Highest Sustained Lumens Per $?

recently I’ve been looking at the new ‘Sofirn Q8 Pro’ packing 4x xhp50.2 putting out a combined 11,000 Lumen beam! seems like the highest lumen per $ that I can think of. was wondering what else matches or beats it in lumen output in the below $150 price range? something in a usable package (not single cell)

My Haikelite HK04 XHP50.2 has a claimed 13000 lumen output and I think that’s pretty accurate. Very nice quality and has Andural UI and USB C charging. Uses 3 18650. Beam has a good throw/flood balance. One of my favorite lights. I’ve never seen it available in warm tints though. About $64.

This sounds interesting. Where did you find that price? I did a search and on AliExpress prices were $70+. Also, do you know what version of Anduril is used? I have a bunch of SC31 Pros and would like to have this as perhaps a car torch, but only if it matches the Sofirn lights programming.

buying a light based on its lumens specs is very misleading due to runtime having initial stepdowns and subsequent declining output.

on the Q8, the 5000 lumens spec is not sustainable for more than a couple minutes.

I recommend looking for runtime graphs to get a better understanding of the actual output curve, which in this case shows that the light can provide about 1500 lumens declining to 1000 lumens after 2 hours:

pic is a link to an excellent reviewer

I agree, after buying 200+ lights I come to realize that lumens is only a minor criteria as part of the light purchase. Actually, quite frankly, the high lumens is a heat creator and battery killer. Much better off with lower lumens and having other important characteristics like CRI, throw, ergonomics.

What lumens is to flashlights, megapixels is to cameras. Its a number whose only purpose is to sell more lights and cameras respectively.

I completely agree, many lights advertise ridiculously high lumen output, but fail to note that that output is available for less than 30 seconds. From a practical standpoint the nextool 50.2 is a great flashlight for very little money. It has only 2000 lumens but it sustains that output for nearly 10 minutes, and is still not unbearably hot. It is not a fancy light, and is somewhat similar in both size and form to conventional flashlights. Will it impress people like my Thrunite TN42V2? No, but it is much more practical, and has a great combination beam that it can sustain for a reasonable amount of time.

Very wise words zoulas, very wise. Wish more people realized this but we have the marketing types always trying to sell more of each.

Not sure it still holds but i remember being impressed by the Convoy M3 output per $ (now available with USB C as M3-C).
Not that great UI though…

I bought it at fasttech a year and a half ago so it’s its an older version of Andural but I’m not sure what you mean about matching the Sofirns programming.

I just checked the price and sorry, it’s up to $69.63 but you can look for discount coupons.

Also, the turbo/lumens issue was covered in another thread. If the the high output is there it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to use it all the time but it’s there if you want or need it.

It’s a little bit pricier but the Emisar D18 is also a very nice light. Also takes 3 18650 batteries.

I’m liking the Astrolux FT02S. It really does do 12,000+ lumens (I tested it) and has good sustainability on lower modes. For around $50 US on the discouts it’s a fantastic value.

i am very well aware of this, thats why i said “usable package” meaning runtime in high setting, without crazy overheating

understood, but even so, lets play the technical game, highest lumen light under 150 dollars. name yours

first light i bought, its on the way

very nice light let down by a single cell configuration.

so far this is the only comment that names a light that fits in the category of under 150 dollars highest lumen output lol

Emisar D18

Nichtwatch NSX3 with 3xXHP50.2 making 9900 Lumens for $55

Maybe in stock again someday

Or the NSX4E with 13K Lumens for 55$

There’s a coupon for the NSX4E, works on the w/ battery choice too. I ordered yesterday, $65. Not sure I’ll like 6500k, but it will make a very nice gift if not. I agree with D18, FT02S and HK4S mentioned above, as I’ve been looking for most lumens per dollar lately, too. I bought wurkkos DL70 and that’s incredible, but is intended for use in water so doesn’t sustain very well on highest mode (but came with 2 batteries for ~$65).

this site lets you select price, lumens, and number of batteries

does that help narrow your search?

can you define “useable”?
is it for hunting crocodiles, spotting koalas, lighting up a parking lot… or some other applications?:wink:

does it need to be floody? (multi LED, high Lumens, wide beam, high battery consumption),

or throwy? (single LED, high LUX, focused hotspot, more battery efficient)

can you narrow your question down to 2 or 3 lights that you think are contenders for your use case scenario?

mostly for spotting kangaroos and fighting off vampires

floody yess, (multi LED yes, high lumens yes thats the title, wide beam yes, high battery count yes)

not so worried about throw.

i was looking at a post the other day titled best thrower per $ it was like a nice excel sheet, so i thought what is the best flooder per $.