I am looking for a headlamp. I have tried a couple of the led bands and they sucked. I want something that is a floodlight first and if possible a spotlight. So far Harbor Freight is the best I have tried. I haven't noticed a test on them here, I have watched a couple of years. If you get a chance, thanks. You guys rock.
Headlamps: ruclips.net/video/Io2ENJa-hDQ/видео.html - Yes you can use 18650's in these lights with the collar spacer some of them come with. - We've reported dozens of these for misleading claims, yes.
@@TorqueTestChannel Small sugestion for future tests. Add another round of tests with standarized batteries (for example 5C discharge current from Samsung, withsimilar energy density for different sizes). This way you would test the lights factoring out the batteries.
Man, I've been noticing those "Review Hijacks" quite a bit myself. I'm an Amazon Vine reviewer, so I end up getting to test out and review a fair bit of stuff before it even hits the main pages. On quite a few of my reviews, I've gone back to update something as I've put more time on the item and have more input to give - Only to find out that the item being sold that has my first review isn't even close to what I actually reviewed! My favourite there so far was reviewing a $9.95 pressure washer extension wand. It was pretty good, nice and solid, good quick-connects, held up well in use. Not a big deal, pretty simple item. I reviewed it five stars - it was a good value and did what it was supposed to well. Come back in a couple months to update and say that after a few months of use it was still holding up well... Lo and behold, that page is now selling a $199 electric pressure washer instead! And still has my five-star review on it! (I dumped the review to one-star and detailed why.)
I've had the same experience. Even good brands are doing it (recycling prior model pages). They could handle it by putting a time-limit / edit-diff system on their listings -- something like a limitation on editing the listing after X days of it being published, after that period, you can only strikeout and/or add "citation" markers that link to a "Product Updates" section, with the main text being locked from the addition of text from there on out. Include a similar system for images and a prominent "report listing" button for customers, and these sellers would have to find a new way to cheat.
@@TorqueTestChannel someday, flashlights will be rated in "Suns" 🌞 (which incidentally someone once calculated to be ~36 Octillion lumens). Will it stop there? Noooooo Mr. Bond! TTC will be testing $39 Amazon flashlights with "20 GigaSuns" ratings. Eventually it will all become meaningless. Nietzsche was right. The TTC will become the existential nihilist channel.
For reference...a very powerful arc welder generates around 200000 lumens. A 20k$ pro follow spot throws about 14000 lumens at 100 feet. Which feels pretty warm even at that distance.
The current top of the line led reach ~200Lumen/watt at reasonable power levels. Even with those, you'd still need a 5000W led array to reach that brightness.
For another reference: A WW2 150 cm searchlight, which were used to light up planes up to 12 km high, has roughly 1.25 million lumens. (And pretty much 1 billion candela because it's a very focused beam)
@@flakby3085those could have been used as weapons at shorter distances. Can you imagine lightning that up with it focused on the tree line the enemy is hiding in. It would instantly blind the for several minutes and possibly cause permanent damage. It stimulates my mind to think of all sorts of horrible weapons based on light. A tree line 2-3 miles away, 10 search lights fire up at once and all point at the same spot.. the woods will start to smolder 😂. Anyone that looks towards the light to try and shoot at it would be blinded and unable to open there eyes for days 😢
It's technically not Amazon doing the advertising, but the vendor. Though we used to hold retailers responsible for that, i.e. is Walmart was selling another brand's TV and it says 42" but measured 39" diagonally we'd probably blame Walmart. But Amazon is so massive, we've equated it to Ebay and just sort of shrug now like "what can be done" which I do sort of agree with. It's Whack-a-mole like we cover towards the end of the episode. But I also feel it's in Amazon best interest to stay relevant to at least try. Their search engine usually turns up just trash lately.
@@TorqueTestChannelopen up a few of those "suspiciously light" batteries and I'll bet you find a smaller battery inside. Once you've weighed the empty sleeves you'll get a reasonably ballpark correction factor to ID the probable internal batteries within. Of course you've already measured the battery capacity, but this can add an extra column to the spreadsheet. Another great review 👍
They wont because it would trigger the blue-haired nose-ring weirdo-NPC army of the 0.0001% of people to complaine of all kinds of "-isms". The "army" is convinced that the chinese companies would never risk "their good name". They have ZERO ability to understand that the companies are made up names. Dont expect amazon to ever do anything unless there is a major safety concern after a lot of injury.
Most people have no idea of what measurements of anything is anymore. Or they think "led" is all the same. I showed my neighbor the difference between a cheap 10w led and a nice one. It was incredibly apparent what it was worth.
“Or they think "led" is all the same” Yea, I don’t get it either. First everyone complains it’s a toxic metal, then it’s heralded as the bastion of efficient light creation and a green product.
@@anondimwit No because leadlight is the name of the multi-coloured glass windows you see in old churches, it was meant to be a joke but apparently nobody knows that's what those old windows are called!
I picked up two Wurkkos and for the money they can't be beat in my opinion. I also own Fenix, Olight, and Nightcore. For $26 on sale the FC11 is a great edc choice and great gift.
A while back I was looking for new rear bilstein shocks for my truck. I checked amazon over a few weeks. One day a pair of those shocks came up for $129, much less than the usual $99 each. Seeing the -50% amazon price, I decided to go with it, only to be shipped ONE shock for 30 dollars above market price. When I went back to the listing, the picture of two shocks had changed to one, as well as the description, but I had screenshots. Seller ended up giving me a full refund and amazon sent me a free replacement shock. But the point is, the listing changes are real, and they can bite you in the ass quick. ALWAYS screenshot if you have even a hint of suspicion. Amazon needs to up their QC game... And by that I mean have any seller qc at all.
Amazingly, I feel the advertising on aliexpress is now much closer to reality. If you ignore 10kW 1M lumen crap, you can often find info on what emitter is actually used and get realistic data. Convoy is a brand I have good expierience with. They specify LED model, light spectral temperature, CRI, realistic maximum power draw etc. Another example: on my bike I use towild BR800, that feels like couple of hundreds lumen light and has an asymteric spot to limit blinding other people... And you can swap 18650 cells on long rides. P.S: It may be better to use some standarized 'middle of the pack cells' when testing, to separate performance of the flashlight from performance of the battery. For flashlights 5-10C cells should be more than enough (10C means discharge current of in mA of 10*capacity in mAh). Anyway, keep up the good work: )
You’re completely right. I don’t use Amazon for projects because they never have technical specs or even rough dimensions while aliexpress will give you dimensiones drawings. And it arrives in 1-2 weeks instead of 1-2 months now.
As someone who works with global machine shops and suppliers, I have on many occasions encountered potential suppliers supplying perfect first articles for validation and then shipping unusable junk after validation is approved. Once had a Chinese hardware supplier provide a Grade 2 spec bolt (lowest standard grade) that failed pressure testing at half its designed load. There response: it was wasn't a grade 2 bolt, it was a bolt made from "grade 2 steel". "Grade 2 steel" isn't a standard way of classifying steel. They sent good samples then got caught send garbage pot metal bolts for production use.
@@jeffh7021 I wouldn't say nothing else is close, ridgid is not far and also makita which has a bit less power but is smaller, has deflation button and double the duty cycle
@TorqueTestChannel Maybe do one with the 12V wired ViAir, Tireflate, ARB and the knockoff ARB compressors, since Todd at Project Farm already did a similar battery powered inflator test?
the completely unethical review hijacking/product page editing on Amazon is SO out of hand. I review a LOT of Amazon products through their Vine program, mostly from these small marketplace vendors. Every time I see that the product page has been edited to/from a completely different product my review is an instant 1-star. Amazon really needs to either lock down product listings to permanently tie them to reviews for that exact item and/or force any product listing edits to be approved through an actual human review process Anyway, I always appreciate these types of product reviews you do, and especially you calling these sellers out for their unethical BS
This is one of the many reasons I refuse to shop on Amazon. It is nothing but a glorified flea market for cheap Chinese knockoffs. Product descriptions are worthless and fraudulent. Reviews are also worthless. Even 'legit' goods are often fake. I'd rather take my money to my local store.
Most stupid comment ever.. as if the localnstore has different manufacturer, which is not available in Amazon.. Plus, almost everything comes from China these days.. Swallow the bitter fact..
Been using my ts32 for about a year now. I also have p45 cells. It's a great light I took the handle off and it fits in my cup holder nice. Would recommend
@@scott8919 Also even when the seller is caught, they just shut down and re-emerge as a different seller with a different name. That’s why there are so many sellers with random combinations of letters as names. Amazon will still make money, so they have little incentive to enforce these laws.
Thanks for another great vid! I think another reason these companies change specs & offerings so frequently is to spread the bad reviews around. Let's face it, if any one of those offerings you tested were to remain unchanged for long enough, nobody would be willing to waste their money, since 1 star reviews would dominate, (except for all the fake 5 star reviews, but that's a theme for another day).
The product page changes go well beyond just changing description and specs. I've seen stuff completely change items (often unrelated) and they keep their old ratings, reviews, etc. Amazon turned into ebay 2.0 over the last few years.
A word of caution, XHP with numbers other than 35, 50 or 70 have nothing to do with Cree, one of the flashlights (torches for us Brits) has XHP160.5 on its box.
I asked them about the weight of their batteries. Their answer in broken English was, the batteries get heavier when full, they are sent empty so they weigh less. I laughed. Then did an Amazon return. After writing a warning note to anyone they try to flip this to.
I have started leaving notes with my returns explaining the problem in case they sell it on Amazon Warehouse or it gets sold on eBay or someplace else. I can't leave reviews anymore. 5 years ago they sent me an email saying I violated their terms. I asked them what I did and to this day they have never come right out and said it. I stopped asking because I don't want banned as a customer.
Just for the record, Sofirn and Wurkkos all use the same factory to produce their products, but they're independent and separate companies. There's even a bit of rivalry between them, as each takes their lights in different directions. I'm a fan of both Sofirn and Wurkkos, and have quite a bunch of their lights, and they're largely quite good. And unlike other mfrs, both use their own branded cells which are also quite good (usually) Lishen cells, which may not be 30Qs or VTC6es, but I always test the come-with cells, and they always clock in within 10% if not 5% of their rated mAH. "Rule of thumb" is that a reputable mfr's cells that are self-branded (Wurkkos, Sofirn, Wuben, Acebeam, Nitecore, etc.) are almost universally good-to-excellent cells. No-name generic-wrapped cells from alphabet-soup name companies are usually crap, pulled from recycle bins which is a *HUGE* industry in a certain large Asian country. So what *was* a good 5000mAH 26650 is now a recycled-and-rewrapped 2000mAH cell slipped into a Wsinawoo or Bebopadoo generic light.
You should be able to return these to Amazon as not as described on the website, but Amazon has a habit of "firing" customers who return too many items. I wish lawmakers would quit whining about how Amazon is abusing the poor third party sellers and instead focus on how Amazon is conspiring with shady Chinese firms to commit fraud with inflated specifications, counterfeit UL certifications, and items that fail to meet minimal safety standards.
Few times I took apart those cheap batteries. They are so empty, when open them it in quiet room you can hear vacuum suck air inside... I bet that someone already think about putting inside them sand to make them feel heavier :D
I've seen a picture of an 18650 teardown that had sand inside... It was really just a tiny 200mah "vape pen style" battery in a bigger case and filled with sand 🤣
Appreciate the video. I bought the Omalight a few months ago and came to the same conclusion. My guess from eyeballing was that it was between 500 and 1000 lumens. Nice to get some confirmation that I'm not crazy. I returned the light as defective since it was far below started claims and requested they send me a replacement. The replacement was no better, so I gave it a 1 star review and the seller offered to refund the purchase price and let me keep the light. I would have gladly paid $10-$15 for it since it is indeed a working flashlight, but zero is even better. And they had to eat the cost of the return as well. I think that's probably the only way to discourage the lies, to return products that don't live up to claims, forcing the suppliers to eat the costs. Eventually they will realize there's no money in this game and move on. But as long as there are people keeping the products and blaming themselves, these snakes will persist. Don't be afraid. Use Amazon's return policy. Amazon doesn't take the hit, the sellers do. And rightfully so.
I know alot of you are upset with Amazon and using words like false advertising and fraud, but none of that really matters because once someone blows that 600Db airhorn we're all dead anyway. Just enjoy life while you can.
Many years ago (1981), I bought 12 rechargeable D cell Radio Shack batteries to power my portable 5” TV/radio/tape deck. After a few months when they no longer charged up well my father decided to cut one open because he thought it felt a little light. Inside the D cell case was a C cell in the middle with a wire running to each end of the D cell case.
When will the manufacturers of third party flashlights finally learn that if there is a stepped button, they should start with the lowest brightness and not the highest.
If a flashlight actually put out a million lumens, it wouldn't be a flashlight anymore, it'd be a weapon. You could start fires with just the light from it.
watch out! at 2:00 these double stack 26650 cells are most of the time unbalanced and given their low quality will ofset pretty quickly to a noticable ammount and pose a big fire risk.
I use streamlight regulated 18650s with the built in charging circuit in my cheap flashlights so I know there’s at least one good regulation circuit involved. I also don’t charge in the flashlight since I may as well add some caution to my caution.
This is right up there with shop vacs saying they are 5hp and plugging into 120V @15A. Even with 100% power factor (hint it’s not even close) and 100% efficient motors we are talking 1800watts available and a horsepower is about 746 watts. 2.4 is the max under physics and 1.5 is the max in reality and 1.0 - 1.3 is about the most and still be up to electrical codes.
Also remember that on a 15A service the maximum long-term load is 80% of that, so for big gear that's supposed to run for hours at a time, it's even lower. Hence why you don't find space heaters that are over 1500w unless they require a 20A service. I strongly suspect that shop vacs are being measured with the motor spun up onto a dyno that's taking an instantaneous measurement as the motor spins down in order to get higher horsepower numbers, which isn't a valid test by any means. Realistically, they should be measured by mm/h2o, but, they shy away from that because they're likely all very nearly the same.
The $130 one is actually 100% worth the almost 4x higher price of the $35 one. You get twice the lumen working for twice as long, perfectly adding up to 4x more performance. The graph at 10:40 is everything. Especially the part between 10 minutes and 60 minutes / 120 minuites. The first 10 minutes "max" output is laughably unpractical for any use. The $35 one gives you 900 lumen +-100 for 1 hour, after that unreliable. The $130 gives you 1900 lumen +-200 for 2 hours. Love to see cost and performance line up like that
Non-crony capitalism at its finest. The big boys aren’t interested in doing the work, or paying TTC to do it for them, but the work gets done anyway because the market for it exists. Cheers to all you do for the average person, it obviously does not go unnoticed. Thank you for sharing!
my rule of thumb is simple, ~1200 max out of a well made light using quality single 18650s. with an average of around 5-600 for cheaper ones, _at best_. more likely to find ~300 or less. the higher they jack the lumens up, the lower i'd rate it for actual.
Here in the UK I have found that Amazon is now the expensive and riskiest place to shop and almost never buy from them. I just wish my wife will one day come to understand this too.
I'm a budget minded light freak from the incandescent days of candlepowerforums. I've since switched to headlamps and they've literally saved my life a couple times mountaineering, whitewater, and rock climbing. I've owned maybe 40 over the years but have been stuck on Fenix as of late. The line refactor and new models are a bit weird and not sure i like the quality of light but could you test some? All-time favorite headlamp Fenix HL60R and the "too-bright for anything normal but great for seeing 60m up a cliff while climbing" HM70R. I can lend you mine if it makes things easier.
Test the LED headlight for hardhats or just slipping on to walk the dogs. I have 2 Smiling Shark brand lights with 230° COB lights along the front and a separate thrower. Once fully charged, these lights begin dimming after a few minutes. I found if the on/off sensor is on and you wave 👋🏼 to turn light off, wave again and it comes on at 💯 again. But yes, I have found using these headlamps frees up my hands when walking the dogs. Great content
The Sofirn Q8+ is a beast of a light for less than half of the Wurkkos. If you use the Molicels and bypass the negative springs you can safely hit 20k lumens.
This is the first video I've seen on this channel; it just popped up in my list. I enjoy videos where people conduct thorough reviews, testing out all the different features. I've now subscribed to this channel for all future videos. With a million lumens, you could probably blind someone-likely worse than a flash grenade, lol. I must say, I did get a small Olight I3E 90 lm that uses a AAA battery, and it works quite well. Of course, it doesn't last very long-45 minutes with an alkaline battery and 70 minutes with NiMH, according to the specifications. I just use it to check the mailbox at night about three to four times a month. The battery lasts me quite a while. I check the mailbox at one of my jobs where I have to pick up mail at night. I go through the mail for mine and leave the rest. Imagine if it had a million lumens and you could focus that beam. You could probably blind people from miles away, lol.
I think i'll stick to my old ryobi battery car vac with a car headlight projector mounted inside when I need a bright torch, it's somewhat bigger and less robust but it actually produces a useful amount of light (a bit like a car's headlights really 🤣).
Very happy with my Sofirn lights, really good value for what you get. I don't have the tools to test them myself, but the lumen capability seems consistent enough between the different flashlights I've purchased.
EDIT: The Omalight is currently on sale -> Amazon 2 flashlight bundle for 29 bux. I have the Omalight. Oddly enough, its the flashlight I seem to grab the most. Maybe because if it gets lost or broken, I won't care much. Battery last the few hrs I use it for and I just throw it on the charger when its not in use. Had it for over a year now and its gottem a ton of use. Its not great, but in my case its definitely been durable.
Great lamp. However the button is on the wrong side, great for a left hander. Also you need to double press to get a full beam. Should be one press for full beam and two presses to turn off, not the other way around.
@Torque Test Channel have you done testing of the major tool brands flashlights that use their regular tool batteries? Models like DCL040, PCL660, 2735-20, and others.
We haven't but can. Our current limitation is sphere opening diameter, and power tool lights not advertising the light head size. but the ones you listed are small enough i believe
There are plenty of quality flashlight brands to choose from that both have inexpensive options as well as the more high performance, more durable, and more expensive options. Few that come to mind: NiteCore OLight Streamlight Surefire Sofrin Fenix Lighting There's a few more that I always brain fart on remembering. But those are all great options to start with.
A better option for Amazon would be to have a general disclaimer based on known components. I.e. This flashlight with a single 18650 will only last on average X minutes at Y lumens or ZZ minutes at W lumens. The average 18650 will only be 1800-3500mah.
Thank you for doing this. I admit, I don't know the technical info but I get the gist. I've seen many ads for supe-duper flashlights and been tempted by some of them, but my brother-in-law has a friend who got one and the battery self-ignited so that's kind of a problem.
If a lithium battery drains too low, then the recharging circuit won’t charge it by design. The dead battery could’ve easily been back to life by manually hooking it up to a DC power supply to bring the voltage back up.
I had forgotten my trustfire mc12 laying under a car and when I backed up I put a little dent in it. Eh the battery won't slide out but everything works just fine. I probably lose it before I need a new batterie. Also a great fan of nitecore flashlights. The ones I use are all small and turbo mode is just blindingly bright and 1 lumen low mode I perfect enough light to see in pitch black darkness to see where you going.
I found this channel from that OG flashlight video. Was deer hunting season, and one we shot ran into the back woods at closing on a rainy day. After trying to navigate dark, rainy woods with a AA powered flashlight out of a horror game, I decided it was time for something that would turn that woods into day. That Goreit while specs are massively false advertised is a pretty badass flashlight. I got 3 of the older versions and 1 of the new ones. Plus the interstate sleeper you tested. Love the videos.
The optics( reflector design etc) has to be just right for a flashlight to shine good regardless of the LUMENS,, I'VE HAD SEVERAL HIGH LUMEN LED LIGHTS THAT DIDN'T SHINE NEAR AS FAR ETC. AS SOME LOWER LUMEN ONE'S THAT I'VE HAD,,, THE LENS DESIGN AND REFLECTOR DESIGN MAKES A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE!! LOOK AT THE MAGLITE LIGHT'S SEE HOW THE REFLECTOR IS DEEP,, ALLOWING MORE OF A SPOT LIGHT THAN FLOOD..
Amazon should just slap a "suspicious advertising claim warning" on all of these products and make the sellers work to get it removed. At least you can return the items for free.
Wubens are great hardware but usually have a brain-damaged UI. If I could change the UI to something less mental, I'd love 'em, but in almost all cases, I sold / gave away most of my Wuben lights.
![State of Play | September 24, 2024 [ENGLISH]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fVs0suPHAX8/mqdefault.jpg)
This is episode 20 in a series of testing various light types, usually from actual brands: ruclips.net/p/PLYka5JBKPLHEfG1w1WC_bbN4vQglwyp5n
Do you guys ever contact Amazon regarding these bonkers false (advertising) claims?
Can you use 18650 batteries in these lights? I have never heard of the batteries that come with them.
I am looking for a headlamp. I have tried a couple of the led bands and they sucked. I want something that is a floodlight first and if possible a spotlight. So far Harbor Freight is the best I have tried. I haven't noticed a test on them here, I have watched a couple of years. If you get a chance, thanks. You guys rock.
Headlamps: ruclips.net/video/Io2ENJa-hDQ/видео.html
- Yes you can use 18650's in these lights with the collar spacer some of them come with.
- We've reported dozens of these for misleading claims, yes.
@@TorqueTestChannel Small sugestion for future tests. Add another round of tests with standarized batteries (for example 5C discharge current from Samsung, withsimilar energy density for different sizes). This way you would test the lights factoring out the batteries.
Man, I've been noticing those "Review Hijacks" quite a bit myself. I'm an Amazon Vine reviewer, so I end up getting to test out and review a fair bit of stuff before it even hits the main pages. On quite a few of my reviews, I've gone back to update something as I've put more time on the item and have more input to give - Only to find out that the item being sold that has my first review isn't even close to what I actually reviewed!
My favourite there so far was reviewing a $9.95 pressure washer extension wand. It was pretty good, nice and solid, good quick-connects, held up well in use. Not a big deal, pretty simple item. I reviewed it five stars - it was a good value and did what it was supposed to well. Come back in a couple months to update and say that after a few months of use it was still holding up well... Lo and behold, that page is now selling a $199 electric pressure washer instead! And still has my five-star review on it! (I dumped the review to one-star and detailed why.)
I've had the same experience. Even good brands are doing it (recycling prior model pages). They could handle it by putting a time-limit / edit-diff system on their listings -- something like a limitation on editing the listing after X days of it being published, after that period, you can only strikeout and/or add "citation" markers that link to a "Product Updates" section, with the main text being locked from the addition of text from there on out.
Include a similar system for images and a prominent "report listing" button for customers, and these sellers would have to find a new way to cheat.
Sounds like you need to start including the product name and price at the start of your review so people know when that happens
Most people are thinking of cleaver ways just to rip you off. Amazon should Banned these people for life
@@vink6163 This is what i do. I type out the EXACT ITEM and price i am reviewing, because they group many items together that aren't even the same.
I eagerly await the "1 Billion" Lumen light from Amazon...
It'll come after we hit 2 million, 5 million, 10 million, 100 million, 500 million 😂
I hope you're willing to wait..... a whole 3 weeks :P
@@TorqueTestChannel someday, flashlights will be rated in "Suns" 🌞 (which incidentally someone once calculated to be ~36 Octillion lumens). Will it stop there? Noooooo Mr. Bond! TTC will be testing $39 Amazon flashlights with "20 GigaSuns" ratings. Eventually it will all become meaningless. Nietzsche was right. The TTC will become the existential nihilist channel.
I have my pennies saved up for the sharks with laser beams.
Bros got goals beyond our understanding
For reference...a very powerful arc welder generates around 200000 lumens.
A 20k$ pro follow spot throws about 14000 lumens at 100 feet. Which feels pretty warm even at that distance.
The current top of the line led reach ~200Lumen/watt at reasonable power levels. Even with those, you'd still need a 5000W led array to reach that brightness.
helpful
For another reference: A WW2 150 cm searchlight, which were used to light up planes up to 12 km high, has roughly 1.25 million lumens. (And pretty much 1 billion candela because it's a very focused beam)
@@flakby3085those could have been used as weapons at shorter distances. Can you imagine lightning that up with it focused on the tree line the enemy is hiding in. It would instantly blind the for several minutes and possibly cause permanent damage. It stimulates my mind to think of all sorts of horrible weapons based on light.
A tree line 2-3 miles away, 10 search lights fire up at once and all point at the same spot.. the woods will start to smolder 😂. Anyone that looks towards the light to try and shoot at it would be blinded and unable to open there eyes for days 😢
And let's not forget one almost everyone is familiar with: The sun! That's around 127,000 lumens, roughly.
how is this not false advertising on amazon's part?
It's technically not Amazon doing the advertising, but the vendor. Though we used to hold retailers responsible for that, i.e. is Walmart was selling another brand's TV and it says 42" but measured 39" diagonally we'd probably blame Walmart.
But Amazon is so massive, we've equated it to Ebay and just sort of shrug now like "what can be done" which I do sort of agree with. It's Whack-a-mole like we cover towards the end of the episode. But I also feel it's in Amazon best interest to stay relevant to at least try. Their search engine usually turns up just trash lately.
@@TorqueTestChannelopen up a few of those "suspiciously light" batteries and I'll bet you find a smaller battery inside. Once you've weighed the empty sleeves you'll get a reasonably ballpark correction factor to ID the probable internal batteries within. Of course you've already measured the battery capacity, but this can add an extra column to the spreadsheet.
Another great review 👍
Jeff Bezos and Amazon does not care about fraud, counterfeiting or fraudulent claims. $$$$$ I canceled my Prime account years ago.
It's not false advertising, it's FRAUD!
They wont because it would trigger the blue-haired nose-ring weirdo-NPC army of the 0.0001% of people to complaine of all kinds of "-isms".
The "army" is convinced that the chinese companies would never risk "their good name". They have ZERO ability to understand that the companies are made up names.
Dont expect amazon to ever do anything unless there is a major safety concern after a lot of injury.
I love the flashlight series!(and I want more!)
I love it too. I’ve always loved flashlights. I have more flashlights than any one man should have… and I regret buying none of them. 😆
Still waiting on a Klarus in a future lineup.
Wow! .05% of claim! None of the crappy ones even reached
.25%🤯
How in the world...
Excellent testing as always TTC👍
Thanks Thrifty!
that omalight specifically was horrible, wow
Most people have no idea of what measurements of anything is anymore. Or they think "led" is all the same. I showed my neighbor the difference between a cheap 10w led and a nice one. It was incredibly apparent what it was worth.
“Or they think "led" is all the same” Yea, I don’t get it either. First everyone complains it’s a toxic metal, then it’s heralded as the bastion of efficient light creation and a green product.
@@hugegamer5988 And before all that, everyone used the word as past tense of "lead". They're so inconsistent.
Plus everyone thinks it's new technology, but even buildings hundreds of years old have leadlights in them
@@vink6163 cause they replaced the bulbs?
@@anondimwit No because leadlight is the name of the multi-coloured glass windows you see in old churches, it was meant to be a joke but apparently nobody knows that's what those old windows are called!
I picked up two Wurkkos and for the money they can't be beat in my opinion. I also own Fenix, Olight, and Nightcore. For $26 on sale the FC11 is a great edc choice and great gift.
Love my Wurkkos TS70! Best house light I've ever had; turns night into day!
A while back I was looking for new rear bilstein shocks for my truck. I checked amazon over a few weeks. One day a pair of those shocks came up for $129, much less than the usual $99 each. Seeing the -50% amazon price, I decided to go with it, only to be shipped ONE shock for 30 dollars above market price. When I went back to the listing, the picture of two shocks had changed to one, as well as the description, but I had screenshots.
Seller ended up giving me a full refund and amazon sent me a free replacement shock. But the point is, the listing changes are real, and they can bite you in the ass quick. ALWAYS screenshot if you have even a hint of suspicion. Amazon needs to up their QC game... And by that I mean have any seller qc at all.
Just one of many reasons I don't buy from Amazon.
Really they need a means to actually report a listing, and have a listing auto-pulled if there are enough verified buyers reporting it.
Amazingly, I feel the advertising on aliexpress is now much closer to reality. If you ignore 10kW 1M lumen crap, you can often find info on what emitter is actually used and get realistic data. Convoy is a brand I have good expierience with. They specify LED model, light spectral temperature, CRI, realistic maximum power draw etc. Another example: on my bike I use towild BR800, that feels like couple of hundreds lumen light and has an asymteric spot to limit blinding other people... And you can swap 18650 cells on long rides.
P.S: It may be better to use some standarized 'middle of the pack cells' when testing, to separate performance of the flashlight from performance of the battery. For flashlights 5-10C cells should be more than enough (10C means discharge current of in mA of 10*capacity in mAh). Anyway, keep up the good work: )
I have a Convoy, I like it. Good value and you can customise each torch.
There's quite a bunch of good flashlight brands on Ali, the one shown here, Wurkkos, Convoy, like you said, Sofirn and Lumintop as well.
You’re completely right. I don’t use Amazon for projects because they never have technical specs or even rough dimensions while aliexpress will give you dimensiones drawings. And it arrives in 1-2 weeks instead of 1-2 months now.
Trusty convoy, mine all still work, and they have plenty of accessories, and the best part, you can pick color temperature.
As someone who works with global machine shops and suppliers, I have on many occasions encountered potential suppliers supplying perfect first articles for validation and then shipping unusable junk after validation is approved.
Once had a Chinese hardware supplier provide a Grade 2 spec bolt (lowest standard grade) that failed pressure testing at half its designed load. There response: it was wasn't a grade 2 bolt, it was a bolt made from "grade 2 steel". "Grade 2 steel" isn't a standard way of classifying steel. They sent good samples then got caught send garbage pot metal bolts for production use.
Can you do tests on the portable car air compressors? Maybe evaluate speed, max psi, functionality, ease of use? I know a few of them are junk
I've never met one worth a damn, i don't have 4 mins per tire to wait around. But off-road i suppose it's better than nothing
@@TorqueTestChannel Funnily enough, the Harbor Freight 12V one is by far the best 12V one available I've found, it's the fastest and quietest.
The Milwaukee m18 tire inflator is by far the best portable inflator right now. Nothing else is even close, from what I've seen.
@@jeffh7021 I wouldn't say nothing else is close, ridgid is not far and also makita which has a bit less power but is smaller, has deflation button and double the duty cycle
@TorqueTestChannel
Maybe do one with the 12V wired ViAir, Tireflate, ARB and the knockoff ARB compressors, since Todd at Project Farm already did a similar battery powered inflator test?
the completely unethical review hijacking/product page editing on Amazon is SO out of hand. I review a LOT of Amazon products through their Vine program, mostly from these small marketplace vendors. Every time I see that the product page has been edited to/from a completely different product my review is an instant 1-star. Amazon really needs to either lock down product listings to permanently tie them to reviews for that exact item and/or force any product listing edits to be approved through an actual human review process
Anyway, I always appreciate these types of product reviews you do, and especially you calling these sellers out for their unethical BS
This is one of the many reasons I refuse to shop on Amazon. It is nothing but a glorified flea market for cheap Chinese knockoffs. Product descriptions are worthless and fraudulent. Reviews are also worthless. Even 'legit' goods are often fake. I'd rather take my money to my local store.
Most stupid comment ever.. as if the localnstore has different manufacturer, which is not available in Amazon..
Plus, almost everything comes from China these days.. Swallow the bitter fact..
Amazon Customer: "I bought the cool new flashlight"
Amazon's customer's Bro: "But how many Lumens does it have???"
Amazon Customer: "ALL OF THEM"
Been using my ts32 for about a year now. I also have p45 cells. It's a great light I took the handle off and it fits in my cup holder nice. Would recommend
MY EYESSSS oh wait nah I'm fine.
Whatever happened to the truth in advertising laws?
Amazon laughs at laws
Depends on how hard the authorities want to crack down on it. There's probably so many that lie that it is impossible to catch up to them.
@@scott8919
Also even when the seller is caught, they just shut down and re-emerge as a different seller with a different name. That’s why there are so many sellers with random combinations of letters as names. Amazon will still make money, so they have little incentive to enforce these laws.
@@scott8919that and the fact that they kill off their brand names every couple months which makes prosecution impossible.
Amazon is essentially China's consumer portal. Amazon has no interest in losing their best customer, which isn't you, it's chinese sponsored products.
Thanks for another great vid! I think another reason these companies change specs & offerings so frequently is to spread the bad reviews around. Let's face it, if any one of those offerings you tested were to remain unchanged for long enough, nobody would be willing to waste their money, since 1 star reviews would dominate, (except for all the fake 5 star reviews, but that's a theme for another day).
The product page changes go well beyond just changing description and specs. I've seen stuff completely change items (often unrelated) and they keep their old ratings, reviews, etc. Amazon turned into ebay 2.0 over the last few years.
Flashlights are the only reason why i subscribed to this channel, keep up the good work!
I love watching these flashlight comparisons, you should test UV lights at some point!
Oh man thats a whole can of worms! and right up their alley with the wild claims and false advertising thats rampid.
This video is missing a demo of an ACTUAL 900,000 lumen light .... ya know, for comparison.
A word of caution, XHP with numbers other than 35, 50 or 70 have nothing to do with Cree, one of the flashlights (torches for us Brits) has XHP160.5 on its box.
I asked them about the weight of their batteries. Their answer in broken English was, the batteries get heavier when full, they are sent empty so they weigh less. I laughed. Then did an Amazon return. After writing a warning note to anyone they try to flip this to.
I have started leaving notes with my returns explaining the problem in case they sell it on Amazon Warehouse or it gets sold on eBay or someplace else.
I can't leave reviews anymore.
5 years ago they sent me an email saying I violated their terms.
I asked them what I did and to this day they have never come right out and said it.
I stopped asking because I don't want banned as a customer.
Just for the record, Sofirn and Wurkkos all use the same factory to produce their products, but they're independent and separate companies. There's even a bit of rivalry between them, as each takes their lights in different directions. I'm a fan of both Sofirn and Wurkkos, and have quite a bunch of their lights, and they're largely quite good. And unlike other mfrs, both use their own branded cells which are also quite good (usually) Lishen cells, which may not be 30Qs or VTC6es, but I always test the come-with cells, and they always clock in within 10% if not 5% of their rated mAH.
"Rule of thumb" is that a reputable mfr's cells that are self-branded (Wurkkos, Sofirn, Wuben, Acebeam, Nitecore, etc.) are almost universally good-to-excellent cells. No-name generic-wrapped cells from alphabet-soup name companies are usually crap, pulled from recycle bins which is a *HUGE* industry in a certain large Asian country. So what *was* a good 5000mAH 26650 is now a recycled-and-rewrapped 2000mAH cell slipped into a Wsinawoo or Bebopadoo generic light.
You should be able to return these to Amazon as not as described on the website, but Amazon has a habit of "firing" customers who return too many items.
I wish lawmakers would quit whining about how Amazon is abusing the poor third party sellers and instead focus on how Amazon is conspiring with shady Chinese firms to commit fraud with inflated specifications, counterfeit UL certifications, and items that fail to meet minimal safety standards.
This is how investigavite journalism used to be. Thanks for the video!
Few times I took apart those cheap batteries. They are so empty, when open them it in quiet room you can hear vacuum suck air inside... I bet that someone already think about putting inside them sand to make them feel heavier :D
I've seen a picture of an 18650 teardown that had sand inside... It was really just a tiny 200mah "vape pen style" battery in a bigger case and filled with sand 🤣
Appreciate the video. I bought the Omalight a few months ago and came to the same conclusion. My guess from eyeballing was that it was between 500 and 1000 lumens. Nice to get some confirmation that I'm not crazy. I returned the light as defective since it was far below started claims and requested they send me a replacement. The replacement was no better, so I gave it a 1 star review and the seller offered to refund the purchase price and let me keep the light. I would have gladly paid $10-$15 for it since it is indeed a working flashlight, but zero is even better. And they had to eat the cost of the return as well. I think that's probably the only way to discourage the lies, to return products that don't live up to claims, forcing the suppliers to eat the costs. Eventually they will realize there's no money in this game and move on. But as long as there are people keeping the products and blaming themselves, these snakes will persist. Don't be afraid. Use Amazon's return policy. Amazon doesn't take the hit, the sellers do. And rightfully so.
I know alot of you are upset with Amazon and using words like false advertising and fraud, but none of that really matters because once someone blows that 600Db airhorn we're all dead anyway. Just enjoy life while you can.
With this I can finally become the gnat lord
Lord of the Moths
Many years ago (1981), I bought 12 rechargeable D cell Radio Shack batteries to power my portable 5” TV/radio/tape deck. After a few months when they no longer charged up well my father decided to cut one open because he thought it felt a little light. Inside the D cell case was a C cell in the middle with a wire running to each end of the D cell case.
When will the manufacturers of third party flashlights finally learn that if there is a stepped button, they should start with the lowest brightness and not the highest.
If a flashlight actually put out a million lumens, it wouldn't be a flashlight anymore, it'd be a weapon. You could start fires with just the light from it.
every one should have them for self defense, dry-washing their cars, remove paint off of walls etc
It would be a laser at least that's powerful as one the army would be using it
@@gary-pietz4147 Well, lasers are not just bright lights...
That's why I like companies like Olight who truly test lumens, candela, runtime and give the result of their tests.
ever seen LEP flashlights? should really give them a shotvid like to see how they measure
Thank you for the review. I have always wondered how some manufacturers could make such absurd and dishonest claims without being punished.
dam fresh ass video
watch out! at 2:00 these double stack 26650 cells are most of the time unbalanced and given their low quality will ofset pretty quickly to a noticable ammount and pose a big fire risk.
I use streamlight regulated 18650s with the built in charging circuit in my cheap flashlights so I know there’s at least one good regulation circuit involved. I also don’t charge in the flashlight since I may as well add some caution to my caution.
This is right up there with shop vacs saying they are 5hp and plugging into 120V @15A. Even with 100% power factor (hint it’s not even close) and 100% efficient motors we are talking 1800watts available and a horsepower is about 746 watts. 2.4 is the max under physics and 1.5 is the max in reality and 1.0 - 1.3 is about the most and still be up to electrical codes.
Also remember that on a 15A service the maximum long-term load is 80% of that, so for big gear that's supposed to run for hours at a time, it's even lower. Hence why you don't find space heaters that are over 1500w unless they require a 20A service.
I strongly suspect that shop vacs are being measured with the motor spun up onto a dyno that's taking an instantaneous measurement as the motor spins down in order to get higher horsepower numbers, which isn't a valid test by any means. Realistically, they should be measured by mm/h2o, but, they shy away from that because they're likely all very nearly the same.
Sofirn/Wurkos seem to be pretty honest. Not only do their lumen ratings come in close to advertised, but the batteries they include are decent too.
I’ve got a chunky flashlight from them that can do 8,000 lumens and is adjustable by holder the power button. It is an absolute brick and I love it.
Really like my Wurkkos lights.
@@hornetf18sp36 pro?
1.21 gigalumens! Great scott!
These lumens have Zimbabwe’s inflation. They ended up with a 100,000,000,000,000 (100T) dollar bill.
Looking forward to many years of these reviews.
The $130 one is actually 100% worth the almost 4x higher price of the $35 one.
You get twice the lumen working for twice as long, perfectly adding up to 4x more performance.
The graph at 10:40 is everything. Especially the part between 10 minutes and 60 minutes / 120 minuites. The first 10 minutes "max" output is laughably unpractical for any use.
The $35 one gives you 900 lumen +-100 for 1 hour, after that unreliable. The $130 gives you 1900 lumen +-200 for 2 hours. Love to see cost and performance line up like that
You should check out thhe Ansmann flashlights, they are German made and used a lot in Europe
Please test and compare convoy flashlights next.
I bought this and it's great. Palozo ZM-100 flash light. This goes on sale often. Got it for $14.99
I have the first flashlight but rebranded,was used quiet extensively doing MOT checks!
I also have a couple of flashlights using this body. They hugely differ dependent on the LED.
Non-crony capitalism at its finest. The big boys aren’t interested in doing the work, or paying TTC to do it for them, but the work gets done anyway because the market for it exists. Cheers to all you do for the average person, it obviously does not go unnoticed. Thank you for sharing!
my rule of thumb is simple, ~1200 max out of a well made light using quality single 18650s. with an average of around 5-600 for cheaper ones, _at best_. more likely to find ~300 or less.
the higher they jack the lumens up, the lower i'd rate it for actual.
Your channel is gold. Keep it up
Here in the UK I have found that Amazon is now the expensive and riskiest place to shop and almost never buy from them. I just wish my wife will one day come to understand this too.
One could make a case with an attorney for false advertisements, but that may be a goose chase. Thank you for the reviews!
I'm a budget minded light freak from the incandescent days of candlepowerforums. I've since switched to headlamps and they've literally saved my life a couple times mountaineering, whitewater, and rock climbing. I've owned maybe 40 over the years but have been stuck on Fenix as of late. The line refactor and new models are a bit weird and not sure i like the quality of light but could you test some?
All-time favorite headlamp Fenix HL60R and the "too-bright for anything normal but great for seeing 60m up a cliff while climbing" HM70R. I can lend you mine if it makes things easier.
Test the LED headlight for hardhats or just slipping on to walk the dogs. I have 2 Smiling Shark brand lights with 230° COB lights along the front and a separate thrower. Once fully charged, these lights begin dimming after a few minutes. I found if the on/off sensor is on and you wave 👋🏼 to turn light off, wave again and it comes on at 💯 again. But yes, I have found using these headlamps frees up my hands when walking the dogs. Great content
Thank you so much for making these videos! Very helpful.
Killer rant about Amazon fakes at the end! Shout out to the real businesses with good reputations!
The Sofirn Q8+ is a beast of a light for less than half of the Wurkkos. If you use the Molicels and bypass the negative springs you can safely hit 20k lumens.
I'd love to see a top 10 flashlights, not made in China (or from Amazon) if that is even possible. Thanks for your great work.
Sofirn lights are beautifully made, are as advertised and a very decent price, plus has advanced settings and features to your basic flash lights.
This is the first video I've seen on this channel; it just popped up in my list. I enjoy videos where people conduct thorough reviews, testing out all the different features. I've now subscribed to this channel for all future videos.
With a million lumens, you could probably blind someone-likely worse than a flash grenade, lol. I must say, I did get a small Olight I3E 90 lm that uses a AAA battery, and it works quite well. Of course, it doesn't last very long-45 minutes with an alkaline battery and 70 minutes with NiMH, according to the specifications. I just use it to check the mailbox at night about three to four times a month. The battery lasts me quite a while. I check the mailbox at one of my jobs where I have to pick up mail at night. I go through the mail for mine and leave the rest. Imagine if it had a million lumens and you could focus that beam. You could probably blind people from miles away, lol.
Excellent, thanks! This should be shown to business and marketing classes.
Amazon and Facebook are in a competition to list the most scammy ads
and RUclips.
don't count them out
I think i'll stick to my old ryobi battery car vac with a car headlight projector mounted inside when I need a bright torch, it's somewhat bigger and less robust but it actually produces a useful amount of light (a bit like a car's headlights really 🤣).
Do you think you will ever test LEP Laser flashlights?
Wish I found your channel last year before wasting my money on those "900k" lights. They worked great for 3 months. And now wont even charge/turn on.
Very happy with my Sofirn lights, really good value for what you get. I don't have the tools to test them myself, but the lumen capability seems consistent enough between the different flashlights I've purchased.
Nice one here in the uk fishing from the bank and casting like 150 yards and these torches will help me out when night fishing and seeing my lead plop
EDIT: The Omalight is currently on sale -> Amazon 2 flashlight bundle for 29 bux.
I have the Omalight. Oddly enough, its the flashlight I seem to grab the most. Maybe because if it gets lost or broken, I won't care much. Battery last the few hrs I use it for and I just throw it on the charger when its not in use. Had it for over a year now and its gottem a ton of use. Its not great, but in my case its definitely been durable.
Great lamp.
However the button is on the wrong side, great for a left hander. Also you need to double press to get a full beam.
Should be one press for full beam and two presses to turn off, not the other way around.
@Torque Test Channel have you done testing of the major tool brands flashlights that use their regular tool batteries? Models like DCL040, PCL660, 2735-20, and others.
We haven't but can. Our current limitation is sphere opening diameter, and power tool lights not advertising the light head size. but the ones you listed are small enough i believe
When are you guys going to start testing color temperature and CRI?
They're all going to be pretty terrible in that regard. Usually 6500k with a
That 2:10 Blue battery has 2 batteries wrapped as one... you could cut them apart without risk, they are just joined with wrap.
There are plenty of quality flashlight brands to choose from that both have inexpensive options as well as the more high performance, more durable, and more expensive options.
Few that come to mind:
NiteCore
OLight
Streamlight
Surefire
Sofrin
Fenix Lighting
There's a few more that I always brain fart on remembering. But those are all great options to start with.
The wurrkos lights are great value. I’ve got a ton of them and they compete with any of my comparable Olights.
8:23 That spot is small, but is willing to travel for the job.
Cute, I chuckled.
A better option for Amazon would be to have a general disclaimer based on known components.
I.e. This flashlight with a single 18650 will only last on average X minutes at Y lumens or ZZ minutes at W lumens. The average 18650 will only be 1800-3500mah.
You should try this with the tool brands 20v work lights (Milwaukee/dewalt)!!
Would’ve had to test the Sofirn Q8 Pro
Thank you for doing this. I admit, I don't know the technical info but I get the gist. I've seen many ads for supe-duper flashlights and been tempted by some of them, but my brother-in-law has a friend who got one and the battery self-ignited so that's kind of a problem.
I really like the Wuben C3 flashlight. Bought 2 of them. Great bang for the buck IMO.
If a lithium battery drains too low, then the recharging circuit won’t charge it by design. The dead battery could’ve easily been back to life by manually hooking it up to a DC power supply to bring the voltage back up.
The light also wont charge our good batteries.
Strobe and SOS modes on flashlights are like the bottle opener of multitools 😂😂
Gotta have them on every product to exist.
Way to be straight up and factual. Love it
I had forgotten my trustfire mc12 laying under a car and when I backed up I put a little dent in it. Eh the battery won't slide out but everything works just fine. I probably lose it before I need a new batterie. Also a great fan of nitecore flashlights. The ones I use are all small and turbo mode is just blindingly bright and 1 lumen low mode I perfect enough light to see in pitch black darkness to see where you going.
I found this channel from that OG flashlight video. Was deer hunting season, and one we shot ran into the back woods at closing on a rainy day. After trying to navigate dark, rainy woods with a AA powered flashlight out of a horror game, I decided it was time for something that would turn that woods into day. That Goreit while specs are massively false advertised is a pretty badass flashlight. I got 3 of the older versions and 1 of the new ones. Plus the interstate sleeper you tested. Love the videos.
I firmly maintain that there has never been a single point in human existence where anyone needed a 1 million lumen flashlight.
Helicopter searches. But I guess not so much a flashlight
Frankenlight, how many pieces of different flashlights fit together and could that make a better flashlight?
Strobe is literally the best mode ever created.
said no one
The optics( reflector design etc) has to be just right for a flashlight to shine good regardless of the LUMENS,, I'VE HAD SEVERAL HIGH LUMEN LED LIGHTS THAT DIDN'T SHINE NEAR AS FAR ETC. AS SOME LOWER LUMEN ONE'S THAT I'VE HAD,,, THE LENS DESIGN AND REFLECTOR DESIGN MAKES A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE!! LOOK AT THE MAGLITE LIGHT'S SEE HOW THE REFLECTOR IS DEEP,, ALLOWING MORE OF A SPOT LIGHT THAN FLOOD..
It would be awesome to see you test large weapon lights, something like the Surefire HellFighter.
Fun Fact: The No. 75 flash bulb for ww2 nighttime photography from bombers produces 1 mio lumen. (But only for a verry short time)
Amazon should just slap a "suspicious advertising claim warning" on all of these products and make the sellers work to get it removed. At least you can return the items for free.
I recently bought a Wuben from Amazon and it's really well built and bright.
Wubens are great hardware but usually have a brain-damaged UI. If I could change the UI to something less mental, I'd love 'em, but in almost all cases, I sold / gave away most of my Wuben lights.
@@joeschmo622 Yeah the UI is insane. It took me forever to get it to the mode of operation I wanted.
Harbor freight just dropped a cordless vacuum pump would be cool to see it against Milwaukee and Amazon offerings I've seen a couple there
I love these flashlight testing episodes.
Could you guys do a AA/AAA showdown? USB charging is great and all but sometimes a AA/AAA flashlight is in order. Especially with Eneloops.