Which Flashlight Brand Wins?
We compared 18 flashlight options head to head. Fenix came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video. Shoppers cross-shopping keychain flashlight, keychain light, penlight and edc flashlight land here for the head to head that settles it.
Fenix
Price shown in test: $135, the most expensive flashlight tested
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Olight
Price shown in test: $112
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Wurkkos
Price shown in test: $40
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Initial Brightness Lm | Brightness 30s Lm | Brightness 15min Lm | Temp 15min | Weight G | Length In | Light Throw | High Current Draw Test | Battery Capacity Test | Overall Average Finish | Run Time Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Fenix$135, the most expensive flashlight tested | 4,706 | 4,027, third place at that point in the sequence | 1,342, second place (Olight led at 1,408) | almost too hot to handle at 127 F | 224 g | very close to 6 and 3/16 in | 93 m, third place (10 lux assumption); ES Green led at 114 m, Streamlight second at 104 m | 50.06 W, third place behind Sofirn (60.7 W) and Acebeam (51.52 W) | rated 6,000 mA hours, actual 6,290 mA hours, best battery capacity of the whole field | 3.5, first place overall, finished top three in every category except run time | not tested |
| 2Olight$112 | 5,678, second brightest at the start (Nitecore led at 7,434) | 5,607, best of all brands at 30 seconds, better than its own rating | 1,408, best of all brands at 15 minutes | 114 F | 206 g without the holster | 5 and 3/16 in | not tested | not tested | rated 5,000 mA hours, actual 5,090 mA hours, beat its own rating and took the lead at that point in the large-cell capacity test (17.57 Wh) | 4.8, second place overall | not tested |
| 3Acebeam$110 | 5,087, described as pretty impressive for such a compact light | 4,795, second place at that point in the sequence, only 105 lm below its own rating | 1,208, the best yet at that point in the sequence but later surpassed | pretty hot at close to 115 F | 226 g (claimed 154 g or 5.43 oz in its own marketing, but the reviewer's own scale reading is kept here) | 5 and 11/16 in | not tested | 51.52 W, second place behind Sofirn (60.7 W) | two different figures appear in the transcript for this brand's large-cell capacity test: an initial reading of 'just over 4,000 mA hours or just over 14 Wh,' and a later line saying 'the Acebeam moves into the lead at 16.72 Wh or 4,850 mA hours.' The second figure fits far better against this brand's own 5,000 mA hour rating and the narrative that it is taking the lead, but both are recorded here rather than silently picking one, since the source itself is ambiguous about which is correct | 5.2, third place overall | not tested |
| 4Streamlight$119 | 2,704 | 2,414, better than its own 2,000 lm rating | 1,214, third place | hottest yet at over 127 F | 234 g | very close to 6 in | 104 m, second place (10 lux assumption) | not tested | rated 4,900 mA hours, actual 4,840 mA hours, almost achieved its rating | not tested | not tested |
| 5Nitecore$90 | 7,434 in turbo mode, brightest of all flashlights at the start, but turbo mode powers down automatically at 14 seconds | 1,589 after turbo mode powered down and the light partially regained brightness as it cooled, the best 30 second figure at that point in the sequence | 876, the best yet at that point in the sequence | 180 F, just a little warm to the touch | 182 g | 4 and 13/16 in | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | 5.3 hours on the brightest setting, third place |
| 6Coast$67 | around 3,000 in turbo mode | 3,894, brightness actually increased as the LED warmed up | 322 | 92 F, not too hot | 364 g, heavier than average | very close to 9 in | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 7Sofirn$33 | 1,201, well below its own 3,000 lm rating | 1,177 | 429, moved into second place at that point in the sequence | around 113 F, a little warm | 156 g | 4 and 5/8 in | not tested | 60.7 W, best of all brands tested in this sub-test | appears to have a 5,000 mA hour battery per the intro; produced 4,710 mA hours or just over 16 Wh, described as under its rating but the most energy yet at that point in the sequence | not tested | 5.4 hours on the brightest setting, second place behind the Bushnell |
| 8Wurkkos$40 | 2,153, almost as bright as the ThruNite | 1,889, moved into second place at that point in the sequence | 765, the best yet at that point in the sequence | around 118 F | 132 g | very close to 5 and 5/16 in | not tested | not tested | rated 3,000 mA hours, actual 3,266 mA hours | not tested | not tested |
| 9ThruNite$40 | 2,213, the brightest yet at that point in the sequence | 2,018, just above its own 2,000 lm rating | 674, the best yet at that point in the sequence | a little warm at 113 F | not tested | very close to 5.75 in | not tested | not tested | rated 3,400 mA hours, actual 3,573 mA hours | not tested | not tested |
| 10Nebo$39 | 1,183, moved into second place at that point in the sequence | 1,099 | 545, a peak best at that point in the sequence | pretty warm at 160 F | 164 g | very close to 5.75 in | not tested | not tested | rated 2,000 mA hours, actual 2,123 mA hours | not tested | not tested |
| 11Wuben$30 | 511, short of its own 1,200 lm rating | 503 | 460, the best yet at that point in the sequence | just over 100 F | 120 g, very light | 4.75 in, the most compact flashlight at that point in the sequence | not tested | not tested | figure captioned as 'the Reuben' in the battery capacity recap ('the Reuben has a 2,600 milliamp hour rating and it performed even better than its rating at 2,685'); resolved to Wuben since its own intro states 'the Wuben appears to have a 2600 mA hour battery,' the only brand in the video with that rating | not tested | not tested |
| 12Milwaukee$65 | 1,424 | 1,401, better than its own 1,100 lm rating | 793, the best yet at that point in the sequence | around 105 F, not too bad for such a powerful light | 202 g | around 6 and 3/16 in | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 13Bushnell$50 | 1,858 | 1,696, below its own 2,000 lm rating | 309 | just below 93 F, relatively cool | 352 g | 9.25 in, quite a bit longer than average | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | 7.9 hours on the brightest setting, best of all brands tested |
| 14Ruboliy$16 for two flashlights, or $8 each | 957, better than its own rating | 865 | 209 | 100 F, warmer than the Victoper | 156 g | very close to 5.75 in | not tested | captioned as 'the Reball': 3.98 W at 1 amp, 20 W at 6 amps, 25 W at 8 amps, and fell below 3 V at 10 amps making it to 30 W; this appears to be a standalone demonstration example rather than part of the final top-3 recap (Sofirn, Acebeam, Fenix) | captioned as 'the Reball,' rated 1,800 mA hours, actual 1,875 mA hours | not tested | not tested |
| 15TrixHub$24 for two flashlights, or $12 each | 714, just above its own 700 lm rating | 611, dropped well below its rating | 192, third place at that point in the sequence | not uncomfortably warm at around 95 to 96 F | 156 g | 5.75 in | not tested | not tested | captioned as 'the Trick Stub,' rated 1,800 mA hours, actual 1,858 mA hours | not tested | not tested |
| 16Esgreen$26 | 921, over 99,000 lm short of its own advertised 100,000 lm rating | 816, dropped to second place at that point in the sequence | a lot of fluctuation stated as ranging from 274 to 291 lm | 122 F, the hottest flashlight yet at that point in the sequence | 368 g, by far the heaviest yet at that point in the sequence | very close to 7 in | 114 m, best of all brands (10 lux assumption) | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 17Lylting$36 | 663, way short of its own claimed 99,000 lm | 590 | close to 300 | 94 F, relatively cool | 498 g, pretty heavy | 9.75 in, by far the longest flashlight tested | not tested | not tested | captioned as 'the Liltings,' rated 10,000 mA hours, actual only 4,620 mA hours or 15.39 Wh, described as really struggling | not tested | not tested |
| 18Victoper$10 for two flashlights | 279, the least expensive flashlight in the video | 233 | 103, struggling | 80 F, pretty cool given the low light output | 120 g, very light | around 5.5 in, pretty compact | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
How it was tested
- initial, 30 second, and 15 minute brightness measured in lumens with a light meter
- beam temperature after 15 minutes of use
- weight and length
- beam pattern assessment lighting a tree line about 75 ft away, spotlight and floodlight positions
- light throw distance in meters using a 10 lux assumption
- battery high current draw test measured in watts at increasing amps
- battery capacity test (mA hours and watt hours) versus advertised rating
- maximum run time on the brightest light setting
- drop test from 2 meters onto concrete
“the Fenix came in on top with the best average finish at 3.5. It finished in the top three of every category except for run time. This is a fantastic light and I would definitely buy it if it fits within the budget.”
Data notes and caveats
18 flashlights tested, all 18 from the description's product list identified in the transcript despite heavy phonetic mangling on several: Rubali/Reball to Ruboliy, Trikk Hub/Trick Stub to TrixHub, ES Green to Esgreen, little thing/Liltings to Lylting, and Workhorse/Workos to Wurkkos (resolved via battery mAh ratings, prices, and testing order cross-referenced against the description). The closing leaderboard only gives an explicit average finish for the top three (Fenix 3.5, Olight 4.8, Acebeam 5.2); products[] for the remaining 15 brands is ordered here by sustained 15 minute brightness in lumens, the most complete single metric across the whole field, which is a derived ordering rather than one the video itself declared. Acebeam has two conflicting large-cell battery capacity readings in the transcript (an early 'just over 4,000 mA hours or 14 Wh' and a later 'moves into the lead at 16.72 Wh or 4,850 mA hours'); both are recorded rather than silently choosing one, though the later figure fits the brand's own 5,000 mA hour rating and the 'moving into the lead' framing better. The drop test result only states that two unnamed flashlights powered down on impact but both recovered; the transcript does not identify which two, so this is left as a general note rather than attributed to specific brands. Ruboliy's high current draw figures (1A to 10A) appear as a standalone demonstration example separate from the final top-3 recap for that specific test (Sofirn, Acebeam, Fenix).