Maybe they are being honest?
I’ve dived with the UK SL3 eLED a long time.
This is their own specs: Battery Description: 3C Alkaline / LR14 / AM2 Cells Light Output (Alkaline): 125 lm
It’s a decent primary in the tropics and an effective backup light in murky old Puget Sound. It has a very tight beam and a long run time. It’s made by a major dive manufacturer, backed up by them, and is well respected; ~ $70
An HONEST 125 lm is just fine.
I also have a couple of these:
Ultrafire CREE XML T6 1800Lm 8 Mode LED Diving Flashlight(1x26650)
This light claims to anything from 1000-1800lm is complete BS as you all know. On a real dive by ‘eye’ it’s a tad brighter than the SL3. It also has a tight beam, though not quite as tight. The run time is way less but it is smaller. The switch absolutely will rust out (tiny ball bearing and spring) in saltwater and you probably will need to do some things to bring it up to ‘real’ diving capability. Quality is simply not at the level of a real dive light.
This one has a [oiling hole] for the switch. This gives me some concern. Does that mean they recognize it will need lube, which would be good, or that it is subject to rusting and this is a stop-gap to try to minimize an inherent problem?
Is the 225lm with the 18650 or only the CR123A, which would give it a shorter run time?
It would not seem to have anything but on/off, which is better than 8 modes, but a hi/lo could be useful. Not a deal breaker.
They do have a bunch of other purpose made dive lights so maybe they know what they are doing. This would be different than the ‘sorta’ dive lights that pop up on these sites.
USA made Cree?
I agree, the included battery and charger are junk. I have one of those batteries. Claims to be 3800mA, is actually 1000mA and is dying fast with limited use.
That may fool some people but won’t further their cause here.