I think to answer the OPs question: ‘anything beat the Lenser p7.2?’ Yes most stuff does and for a lot less than £30.
Eagle eye F30 is another favourite of mine and you should get a couple of good cells and a charger for the money.
Olight S15R - $23 (£15/16).
The list could go on for ever.
Marc
You see I don’t really agree with this. The Lenser is far too specialist to be replaced with something generic.
I’m sure for some/many people they will find a normal tube light fine for their purpose and might even see it as superior. But that’s not quite the same thing.
I know of no lights on the market that can do what the Lensers do really and certainly none that do them better.
I have lots of other zoomy lights, some way more powerful than the Lensers and running Li-ion. So in terms of lumen output, regulation and runtime they are superior. But in terms of tactile build quality, design and actual use they just aren’t as nice or versatile.
Lenser I think are love or hate for many. But they do offer a polarity of abilities in a single package, that a conventional reflector light can never achieve.
Lensers might be specialist for you, but for many they are bought because they are generic. If a non zoomie offers similar flood and similar throw to a Lenser then chances are it is comparable.
But it should boil down to intended use at the end of the day. If a non zoomie will meet and/or exceed the needs of the user then it should be chucked into the mix. And the OP’s needs are far from specialist.
I don’t hate Lensers, I like them but you can’t argue with the facts that most lights available to us are better. And for the OP he actually doesn’t need a zoomer, for walking home from the pub a tube light is perfect, small, bright and quite floody for walking home.
The problem is, when I got my P7 I was worried about replacing it with a normal light as they weren’t the same. But the fact was they were much better for 95% of my needs. And of course much brighter if I wanted.
As for build quality my switch on my p3 has just broke for the 2nd time. And the anno on Lensers is poor.