Hello BLF, I just joined and am hoping to get some suggestions. I know a lot about LEDs but not much about flashlights….yet. So, if I want to get started just tinkering with a few different flashlight types, what LEDs should I look for? What is the best LED on the market right now for middle to high-end flashlights?
As new LEDs come out and I want to choose between them, what properties would make your perfect LED if you could have your cake and eat it too?
Viewing angle (thrower/flood?):
Color bin:
Drive voltage:
Package size:
Dome shape: (flat, hemisphere, tall round)
Number of die:
Anything else that’s really important that I’m missing? Don’t say “1 million lumens”!
There is no best LED. It all depends on what host do you want to use and what beam to achieve. And what driver to use.
Quickly counting I get 16 LED models that I know to be the best in the mid-high end range, depending on detailed needs.
Some want it floodier, some throwier. Some are tint-centric. Some love certain die shapes in lens-based lights. Voltage affects driver choice.
Your question is just too broad.
The best LED on the market right now/the ideal LED is the one that does what you want it to do.
We all know which emitters are great for throw and which are great for flood. The next thing to look at is reflector configuration: Single or multiple emitters?
Small, medium or large diameter reflector?
Multiple small die emitters in a small size flashlight? Or in a large flashlight? Or medium?
Multiple large die emitters in a small, or large, or medium size flashlight?
Single small emitter in a small or.....? Single large emitter in a large or.......?
Or all twelve of these flashlights?
For me, there is no one ideal/best. That is why I have no one favorite Led Zeppelin song, and that is why I have more than a few flashlights.
The X65 has the beam performance that I like best, but I do not use this light often, because of its size.
The light that I use most often is the S2 Baton, but it is by far not my best beam performance light; both due to its size.