Cheap LED flashlights

Just wanted to find out if our friends in the US and elsewhere have been able to get hold of the numerous LED lights made in China. We have seen a flooding in the market of aluminum LED lights ranging from 9LEDs to 16, 21, 28, 32 and 36 LEDs. With 3aaa to 6aaa. I tried several and found them to very good - for the price.

It comes out to (converted to US $) $1.80 for the 9 LED all the way to $5.50 for the 32 LED! And this includes batteries!!! (Of course cheapo ones.) Am just wondering why the name brands cost so much as I learned from reading a lot in these forums. Is there really an advantage in quality and reliability?

They look the same as most of what I have seen in these forums except maybe for cheaper looking packaging.

I enjoy collecting lights and am very glad I joined CPF. More power to all.

Hrmm... we have no shortage of the cheap multi LED lights but in my experience, they have ranged from good to decent to less than great to crappy. Most issues seem to be with the switches. The one that has the hexagonal head and tailcap with the smooth round shaft are about the worst.

Also, the quality of LEDs have been less than stellar. The most recent 8LED XNovas are brighter than an 18 or 19LED 3xAAA light which was the brightest I had previously. And the 7x7mm light that runs on 3xAAA available from Emilion's is impressive as well.

I have to admit, I have bough quite a few cheapies from ebay and a few
from department stores, on average most seemed to be ok, while the
rest were realy crappy, ranging from bad switches, poor tint, short runtime,
bad threads, and loose components. These are used only as my secondary
lights

I guess they're "fun" to play with, take apart to see what makes them "tick" & see what type of mod could possibly happen - but in general, I've tried to stay away from some of the "more inexpensive" lights.

Most of the time the ole' "you get what you pay for applies", though there are indeed exceptions to that rule.

A fair amount of market saturation is taking place with them as well. I have a few I've given out, but I feel to give them away and have them fail early on - is a reflection on me.

I'd rather put a little extra money towards "gift lights" for a little more quality.

Strictly my opinion...

A year ago, mediocre multi-LED lights were considered cheap at about $10. Today, the very good quality Nuwai TM-313X half watt 1AA led light is available from J2LED for $10 each plus shipping. The cost differential between good and cheap (in the insulting sense) lights is shrinking with time. I look forward to further downward movement for the price of good LED lights.

Thanks for the feedback. As for me, I got several cheap LEDs just to use for emergencies in the car and in different places around the house to make it accessible to everyone.

f1rchifi said:

Thanks for the feedback. As for me, I got several cheap LEDs just to use for emergencies in the car and in different places around the house to make it accessible to everyone.

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Indeed you bring up good justification for the inexpensive lights! I totally agree!

Some time ago when the CMG Reactors first came out (yeah, who remembers those?! :thumbsdow ) I latched onto "several" for gifts. Well in "those days" (hey it really wasn't all that long ago!), the "Luxeon Lottery" was in play in a MAJOR way!!

So instead of giving them out, they hang around the house with glowrings on them for emergency purposes!

I've had my fair share of these cheap LED lights and other than those I kept unused & still working, those that I used frequently are already faulty & have thrown them away, mostly the switch, ocasionally one or two of the LEDs doesn't light up.

I guess its best to invest a little more in better quality lights.

I've sold hundreds of these no-named Chinese LED flashlights. However there are differences concerning quality and reliability when compared to brand flashlights (Maglite, Surefire, Nuwai), you really can't complain about what you get for what you pay. It's a good way to introduce LED technology to people (yes, it's quite new over here)!

Actually I was surprised at the output of the 32LED versions. Its really blinding and bright. Throw is quite reasonable but more than enough to cover an area around the backyard etc. It uses 6AAA in series (inside 2 holders) but I tried it with just 3AAA and its still bright. Can't figure out how to attach a pic I saw in another site to show those interested.

Some of the units had 1 LED out already but the rest still work fine. For $5 its not bad at all.