Well ... I see it this way:
Most "premium" flashlight makers are charging a premium price for their products, and those products are often over-engineered (and consequently over-priced) for the kind of casual use most of us subject them to. In fact, most high-end flashlights on the market today are engineered for use as "tactical" lights for military, law enforcement and emergency services personnel. Like with a Mercedes car, most of us don't really
need the degree of strength and quality that's baked into those lights, but some people like the cachet associated with them and are willing to pay the price to "drive" the best.
In fact, most budget lights use Cree emitters, as stated, so the main desirable component is there. If the body of the light won't quite stand up to Taliban gunfire, the threads aren't ISO 9000 quality, the soldering is a little gobby, and the anodizing won't pass SOCOM standards, it really matters very little to most of us. What matters is that the price is low enough to allow us to have 3 or 5 of them for the price of one of the premiums.
Now, the batteries are an area where we have to be educated and a bit careful, since misuse or defective products can cause problems. But as long as we deal with reputable sellers and manufacturers we should be safe. And I don't label Ultrafire and Trustfire batteries as automatically suspect.
So I view budget lights more as "mainstream lights" than as inferior lights. But I don't drive a Mercedes, either.
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