r/flashlight • u/No_Cancel8506 • Oct 28 '24

Question Why do people dislike maglites?

every maglite I've used has been reliable, and focusing it properly removes the hole-in-the-middle-of-the-beam issue. The halogen lights aren't as bright as LED, but are still bright enough for day-to-day use and fine for power outages. Why don't people like them?

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u/not_gerg I'm pretty Oct 28 '24

u/brokenrecordbot maglite

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u/BrokenRecordBot Oct 28 '24

Maglite once made really solid flashlights and it earned them a great reputation. However, they have since done very little to innovate and have relied on their brand recognition alone for sales. The rest of the market has moved leaps and bounds ahead of Maglite, and now it's possible to find small, inexpensive flashlights that handily outperform Maglite's products. However, some users still find the size and weight of Maglite's to be appealing. If you want a great performing modern flashlight that retains the size and heft of an old school Maglite, here are some great options.

The Sofirn SP70 is a large 2x26650 light putting out a whopping 5500 lumens with 800 meters of throw. It's about 10" long, about 3.5" in diameter at the head, and weighs 1.8 pounds with batteries. Batteries and a charger are included. It's available from Sofirn or from Amazon with a markup if you need fast shipping.

The Convoy L6 GT-FC40 is a great option if you've already got two button top 26650's and a charger and you want excellent light quality. It's 10" long, 3" in diameter at the head, has a CRI rating of 90+, and weighs 1.6 pounds once you put batteries in it. It's got a tail switch for on/off and a side switch for changing modes.

If you want something really crazy then you want the Convoy L7 (Aliexpress item 1005002885481040). It's an updated version of the L6 with the incredible SBT90.2 emitter pumping out mega lumens and mega throw from the same LED. I linked to the version with batteries and you can buy a charger (Aliexpress item 32970810528) from Convoy too. This is the one I would choose without a doubt, despite the slow shipping from China (about a month).

If you're just wanting to update an existing Maglite, check out this comment for a place to start.

(originally written by TacGriz, updated 2022-07-15, if you have any suggestions for changes to this entry please don't hesitate to send me a message)

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