Olight vs Fenix

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.

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

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.

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

A 3,400 mAh 18650 at a nominal 3.6 V is 12.2 watt-hours. That is more energy than a Petzl NAO RL carries, in a lamp 5 g lighter, because a bare 18650 is a more efficient package than a molded pack.

It is also the only headlamp in this set whose battery you can replace at a checkpoint for three dollars, because 18650 is a standard cell and not a proprietary brick.

IP68 rather than IPX4 is the second real difference. This one survives being dropped in water; most of the running lamps here do not.

Skip this ifyou count grams. A Swift LT does the camp job at 43 g; you are carrying 97 g extra for reach and a removable cell.

3,000 lumens at 160 m tells you this is a flood-biased beam. For comparison, a Petzl Swift RL reaches 168 m on 1,200 lumens — more distance from 40 percent of the output, because distance comes from intensity, not from lumens.

The two-in-one design is the real selling point. A right-angle light that clips to a pocket and also mounts on a strap replaces two tools.

Marketing copy calling it waterproof without an IP number is exactly the kind of claim we will not repeat as a specification.

Skip this ifyou want distance. The published figures say flood; a 1,200-lumen Petzl reaches further.

A 16340 holds about 2.9 watt-hours. At 1,200 lumens that is a few minutes before the driver steps it down, which is normal and worth understanding before you buy on the headline.

The tail switch is what separates this from the twist-and-hope keychain class: momentary on with your thumb, without changing your grip.

Very short overall length makes it disappear in a coin pocket, which is the real reason people carry it.

Skip this ifyou need sustained light. The cell is too small to hold high output for long and nothing in the design changes that.

630 m works back to about 99,200 candela. That is a genuine thrower: nearly three times the ProTac HL-X's intensity from twice the lumens, which means a much tighter hotspot.

The trade is spill. At that concentration you get a bright circle and very little else, which is superb across a field and awkward in a corridor.

No published runtime is a real gap on a light this bright. Sustained output is the question a 2,600-lumen thrower most needs to answer.

Skip this ifyou work indoors. The beam is built for distance and it is the wrong tool inside a building.