IMALENT MS03 Brightest EDC Flashlight 13000 Lumens, with CREE XHP70.2 LEDs, Rechargeable Tactical Flashlight, Suitable for Camping

I've had my eye on this flashlight since I first came across it, nearly two years ago. When my wife needed Christmas gift ideas this year, this flashlight, finally, found its way to the top of my wish-list.Holy cow, this tiny, little light is bright! My only other lights that come near this one's output are at least 4 times the size and three times the weight - or more!Rated at 13,000 lumens (verified within a few hundred lumens in various on-line reviews), it turns night into day. Unfortunately, the Turbo (full 13,000 lumens) goodness only lasts for ~45 seconds before thermal protection kicks in and throttles the output down to 2,000 lumens. Mind you, 2,000 lumens is still plenty of light. There's just not enough thermal mass in such a small light to dissipate the heat from turbo (13,000 lumens) or high (8,000 lumens) without needing to reduce output.Some reviews here, on Amazon, and elsewhere on-line document a turbo "bug," where the light will not go back to turbo a second time, regardless of temperature or battery charge, after having gotten there just once. Most people with affected units track it down to glue (permanent thread locker) used during final assembly, to lock the battery tube to the head of the light, causing poor electrical contact. Or, else, they loosen the tail cap and then tighten it to reset the light and regain turbo one more time.My unit does not have this turbo problem. It appears that Imalent reverted to an earlier design where the flashlight would disassemble, by hand, to three pieces: the tail cap, battery tube, and the head, with no glue holding the tube to the head. Mine disassembles to three parts and turbo/strobe work reliably, every single time. The threads on both ends of the tube come well-lubricated, without being excessive.The minimum light output (150 lumens), provides good, useable light, for just over a full day. I was remembering back to my first 'tactical', LED flashlight, many years ago, producing just 100 lumens for one hour. How times have changed!The overall fit-and-finish are on-par with big, name brands, and feels good in the hand.The user interface is dead-simple. Click the button to turn on or off. With the light on, press and hold to work up through the non-turbo light levels. (Unfortunately, there is no way to step down through the brightness levels; it only goes up and returns to low output only after you've been through 8,000 lumens.) At any point, double click the switch to get into turbo. While in turbo, double click again to access strobe. The only way to return to 'normal' light modes is to turn the light off and back on. With the light off, quadruple click (4 times) to get into lockout, so the light cannot be turned on. Another 4 clicks while in lockout restores normal operation. Besides the electronic (button presses) lockout, un-screwing the tail cap 1/4 turn also locks the light. However, using this hardware method will cause the light to forget its last-used mode, and will default back to turning on at 150 lumens.Finally, in the way of user interface, with the light off, holding the button for 3 seconds or longer will illuminate a small LED, next to the button, to make the button easier to find in the dark. I have, however, discovered that this small LED times out and turns off after one hour.The included 21700 Lithium Ion battery is protected (to prevent over-charge, over-discharge, over-current, etc.) and features a convenient USB-C charging port. These additional electronics built into the battery add considerable length, so a regular, unprotected 21700 is too short. It is possible, though, to add some magnets to an unprotected battery to make up the length, and the light works perfectly. I find that stacking two round, 9mm (D) x 3mm (H) neodymium magnets on either the positive (+) or negative (-) side of the unprotected battery works great. DISCLAIMER: if you are unfamiliar with high-performance Lithium Ion battery cells, do not use the magnet method; it is not safe, nor is it advisable, to use the light without the battery protections. Stick with Imalent's official, protected 21700 cells. If you are familiar with high performance Lithium Ion cells, proceed with the magnet method AT YOUR OWN RISK.There are only 2 minor issues I would like to see changed: 1) the small light near the power switch is covered by your finger/thumb during operation of the switch. It would be better if this LED were on the other side of the switch, closer to the "business end" of the flashlight. 2) I wish it had an ultra-low/"moonlight" mode of just a few lumens.Despite the minor nit-picks above and the User Interface issues I wrote about earlier, my only regret with this light is that I didn't get one sooner! It is truly incredible.If you're in the market for the world's brightest Every Day Carry (EDC) flashlight, that fits discreetly on your belt, I whole-heartedly recommend this one! You won't be disappointed.

it doesn’t make sense that this much light can come out out of something so small. On the highest setting, it does heat up very quickly and the battery drains extremely quickly but that’s what you get if you want 13,000 lm. This will make a completely dark room brighter than a sunny day outside.

This flashlight ROUTINELY dies around the 3-4 month mark. They work great up until then, and then completely stop working. For over $100+ dollars these should not be practically disposable. Have had dud batteries, and most recently a dead switch that will not work with any of the spare batteries I have for this light.Super disappointed, as the brightness is fantastic for its size, and the battery runs for a long time!BUYER BEWARE!

The imalent MS03 is probably the best bang for your buck in terms of incredibly bright compact flashlights. This is labeled as an EDC however I would say its more in the enthusiast flashlight category. To start, if you're worried that this won’t be as bright as advertised, you will be shocked. The MS03 is mindblowingly bright. I mean, light up your entire backyard like its 3pm bright. Nothing to worry about in terms of performance. It is important to remember that the brightest setting will only last about 45 seconds max before it gets too hot. However, the lower light modes will still last some time and have decent lumen output. For the price, I would not bring this thing to work with you every day. Mainly because you absolutely will be tempted to use the turbo mode too often and run the battery dead. This is more of the flashlight you whip out at the camp fire to show off. With that being said, I work night shift EMS, and showing off the MS03 is always fun. Especially when the cops are on scene and they think they're lights are bright until you pull out the MS03. Never gets old. Would recommend, however don't overuse these lights. This is the second MS03 I've purchased, and the first one exploded on me. Don't let that discourage you, because I was using turbo mode way too much. Totally would recommend this flashlight.