Why are brand name flashlights so expensive?

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

Quick question is you want to skip the “long version” below: Why does brand name flashlights cost much more compared to generic ones?

I began to be aware of powerful flashlights in Dec 2019 with 2 cheap models I ordered from eBay. Currently those are all I have. Then I realize the complication of 18650 cells. Got annoyed by the blinking modes. Searching around to fix those problems led me to this forum.

I have learnt since all the basic concepts, thank you all. I understand now the quality of a brand name flashlight and I get it that this comes with a price. A jump from a cheap $8 light to a $20 - $30 seems reasonable. I am willing to pay the extras to get the quality such as high CRI and remember last used mode.

However, what is puzzling to me, is some brand name flashlights cost a lot more. $50 USD, $90 USD and maybe more. What do they have to justify such a high price tag? The concept of “cheap vs more expensive with better quality” exists in all domains. Laptop and smartphone is an example. But there is no “irrational” ratio x10+ like in the world of flashlight.

Ultimately, and let’s consider only the flashlight itself without the Li-ion cell. Are those generic lights that bad?
Looking at the rating on AliExpress, it seems like a lots of customer are happy with their purchase. Judging from my own experience. These eBay lights actually fulfill their job. Granted, there are annoyances, such as cold light tint or lack of memory mode. But essentially, they give me light to get through the 2 hours hike in the evening. Honestly, I don’t think I will walk better if I was using a $100 light. “Hike” here is just a long walk in winter evening, nothing dangerous.

So the longer question is: There is obviously a market for expensive flashlights. What had convinced you to purchase?

2

name only
good pr

3

build quality on a led lenser is bad! ame is good

build quality on a convoy (almost no one knows about these outside flash light dudes) is pretty good for the price

hanko flashlights
1grand and up(if you can find them)

build quality, hand made from sexual materials . second to know, all hand made
but same electronics as a 50 euro light

4

No. If you want a flashlight purely for utility and wanted the cheapest option available then that is why those generics exist.

People may be more forgiving of shortcomings in very cheap items. Also many of those happy customers may know nothing about tint, color temperature, UI, etc. They just want a flashlight for the basic purpose of making light and the generic lights accomplish that.

I knew a flashlight is something I would use at least somewhat often for my job and I wanted something better than the flashlights I would be replacing. I absolutely don’t mind spending more for quality and I’m not trying to be as frugal as possible either.

As I learned about things like CRI and tint, I found those things appealed to me. Also as I bought more and more flashlights, I began to learn what I liked or didn’t like about various UIs. If you are buying a flashlight that is simply on or off, then UI doesn’t matter a whole lot. However once you get into lights with multiple mode then it does affect the experience.

5

The expensive lights are probably made on the same Chinese production lines as the cheap ones, by the same workers.
Put a value on the chabuduo attention given the work.

Difference? The price of paying some attention to quality assurance/quality control at the China end, and for what gets by inspection and shipped, the cost of providing warranty replacement/repair at the customer end.

It’s worth reading up on how quality assurance and quality control are properly done. It’s not just eyeballing the work as it rolls by on the production line.

6

Some people like alternative materials, such as Cu, Ti, SS.

Other like jewelry lights.

Other people like USA custom made.

I have not yet gotten into any of those, but I like lights with 11,000 lumens and 1,600 meters throw. And lights with 5,000 lumens and 2,500 meters throw.

And lights that are small-medium size with 9,000 lumens and 375 meters throw. And lights with 35,000 lumens and 1,750 meters throw.

Quality occurs over a wide spectrum. People pay what they want to pay. Peoples' ability to pay for what they like occurs over a very wide spectrum.

I bought a screaming budget light that is shown on Neils' website. I like it so much, that I ordered three more to make gifts of.

I am thinking about buying a single emitter SBT 90.2, 3 x 18650 light with two inch head diameter that has 4,850 lumens and 1,128 meters throw, that costs as much money that I spend on plain oatmeal and plain beans in two months, and almost all of my protein intake comes from plain oatmeal and beans, because I am real vegan, and I eat a very large amount of plain beans and plain oatmeal every day.

Why would I spend two months of plain real vegan grocery money on my 31st real performance light? Because I want to see what the beam profile and beam performance looks like. If it does not excite me, I will give it to a friend.

7

Today’s your lucky day. Welcome to blf

8

No idea what you mean by “brand name”.

To the muggle, Maglite, Eveready, Dorcy, Coast, etc., are brand-names. To us here, Convoy, Sofirn, Haikelite, Nitecore, etc., are brand names.

Similarly, to the muggle, Convoy, etc., would be “no name” brands. To us, GooYam or any of those random-syllable names would be no-name brands.

So… pay 1.58 for a real no-name zoomie that’s worth every penny (har!), or get a genuine Sipik if that’s your fancy.

Anyway, name-recognition is what some brands (to the muggle) bank on to be able to charge whatever prices the market will bear.

9

I’ve got a (several) $2.70 Delivered, torches Incl Battery built in.
Hanging on cupboard handle beside my side of bed.
Used nightly. (Several times at my age)

Have several more. Around 35ish,
Hanging round different areas of home, in coupla cars.
the rest in cupboard, Some still in boxes.

With 1 costing over $140 retail. sitting in cupboard. NEVER used
after the novelty of having it wore off.

My Mostly used. Daily for multiple yrs and more now.
Cost me between $8.50 and $30. Del, each.
ALL Well made, nicely finished. RELIABLE.

My opinions.
Exxy nice. IF you like having a Name. and “maybe”, a better finish.
With the spare cash in wallet.

I allow myself $500+ a yr ($20 per week) on my toys. So could buy mid range Named
IF I wanted too
but the modern. Named Chinese brands and models. DO, give
95% of the quality and materials/finish of the more exxy models.
So. Practically, why bother.

Mine cover from a foot in front of toes Radii, when walking.
Out to the Convoy L6/L2.
Which give waaay more range than my old eyes can see.
With most ranges and colours inbetween.

ALL costing AUD. Under $100 Del. 96% of them under $30.
Apart from that one.

Buy cheap. Buy Exxy. Totally up to you.
Both work. Both can give problems.

Just enjoy. Whichever you buy.
and be thankful people spend the time to design and build.

10

I started with the cheaper lights that work okay until I realized that I needed to rely on them for work. The cheaper lights work great for short time, then quit working when you really need them at a certain time. Over the years I have found the more expensive lights are more reliable, and with certain features they are very useful as an EDC.

11

Of course it would be nice if an “A”-brand flashlight was actually better than the rest. Sadly that’s not always what happens. I would say that an “A”-brand is also sold over the counter of brick and mortar shops. That they have a national importer and some form of repair center.
It is simple to undercut “A”-brand prices if a certain brand does NOT have all those extra’s. As a rule most “A”-brand lights are glued, so not so easy to repair by an enthousiast user. “A”-brand lights purchased via big Chinese sellers are often refused from local repair by the official importer, after they verify you serial number. Stating that every importer only receives x% spare parts per light sold through their network.

Yes, brands like Olight and Fenix have more internal costs to cover with their prices.
So don’t hesitate to call them for help. Because they are already payed for. In full.
And lights that can’t be repaired by you? Weigh the shipping fee for the repair against a total loss.

Lately there are rumours that a brand I conside(ed) to be “A”. has a funny way of giving CS.
If a light is DOA, you can send it back. But what if there is a glitch in a sub-sub menu of the UI?
They ask you to send it (for free) to an address, that may turn out to be of an other customer.
If he/she ignores the glitch that troubled you, he/she is the proud owner of a brandnew (?!) “A”.

12

Eh? Say what?

13

Oh is this the “T” brand?

14

> rumors

Hey, citation needed

15

Sorry, my bad. I meant rumors.

16

Could you please be a bit more specific about what you heard, and where you heard it or read it, and from whom?

“People are saying” just isn’t a reliable source.

17

I got into this hobby one thing that appealed to me was the inexpensive lights like Convoy. I got a couple for gifts and built them up and the amount of quality, fit and finish for a host you get for the price is unbelieveable. I can build a 2000lm light for under $30 (minus high drain battery). Olight, Streamlight, SureFire, Imalent, Fenix, Maglite, would all charge double, triple or quadruple. When I decided to start modding I found you can built one for lots cheaper with similar performance.

As far as getting what you pay for…well. Keep in mind that the same production line in China making brand A for $150, also makes brand B, C, and E for $30, $10, and $4.50 respectively. The difference is in the name and components or materials. Electronic components like mosfets or capacitors or inductors can vary quite a bit in quality and price, and a 5 cent difference or 10 cent difference over 100,000 components adds up. The internal components might be the exact same, but different designs and materials (copper, stainless steel,titanium, etc). For average consumers they’ll gladly pay more for brand A because of the names reputation, supply chain (Stateside vs. China), sales, customer or tech support, etc where brands C or E or maybe even B can’t make the same claims. Personally, I’ll compromise on those since if it breaks, I can probably fix it. If I cant, well, I’m fine with eating $5 or $10. Also, I know buying from overseas is risky, so just something to conaider.

18

6 years ago I got my first LED light from Amazon. I knew nothing about LEDs then.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FIKUCTG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It was really a well made light but as I learned later it's not 2000 lumen at all. I would say about 400-500 at best. It was serviceable at least and zoomable. I gave it to my brother.

Then I joined the Candlepower forum to learn more about the system of LEDs. I asked for suggestions for a light and decided on the Nitecore P36. It is also a 2000 lumen light and wow, it is a 2000 lumen job. I love that light and still have it and still have the Simon 18650 batteries in it (bought separately).

There are a lot of off brand LED lights that boast high lumens like 10,000, 16,000 lumens and such on Amazon and Ebay etc that are not even close to it. They are also cheap as dirt so beware. I bought a 10,000 lumen job (with 12 LEDs) for $60 and my P36 walked all over it. I returned it.

About two weeks ago I bought an Acebeam K65 for $120 and later learned it was used. They sell for $200 so I thought I got a good deal. It's a 6200 lumen light and all there. Seemed to have a bad switch or circuit board as it didn't work right so I got a refund and they don't want the light back. It also smelled burnt so I didn't want to use it anymore.

I still needed a light so I got suggestions here and learned of the BLF Q8 light that the pros of this forum designed. I found it at Amazon as Sofirn Q8 for $65. Worth every penny of it. 5,000 lumen and very white light that everything shows up in its path. It uses 4x18650 (I have Acebean 18650 protected) bats and highly recommended if you're looking for an LED light.

Right out of the box you're gonna love the UI on it and it's programmable to boot. Now I have two lights I'm proud of, my trusty Nitecore P36 and the Sofirn Q8.

19

Was the used light purchased directly from Acebeam as new?

20

No, it was from Nitetorch.com that claim to be the authorized dealer of Acebeam products.