Cheapest Flashlights Money can buy ( There About's )

[old4570]

I do not know what to expect !
For the $$ spent , I can't expect much . Butt & it's a huge butt ! Can I expect functional flashlights that actually produce some light ?
Years and years ago I purchased some Local $2 shop lights that were only just barely marginal at best . ( AAA batteries ) .
These appear to have internal cells that are USB rechargeable .

Hopefully the flashlight God will have these in my hands in less than 6 months so I can do a .............. Review ? or possibly a trash party

 

[Buff]

Don't know about those. If it looks too good to be true it probably is.
I recently discovered Convoy Flashlights. Well made and lots of options at a very low price.
I have purchased 4 in the last 4 months and use them all the time.
Another brand i have purchased in the past is Wurkkos. I have several and they get limited use since i started using Olight and Convoy.
Your examples show much bigger work lights that honestly haven't really looked at what Convoy or Wurkkos has in those sizes. I'll leave that up to you. Hope this helps.

 

[Claypole]

I friend of mine recently got a cheap flashlight similar to these from Temu. Built in battery with USB C charging and a COB light on the side.

It works, or at least it did when he showed it to me. It’s not particularly powerful, but you wouldn’t want it to be, seeing as it’s made of plastic.

I know these lights are really, really cheap, but that doesn’t mean they are good value for money. I personally wouldn’t entertain one. My mate seems happy with his though, so they do have their place in the market.

 

[old4570]

I bought these to see for myself as there is very little in the way of reviews posted on them that are not Advertising !
Yeah , I figure they are Cheap N Nasty , but the question in my mind is , how much so & are they useful at all ?

If they can compete with a 1980's Maglite ? For the money , it's neither here or there especially as I already own a few hundred flashlights .
( Spoiled for choice )

 

[PaladinNO]

Oof, those are painful just to look at...

Are those from Temu? That 3rd light looks concerningly familiar. My condolences if you actually bought them.
Yeah, you'll likely get working lights. As in, working for a very short time before they no longer work at all.

You want both cheap and more reliable lights, look at either Convoy or Sofirn.

convoy flashlight

convoy flashlight

convoylight.com

sofirn

sofirn

www.sofirnlight.com

I friend of mine recently got a cheap flashlight similar to these from Temu. Built in battery with USB C charging and a COB light on the side.

A friend of mine did the same. Just buying some cheap crap lights off of Temu. Those lights lasted about a month before the runtime was measured in seconds.

I bought him 2 Sofirn lights in similar designs, and those still works just fine 6 months later.

 

[old4570]

A) No I wanted these ..
B) I already own several hundred flashlights = Nitecore / etc .
C) I shop Ali ... No regional discrimination on products .
D) I used to be fully flashaholic ... These days I have reformed to a knifeaholic !

 

[Monocrom]

I'll buy a cheap light!..... But not if it runs off of lithium rechargeables.

 

[dc38]

I'll buy a cheap light!..... But not if it runs off of lithium rechargeables.

Let's start a company called CausesFire

 

[bluflaam777]

Let's start a company called CausesFire

You can misspell it CosFyr and sell them to the geeks a ComiCon as villain super-weapon...that backfires.

 

[Monocrom]

Let's start a company called CausesFire

The Arsonist's preferred brand. Insurance fraud approved.

 

[Monocrom]

You can misspell it CosFyr and sell them to the geeks a ComiCon as villain super-weapon...that backfires.

We'll make millions!

 

[snakebite]

Those are ewaste with a dangerous ewaste grade lithium ion battery.
Do you feel lucky?

 

[old4570]

Ok ............. Cheap N nasty lights have arrived !
All of them are as mentioned , internal Lipo me thinks .
All are PLASTIC .
All work .
All are being re charged VIA USB .
Charge rate has been under 0.25A
All are very light weight .
The two larger ones look to put out more light ( possibly ) than a incan flashlight . ( 2D )
All have Disco Mode or two .
They look to be .......... difficult to disassemble without destroying them . Yeah , id like to take a looks at their gut's !
.... maybe put in a bigger better battery or do a 18650 Mod . ( What the hell )

Hmmmm . I don't have a light box anymore .

 

[knucklegary]

Charge them outdoor... In fact,, I'd store them outside far away from any burnable structures

 

[Monocrom]

Wow.... The pics. look a lot better than the real thing.

 

[dc38]

Ok ............. Cheap N nasty lights have arrived !
All of them are as mentioned , internal Lipo me thinks .
All are PLASTIC .
All work .
All are being re charged VIA USB .
Charge rate has been under 0.25A
All are very light weight .
The two larger ones look to put out more light ( possibly ) than a incan flashlight . ( 2D )
All have Disco Mode or two .
They look to be .......... difficult to disassemble without destroying them . Yeah , id like to take a looks at their gut's !
.... maybe put in a bigger better battery or do a 18650 Mod . ( What the hell )

Hmmmm . I don't have a light box anymore .

View attachment 75191

You don't need a lightbox, you just need appropriate diffuser wands with the same light transmittance, and a lux meter. Calibrate the distance between the lux meter and a light with a known lumen value, and you should be pretty much set to go.

I developed this method because the diffusers behave as a lightbox, and any light that does make it through such a filter could be considered a cross sectional luminous flux, based on plumbing and electrical flux.

Physically, looks like this:


||Flashlight>diffuser wand
||
||
||
||__________lux meter

I used a chemist's ringstand as it's adjustable and i got it for cheap, but I'm sure you could build a motor based or worm gear based pillar to make microadjustments.

 

[old4570]

Yeah , not going there ! Just not that interested any more ! Power levels are such now that , I might be more interested in efficiency rather than pure power ! I purchased these out of curiosity rather than animosity . U know , just the facts jack !

 

[old4570]

OK - Time for a deep dive !

Ok ................................
Battery is a 14500 ..
Pictured is the driver ...
I was able to take some current measurements ,
hi - 0.21A to 0.3A ( Variable ) Sorry , left out the 0.
med - 0.1 to 0.15A ( Variable )
Low - 0.03 to 0.06A ( Variable )

So not Hi powered , and the battery burning down your house = Highly Possible !
Why ?
Cos when I tried to RE assemble there was a blue flash - some acrid smoke - and the driver was dead ! ( ????? )
An obvious short ! But where / why / hu ? Anyhow , driver is dead so no need to re assemble .
Did the bare wire from the board contact ? Something else on the board ? Who knows .... One cheap light DEAD !

Risk ? Id say about the same as any other LED flashlight that runs a 14500 . ( Do I need to test the capacity on the battery ? )

= 270mAh @ 100mAh discharge to 3 volts

 

[old4570]

Ok , the next one !
Sorry , didn't measure the battery ( Dimensions ) or capacity ..
I did measure current .
Hi - 1.15A
Lo - 0.33A
Side Light / Panel - 0.15A
Hmmm , 5 emitters and 1.15A ... 200mAh per ? ( Averaged out ) Yeah ......
What I really liked was the side light / panel @ 0.15A , I really like that . For walking around in dark places it really puts out nice flood !
Light went back together Easy ! But looking at the picture , some of those wires are ? to the Max .. Lower Left of the driver board ..
Maybe some glue . ( Stat )

 

[old4570]

And the last one .. PITA to dis assemble and re assemble .
Trying to put it back together again I needed 3 hands , I only have two .
The neg wire on the battery broke off and I just ripped the + wire off and put the battery in the charger for a discharge .
The rest of the junk went into the bin ( rubbish that is ) .

Current measurements :
hi - 0.5A
lo - 0.3A
Side light / panel - 0.3A
The battery is a 18650 in this one , maybe one of those old 1500mAh ones ? ( Maybe ) I was 50% wrong ... 742mAh @ 500mAh discharge to 3volts
Find out when I do the discharge !
This was a fact finding mission ...
Out of 3 lights dis assembled , only one went back together without issue ..
And that light might (?) deserve a 18650 mod , if I feel like it !
A externally loaded battery .