Are there any modern led flashlights that can be charged without removing batteries?

Yes.

Would I use one? No. I only trust a quality charger for my high drain cells.

I once thought I wanted a light with built in charger. But then I remember anytime I had something with rubber flaps on charge/data/memory card port they always go missing.

Sure enough, My first real light that I wanted to have self charging the rubber flap has gone missing.

Next light with self charging would be via magnetic chargeing port. Something like the new Skilhunt H03 RC lights.

Shhhhh!

I’m surrounded…

Getting hard to find them without the charging port (sort of)

Zanflare F1. Best damned usb-port-sealing I’ve seen.

Nice bright tubelight, tail-clicky for positive disconnect (ie, no parasitic drain), side-clicky for mode-changes, blinkies are wonderfully hidden away and don’t plain piss me off. :smiley:

Some people must be harder on their equipment than me. I have a 3-1/2 year old Samsung Galaxy S5 with the original port cover. Plus a 4 year old Samsung Convoy4 with the original port cover as well as a 15 year old Garmin GPS with original rubbers.

I have 2 headlamps which i use a lot, and i don’t have to take out the batteries to charge them.
They charge (when needed) when i sleep.
They have micro USB ports.

These lights have the modern dedicated charging chip they all use nowadays.
I doubt dedicated slot chargers are better or safer.
Maybe these internal chargers can be considered safer because they often cut off a little sooner.

That reminds me I have a rechargable (eneloops) powered headlamp too. Also reliable.

Wow, I’m a member of a lot of forums; you guys are most responsive. Thanks.

I like the Ea4 and at the time, I thought the AA ’s would be a nice, convenient feature but

I assumed I could put Eneloops in and keep them recharged with a wall wart or USB if necessary, but I was disappointed the first time I went to use it and was dead in a couple of weeks. I just didn’t anticipate the parasitic draw. I’m left to unscrewing the top just to disengage the battery.

I guess I just want something that is as reliable as a vintage flashlight, but much brighter. A wide zoom would be quite a nice feature for me.

I’m not fussy about the battery type and I know the technology changes constantly and it’s hard to keep up.

What I want is something that I can put in my pocket, around 1000 lumens (more is better as usual), a nice, wide zoomable field, but also have a bright spot as well. My step daughter just got a zoom from Costco and I loved the wide field, but the spot was not very bright for some reason. Price was good, but if I can find it all for around $100 would be ideal. Willing to spend more, though.

Frankly, the rechargeable feature would be less important if I could get one that didn’t have the parasitic losses. That really bummed me out with the EA4. I guess I could just keep unscrewing the cap, but that seems like a step backward in progress.

BTW, my stepdaughter’s light is pretty good, but requires three C’s and must be alkaline, I suppose because there is no other current limiting built in. Seems like a cheap and dirty design, but price was right for her.

Finally, I’m also looking for an upscale have-it-all unit as a nice gift for my outdoorsy SIL. Up to 2-300 USD if it’s worth it. Extravagant, but he’s worth a nice gift.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks a bunch.

Yeah the Zanflare F1 is an excellent light my only complaint is the slightly green tint it has. besides that it’s awesome!

If you keep an eye on some of the coupon threads here youll easily be able to find a good light for under $100. the Zanflare has been going for around $20 lately, add a battery to that and you could get out of it for less that $30.

only downside is the zanflare is not zoomable. I havent seen a rechargeable zoomie yet, but i could be wrong.

Edit : heres a link to the Zanflare F1 on gearbest
https://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_466743.html

I had to laugh at that one. Same thing happened to my older cell phone once. Good point, especially if it has to be water resistant.

then you have magnetic charge, like the one in olight, but then i remember i hate “special” cable too

Thanks so much for the interest. I’m going to look into all of your suggestions. The field is getting kind of bewildering. I’m almost starting to miss my simple Ray-O-Vac Sportsman. Almost. Indestructible. I also liked the original 3 cell maglights that my wife now carries as a self-defense club LOL. They’re darn pretty, though. .

I assume it’s 3x NiMH in series?
USB charged?

Yes. A Black Diamond light.

I just compared my e4a with my daughter’s new Costco zoomie ($13 she said). Hell, she didn’t even know what she had and was thrilled. I absolutely want a zoomie, just maybe a little more quality. Hers claims 1000 lumens, but zoomed in close it doesnt seem as bright as my e4a. I think it would be hard to compare if both were zoom.

I’m willing to spend what something is worth in quality, but I really like that zoom feature for some things around our 5 acre place. Once, I put a 500 watt flood light out toward the pasture area and these things put it to shame. I don’t know where this led technology is going to go if they can tame the heat problem on the brighter ones.

As for my gift idea, what’s the best, brightest most reliable zoomie out there if thats not too hard a question. I really think he’d love one. Cost is well, a consideration, but…I’d like a really nice one for him.

Rechargeable zoomies that I know of:

1) Wuben LT35 = uses XP-L2 (1200 lumens manufacturer rating), seems to be cool white tint (~6000K?)

2) Convoy BD04 = uses XM-L2 by default, the focus/zoom is a bit small, and the stock version uses 7135x4, thus maxes at around 500+ lumens only (manufacturer rating), I suppose you could ask Simon from the Convoy AliExpress store to equip with 7135x6 or even 7135x8 if need a bit more lumens. Tint is configurable from the Convoy AliExpress store.

One of my co-workers bought this
Anker Flashlight
from Amazon I was impressed,
I wasn’t aware Anker marketed flashlights he did get it for a better price $20 I believe.