The best flashlights on Amazon

Convoy S2+

Best bang for the buck 18650 flashlight

If we’re talking about great budget lights, it would be a shame not to mention Convoy flashlights, and in particular the Convoy S2+. It’s available on Amazon for below $20, depending on the version.

The Convoy S2+ is available in several colors, and with a large choice of emitters. The one linked on Amazon.com, uses the popular Luminus SST40, and if you’d have to choose between the 5000K version and 6500K version, I’d recommend getting the 5000K version, which beam is a little more pleasant. The SST40 LED is also more powerful than the SST20 I reviewed, and which reached 500 lumens. The SST40 is more powerful.

Lumintop Tool AA 2.0

Affordable AA flashlight, but high quality

Lumintop isn’t really a budget brand, but it still produces an AA flashlight for $20! If you look through our reviews you will see that Lumintop has some serious flashlights including the BLF GT, GT90, GT Mini, and many, many more. The Tool AA is one of those lights you just can’t go wrong with. We’ve reviewed the Titanium version of the Lumintop Tool AA 2.0 here. The price for the aluminum version is usually around $20 but sometimes a little higher. If you are looking for just a reliable but still affordable flashlight, take the Tool AA into consideration! (beware that there also is a Lumintop Tool AAA, which can only use AAA batteries)

Thrunite T1s

Popular EDC flashlight

The Thrunite T1s is a small, yet powerful, 18350-type flashlight. The business-end of the ThruNite T1S is where you’ll find one of the biggest changes over its predecessor, the T1. The T1 featured a Cree XHP50 and is replaced by a Luminus SST-40 and a TIR optic. The UI is great, and easy to use.

Thrunite advertises Turbo mode with 1212 lumens. But this is what we found: Turbo mode started out at 1255 lumens and dropped slowly over the first 2 minutes, at which point it was at 1065 lumens. Over the next 7 minutes, output ramped down to 324 lumens which is where it stayed until output began dropping out fast at 1 hour and 29 minutes. It crossed the 10% output threshold at 1 hour and 30 minutes.

This light is pretty much everything you need for an EDC flashlight: compact, good UI, USB-C charging, and a nice design. I think ThruNite has packed a lot of value into this small package.

Fenix PD36 TAC 

One of the best tactical lights you can buy on Amazon

We reviewed the Fenix PD36 Tac extensively. It provides great value for an all-round tactical flashlight with USB-rechargeable battery (5,000mAh). Keep in mind that USB rechargeable batteries are more expensive than ones without USB ports, and the good thing about the PD36 Tac, you can use normal 21700’s as well.

The package also includes other flashlight accessories like a carry strap, a deep-carry reversible pocket clip,  a holster, a USB-C charging cable, and two spare O-Rings, so you are set from the get-go. If you don’t want to bother buying a separate battery charger and still want a high-quality flashlight, the Fenix PD36 Tac should be on your wishlist. And in case you want to attach it to a rifle, there are many additional weapon mounting accessories like remote switches and rail mounts.

Nitecore TM20K

This is a very exciting light. Nitecore have been known for making high-quality flashlights for over a decade and their “TM” range has been around for almost as long.

But the TM20K is extra special. Not just because of the astounding lumen rating but also because of its size and form factor. It follows in the footsteps of their EC4, which used 2 cells next to each other, which fills the gap between more pocketable single cell lights and much bigger soda can or soup can style lights.

The light is clearly designed for tactical use, using 1 of the main modes the bulk of the time, then occasionally jumping to the blinding 20,000 lumens for a few seconds at a time. Although it’s designed for military, law enforcement, security, etc, there’s nothing stopping you taking it on a gentle walk with your dog at night or leaving it on ultralow for a few hours whilst camping.\

The TM20K has a built-in battery pack, so unfortunately that means that Nitecore’s warranty only covers you for 2 years.

Olight Javelot Mini

Great rechargeable flashlight with long reach, you can buy at Amazon

There are several Javelot models, and this is the smallest of the bunch. It packs a lot of power combined with reasonable throw (reach).

In our test, we measured 1068 lumens and turn on, and 1054 lumens after 30 seconds. That’s definitely not bad. But the Javelot Mini is specifically made for medium-long distances. And in our test, we measured 85,200 candelas, which is good for 584 meters of reach, / 638 yards.

The great thing about the Javelot Mini is the size and reach, combined with a simple user interface. Just a simple 2-mode UI that can be used momentarily as well as continuously. And that’s because of the exclusive Olight 2-stage switch.

Fenix TK20R v2

Rechargeable tactical flashlight with USB-C charging

The Fenix TK20R v2 features a USB type C set to 2 amps and charges the battery in about 3.5 hours.

In our test, Turbo started a bit over 2500 Lumens but the stepdown was dramatic: down to a bit over 500 Lumens. You can reactivate Turbo after the step-down though, so that’s great.

We also tested the maximum beam distance at 309 meters, and 499 meters at turn on because of the initial high output.

Once again Fenix has proven two things: One, they know how to make a great flashlight, and two, they’re an innovative brand that endeavors to keep making great lights. The Fenix TK20R V2 represents an important fixture within the TK series in that it’s one of the few in the tactical-use lineup that features onboard charging, which appeals to a lot of buyers and users.

Acebeam X75

#3 Most powerful flashlight on Amazon that can fit in your pockets

There is so much to say about the X75 we tested. And wow, this is a serious flashlight. Immensely bright, and with some very cool features.

It’s supposed to do 80,000 lumens, and lo and behold, we measured over 80,000 lumens within the first few seconds after turning on. That’s insanely bright. And what’s even more impressive, is that it can hold over 20,000 lumens for 20 minutes straight. It’s currently the best sustained output on any handheld flashlight in the world, with just a 4-battery pack.

Here’s a picture for proof. This is a runtime graph of most of the highest-output flashlights currently available. The dark blue and black line show the lumen output.. This is incredible.

Oh, and that’s not all yet. It also comes with fast USB-C PD charging at 65 watts. This means that the batteries are charged within 1.5 hours. And if you still think that is too slow, they even offer a 100Watt USB charger. And the built-in battery pack doubles as a power bank. What else do you need?

The reason why this light can sustain this high brightness is the built-in cooling fan, combined with a high-efficient constant current driver. And that’s still not all. Because the fan is speed-controlled by temperature, unlike most of its competitors, which use a simple on/off depending on the brightness mode.

Imalent MS18

#2 Brightest flashlight on Amazon with 100,000 lumens

Imalent makes the brightest production lights on planet earth. And that’s what they are well known for.

I tested the MS18 several times, and this thing is ridiculous, with a total output of 100,000 lumens at turn on, which makes it the most powerful handheld flashlight you can buy on Amazon.

To power the light, it uses a battery pack with 8*21700 batteries and built-in fans to keep the light as cool as possible, because it produces a large amount of heat. If they didn’t have this built-in cooling, it would likely end up in a meltdown. But you don’t have to use the highest output at all times, because it has 8 different output modes, starting as low as 700 lumens.

Yes, 100,000 lumens can only be achieved in a blink of an eye, but reaching this output in a relatively small package is just insane.

Imalent SR32

#1 Brightest flashlight on Amazon with 120,000 lumens

Just like all the other flashlights on the list, we don’t go by specifications. And during our test, we measured just over 100,000 lumens, which is on par with the Imalent MS18.

In fact, the maximum output was just a bit higher than the MS18 (after 30 seconds, according ANSI FL1 standards), but the rest of its performance is much better. The SR32 can sustain a higher output for much longer, and the overall beam distance is much, much better than the MS18.

Imalent MS32

We tested the Imalent MS32, and I almost can’t believe the performance results. During our testing we saw that the highest 3 modes can keep up with all the other brightest flashlights on this list..

So far, Imalent has been lonely at the top of this list for quite some time, and now it becomes even harder for any other brand to top it. The new MS32 is twice as bright as the MS18 on paper, and I measured almost 180,000 lumens at turn-on. This is even more because my testing setup (homemade integrating sphere) isn’t large enough for this output.

The charging process was also quite speedy because Imalent provides a 100W USB-C charger that can recharge the battery pack in approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. To ensure accuracy, I timed the charging process six or seven times, and each time it took between 1 hour 43 minutes to 1 hour 53 minutes.

Besides having the highest output of all flashlights, it can also sustain the highest output of all. It can do about 36000+ lumens for 30+ minutes in Turbo mode and roughly 18,000 lumens in High 1 mode (without the use of the fans) for almost 1 hour and 30 minutes. That’s insane because it’s about the same sustained output as the Imalent SR32 in Turbo, but twice as long and without the noise of the cooling fans. And compared to the Acebeam X75 turbo mode, it’s slightly lower (but likely impossible to notice in person) but runs 4 times longer. And I haven’t talked about Turbo mode then.

If you are looking for the brightest flashlight, this is it! It dwarfs its competition.