Acebeam
$209.90
Acebeam X30
Flood/~31°/600 m
- Lumens
- 20000
- Candela
- 90000
- Cell
- 21700
- Weight
- 16.7 oz
3x Cree XHP70.2 6500K + red
314 lights on the bench
Output, candela, beam distance, runtime, CRI and battery format for every flashlight here, with each beam drawn from the maker’s published figures.
Both about 3,950 lumens · 14× the reach
Drawn to the same scale from each light’s published candela. Reach is on a log scale.
3,900 lm/656,100 cd
Pencil thrower · ~5.0° · 1,620 m reach
4,000 lm/3,249 cd
Wide flood · ~73° · 114 m reach
By job
The job decides the beam long before the budget does. Start with the kind of light, then compare the picks inside it.
Pocketable everyday-carry lights with high CRI and useful runtimes.
Hands-free lights for trail running, camping, and work.
Duty and self-defense lights with momentary switches and high output.
Long-throw lights that push a tight, far-reaching beam.
Tiny keychain and AAA lights you can carry everywhere.
Wide, even flood beams for up-close work and area lighting.
Clip-on right-angle lights that double as compact headlamps.
Area lanterns for camping, power outages, and tents.
Before you filter
Lumens are the total light a torch produces; candela is how concentrated that light is in the centre of the beam. Lumens tell you how much you're lighting up, candela tells you how far you can see. A 1,200-lumen flood light and a 1,200-lumen thrower make the same amount of light — the thrower just aims almost all of it at one small spot, which is why it reaches 700 metres and the flood light reaches 90.
Colour temperature (in kelvin) is whether the light looks warm orange or cold blue. CRI is how accurately it renders colour compared with sunlight — 90+ is high CRI and makes skin, wood, blood and foliage look right instead of washed out. Duv is the sideways error: two lights at the same kelvin can look pleasantly rosy or unpleasantly green depending on which side of the black-body curve they sit.
21700 is the current default for a full-size light: the most capacity and the highest sustained output. 18650 is the same idea one size down, with a far bigger range of hosts and cells. AA and AAA lights trade a lot of performance for the ability to buy a replacement anywhere. Built-in cells are the most convenient and the least repairable — when the cell dies, the light usually does too.
The catalog
Filter by brand, beam type, cell, and features. Pick up to three to put their beams side by side.
314 lights
Acebeam
$209.90
Flood/~31°/600 m
3x Cree XHP70.2 6500K + red
Sofirn
$75.44
Balanced/~30°/554 m
6x Cree XHP50B (5000K or 6500K)
Imalent
$130
Flood/~47°/316 m
CREE XHP70.2
Wuben
$140
Flood/~38°/377 m
Cree XHP50.3 HI + 4x XHP50.3 HD
Wuben
$200
Flood/~47°/303 m
XHP70.2 6000K (x3)
Fenix
$200
Balanced/~26°/500 m
6x Luminus SST40
Olight
$219.99
Balanced/~17°/750 m
Not named by the maker
Noctigon
$88.68
16x Luminus SST-20 6500K
Sofirn
$49
Balanced/~27°/423 m
4x Luminus SST40
Nitecore
$139.95
Balanced/~28°/420 m
2x NiteLab UHi 20 MAX
Convoy
$30.65
Balanced/~16°/722 m
Lumenpioneer LHP73B 5000K
Noctigon
$78.58
9x Luminus SST-20 6500K + 3 outer
Convoy
$76.14
Pencil thrower/~6.0°/1,816 m
Luminus SBT90.2 5700K
Sofirn
$52.99
Balanced/~27°/395 m
Not named by the maker
Nitecore
$109.95
Balanced/~26°/400 m
2x NiteLab UHi 20 MAX
Emisar
$72.62
Balanced/~28°/374 m
8x Luminus SST-20 6500K
Convoy
$70.93
Pencil thrower/~7.1°/1,461 m
Luminus SBT90.2 5700K
Nitecore
$99.95
Balanced/~20°/500 m
4x 5-core M515S
Imalent
$79.95
Balanced/~29°/347 m
Cree XHP70.2 HI + Red
Wurkkos
$59.99
Balanced/~23°/415 m
Unspecified + RGBW Side
Sofirn
$40
Flood/~32°/297 m
XHP70.3 HI
Acebeam
$115
Balanced/~19°/480 m
CREE XHP70.2
Nitecore
$89.95
Balanced/~17°/550 m
9-core NiteLab UHi 40 MAX
Nitecore
$159.95
Balanced/~21°/430 m
4x 5-core M515S array
Ranked shortlists built from the catalog, for the questions people actually ask.
Each maker's full lineup on one page, with notes on the brand.