LED Flashlights with over 1000 lumens or even several thousand lumens are popular on the market. Many flashlight manufacturers are unreconciled to be left behind or in the general public, and they think higher lumens make their flashlight outstanding and win. Then, the “lumen race” begins. But we will say, “lumen race” can’t make a flashlight win.
What are Lumens?
This is a name you should know before talking about the “lumen race”. Lumens are a measure of the total amount of visible light to the human eye from a light source in all directions. This means that the higher the lumen count, the brighter the emitted light is from the flashlight, headlamp or other similar lighting gear. Consequently, lumens are the measurement that is used to determine the light output of a light according to ANSI Standards.
What are ANSI Standards?
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) developed performance standards and symbols to effectively communicate a light’s features and benefits. See a short overview below. We’ve posted an article talking about ANSI/PLATO FL 1 2019 Standard For Flashlights in July.
Why lumens aren’t everything?
Having established the above information, the lumen race can be better understood to you. The so-called lumen race is a perceived competition between LED flashlight manufacturers to produce the light with the highest lumen level possible. Thus, they can get a good reputation and get a higher share of the market.
Here is an example. Several decades ago, the smartphone runs slow. Then, technology innovates fast and the storage space of the smartphone is larger and larger. Then do the user get more? Still not enough. Storage space does mean all to make a good phone. So is the LED flashlight. Many samples can be easily recalled and most of them is beside you, or you are experiencing.
Thus, Lumens are not everything and “lumen race” can’t make a flashlight win. It is the combination of features such as runtime, beam distance, impact resistance and much more, that really determines the quality of a whole LED flashlight. One aspect or feature of a flashlight torch does not determine whether it is a better light.
Consider the Brand
Speaking of the brand and the lumens that are quoted, it is important to take into consideration how branded LED flashlight manufacturers measure lumens. It’s not a secret that many manufacturers lie about lumens. They will give you the peak lumen level. They may say the flashlight features 20,000 lumens, but it jumps to a lower switch with much lower lumens, like 2,000 lumens, or even lower in a few seconds. The claimed lumens make no sense to users in practical applications. Thus, consider the brand before you make a purchase.
Consider the ANSI Standard
ANSI not only established the features to be measured to determine the quality of a LED flashlight, but also regulates the testing. Many brands do not necessarily adhere to this testing or the ANSI standards at all. A manufacturer can only quote the lumen level that is measured after 10 seconds, while the run-time is measured until 10% of the battery life is reached, as ANSI standards claims. It is important for the consumer to consider if a certain brand is using ANSI standards to test their lights or not. That may change everything.
So, what can we conclude then about Lumens and light quality? Lumens are important, but you should consider many different aspects and features of a LED flashlight to determine whether the flashlight is the right fit for you. Flashlight manufacturers should not focus on “lumen race” as it really can’t make you win.
Cyansky Light designed LED flashlights with maximum lumens between 200-3000 meters and the applications also vary. But we make flashlights with a higher lumen-size ratio, great heat dissipation, nice performance for both physical housing and inside electronics.