Million lumen flashlight

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Don’t trust any listings on eBay, Amazon, or AliExpress when it comes to lumen output.
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Note: we have reviewed hundreds of flashlights, and add about 10-15 new reviews each month. Many listings on Amazon, eBay or AliExpress claim their flashlights are 250,000 lumens or 1,000,000 lumens, but none of them really are. The best they can do is about 1000 lumens at tops!

Fake 1000000 & 2000000 lumen flashlights on Amazon

I get a bit sick to my stomach when I browse eBay, AliExpress or Amazon.

The number of flashlights with exaggerated lumen claims is just staggering and makes me want them to get removed from those platforms. They are usually no-name flashlights, but thousands of people buy them. How do I know? Because many of these flashlights have hundreds or thousands of reviews.

Here is a screenshot of those types of flashlight, which you should stay away from!

million lumen flashlights fake amazon
Exaggerated claimed outputs… false advertising
million lumen flashlights fake walmart
Fake 1 million lumen flashlight at Walmart

False advertising brands

I went ahead and looked at many fake claimed listings on Amazon, eBay, and Aliexpress.. And unfortunately, new names keep being pumped out, every day. But here is a list of ‘brands’ I found, that you should stay away from:

  • Alicegirl,
  • Alifa,
  • Alpswolf,
  • ALSTU,
  • AXRUNZE,
  • BERCOL,
  • BIGSUN,
  • Buysight,
  • Chanarily,
  • Cinlinso,
  • Daiffey,
  • Dsstoc,
  • Gehavin,
  • Goreit,
  • JAY-PARK,
  • Kicoeoy,
  • LBE,
  • LETMY,
  • LICHPZY,
  • LifeImpree,
  • Lytling,
  • Mixlin,
  • NiaoChao,
  • NJ FOREVER,
  • Sigoobal,
  • silingmo,
  • SKNSL,
  • Tokeyla
  • VASTFIRE,
  • Victoper,
  • YIERBLUE
  • Zavuxo,

And there are probably hundreds more. But if you stay away from these, you won’t fall for their false advertising.

How to know which are falsely advertised?

Just think about how much it will cost to build a flashlight, and how much the flashlight costs, that claims X thousands of lumens.

For a flashlight to reach anything over 10,000 lumens, you normally have to use multiple LEDs. Although there are a couple of LEDs that can do over 10K lumens, they are rare, and not used often. However, most LEDs currently produced can only do between 1,000-5,000 lumens, with a few exceptions.

On top of that, you need lots of power, and a proper heatsink to produce anything above 20,000 lumens, so that will add up to the cost as well.

As a rule of thumb, you can use the following:

  • Over 10,000 lumens = $100 or more
  • Over 20,000 lumens = $200 or more
  • Over 50,000 lumens = $400 or more
  • Over 70,000 lumens = $500 or more

Current brightest flashlights are the Imalent MS18 and Imalent SR32, with 100,000 and 120,000 lumens claimed. With the MS18 going for about $700, and the SR32 for a bit more.

So if you see anything over 120,000 lumens, and less than $200, it’s just impossible. Stay away from it

If you see anything with only 1 LED, and over 20,000 lumens… run away

If you see anything with 1 or 2 batteries, and over 30,000 lumens… run away

Actual brightest flashlights you can get

Imalent MS18

Imalent MS18
Imalent MS18 runtime full

This is the second brightest flashlight in the world, with a 100,000-lumen output.

No other flashlight brand can claim the MS18’s (or SR32) output claims, so the Imalent MS18 occupies a special niche in the flashlight market. With the included quick charge adapter, charging takes about 4 hours. The output is breathtaking. If you are into high-powered flashlights, the Imalent MS18 is one you should consider, after checking out the SR32. It has a hefty price tag, but you are buying the second most high output flashlight in the world. If you can handle the noisy built-in fans, you won’t be disappointed.

Note: It’s about 100 times as bright as the Maglite ML150LR!

Don’t forget to check out our review of the Imalent MS18 for more information, runtime graphs, output tests, lumen, and throw distance tests with beamshots to see what 100,000 lumens look like. Oh and you don’t need to use 100,000 lumens all the time, you can choose any brightness level between 10K and 100K.

This is why we think this would be a better option

  1. Comes with carry strap
  2. Built in fans for cooling
  3. Many modes, so you can choose the one you prefer, you don’t need 100K all the time

Interested? Get one at Imalent with 10% off, using our coupon code: 1lumen

Imalent SR32

imalent sr32 inhand
imalent sr32 v2 runtime 10minutes

We tested 2 copies of the SR32 and our seconds one performed as expected, while the first one had some issues. Turbo would start over 100,000 lumens but drops slowly, while High dropped directly.

The output is just insane, and it performs better than the MS18 by a fair margin, especially when it comes to sustained output.

It’s also great to see that Imalent moved away from their DC-charging plugs, and welcomed USB-C charging. They even included a 100Watt USB-C charger in their package to have a total charging time of only 1 hour and 15 minutes. And that with 8*21700 batteries inside.

This is why we think this would be a better option

  1. Turbo can reach almost 90,000 lumens for 50 seconds
  2. Removable carry handle with built-in switch
  3. Can be used without the handle!
  4. Battery pack can be used as power bank
  5. Can get spare battery packs
  6. Can charge battery pack when removed from the head
  7. A real low-output mode (30 lumens)
  8. Cooling fans work well, to keep the temperature in check.
  9. Sustains over 17,000 lumens (longer than any other brand/model)

Interested? Get one at Imalent with 10% off, using our coupon code: 1lumen

FAQ: real million lumen flashlights

  • Is 250,000 lumens possible?

    Nope, all these listings are fake, fake, fake. The very brightest production flashlight can ‘only’ do about 120K lumens, and its costs about $700. It weight about 4 pounds, and has 32 XHP50.2 LEDs.

  • What brands claim they can do 1 million lumens?

    The sad thing is that these flashlights have no brand, or use a strange name. Most of these flashlight ‘brands’ don’t exist. They don’t have their own branded website, and they aren’t registered trademarks.

  • Which brands shouldn’t you trust when it comes to lumen output, on Amazon, eBay, and AliExpress?

    Every brand that claims anything above 50,000 lumens costing less than $200. That’s really tough to do. But here are some fake name brands: YIERBLUE, ALSTU, Sigoobal, Mixlin, BIGSUN, VASTFIRE, Kicoeoy, Lytling, Dsstoc, Alicegirl, Gehavin, Cinlinso, Buysight, Alpswolf, LETMY, SKNSL, Goreit, Chanarily, BERCOL, NiaoChao, Victoper, Zavuxo, LBE, NJ FOREVER, Alifa, Daiffey, AXRUNZE, JAY-PARK, LifeImpree, LICHPZY, silingmo, AXRUNZE,

And don’t buy any of these flashligts:

Be warned!