You’ll get a run time of up to 185 hours. 

This is the bestselling Princeton Tec headlamp that’s been designed for a wide variety of outdoor uses, including climbing and running at night. It looks quite sporty, and that seems appropriate. Princeton Tec describes the strap as an arm bracket, but it also functions as a headband. The headlamp only weighs 83 grams, which is less than 3 ounces.

This uses 3 AAA batteries to power the lights that will give you 150 hours of use as long as you’re judicious about your settings. The light comes from 3 small LEDs and 1 larger “Maxbright” LED. 

This headlamp has a very impressive design, and it’s quite functional too. The illumination comes from aQuad Power LED, a Double Power LED,as well as a red one, giving you up to 300 lumens and you only use just 3 AAA batteries.

What really sets this headlamp apart is its easy control mechanism. It uses Black Diamond’s so-called Power Tap Technology that lets you change the settings quickly. The red light vision mode also has proximity and strobe settings, and you don’t have to cycle through the white modes to switch to your red mode setting.

Also Read: Best AA Flashlight – Top Selections For Outdoor Activities!

The Best EDC Flashlights

Some people like to bring a flashlight along everywhere they go. It can prove quite useful in unexpected situations, and sometimes the light from a smartphone just isn’t enough. If you often find yourself in dark spaces because you’re a handyman or an emergency first-responder, you’ll find that having a flashlight is crucial if you’re going to do your job right.

For an EDC light, you need something that’s easy to carry. This can be pocket-sized, or you may even want a penlight instead. Others may be a bit bigger, but that’s okay if you’re strapping it on your belt or putting it in your bag.

Then you also need this flashlight to be very durable. After all, you’ll be bringing it with you everywhere. This also means there’s a greater chance that you may drop it, and it may even rain where you are, so getting one that’s shock and water resistant is also something to consider. 

This is an excellent example of a terrific EDC flashlight. It’s also called a tactical flashlight because it is often used by soldiers and law enforcement officers, but because it’s affordable it can be used by civilians too. And if they’re good enough for people whose lives may depend on it, then they’re certainly good enough for us as well.

What’s great about this flashlight is that its design is utterly simple. You get 500 lumens, which is bright enough for most types of situations you may find yourself in. It has just 3 modes, with a high and low setting and a strobe function. 

Here’s another pocket-sized flashlight that measures only 3.8 inches long. The body diameter is less than an inch (0.98 inches to be exact), while the diameter of the head is just 1.2 inches. It comes with a pocket clip and a lanyard ring.

This flashlight has 3 main brightness levels: high, medium, and low. Interestingly, you can still program these main levels with sub levels of different brightness settings. You can get up to 1126 lumens on the highest setting, and it has a beacon strobe setting as well.

Now if you want something even smaller, the S1 Baton from Olight should do just fine. This is the brand’s smallest LED flashlight with a side switch, and it measures just 2.4 inches. Its weight is a measly 1 ounce.

Yet despite its miniature size, there’s no denying the brightness of this flashlight. It can go up to 500 lumens, and it can throw its beam up to 120 yards—that’s the equivalent of an entire football field including the end zones. If you set it to Medium instead, you can get a more reasonable 80-lumen setting. On Low,it’s just 8 lumens, and there’s even a Moonlight Mode that’s only 0.5 lumens. 

The S1 Baton is available in a bundle package for a couple more bucks, and you get the Olight RCR123A rechargeable battery as well as the compact charger. This one also runs on regular CR123A batteries. 

Also Read: Light Up the Night: The Best Handheld Spotlights

If you prefer having an option between a rechargeable 3.7V 14500 Li-Ionbattery and a single AA battery, then the SC52 L2 from Zebralight may be the perfect EDC flashlight for you. These are your two options in powering this compact unit, which can offer up to 285 lumens.

Its functions can be programmed so you get to choose the lumen level you prefer for each setting. The high setting lets you pick from 110, 175, and 285 lumens. For medium, it can be 51, 26, or 12 lumens. The low setting can range from 2.8 lumens to as low as 0.01 lumens.

With the lowest setting, this flashlight can last up to 3 months on a single AA battery. However, for the highest setting you’ll get less than an hour of continuous use. 

This one is an AAA-battery-powered flashlight, and for some that is the most convenient option. This makes it a very compact model, as it’s only 3⅜ inches long. It also comes with a uniform cylindrical design with no head enlargement, and the body is only 0.58 inches in diameter.

Despite those very compact dimensions, you still get up to 300 lumens for an hour of continuous use. At the lowest setting of 15 lumens, you still have 7 hours to enjoy. Adjusting the brightness is also easy—you only have to twist the head switch to set the preferred brightness level. 

Sometimes you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a lot of performance out of your flashlight. This is exemplified by the Ti3, which is easy to carry, quite bright for indoor use, and also extremely affordable.

With this small flashlight, you get 120 lumens for up to a distance of 50 meters, and that’s not bad when you consider that you only use a single AAA battery. It is only 2.75 inches long with a diameter of 0.55 inches, and it weighs just 0.4 ounces. This still comes with an impact-resistance rating of 1.2 meters. 

If you’re looking specifically for a keychain flashlight, this is one of your best options. Its shape is like what you see with most keychains, as it’s just 1.57 inches long and 0.95 inches wide.

Yet the light that comes from this keychain is outstanding. It can be very bright so that you can find your way around,but you can also dim the light simply by pressing on the button long enough to get the desired brightness setting. It can be set so low that you can use it for night photography, just bright enough for you to see the controls of your camera.

The brightness also lets you be found more easily if you’re in trouble. At maximum setting, its light is visible from up to a mile away. It even has 5 safety modes including Morse code.

When you first get this flashlight, it’s in its default setting. This means that it won’t stay on after a while when you let go of the button. However, you can disable this by pressing on the button continuously for about 30 seconds. 

Best Rechargeable Flashlights

Many people hate having to buy batteries too frequently. After all, it’s the age of smartphones, and most people simply prefer to just recharge their everyday items like they do with their smartphones. If that’s the case with you, then you need to find an excellent rechargeable flashlight.

Some may have non-removable batteries, which can help make the unit smaller. Others may use removable rechargeable batteries so you can continue using the flashlight simply by replacing the drained ones.

You can make your pick from among these options:

If you need a flashlight for search and rescue, then you’ll be all set with the amazing TN42 from ThruNite. It’s one of the brightest flashlights you can use to throw its light at long distances. The output can reach 2000 lumens, and it can light up areas from up to 1,550 meters away.

This uses a CREE XHP35 HI LED light, and to power it you’ll need 4 units of 18650 (3.6V/3400mAh) batteries. Its runtime estimates are quite good, as you can get 17.8 hours of continuous use with the medium setting of 256 lumens.

At the maximum setting of 2,000m lumens, you can have 1.5 hours of use, and this becomes 5.3 hours when you tone it down a notch to 780 lumens. With the Strobe function, you can get 10.8 hours.

If you want to extend the run time, you can choose the Low setting of 38 lumens, and that gives you 4.3 straight days of use. To really extend the run time, you can go in Firefly mode of 0.8 lumens, which will give you 58 days of use. 

This flashlight is a bit pricey—perhaps more than a bit, to be honest. But then this comes with a total of 6 Cree XM-L2 U2 LEDs, which combined can provide up to 6,000 lumens. It can throw its light up to 800 yards away, and its beam is 90 degrees. All these make it ones of the best LED lights to illuminate an open space.

This is a rechargeable flashlight as well. Technically, it’s the battery that’s rechargeable, since this flashlight comes with a 7.4V/7800mAh rechargeable li-ion battery specifically made for the RC40. That battery is part of the purchase, so you’ll be able to use it right away.

It comes with a dual switch, so you’re not limited to cycling through modes with just a single switch. It also comes with 5 brightness settings, a strobe function, as well as an SOS mode.

This is a hefty model, but at least it’s not too bulky or heavy. It measures 10.7 inches long, 4.3 inches in diameter for the head, and 2 inches for the body. The weight comes in at 2.69 pounds, and that includes the battery weight. 

Also Read: 10 Best Underwater Fishing Lights – Attract Fish Anywhere!

The Best Hunting Flashlight

Obviously you’ll need a flashlight when you’re going to hunt at night. You’ll need it to read your maps, plus it will help you find the tracks of the animals. It can even help you illuminate your prey. But daytime hunting can leave you in the dark as well, so you need a flashlight anytime you go out hunting, really. 

If you’re going on a hunt, you may as well get this flashlight:

When you want to find your prey from farther away you need something that can really throw its light for a long distance. That’s what you get with the Javelot, as it can illuminate objects up to 810 meters away. That’s about 2657 feet. You get that distance using the high setting with 1020 lumens.

It does come with 3 brightness settings, and with the low 20-lumen setting you can easily find your way around or read a map. The tailcap switch even lets you turn it on momentarily, while you can also adjust the setting by turning the head of the flashlight.

This flashlight is also very tough, with an aero-grade aluminum body with anti-scratch properties. It’s even waterproof with an IPX-8 rating, so it can get submerged into 2 meters of water for up to 30 minutes. 

Final Verdict

A flashlight can be used in so many ways, but there’s one fact that seems clear—everybody needs one. You should have one for carrying around, another one for emergencies, and you may even want to get one for your hunting or camping activities.

There’s no sense in walking around in the dark, not when can use the best flashlight for any situation you may face for which you need light.

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