Rechargeable flashlights are all the rage right now. In an age where people expect as many of their devices collapsed into one as possible, why not do the same with your flashlight and battery charger? Especially when the lithium-ion batteries in tactical flashlights require their own unique charger!
But which rechargeable flashlight is best? First, let's talk about some that are not the best, but still actually pretty good. MecArmy makes many quality rechargeable keychain lights like the popular PT16 and the uber-small illumineX-1.
Of course, when you downsize a tactical light this much, you need to sacrifice either brightness or runtime. The illumineX-1 is 130 lumens, which is still many times greater than your average grocery store flashlight but not exactly mindblowing in the tactical light world. The PT16 can get an awesome 1,000 lumens - as much as many much larger tactical lights! But it's a lot to ask of a 16340 battery, which will get run down from full in about 35 minutes at that brightness level. Hey, we all like rechargeable lights, but how often do you want to be recharging it?!
Klarus also makes more standard-sized (5 1/2 inches) rechargeable tactical lights. The XT11S and the XT11GT are probably their most popular lights (they certainly are at FlashlightZ!). And at 1,100 and 2,000 lumens apiece, they are certainly worthy of consideration in the tactical light world.
But due to some small drawbacks, they don't quite match up to the winner that I'm going to reveal momentarily. The XT11GT needs a high-drain battery to jack up its lumen output to that incredible 2,000 level, and Klarus only includes a 3100mAh battery. With a battery at that capacity, the flashlight holds out at turbo mode for 50 minutes. Couldn't we go a little further?
We can! Time to unveil the BEST rechargeable tactical flashlight: the XT12GT.
Klarus has totally revamped its magnetic charging technology with this light. Where with the company's previous magnetic charging models you needed their special bi-directional batteries, with this light you only need any regular lithium-ion job. It's thanks to the key-fob add-on, which turns any micro-USB cord into a magnetic charger.
It's at 1600 lumens, which is a chunk less than the XT11GT, but comes with a high-drain battery with much better capacity - 2600mAh. This pushes the light's runtime at maximum brightness to over an hour. All of these factors and more, in my opinion, make the XT12GT the best rechargeable flashlight!
