Fenix Flashlights

Fenix has been making flashlights in Shenzhen since 2001, with research, manufacturing and sales under one company, and sells into the US through Fenix Lighting USA in Littleton, Colorado. Its range is aimed at outdoor, police, security and industrial users more than at hobbyists, which shows in the priorities owners keep noting: conservative interfaces, regulated output, holsters in the box, and a long run of numbered versions rather than constant new names.

The PD lights are the backbone. The PD35 V3.0 is the current version of one of the most widely owned tactical lights, the PD36R V2.0 and PD36R PRO move up to 21700 cells, and the ACE and TAC variants (PD35R ACE, PD36R ACE, PD36 TAC) add configurable duty interfaces. The TK15R, TK16 V2.0 and TK22 V2.0 are the larger tail-switch tactical lights, the LR35R is a 10000-lumen searchlight on two 21700s, and the E18R V2.0, E35R, LD31 RENEGADE and right-angle LD15R cover everyday carry. Headlamps run from the 16340 HM50R V2.0 through the HM61R V3.0 and HM65R V2.0 to the 21700 HM71R V2.0, plus the magnesium-bodied HM65R-DT.

It is the engineering, more than the flash, that earns praise. LR35R owners single out its constant-current regulation and finish, PD36 TAC owners call its tactical selector switch a brilliant solution, and the PD36R V2.0 is described as a no-nonsense duty light whose low modes run for many hours. The trade-off they report is the interface: the E35R and LR35R remember the last mode and offer no shortcut to turbo or low, and the TK22 V2.0 cannot reach turbo or moonlight from off. Color is the other recurring point, with the PD35 V3.0 sold in cool white only and the PD36R ACE measured at about 69 CRI.

So the choice within the lineup is mostly about how you want to switch the light on. The plain PD and E models cycle through levels; the ACE and TAC versions let you set what a press does, which is why duty users pay the extra. Several older models listed here, the TK22 V2.0, HM65R-DT and LD15R, are marked discontinued on Fenix's US store.