Best flashlight brands & popular models

I could be wrong, but I’m sure I read somewhere that the S2+ battery size issue was solved long ago. Anyway, I have two of them and only unprotected cells, all of which fit either one, from no-name salvage brand to Panasonic and Samsung.

issue must have been corrected before i started getting into them.
this is something i would have figured out long before i went into full production.
i could see if the problem lights were prototypes.

I say that because I only have brand-rewrapped protected batteries (Olight button-tops and old Thrunite flat-tops), and I doubt I’m the only chump in that category :stuck_out_tongue:

Back then that was only width, not length. Depending on the length of the protected battery, it’ll be a really tight squeeze, to the point where the tail spring will almost become a disc.

But hey, I’m open to be proven wrong, and in fact I’d love to be so I can buy one S2+ guilt-free :smiley:

Not to rag on Convoy, but I wouldn’t be so sure. The L6, for example, is still to this day a finicky torch when it comes to battery dimensions.

Some protected cells have extra stickers on them which made it difficult to squeeze them into my newish S2+. Such was the case with NCR18650B protected cells I got from imrbatteries.com. But once I peeled off the stickers, they fit fine.

Fenix and Nitecore are the ones I’ve bought from before, very nice flashlights.
Klarus, Lumintop, Thrunite, Olight, Foursevens, Convoy, and many others are good too.

  • About the Convoy S2+ battery fitting

The thickest batteries I have are Keeppower, which are re-wrapped, protected AND have an extra label. They still fit with no trouble in the regular S2+ tube, and the 18350 still fits the short tube (which has a slightly narrower bore), but with less than a paper-thin margin left because of the added label.

  • About my recommendation

I own a few Nitecores and Convoys.

Nitecores are more expensive at about 3x the price range of Convoys, but are light, well made, great quality over-all. The Niteocre concept 1 is a VERY nice looking flashlight with the only drawback IMHO being the learning curve of the button/interface. The sheer amount of flashlights may get confusing thou, might be hard to choose one if you don’t already know what you want.

The S2+ is a great system, great value, easy to mod (change emitter, driver, make into a triple), don’t get super hot despite what people say unless over-driven (I have no trouble holding in the 2.8 amp stock maximum current), the new driver does not have any of the problems the older ones had, look nice, have many color, driver and emitter combinations to choose from (more than what’s made available in the store if you ask Simon about it). It might not fit specific needs, but it’s regret-free

There are countless Chinese brands of flashlights, and most of them may locate in Shenzhen. It’s hard to say which one is the best. Brands such as Fenix, Nitecore, Olight, are the well-known brands and offer some affordable and built quality products. This forum offers many review of their popular models. Also, recently I found a site (seems like a new site), they have a page on talking about the brands. Maybe you can take it for reference. :wink:
https://brightbestlight.com/top-flashlight-brands/

OP what country do you live in? If it’s the US you can check out the flashlights offered from mountain electronics, he is a convoy dealer and also carries jaxman e2l and emisar d4 all of which are great and inexpensive. 30$ for jaxman triple and 40$ for the D4 quad.

Back after a vacation, found more new comments there. There might be countless chinese brands that manufacture flashlights, and hard to tell which is the best. But there is no doubt that brands such as Fenix and Nitecore offer excellent products and are popular with many flashlightholic. Convey is popular too, but with different evaluations. :person_facepalming:

Nitecore its not too expensive like fenix but if I will spend a good amount of money in the light my choice is thrunite ever lumintop or nitecore are the next……

If you want cheap light, thorfire is very solid.

Try the s70s, I have the older s70 and with high usage in one year I have nothing to complain, this is my light to go when I need to ceiling bounce to light up a roon or need to work when high output is required (the welding helmet is very dark in some cases). This light even on turbo do not overheats bu the only bad thing is the timed step down, if it have thermal syep down, i think it can standall time in turbo.

Lots of good suggestions above. I’d like to add that Skilhunt makes some great headlights too, particularly the latest H03 is a big win in my book.

Thanks for your info, Franz. This is my first time heard Thorfire, and now you let me know it. :wink:

I am also new to the flashlight addiction world and i was in the same situation as you a few months ago. I read and read countless posts here and then bought 10 lights that were well reviewed, so i can make my own opinion. All are budget friendly. Of the lights mentionned above, i own the Convoy S2+, C8, BLF A6 and Thorfire S70S. They are all stock (for now). Of the first 3, i easily prefer the BLF A6 over the 2 (stock) Convoy. Better output and nice UI. But if you can afford a bigger light, the S70S is great. I don't really care about the turbo stepdown because high is enough most of the times.

It all depends on how you intend to use it and the budget you have. If i had only $20 to spend, i'd go with the BLF A6. If i had $40-ish, i'd go with the S70S.

That's my humble rookie opinion.

Are any of your Convoys running Biscotti, or are they on the old 3/5 firmware that has 2 mode groups (one with blinkies, one without) that blinks once on the lowest mode? Because believe me, once you try Biscotti, you are not going back :sunglasses:

Yes they both have the dull 3/5 firmware… for now.

I'm impressed with the overall quality of the ThorFire TA13 and its incredibly low price if you know where to get it. Really nice price/quality brand it seems. :THUMBS-UP:

Jetbeam E10R, nearly a steal when on sale. ;-)

Cheers ^:)

My first ever flashlight was a Maglite and, after more than 20 years, it is still up and running! Wish I could have an easy LED conversion in that one but otherwise it is very good.

found this forum on google and now looking for the next generation.

Welcome to BudgetLightForum.com :smiley:

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