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Flashlight brand comparisons

Brand arguments in this category are usually about reputation. These pages compare what each maker publishes, which is a shorter and more useful conversation.

By Scooter M. · Published · Updated

Flashlight brand comparisons — ranked picks, with live prices
#ProductBest forOutputPrice
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Streamlight ProTac HL-XTop pick1,300 lumens, 35,000 candela, 374 m, 1.5 hours, IP68, on either a rechargeable pack or two CR123A cells. Every figure published per mode.
Duty use, and the best-documented light on this site1,300 lm
Check price#ad
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Fenix PD36R Pro2,800 lumens from a 21700 cell holding 18 watt-hours, at 169 grams. The biggest energy store in the tactical set.
The most output and energy in a tactical body2,800 lm
Check price#ad
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SureFire G2X Pro600 lumens, 8,700 candela, 1.5 hours, and two modes. The specification is modest; the point is that nothing on it can go wrong.
A simple two-mode light that will outlive you600 lm
Check price#ad
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Olight Baton 4 Pro1,600 lumens from something the size of a lipstick tube. The output is real and the runtime at that output is not the point.
The most output in a pocket-sized body1,600 lm
Check price#ad

We earn a commission if you buy through the links on this page, at no extra cost to you. It does not change what we recommend or the order they appear in. Full disclosure. We show a live price when we have one and the words “Check price” when we do not. We never print a number we cannot currently verify.

Two flashlights side by side on a dark surface
Licensed stock photograph, for illustration. It is not a photograph of any product on this page and we have not handled any of them.

Brand-versus-brand arguments in flashlights usually run on reputation, anecdote and how long somebody has owned something. We cannot contribute to that: we have never handled any of these lights and we are not going to pretend otherwise.

What we can do is compare what each manufacturer publishes, and that turns out to be a genuinely discriminating test. Some of these companies publish a full ANSI FL 1 table per mode; others publish a lumen figure. That difference tells you something real.

Disclosure, brand by brand

What each maker publishes on the lights we cover
BrandCandelaBeam distancePer-mode runtimeWeightIP rating
StreamlightYesYesYesYesYes
PetzlNoYesReserve figuresYesYes
FenixNoSometimesMaximum onlyYesSometimes
SureFireYesNoHigh onlyNoNo
Princeton TecNoNoYesNoYes
NitecoreNoSometimesNoNoNo
OlightNoSometimesNoNoNo
AcebeamNoYesNoNoSometimes
CoastNoNoNoNoNo

That table is the single most useful thing on this page. It is not a quality ranking — a brand can build an excellent light and publish little about it — but it does tell you which manufacturers you can hold to account.

The comparisons

  • [Olight vs Fenix](/compare/olight-vs-fenix) — two of the biggest names in enthusiast lights, and a real difference in what they tell you.
  • [Olight vs Streamlight](/compare/olight-vs-streamlight) — consumer polish against duty-grade documentation.
  • [Olight vs SureFire](/compare/olight-vs-surefire) — specification against simplicity, at very different prices.
  • [Nitecore vs Fenix](/compare/nitecore-vs-fenix) — the closest matchup here, and the one where disclosure decides it.
  • [Nitecore vs Olight](/compare/nitecore-vs-olight) — output per dollar against ecosystem and charging.
  • [Streamlight vs SureFire](/compare/streamlight-vs-surefire) — the two American duty brands, on opposite philosophies.

How to read a brand comparison honestly

  1. Compare specific lights, not brands. Every maker here builds good and less good products. Fenix's PD36R Pro and Fenix's budget lights are not the same proposition.
  2. Check disclosure before performance. A published figure you can verify beats an unpublished one you cannot, whatever the marketing says.
  3. Look for internal consistency. If a maker publishes candela and beam distance and they reconcile through the 0.25 lux definition, the figures are almost certainly measured.
  4. Distinguish ecosystem from light. Olight's magnetic charging is genuinely good and it locks you to their cables. That is a real trade rather than a specification.
  5. Ignore heritage. How long a company has existed tells you nothing about the light in front of you.

Where these comparisons lead

Every comparison page links back to the roundup for the category the light belongs in, because a brand argument is usually the wrong question. The better one is which light for which job — EDC flashlights, tactical flashlights and headlamps all answer it directly.

The picks, in full

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Top pick · Duty use, and the best-documented light on this site

Streamlight ProTac HL-X

1,300 lumens, 35,000 candela, 374 m, 1.5 hours, IP68, on either a rechargeable pack or two CR123A cells. Every figure published per mode.

35,000 candela and 374 m reconcile exactly: the square root of 35,000 divided by 0.25 is 374.2 m. Streamlight's numbers are internally consistent across all three modes, which is the strongest signal of a maker publishing real measurements rather than marketing figures.

1.5 hours at 1,300 lumens implies roughly 6 to 7 watt-hours of usable energy — consistent with a single 18650-class pack and with the CR123A alternative.

IP68 with 2 m impact resistance is the toughest rating in this roundup, and the reason this light shows up on so many duty belts.

What works

  • Full ANSI FL1 table published per mode, and it reconciles
  • Runs on a rechargeable pack or on shelf-stable CR123A lithium cells
  • IP68 and 2 m impact rating

What does not

  • The programming interface takes reading the manual to understand
  • 162 to 176 g is heavy for pocket carry
  • CR123A cells are expensive if you use it hard

Skip this ifyou want a pocket light. It is a duty-belt tool and the weight and length are built for a holster.

Published specification

Output
1,300 lmHigh. Medium 420 lm, low 70 lm.Streamlight ProTac HL-X — manufacturer spec page (retrieved September 1, 2026)
Peak intensity
35,000 cdHigh. 11,000 cd medium, 1,800 cd low.Streamlight ProTac HL-X — manufacturer spec page (retrieved September 1, 2026)
Beam distance
374 mHigh. 210 m medium, 85 m low.Streamlight ProTac HL-X — manufacturer spec page (retrieved September 1, 2026)
Runtime
1.5 h high / 3.75 h medium / 25 h lowOn the SL-B26 pack. On CR123A: 1.25 h / 3 h / 20 h.Streamlight ProTac HL-X — manufacturer spec page (retrieved September 1, 2026)
Battery
SL-B26 rechargeable Li-ion pack, or 2 x CR123A lithiumStreamlight ProTac HL-X — manufacturer spec page (retrieved September 1, 2026)
Weight
162 g with CR123A, 176 g with the packStreamlight ProTac HL-X — manufacturer spec page (retrieved September 1, 2026)
Ingress
IP68Dust tight, waterproof to 2 m; 2 m impact resistance testedStreamlight ProTac HL-X — manufacturer spec page (retrieved September 1, 2026)
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Pick 2 · The most output and energy in a tactical body

Fenix PD36R Pro

2,800 lumens from a 21700 cell holding 18 watt-hours, at 169 grams. The biggest energy store in the tactical set.

A 5,000 mAh 21700 at 3.6 V is 18.0 watt-hours — nearly three times what the ProTac HL-X carries. That is the case for the 21700 format in one number.

380 m of reach on 2,800 lumens works back to about 36,100 candela, almost identical to the ProTac's 35,000 from 1,300 lumens. The Fenix is spending its extra output on spill, not on distance.

169 g including the cell is only 7 g more than a ProTac on CR123A, for nearly triple the energy. That is what four years of cell development buys.

What works

  • 18 Wh of stored energy, the most in the tactical set
  • 2,800 lumens with 380 m of published reach
  • Standard 21700 cell, USB-C on the light

What does not

  • No published IP rating on the page we read
  • No published candela, so the throw figure cannot be cross-checked
  • 2,800 lumens will step down quickly in a body this size

Skip this ifyou need a shelf-stable light. A rechargeable cell self-discharges; for a drawer light, CR123A primaries are the right answer.

Published specification

Output
2,800 lmFenix PD36R Pro — the brand's own listing on Amazon.com (retrieved September 1, 2026)
Peak intensity
not published
Beam distance
380 mListed as a 416-yard beam; converted to metersFenix PD36R Pro (416-yard beam) — the brand's own listing on Amazon.com (retrieved September 1, 2026)
Runtime
42 h maximumLowest mode; Fenix publishes the full per-mode tableFenix PD36R Pro — manufacturer spec page (retrieved September 1, 2026)
Battery
5,000 mAh 21700 Li-ion (included), USB-CFenix PD36R Pro — manufacturer spec page (retrieved September 1, 2026)
Weight
169 g (5.96 oz)Including batteryFenix PD36R Pro — manufacturer spec page (retrieved September 1, 2026)
Ingress
not published(Not stated on the page we read)
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Pick 3 · A simple two-mode light that will outlive you

SureFire G2X Pro

600 lumens, 8,700 candela, 1.5 hours, and two modes. The specification is modest; the point is that nothing on it can go wrong.

8,700 candela works out to a 186 m FL1 beam distance, which SureFire does not print. That is well short of the ProTac's 374 m on similar output, because SureFire deliberately builds a wider beam with more usable spill.

Two modes, low then high, with no strobe and no programming. On a light you might need in a hurry, that is a feature.

CR123A primaries hold their charge for a decade on a shelf. For a light that lives in a drawer against the worst night of your life, that matters more than rechargeability.

What works

  • Two modes, no menu, nothing to misconfigure
  • CR123A lithium cells with a ten-year shelf life
  • The most durable reputation in the category, earned over decades

What does not

  • 600 lumens and 8,700 candela are modest for the price in 2026
  • No published weight or ingress rating on the page we read
  • CR123A cells cost real money to run

Skip this ifyou buy on specification. Almost everything here beats it on paper; you are paying for reliability and simplicity instead.

Published specification

Output
600 lmHigh. Low is 15 lm.SureFire G2X Pro — manufacturer spec page (retrieved September 1, 2026)
Peak intensity
8,700 cdSureFire G2X Pro — manufacturer spec page (retrieved September 1, 2026)
Beam distance
not published(SureFire publishes candela, not distance)
Runtime
1.5 h on highSureFire G2X Pro — manufacturer spec page (retrieved September 1, 2026)
Battery
2 x CR123A lithiumSureFire G2X Pro — manufacturer spec page (retrieved September 1, 2026)
Weight
not published(Not stated on the page we read)
Ingress
not published(Not stated on the page we read)
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Pick 4 · The most output in a pocket-sized body

Olight Baton 4 Pro

1,600 lumens from something the size of a lipstick tube. The output is real and the runtime at that output is not the point.

1,600 lumens in a body this small is a thermal problem, not an optical one. Every light in this class steps down within a minute or two, and the honest way to read the number is as a burst.

Olight's magnetic charging is the best-executed version of the idea: no port to flood, no cable to thread, and the light sits on a dock.

We could only reach the brand's retail listing, so output and charging are the only figures we assert.

What works

  • The highest published output in the pocket class
  • Magnetic charging with no exposed port
  • Genuinely small

What does not

  • No sourced runtime, candela, beam distance or IP rating
  • Proprietary charger to lose
  • 1,600 lumens is a burst figure in a body this size

Skip this ifyou want to know how long it holds high. Without a published step-down table, the headline is unverifiable.

Published specification

Output
1,600 lmOlight Baton 4 Pro — the brand's own listing on Amazon.com (retrieved September 1, 2026)
Peak intensity
not published
Beam distance
not published
Runtime
not published
Battery
Rechargeable, magnetic chargingOlight Baton 4 Pro — the brand's own listing on Amazon.com (retrieved September 1, 2026)
Weight
not published
Ingress
not published

Questions people actually ask

Which flashlight brand is best?

Not a question we can answer honestly, because we have not handled these lights. What we can say is which brands publish enough for a buyer to verify their claims, and on the products we cover Streamlight publishes the most complete tables by a clear margin.

Is Fenix better than Olight?

They are close on build and output. Fenix publishes more — weights, maximum runtimes and battery capacities — while Olight's magnetic charging ecosystem is genuinely better executed. Which matters more depends on whether you want to check specifications or to charge conveniently.

Why do you compare disclosure rather than performance?

Because we have not tested these lights and will not pretend to have. Disclosure is something we can assess directly and it is a genuinely useful proxy: a maker who publishes candela, per-mode runtime and an impact rating has measured the light.

Does a longer-established brand build better flashlights?

There is no evidence for it in the specifications. SureFire has decades of history and publishes less than Streamlight; Wurkkos is a newer budget brand and publishes a CRI figure that most premium makers omit.

Should I stick to one brand for the charging ecosystem?

It is a real convenience, especially with Olight's magnetic system. The cost is that a proprietary cable becomes a single point of failure on a trip, and that you are locked out of better lights from other makers.

Sources

Every figure on this page came from one of the documents below, read on the date shown. We do not cite other review sites, forum posts or video reviews as sources of fact.

Read next

Two flashlights compared side by side

Olight vs Fenix

Olight against Fenix on disclosure, charging and cell strategy across the lights we cover.

A figure with a light on a dark street

Streamlight vs SureFire

The two American duty brands compared on documentation, power strategy and interface philosophy.

Two lights compared on a dark surface

Nitecore vs Fenix

Nitecore against Fenix: output per dollar against specification completeness, across headlamps and handhelds.

Found a number that is wrong? Tell us and we will fix it and say so. Our methodology shows every formula on this page.