You can't SEE lumens, you can only see lux. So, when people try to compare lights with various lumen out puts, they really can't....what they really see are the lux, which are a function of the beam angle if the lumens are the same for example.
IE: I can have a 131 lumen maglight and a 600 lumen Klarus XT11, and point them both at a wall, and everyone will say the maglight is brighter...because its 131 lumens are all concentrated into one small hot spot, which then glares back to the eye as a high lux value that constricts your pupils and is perceived as "Bright". The XT11's 600 lumens are more spread out, and therefore the lux values are smaller, but over a wider area.
So, humans suck at comparing lumens...and also suck at lux when the lux value reaches a point where our eyes start to stop down.
My 500 lumen SF Fury and my 600 lumen XT for example are very close in beam pattern, with the Fury being just a smidge less floody, so, the XT11 is slightly more useful to me in that regard. I greatly prefer the UI on the XT11 though, so the Fury sits in a back-up spot, and the XT11 is EDC'd.
Lumens alone are not always a great way to compare lights. You also want to know the cd (Lux at 1 meter, etc...) to get a feel for the maximum range of the light.
To choose a light, I have a task for it in mind. That task might involve a certain range or ranges, and, a certain area that gets lit up at a time, at a range of brightness (Lux on target).
For example....for gun sights, most people like ~ 1-2 lux on target as a MINIMUM. The RANGE that you GET 1 lux at, for example, is the square root of the cd for the light. The ANSI rating for the RANGE of a light is based upon 0.25 lux on target, which will make the number of meters of PUBLISHED range way too optimistic for that USE.
(You get 1/4 the lux at double the distance)
If you know the beam angle, you can predict the size of the spot of light at any given range.
So, if doing a search for an unknown target or target set in a large area, you typically want the light as spread out as possible, so you see as much as possible at a time...and not be "trying to see through a paper towel tube type view".
So a wide floody beam is preferred.
For some scenarios, such as dense foliage where a floody beam will over-light your foreground too much/glare, combat-type environments where too much spill will expose your concealment or buddies' positions, etc, and distances where the SIZE of the flashlight means you HAVE to concentrate the beam just to REACH a target, etc, a tight beam is preferred.
When you roll all of the above together, you can choose alight beam that will do what you need done....and then choose a light that HAS that beam of light coming out of it.
After THAT, you narrow it to one that has a UI that works in the intended scenario.