Any good rechargeable (Lithium based?) flashlight?

Hey guys,

I had enough of these 9.99$ rechargeable flashlight/spotlight (a big flashlight). They don't last 8 minutes on batteries, and the charge gets lost quickly even when the flashlight is not in use!

Now, I am a total newbie to flashlights. I was wondering if a rechargeable flashlight/spotlight existed with Lithium (I think) batteries that will hold the charge longer, and give me more than 8 minutes light?

And what is the difference with LED vs tradition flashlights? should I look for an LED one?

Thanks, I hope my post don't sound too stupid.

Might be some time before anyone helps you as most people would recommend a search but as a relative new boy myself i will try and help.
I use Lithium Ion batteries that can be charged hundreds of times. The two sizes i use are 18650 and 14500. Fenix, Dereelight, Nitecore and many others can use these or traditional batteries(primaries). The Lithium give high voltage and good energy density but many people like NiMh batteries that are lower voltage but easier to find and simpler to charge(lithium is not complicated but you need to know a few basic rules for safety). All the LED lights that use these batteries wil blow away your standard Maglight by a serious margin. they are small efficient and very bright. Fenix are cheap and well made but i prefer Dereelight and Wolf Eyes. search and you will find. LED's are efficient and very durable compared to incandescent but HID is in between with high durability and very bright but take time to warm up. HID is expensive and generally for very high output. Check out Fenix first and see what you think.

If your can use a flashlight where your take the batteries out to recharge, there is a wide selection.

Some brands to check: Fenix, Olight, Dereelight
They all make good flashlight and some models can be used with rechargable batteries. For LiIon I would recommend 18650 batteries, for AA or AAA look for the eneloop brand.
Most lights can run a bit more than an hour at full power and 10+ hours at a lower level.

Do you want a LED based light or an incandescent? There are a couple of rechargeable lights that use Li-Ion batteries. What are you going to use the light for? How much do you want to spend? These questions need to be answered to help you decide what light is best for you.

generally Led offers more runtime, while incan will give more light (with dramatically increased size but reduced runtime)
But up to fist filling lights, Led also brighter, and they are more versatile: most of the better lights offer You the ability to give several light levels, so You have "more" lights in one package

very high quality, cheap, long running, low output light You should consider: Fenix E01
... because is enough for most of the chores one might think of and not expensive by what You, till now, think is expensive

larger lights to recommend (again: led, as this is up to fist size):
* Fenix L2D / LD20 ... when You want to use AA cells (Ni-Mhs will give more output)
* then there are a bunch of 2 CR123 lights, but I dont like these cells (too expensive) and dont recommend these lights, and finally
* brutally bright fist sized lights - these run on one 18650 Li-Ion cell, like the Jetbeam Jet III models (jet III stands for 18650 cell)
they need a special lithium ion rechargeable cell (get "protected" cells) and special charging equpiment like but that is cheaper than good Ni-Mh parts.
If You dont have Ni-Mh cells and good charger, skip the 2 AA lights and go the 18650 route.


(not to forget: the really bright lights are modded Maglites - search for ROP)

yellow said:

generally Led offers more runtime, while incan will give more light (with dramatically increased size but reduced runtime)

Click to expand...

Incan does not give more light, usual less, but you can make incan brighter than leds.

To compete with a 3W led, your need a 10W incan, but your can get incan with more than 100W. This makes it possible for incan to surpass leds, but they need a lot of battery power to do it!

Inova T4 is the best "turn-key" rechargeable light available. That and the Pelican light....

You don't have to use Lithium batteries to get good performance.

Lets compare numbers:

3D Maglite:
$15-30 USD,
6100-6200 lux at 1 meter(larger reflector = more throw)
35-40 lumen
1 hour to 50% output

Romisen RC-N3 Q5:
$24.45 USD shipped from Shiningbeam(less with the 6% off coupon "CPFuser")
2700-3000 lux at 1 meter(much smaller reflector)
60-70 lumen with 2 AA
Around 3 hours to 50%

On average the RC-N3 Q5(Q5 is the flux bin of the Cree XR-E LED used in the light), is a bit more expensive and has less throw then the 3D Maglite but it has more output. The 3D Maglite has a much larger size(the larger reflector is the only reason why it has that much throw), and has 10-20 times more battery capacity(depends on the brand) then the RC-N3 Q5 yet the Mag has less runtime and less output then the smaller 2AA light.

If you don't mind comparing something more expensive, the Fenix TK20 should hit around 150 lumen and 6100-6200 lux at 1 meter. $65 shipped from Fenix Store/4sevens before the 8% off coupon "CPF8".

:welcome:

Hey guys, sorry for my late reply.

I was looking for a spotlight (a bigger flaslight I guess) that comes with a cradle and lithium batteries.

So you can leave the spotlight on the cradle, and when you need it, just lift it and use it.

Or maybe nothing like this exists?

jobol said:

So you can leave the spotlight on the cradle, and when you need it, just lift it and use it.

Or maybe nothing like this exists?

Click to expand...

I believe you can find something like that. I'm not familiar with any because I don't mind opening the light and swapping out the batteries.

You've stumbled on a site where flashlights are far more than what you might think. Picture walking into Home Depot and simply asking for "a screw." That's kind of where you're at right now. Spend a little time and read some posts. You're going to get a lot of strange words thrown at you really fast. I suggest checking out this thread first, to become accustomed to some of what we do here.

:welcome:

Look at the Pelican 7060. There are also a few others but I can't remember them off the top of my head.