• The brightest flashlight is now the Imalent M18 which shines at 100,000 lumens. It costs about $670.
• Another very bright flashlight is the Acebeam X70 shines at 60,000 lumens. It costs around $550.

The Brightest Compact Flashlights and Headlamps

• The Acebeam X80-GT is the brightest compact flashlight — it shines with an impressive 32500 lumens. It costs around $280.
• The brightest headlamp is the Lupine Betty Rx14 — it shines with 5000 lumens and costs around $1095.
• The brightest flashlight that uses AA cells is the Nitecore EA81. It shines at 2150 lumens. It takes eight AA batteries and costs about $120.
• The brightest headlamp that uses AA cells is the Fenix 15-U — the maximum output is 900 lumens. See a full review.
• The brightest headlamp that uses 16580 cells is ThruNite TH30 — maximum output is 3350 lumens
• Surefire has released the Titan Plus, a new keychain flashlight that produces 300 lumens at the highest light mode. It costs about $81. See the full review.

Brightest Compact Light: Acebeam X-80-GT

The Acebeam X8-GT0 shines at 32500 lumens — impressive for such a compact light!

It runs on six 18650 rechargeable batteries and has a beam range of 525 meters.

It is waterproof and impact resistant to 1.2 meters.

Home page: Acebeam

Another Bright Compact Flashlight: Thrunite TN36 UT

The Thrunite TN36 UT6 is a compact flashlight that outputs an impressive 7300 lumens. It runs on four 18650 rechargeable batteries. It’s waterproof to IPX-8 Standard (1.5 meters) and impact resistant to 2 meters.

The Thrunite TN36 UT6 is available on Amazon for about $230

The Brightest LED Flashlight That Uses AA Batteries: Nitecore EA81

The brightest flashlight with AA batteries is the Nitecore EA81, which shines at 2000 lumens. It takes eight AA batteries and costs about $200.

It’s waterproof to IPX-8 Standard (1.5 meters) and impact resistant to 1.5 meters.

The Nitecore EA81 is available on Amazon for about $280.

The Brightest Keychain Flashlight: Titan Plus

Surefire has released the Titan Plus, a keychain flashlight that produces 300 lumens in its highest light mode. Before this release, the brightest keychain light produced about 80-120 lumens, so this threefold increase is significant.

I’ve purchased this light and will be testing it soon. The 300-lumen mode lasts about 1 hour using a AAA Ni-MH battery.

All Surefire flashlights are designed and built in the USA, although some components are still sourced outside the US. Surefire says:

We do import a few components – most notably, the finest light emitting diodes (LEDs) from top-notch manufacturers outside the country – to incorporate into our products. All of that said, we do rely on as many American-made parts and components as possible, and the assembly of these components is done under our watchful eye in the U.S. to ensure optimal quality.

The Titan Plus is available from Amazon for about $81.

The post The Brightest LED Flashlights appeared first on Reactual.

Best Design: The Z-Bar Mini LED Desk Lamp

The slender Z-Bar High Power LED Desk Lamp features high-tech power-saving LED bulbs in a minimalist frame. With its angular black aluminum housing and unique pivot, it belongs on a Berlin engineer’s desk or in the lobby of an upscale New York architect.

The ingenious design extends beyond aesthetics; this is a seriously bright light that uses very little energy. The Z-Bar’s six daylight white LEDs generate about 240 lumens of light and only expends 9 watts of energy.

If 9 watts is still too much energy usage for your taste, activate the built-in 4-step dimming function to produce a softer light for even less wattage. This feature works incredibly well when you are unwinding prior to bedtime. Lower the light before you fall asleep to adjust your brain to get ready for bed.

The thin circular base is weighted to keep the light from tipping over, and adjustable joints can be placed in almost any position without tightening or loosening knobs or screws, simply move the light to where you need it and the lamp will hold to form.

The Z-Bar is the winner of I.D. Magazine “best of category” award. It is available on Amazon for around $300.

Best Overall: Lumiy Lightblade 1500S

If you find your desk lamp’s brightness underwhelming, buy a Lightblade and let there be light. This is the LED desk lamp for those who want only the brightest crispest replica of perfect natural light. With 1100 lux of brightness and a high CRI, the Lightblade can transform even the dreariest space into a warm and bright zone of productivity.

The Lightblade’s radiant lighting comes from its cool and warm white LED’s for a color rendering index of over 90 CRI. A light’s CRI determines its ability to accurately display an object’s full color. The higher the CRI, the more faithfully the color is displayed as if it would be in natural light. The Lightblade’s high CRI makes it a perfect choice for artists and other professionals who require brilliant vibrant colors.

The lamp has other desirable features, including an omnidirectional pivoting head for better control of the lighting. It also has touch sensors that control brightness and monitor energy expenditure.

The Lumiy Lightblade 1500S is available on Amazon for about $100.

Best Value: TaoTronics Smart LED Desk Lamp

The TaoTronics LED Desk Lamp is perfect for those who want bright light at an affordable price. 30 dollars gets you  410 lumens of power and up to 11 levels of brightness, perfect for any setting. The best feature of this lamp is its versatility. It includes 5 color modes, which function as temperatures that you can adjust depending on your need. The soft uniform light is ideal for reading and doesn’t flicker like other value options, while the natural light is perfect before bed. It also has an incredible lifespan. According to the manufacturer, this lamp is rated to last for 50,000 hours and uses 75% less energy than incandescent lights with similar brightness.

The Smart LED desk lamp also looks elegant.  An adjustable gooseneck gives further control over light positioning and brightness, while the blend of silver metal looks modern and can fit in any room. 

The TaoTronics LED Desk Lamp is available on Amazon for about $30.

Most Customizable: The Softech DL-90 Multi-Function LED Desk Lamp

Softech‘s latest LED desk lamp offers an astounding amount of customization for total brightness control. You decide the lighting mode you want and the DL-90 will conform to your request. The lamp has 27 high-power daylight LEDs with a 90+ CRI that comes extraordinarily close to natural light.

The lamp has four distinct lighting modes and 40 brightness levels in total for total precision. The first two modes are for desk work: a reading mode with mid-range colors (4300K-5300K) that are easy on the eyes, and a study mode which has a high range color temperature (6000K-7000K). The lamp can also be switched to a relaxation mode and a sleep mode — these have softer, warm color temperatures.

This lamp uses 10 watts or less of power to provide light equivalent to a 100-watt incandescent bulb. It lasts about 40,000 hours or 20 years of normal use. An automatic turn-off feature extends lamp life even further.

The Softech DL-90 lamp is available from Amazon for about $70.

Most Versatile: BYB E-430

Clamp-on desk lamps are a great option for those working who need high-quality illumination but are working with limited desk space. The award-winning design of BYB’s E-430 dimmable LED desk lamp delivers energy-efficient lighting from a slender device latched onto the side of your desk. It has a swivel lock socket that tilts in any direction, whether it’s on the desk or not. The adjustable arm is matched by a flexible head and includes built-in dimming strips.

It delivers 4 lighting modes and 6 levels of brightness, ranging from study mode to bedtime mode. We also like that the lamp is rated for 50,000 hours and comes with a 5-year warranty.

The BYB E-430 is available on Amazon for around $110.

Best Smart Design: TaoTronics TT-DL27 Desklamp

Take advantage of four distinct lighting modes with this versatile smart LED desk lamp from TaoTronics. You can set the lamp to sleep mode, study mode, reading mode, or relax mode, each delivering a customized LED distribution designed to satisfy your needs. And if study mode is likely to become sleep mode, you can just activate the 1-hour off timer on the lamp to make sure it shuts off as you drift to sleep.

I also enjoyed that you can swivel, rotate, and bend the head and neck of the lamp to fit your lighting needs. Just tilt the head to activate a wide 62cm2 area of light, enough to illuminate your entire desk area. The metal arm and sturdy base are hallmarks of great construction, making sure the light doesn’t fail on you.

The TaoTronics LED Desklamp is available for around $35.

The post The Best LED Desk Lamps appeared first on Reactual.

Almost every professional Christmas light installer uses conical LEDs for their displays. Conical LEDs are waterproof and snowproof because the LED is injected molded into the plastic cordage. Conical LEDs are also 25% brighter than an incandescent indoor Christmas light. The brightness comes from the intensity of the LEDs and the magnification of the conical lens.

The Details On Conical LED Lights

Overall, LED lights are a great choice for Christmas because the lights almost never fail, and they are impervious to freezing temperatures. They are also much more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs. For this reason you can string up to 40 sets of LEDs together, and plug them into a normal electrical socket.

Conical LEDs are not recommended for indoor use due to their intensity (M5 or C6 LEDs are a better choice inside).

Conical 5mm LEDs are available from Amazon.

The post The Brightest and Most Durable Christmas Lights appeared first on Reactual.

The Brightest Keychain Flashlight: Titan Plus

I received this flashlight, and it’s very bright and solidly constructed. I personally carry this light on my keychain. But others might find it too large — if this is the case, I would recommend the compact ThruNite Ti3 (see below).

All Surefire flashlights are designed and built in the USA, although some components are still sourced outside the US. The company says:

We do import a few components – most notably, the finest light emitting diodes (LEDs) from top-notch manufacturers outside the country – to incorporate into our products. All of that said, we do rely on as many American-made parts and components as possible, and the assembly of these components is done under our watchful eye in the U.S. to ensure optimal quality.

The Titan Plus is available from Amazon for about $90.

The Brightest Compact Keychain Light: ThruNight Ti3

The brightest compact keychain flashlight, the ThruNite Ti3 shines with 120 lumens in its highest mode. This is a very small light — it’s only 2.76 inches (70mm) in length. Its body is a titanium alloy, and at 0.56 ounces (16 grams) — this makes it one of the lightest keychain lights.

The ThruNite Ti3 uses just one AAA battery and costs about $13. It’s fully IPX-8 waterproof — it can be submerged up to 2 meters.

Here is the ThruNite Ti3 in action on its highest mode:

Personally, it’s all the light I need to travel through the forest at night.

One negative for me — when the Ti3 is first turned on, it starts in “firefly” mode (.5 lumens), and it requires a couple of more twists to get it to”medium” mode (12 lumens). However, if you keep the light off between 2 to 10 seconds and then turn it on, the light will turn on in the last mode accessed, thankfully.

The ThruNite Ti3 is available at Amazon for around $14.

The post The Brightest EDC Flashlight (300 Lumens) appeared first on Reactual.

The Details

Ultraviolet light is the preferred light source of TV crime scene investigators on the hunt for body fluids. Distinguished by its trademark purple glow, it has a wavelength that is shorter than visible light but longer than X-rays, in the range of 10 nanometers to 400 nanometers. It is useful to make fluorescent substances glow that can’t otherwise be seen by the naked eye. Portable UV light used to be too unwieldy and expensive for consumer purposes, but that all changed after ultraviolet light emitting LEDs were introduced in 2006. They are now widely available in flashlight form.

These flashlights are most often used to detect fraudulent documents such as fake IDs, see watermarks, read invisible ink or investigate crime scenes. They can also be used to “fluoresce” scorpions and certain types of minerals, and charge “glow-in-the-dark” object like fishing lures. Use them to protect your businesses from counterfeit money and your home from pointy tailed pests.

Gallium Indium Nitride UV Flashlight

This Gallium Indium Nitride UV flashlight gets great ratings from Amazon buyers, so we thought we’d include it here. Reviewers were impressed by the flashlight’s durability, and the fact that it emits 365 nm UV light, which is at the very edge of our visible range. The light from this flashlight appears as a dim purple-blue to the eye, but when it shines on items that fluoresce they light up brightly.

It uses three AAA batteries — we recommend using low self-discharge AAA rechargeable batteries like Eneloop Pros in this flashlight.

The post The Best Ultraviolet LED Flashlights appeared first on Reactual.

This LED headlamp is capable of outputting 900 lumens in “burst” mode — but only for 30 seconds at at time (it must cool down afterwards).

However, in “high mode” it outputs 400 lumens and lasts an average of 3.5 hours in this mode.

The headlamp has regulated output, so it doesn’t dim as battery voltage drops, however the higher brightness settings eventually become unavailable. In mixed usage consisting of approximately 75% medium and 25% high, the high setting becomes unavailable after about 5 hours using 2300 mAh batteries.

The  Fenix 15-UE weighs 5.4 ounces (154 grams), this is excluding batteries and headlamp straps.

The photo at the top of the page shows the 15-UE in “burst mode”. Here is an example of it in action in “high mode”:

The maximum beam reach of the 15-UE is 583 feet (178 meters). The headlamp is IPX-6 Water Resistant –basically, this means it is splash proof but not submersible.

The LEDs used in this lamp are Cree XM-L2 U2 —  these are the highest-performing, commercially available single-die LEDs.

The Fenix 15-UE is available at Amazon for around $63.

The post The Brightest Headlamp That Uses AA Batteries (900 Lumens) appeared first on Reactual.

My recommendation for the best portable LED worklight is the Maxxeon Workstar. I just used this light to change a car tire in the dark, and the solid floodlight beam really helped. I haven’t found a portable floodlight that can rival the brightness and beam quality of this light. It shines with 270 lumens on its high setting, and 90 lumens on its low setting.

The Details

The Maxxeon Workstar has a fresnel-like lens that creates a floodlight beam with no shadows or rings. The light lasts two hours on high, and eight hours on low. The neck of the light rotates 360-degrees and the head also tilts 180 degrees.

The body of the Maxxeon Workstar feels very durable, and it has two embedded neodymium rare-earth magnets, allow you to attach the light to metallic objects. It also has a standard camera tripod socket in the base — very handy. I don’t care for the faux carbon fiber finish  — it isn’t worthy of this work light.

The Maxxeon Workstar is available on Amazon for about $55.

Other Alternatives

Festool Work Light

The Festool LED Work Lamp is made in Germany by Festool, which  has a good reputation for built quality. The Festool Work Lamp is designed to illuminate a 170-degree work area with even light. This expensive ($175) light has a ruggedized body, and an array of six 3 watt LEDs which produce a clear, white light. It is powered by a lithium-ion battery, and shines for 90 minutes on high, and 4 hours on low. Unfortunately, I could not find a lumen rating for this light published anywhere. However, owners rave around its brightness and its ruggedness, so if you can afford this light it might be worth it.

The Festool LED Work Lamp is available on Amazon for around $175.

Milwaukee LED Work Light

The closest alternative to this light is the Milwaukee LED Work Light. Priced around $24, this light is less expensive than the Maxxeon Workstar, but it is also not as bright, shining at 160 lumens (using a Cree XRE LED). The built quality doesn’t feel as durable, and according to reviews on Amazon the light will fade in time.

The post The Best LED Worklight Of 2016 appeared first on Reactual.

Which is best, green or red light? Well, it’s the total brightness of the light that has the most significant effect on night vision retention, so you’ll want a light that allows you to easily adjust brightness. Our eyes are more sensitive to green light, which means you need much less green light than red light to see something, giving green light an edge. See a detailed discussion of this topic here or here.

Here are a couple of top rated flashlights optimized for night vision:

Streamlight 14003 Sidewinder LED Flashlight

The Streamlight Sidewinder is a popular choice because it of its dimming features — it can light an entire room, or it can be dimmed to a task light level. The flashlight incorporates four different colors of LEDs: white, red, green and blue. Each LED lamp features four levels of brightness: Low (5%), Medium (20%), Medium-High (50%), High (100%) plus a Strobe function (100%).

The Streamlight Sidewinder is available at Amazon for about $59.

Smith & Wesson Galaxy 12-LED Flashlight

The Smith & Wesson Galaxy 12 is a versatile LED flashlight, featuring eight white, two red, and two blue LEDs. The ultra bright white LEDs offer general lighting and visibility within 20 feet, and red and blue LEDs for low-light viewing. The battery life is 30-hours using three AAA batteries.

The Galaxy 12 received an average of 4.4 of out 5 stars from 17+ Amazon reviewers.

The Smith & Wesson Galaxy 12 LED Flashlight is available at Amazon for about $23.

The post The Best Flashlights For Retaining Night Vision appeared first on Reactual.