What's lumen in a flashlight?

When buying led flashlights, many people may have seen or heard about the introduction of "lumens", so what are lumens in a flashlight? How many lumens does a flashlight usually have? The higher the lumens, the better the flashlight? How many lumens should we choose to buy? You will find the answers here.

What are lumens in a flashlight?

Lumen measures luminous flux, which is a physical unit of measurement of light flux used to describe the amount of energy perceptible to the human eye that a light source radiates into the surrounding space per unit of time.

The size of a lumen depends on the luminous intensity of the light source and the amount of light radiated. A lumen can be understood as the luminous intensity of 1 candela (cd) point light source in the unit stereo angle (1 spherical degree) in the luminous flux. Lumens are not only used to describe luminous flux, but are also commonly used to evaluate the brightness of lighting devices such as torches and projectors. Higher lumen values usually mean higher brightness.

For example, direct sunlight is equal to approximately 10,000 lumens, and the luminous flux output of a 40W fluorescent lamp is approximately 2,100 lumens.

How many lumens does a flashlight usually have?

The number of lumen is closely related to the flashlight’s power, wick type, heat dissipation, battery capacity, and so on. Common flashlights on the market range from 300 lumen to 5000 lumen, which is more than enough for the average user. You should know that higher lumen means more power consumption, and the battery capacity of the flashlight is limited, so with more and more lumen, the power consumption of the flashlight will be more and more, and the battery life of the flashlight will be shorter and shorter.

The higher the lumen, the better the flashlight?

Normally, the larger the lumen, the more total visible light emitted by the light source per unit of time, and a large number of lumen is a physical condition for good illumination; it should be noted, however, that a larger number of lumen does not necessarily mean a higher level of brightness, as the material and craftsmanship level of the torch’s inbuilt light reflector directly influences the torch’s illumination effect.

Therefore, the number of lumens of a torch can be a preliminary judgement of the brightness of the lamp, but it is not necessarily decisive for the range of illumination.

How many lumens should we choose to buy?

For most everyday situations, it is recommended to purchase an LED torch with 800 lumens or more which is usually sufficient.
For activities such as rock climbing, patrolling, caving, camping, etc., it is recommended that you purchase a flashlight with at least 1200 lumens.

For hunting, police, search and rescue, etc., it is recommended that you purchase a flashlight with 3,000 to 5,000 lumens.

Normally we recommend that you purchase a white laser flashlight. White laser flashlights have a higher light concentration, a longer irradiation distance, and their colour is closer to natural light, which can more realistically restore the original colour and texture of objects.

A white laser flashlight can also be used for self-defense, as its light can instantly blind an opponent for a short period of time, so you gain valuable time to escape..