I’m looking for recommendations for a small 18650 or smaller flashlight- think compact like an Olight S1R II. Something with a nice ui, quality light, with decent output modes at minimum (moon, low, medium, high, turbo) something at ~1000-1500 lumens for short busts on turbo, has a decent clip, doesn’t melt itself into a puddle of liquid metal and plastic, and can take a bit of a beating.
Lastly something that is budget minded and offers nice quality to price ratio.
Also might consider a copper variant if makes sense since I do love a good patina. But copper is not at all a requirement
Shortcuts to moonlight and turbo (great UI, in fact), built-in charging, deep-carry clip, about as compact as you’re gonna get in an 18650, and doesn’t turn into a curling iron if you leave it on highest for more than 10sec.
If you are intending on throwing it in a tool box, vehicle storage pocket or something that could easily press against the tail then I wouldn’t recommend the fw3a unless you get one of tristech’s tail caps.
The S2+ is a good alternative. I don’t know much about the MH20 but lightbringer recommends it.
Olight S1R II/S2R II if you don’t mind* horrible CRI and tint (has tail magnet). Emisar D4V2 with raised switch ring or Lumintop EDC18 (has tail magnet or option for it).
FW3A if you don’t mind using electronic lockout the WHOLE time because you WILL get accidental pocket switch activation and melt yourself (no tail magnet).
I’d recommend the smaller 18650 zebralights, like SC64-series. The UI is different, but very convenient once you’re used to it. Also very compact for an 18650 light.
YLP Unicorn 1.0 is a good choice for a much lower price point, and not quite as compact.
I can’t recommend the FW3A or FW1A due to issues I experience with pocket activation. The FW1A is also a bit long and the FW3A doesn’t satisfy “doesn’t melt itself into a puddle of liquid metal and plastic, and can take a bit of a beating.”
To go smaller we have to change battery types. 18350, 14500, 16340. If you can stand to carry a compact 18650 light then it’s likely not worth the tradeoff, because all of those battery sizes have worse energy density.