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Hello! Please help me decide which one of these I should get. This is my first thrower. The Thrunite will cost me 250$ (Amazon with international shipping) and the Astrolux 220$ (Banggood with asflashlights promo). Deos the cheaper price and longer throw make the Astrolux a no-brainer? Any insights will help. Thank you!
Also, I already have 4 Orbtronic Protected 18650 button top batteries. Will these batteries work with both these lights?
At HKE you have TN40s for 139.95 $ and also international shipping. I have TN40s and I like it so obviously my choice goes to Thrunite. You can still consider purchasing the TN42.
This is how the measurement of my TN40S and TN42 looks like:
Thrunite’s quality is day and night vs astrolux. Another thing to consider is XHP emitters will age fast while XPL-HI will stay relevant longer, in case you want to keep using your flashlight for years to come.
At $139 I wouldn’t hesitate, it’s $100 less than what you originally planned to spend.
Wow, thanks for that, I didn’t know about HKE! 
I’m leaning away from the TN42 because I prefer the better flood on the TN40S, I’m assuming it’ll be more useful in general situations like hiking.
It’s definitely buy TN40s
I vote for TN40S in neutral white, as I have it and can confirm that it is a great light with very nice tint. Get it from HKE, it is on sale there right now. I highly recommend to choose the neutral white version and apply a HKE discount for extra 8% off.
Thank you very much, glad there’s no ambiguity in this decision now. How do I apply the HKE discount?
Discount has to applied at checkout, there is some field for promo codes. I have used code HKEOFFER or HKOFFER, not sure which one is correct. Also dont know if the code works with other discounts etc. Anyway, for 139 USD it is a great price.
You were talking about a no-brainer. Yes it is, but the other way around. Talking about quality:
my 6yr old TN32 has never let me down even once. And yet it has a serious “overdriven” led.
On the other hand: I have a few Astrolux-es that needed some extensive first-aid, right out of the box.
Buying from HKE ensures you a trustworthy seller. And for these amounts of money: use PayPal.
That was too good of a deal for the TN40S so I ordered one on sale and with the discount code.
Not trying to be rude, but what do you mean by this?
XHP emitters are evolving pretty fast and by the time a 50.3 or 70.3 comes out the 2nd gen will become irrelevant quickly. Just like how the 1st gen did. The reasons are these emitters have ugly tint shift and doesn’t produce the nicest beam on a smooth reflector. They have insane output on a compact footprint but that’s it.
The XP-L HI is very good all around: good efficiency, consistent tint, can be driven hard, high intensity, works great with all kinds of reflectors, all it’s missing is high CRI options. I’m not saying a XP-L2 HI won’t come out later, but even if they do the improvements are only gradual. 4 years after its release we still use it to mod flashlights and for some modders they prefer it over the XHP35 HI.