PLEASE NOTE: Data will be updated several times as I learn more things from people in this forum 
, buy more lights, make more measurements, and make less mistakes. Pls expect changes. The thread started with Olight M2R Pro when I was new to flash lights, but those lights got recalled, and now it’s more about comparison of throwers.
Long story short: My wife and I take evening walks on an unlit coastline trail and need a flashlight for safety. I had first looked at headlamps, one thing led to another found myself at Budgetlight and now have Emisar Nichia 219b and Convoy 519a coming LOL :person_facepalming: . But for me these lights are “toys,” exceedingly fun around the house not as useful as these 21700 throwers for use as a walk light.
I initially got the Olight M2R Pro because of its excellent review and popularity, then Nitecore MH12S and Sofirn IF22a. Still wasn’t happy with brightness (I want something that blows me and friends away), AND the slippery slope of this hobby has led me to order yet another light I don’t really need, Wurkkos TS30S with the extremely potent Luminus SBT90.2 LED. It was on sale for a mere 60 bucks and as usual it’s the LED that intrigues me, so I clicked. The Luminus SBT90.2 is one of the most expensive LED’s I’ve seen, selling by Convoy for around $30, for just the LED. As night fell the first day that I got the Wurkkos, I immediately realized that it is an absolute monster, lighting up everything in its path as if it were a lighthouse. The Wurkkos ends up making the list of 4 Lights I would buy were I to start from beginning 
Click HERE
These 4 lights have been reviewed extensively in this forum as well as great review sites like 1lumen and zeroair, so this thread is mostly a comparison of strengths and weaknesses I’ve noted in daily use. All pictures are taken in RAW format with Canon DSLR, fixed WB 5000k. Exposure controlled to best illustrate a point I’m trying to show. I’m a fairly hardcore shutterbug and color “sensitive,” with a bias towards warm tone in adjusting WB of my travel/scenic pictures, even before I discovered Budgetlight.
I’m adding an index of the interesting or fun posts that I’ve wasted the most amount of time on :person_facepalming: . Hope it helps for anyone looking to waste time reading about flashlight.
* 4 Lights I would buy were I to start from beginning Click HERE
* Summary of the lights reviewed in this thread Click HERE
* Anti Reflective Coated Lens for ~4% Gain (3% confirmed w/ Texas Ace Lumen Tube) HERE and HERE
* HUGE ~15% brightness gain with Samsung 40T over Wurkkos batteries HERE
* Beamshot comparison TS30S vs other throwers HERE
* How to check which kind of tint your AR lens has HERE
* Nice Discussion of Flashlight’s Driver Discussion Here
* Nice Discussion of Reflector and effects on Hotspot, Corona, Spill Here
* Toykeeper made an appearance and discussed Mach band Here
SUMMARY Of my most favorite flashlights in this thread - more summary of other lights in post #2 below.
Some pro’s and con’s of each light, all IMvHO. Please expect changes as I buy more lights, learn more things, and make less mistakes. The more interesting lights go first.
Wurkkos TS30S w/ SBT90.2 ~$60 when on sale
In some hobbies, car, photography, stereo, etc., once in a while a product, whether by luck (kidding) or by talent, hits that magical perfection level. This humble $60 light is such a unicorn and has proven to be a FORMIDABLE competitor to all the newer lights in my collection. The Wurkkos rocks my Opple meter by clocking 1 km throw (holy macaroni). The 4500 plus lm output (output significantly better with Samsung 40T or Molicel P45B) means fantastic brightness, but more importantly, this brightness is well sustained once Tmax is properly set. That all of this is in a smallish form that fits jacket pocket is the magic of modern LED and flashlight technology.
BEAM: The beam profile is “balanced”: some super throwers have an extremely bright but narrow hotspot, and little to no spill, resulting in a very narrow field of vision, the Wurkkos OTOH strikes a perfect balance between large-enough hotspot and decently bright spill for nearfield illumination click here. I use this light often during my evening walk and the beam is an absolute thing of beauty: a bright central beam piercing darkness like a light saber. The beam color at ~5100K is very nicely warm (as opposed to harsh flat blue) and has a green tint that I forgive in a thrower LED and, as OCD picky as I am, not a hindrance at all in actual use (vs white walling). Nothing on the market comes close, not at 60 bucks.
PRO:
Among THE lowest cost SBT90.2 you could buy. Construction is first class. Despite of the large head, feels balanced in my hand. The SBT90.2 LED alone is about $30; I don’t know how they make money selling this light for such a low price. There is currently no competition for this light, not at 60 bucks.
CON:
Not much. The larger size means the fit is better for jacket pocket, and maybe very loose pant’s side pocket.
There is no clip which I need mainly to prevent light from rolling off the table. I ended up using Convoy’s universal clip-on clip, AFTER bending the arms out to make it larger and doesn’t scratch the finish as much. As mentioned, green tint common to SBT90.2 LED that I “forgive” with high lumen or super thrower lights.
Wurkkos TS30S PRO
Such expectation for the follow-up to one of the all time greatest lights (TS30S 1st Gen) turned out to be a little of a mixed blessing. First the good news: throw is clearly better, and hotspot clearly brighter than 1st Gen. The improvement surprised me. A second important improvement is now we have Anduril 2, as opposed to Anduril 1 of 1st Gen. Besides those good news however there are some trade-offs. The head diameter of the Pro is noticeably larger than 1st Gen, making the light a little more unwieldy and the “balance” a little off for handling & carrying. It’s responsible for the better throw, but handling wise the Pro is not as “perfect” as TS30S 1st Gen.
There are 2 versions of the lens that came with the Pro: the very first batch had non AR lenses, but it appears Wurkkos released subsequent batch that has AR lens. However this AR lens is of the purple reflection type, NOT the more desirable green reflection. Since purple reflection makes Duv more positive and the beam greener, this is not good for any light with a LED like SBT90.2, which is known to have a greenish tint.
Lastly, there’s the matter of the slightly-strange looking hotspot which has a colored center surrounding by a white ring. This pattern is seen in many lights with smooth reflector, but for whatever reason, the white ring is unusually prominent in TS30S Pro. Although quite obvious with white wall hunting, this hotspot pattern of a white ring around a colored center doesn’t bother me as much in actual use. I especially like the improved throw. Bottom line: I like the PRO but because of the white ring in hotspot, I prefer my 1st Gen. I wish Wurkkos would still make both versions. As long as that bright white ring doesn’t bother you then the Pro is still a great light to own.
Nightwatch Super Valkyrie NI03S w/ 13000 lm SFP55.2L Discussion starts HERE
This light holds the title as THE highest output, single LED, single battery flashlight available on the market. At 13000 lm and 675m throw it’s quite a beast, so unique and I love it so much I have bought a second one. For all the lumens and throw, the Valkyrie is smallish enough and as “pocketable” in loose fitting pants as a 13000 lm light could be. I take it for my evening walks; where it is heavy but fits fine in loose fitting jeans or khaki’s. It has a couple quirks: you need to charge with a Quick Charge power brick, and you have to click the button to start charging. The “wall of light” effect is there, functional and extremely fun, and this is where it holds an advantage over Wurkkos TS30S.
effect that I love very much in my 15000 lumen monster lights. The high throw number is a reflection of that crazy output, but subjectively I wouldn’t call this a “throwy” beam. Compare the house on top of the hill to see how wide the illumation is.
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