They are the same price outside of China as well. Expensive, but high quality (most of the time)
I like Fenix and Acebeam.
Convoy S2+ and M21B are my favourite hosts for now.
Kindred spirit! Fenix is about to launch the LR60R recently, and I am saving money to buy it first, and I am also planning to buy Acebeam’s P18
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When you say DIY Brand- does that mean they are not popular?
For users on Budget light forum, DIY is generally preferred - no glue means you can change the LED and driver to suit your preference.
Most of my current favorites are from Intl-Outdoor, a.k.a. Emisar, Noctigon, or Nanjg / Nanjing YaoQi Photoelectric technology Co. There are also some really good ones from Wurkkos and Sofirn.
In particular, I like these:
- Emisar D4K with Nichia 519A 5700K dedomed, boost driver, and clip (general purpose / “EDC” light)
- Emisar D1 with W1 LED + RGB button + 18350 tube (pocket thrower)
- Emisar D2 with Nichia 519A 5700K dedomed + W1 LED (headlamp)
- Wurkkos TS10 with RGB aux and ZL H52 clip (smaller EDC light)
- Sofirn LT1 / LT1S Pro (lanterns)
The biggest reasons why I like these are: They were all made in collaboration with the community, and they all allow the user to flash custom firmware. That’s something which doesn’t happen with more traditional companies like Fenix, Nitecore, and Olight.
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Which LEDs do you like to use in your flashlights? Is there a preference in china for certain LEDs or from certain manufacturers? Like from Cree? Or Epistar? Or: Nichia, Bridgelux, Osram, Sanan? Or someone else? Is there a preference?
Also what brand of batteries do you prefer to use? Who makes the best batteries?
In our place, the DIY brand means more cost-effective, with good materials, quality, and eye-catching creativity, but there will be many flaws and unstable after-sales service. Generally speaking, people in the industry are more tolerant of DIY brands because they are made in small family workshops and assembled using common parts in the market. The boss is responsible for design, procurement, assembly, sales, after-sales service, maintenance, etc. on his own. Some DIY brands have grown and become legitimate manufacturers, but we still call them DIY brands
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In China, there are relatively few people who assemble and disassemble flashlights themselves, and I think less than 10%. Most people purchase finished flashlights without making any improvements, as Chinese families lack an atmosphere of using tools to do things themselves and a workplace. For example, Chinese people rarely repair cars and decorate houses themselves. In China, if you want a cost-effective flashlight and don’t care about defects, or if you can improve the flashlight yourself, you will choose DIY flashlights. This does not mean that DIY flashlights are not popular, in fact, there are also many markets for DIY flashlights
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So if a DIY flashlight, like the Fireflies NOV-MU, sells for $100, it loses its competitive advantage of cost-effectiveness. We can use this money to buy a better brand flashlight without bumps, black spots on lamp beads, dust and unknown objects, strange electrical noise, and other issues
Haha, this company has hardly been heard of in China, although it is a Chinese company. It seems that due to company strategy and personal preferences, our interest in flashlights varies. We prefer the finished products manufactured by traditional companies as you mentioned, rather than designing them ourselves. If a person without hands-on ability wants to modify their flashlight, they will spend money to hire someone to do it
The most common LED manufacturers for mid to high end flashlights in China are Cree and Luminus, and a large number of low-end markets belong to many Chinese made low-end LEDs, which may be produced in small workshops. They usually imitate Cree lamp beads and give a similar name, priced at only 1/3-1/5 of the original price, and are used for a large number of low-end flashlights. If you buy a flashlight in rural China, it may only cost 1-2 dollars and use low-end LED. The imitated CREE70.2 lamp beads only have a size of 2000lm and a maximum light efficiency of 60lm/w.
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I like the CREE70.3 lamp beads and LuminusSBT-90G2 the most, perhaps the strongest is the best for me. As I said, I am also not good at modifying flashlights myself, which is what I need to learn. Regarding batteries, I think the best battery in China is the Lishen LA. This battery is very practical, surpassing the Samsung 50S in performance, and is also cheap.
I would recommend ZebraLight斑马灯具店.
They have a store on Taobao.
I think that they’re in Changzhou, Jiangsu province.
What about “Skilhunt SKT”?
That is normal almost everywhere. Most people don’t do most things; they do only the specific things they are interested in.
However, when a thing is easy to modify and has open source code, everyone can benefit. Maybe only 1 in 1000 people will ever change the code, but when they do, it helps everyone. The improvements become a part of finished products, so normal people get a better product and they never have to DIY anything.
For example, most people don’t like to write their own computer operating systems or other software. However, a few people do, so they made Linux and many OSes based on it. Most of the internet now runs on Linux, and most phones now run Android, which is a Linux OS. Because of this, most of the world benefits from the work of a small population of software DIY enthusiasts who collaborate under the rules of free software.
Something similar is happening with flashlights. It happens at a smaller scale, but it may still affect you directly: You said Acebeam is your favorite brand. Acebeam has expressed interest in making an Anduril light. Anduril is open source firmware created right here on BLF by people who like to DIY. So if that Acebeam project ever happens, you will be able to benefit from the work of DIY enthusiasts in the community, without ever having to modify anything yourself.
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SKT is a third tier brand in China, with a low sense of presence and little attention paid to it
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Thank you for your explanation. I have learned something
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I use online translation for communication, so there may be some misunderstandings. If such a thing happens, please point it out
Hol’ up… They sell zebralights in Changzhou but they won’t ship one to Canada?? Lmao wtf zebralight?
I think theres something else going on in this case. Like, home depot failed in china. I think OP is on to something here. Cultural differences and stuff