I don't see any SureFire reviews with lumen measurements higher than claimed in the specs either....IE: SF's claimed lumens were lower than Selfbuilt's review measurements.
Perspective:
The review measurement is of ONE sample.
The ANSI test requires an AVERAGE of THREE samples.
Statistically, three samples is too few IMHO, but, I'm sure costs are to blame, etc.
That means that if the THREE lights that SF, or Thrunite, or NiteCore, or whatever....AVERAGED say 800 lumens, NONE OF THEM might have actually been AT 800 lumens.
One might have been at 700, and one at 750, and one at 950 lumens.
So, which random out put between 700 - 950 L, did Selfbuilt, or HJK, or TurboBB, etc, get to test/review?
If they got a 700, did the manufacturer overstate the rating? If they got a 950, did the manufacturer understate the rating?
No to both.
LED out put can vary a lot, if its even +/- 10%, 800 lumens could be 880 or 720 Lumens.
As the LEDS are randomly installed w/o testing each one...there's no WAY a modern mass produced light can have EVERY light be AT the claimed spec....unless they claim the lowest salient low output as their spec....which their competition is not doing, and which costs them in a competitive market. SF is not doing that obviously, as SB's review showed the lights he tested at below their stated ANSI specs.
Most will go with the average as ANSI requires, and cite compliance with ANSI, which is fair, even if it might not be 100% representative of every light.
So, in real life, with real life variables...a light that tested at 700 L and a light that tested at 900 L might have the same average ANSI output.
So if you BUY a model XYZ rated at 800 L, it might be above or below that by that margin...just due to normal production variables.
The ODDS of an ANSI rated 900 L light being brighter than a different light with a 800 L ANSI rating ARE better, but, the light you pull from the box MIGHT be dimmer, or brighter, than its rating.
So, if you buy a 100 of each, MOST of the higher rated ones will be brighter, and MOST of the lower rated ones will be dimmer...but, not 100% per se.
The lights that quote strange out puts that rival HIDs with single 18650 cells driving T6 LED's, etc, on websites where lights have crusts and "explosion flash" modes, etc...well, they are not even claiming emitter lumens let alone OTF figures...they are just pulling numbers out of a large hat....THEY'RE the ones the reviews really need to catch...not for most of us jaded cynics...but for the great unwashed who googled their way here from the dark interweb....and what they read about a light is in a vacuum.
