I performed a number of measurements on my flashlights out of curiosity. Since the data was compiled already, I thought that I might as well write short reviews on my lights. All lights were tested with Lishen LR2170LA or Samsung 30Qs.
I live in China so some of the flashlights brands that I purchased are not as popular internationally. However, I did add some more well-known brands to my collection as well such as Emisar, Lumintop, and Mateminco which should serve as good benchmarks.
The way that I rate the flashlights is through a combination of quality and value. Keep in mind that value can be high even if the quality is low and I want to keep these two dimensions distinct. My measure of value can also be considered something like the inverse of the markup by the flashlight manufacturer.
My ratings are pretty high overall because I did quite a bit of research before each purchase. The prices that I bought the lights are good deals even in China.
The first four lights are all zoomies bought years ago before I fully jumped into this hobby. They have high value numbers simply because they are so cheap. The Shuosen lights each came with two (somewhat bad quality) 26650 batteries and a charger. The lumen outputs are quite disappointing but I thought they were super bright at the time of purchase. The low outputs could also mean that they aren’t using genuine Cree LEDs. The Raybow eventually had mode switching problems so I threw it away and it doesn’t have any measurements.
Moving on to the 18650 lights…
The laser is unbranded but it’s a relatively powerful green laser. The candela measurement is likely to be off but I just wanted to see what the lux meter would spit out.
Starfish is possibly the cheapest Chinese light manufacturer with decent quality. Their prices are about 25% lower than Convoy for what I suspect to be the same quality although I don’t own any Convoys. The Starfish S5 is essentially the Convoy S2+ and I like mine quite a bit. The XHP 50.2 is super floody and surprisingly sustainable in this form factor. The emitter is underdriven and efficient which explains the high sustainable output.
The Jin Heng JKK80 is a soda can type light that originally had XHP 50.2’s. I accidentally dedomed them when screwing on the head and ripped the phosphor off as well. The price includes the 98 CNY that I spent to replace the emitters with SFT40s. The mixture of flood and throw on this light is incredible and it’s the light I’d bring to a zombie apocalypse.
I don’t have too much to say about the Lumintop FW3A that hasn’t been discussed already on here. Mine does have the newer, inferior driver but I still like it.
The Emisar D4v2 is also a well-known flashlight and the build quality is exceptional. The value isn’t great comparatively - although I can get a bit cheaper in China.
The Matorch purchase was a bit random and it’s an awesome deal. I was browsing flashlight modding parts from them (glow in the dark buttons) and realized that they had the cheapest UV flashlight around with a ZWB2 filter. The 5W Seoul Viosys emitter is powerful enough for most tasks you’d need for a UV light.
The Mateminco MT35 Mini-S is my newest purchase on Double 11 and it comes with the Chinese-made SFS80 or “P50HI” emitter. I was considering returning it because it didn’t come with Anduril but couldn’t part with it. The beam is perfectly focused and has a rosy tint. It also outputs more lumens than expected. Who knows though - I could have landed a golden sample.
The Jin Heng JKK70R is one of the lights which receives my highest overall score of 9.5. The value at 90CNY is great. Jin Heng is owned by a guy people call Old Jiang (his surname is Jiang). The JKK70R is C8 in size but is original in design. It has a side electronic switch and has a lighted power button. I especially like the fact that the power button can turn 3 colors (Green, Yellow, and Red). It offers even more information than a standard battery check on Anduril. The color will change based on the voltage. It turns yellow when voltage dips below 3.8V and red at 3.3V. The really nice thing is that it performs this check continuously so it’ll change colors at turbo first, followed by high, and so on. So you could have red on turbo, yellow on high, and green on low. This also allows you to know if your battery is has high enough discharge rate. For example, if you use a low discharge battery, it will drop to yellow or red on turbo due to voltage sag even if it is fully charged. The only bad thing about the light is that it’s hold for off. However, the ramping mode is click on, click off.
The Alonefire is a cheap dual 365nm and 395nm UV light without a ZWB2 filter. There is not much to say other than it might be worth to purchase if you just want to get your toes wet with UV. The Matorch is substantially better.
The Pioneman uses a Convoy boost driver. It’s similar to my Starfish S5 in that it’s very sustainable, has high lumens, and has a small form factor. It was the smallest XHP70.2 light that I could find on Taobao. It’s the size of a Convoy S21 and outputs a nice floody beam.
I’ll discuss the three Starfish lights that feature Osram W1 Blue, W2 White, and W1 Green next (the 4th, 6th, and 8th lights on the list). They are in C8 hosts that use 21700 batteries. I like all of them and they are pretty much the cheapest way I could buy 3 lightsabers.
The JKK70R with the XHP70.2 is not as good of a deal as the SST40 version but it does feature a more efficient and expensive boost driver.
Finally, the JKK21700 is probably the worst value Jin Heng that I own. The driver is older so the power button doesn’t change colors due to voltage. I asked Old Jiang to make me one with a SFT40 and the driver is a bit under powered for it (only 5.2A). Also, the glass is not AR coated.
Lastly, we can move to the 26650 lights…
The JKK70 as a nice feeling metal electronic side button. Otherwise, it’s quite similar to the JKK70R. It feels really nice in the hands.
The JKK90 with the Luminus SBT 90.2 is a beauty. I think Rusty Joe considers this to be his favorite light. It’s the cheapest SBT90.2 light other than the Starfish S8/S9 and Wurkkos TS30S on sale. The JKK90 does have the advanced electronic side button with colored voltage indicators which I have already raved about.
The Mateminco MT04s also have my highest approval. The lumen levels out of these lights are amazing and they are relatively sustainable. I took off a point off of quality on the blue XHP50.2 version because the tailcap hue didn’t match with the body. However, I got a killer Double 11 deal on it.
The final light is my first mod where I took one of the accidentally dedomed XHP50.2s and combined it with a Manta Ray C8.2 host and 22mm 8A driver. It outputs a unique and ridiculously powerful purple-blue beam - 100,000 candela with a XHP50.2!
Some bonus pictures of my lights and testing setup:
Here is a bonus review of a budget knife. This Benchmade Bugout Clone with carbon fiber scales uses D2 steel and I’d give it 10 for quality and value. It was only 154 CNY.
