The BEST Tactical Flashlight for Beginners - The FlashlightZ Beacon
The BEST Tactical Flashlight for Beginners - The FlashlightZ Beacon
I want to talk about the FlashlightZ Beacon, the first-ever exclusive flashlight from FlashlightZ. We carry a lot of great brands we respect, and we have wonderful relationships with the manufacturers we distribute for. But we've always wondered - what if there was a light that bridged the gap between common household utility lights and the quality of modern tactical LED flashlights? Well, we've finally partnered with a manufacturer and made that idea a reality.
Beacon Tactical Flashlight Features
The Beacon is designed from the ground-up to be a beginner-friendly tactical flashlight, with a focus on being useful in a wide range of scenarios for the average consumer. To this end, the Beacon has a trimmed-down style and an ultra-easy interface, so that unlike high-end tactical lights with steep learning curves, anyone can pick this light up and use it.
First, let's talk about the body. The body is the first place many cheaper "tactical" lights look to cut their costs. They opt for plastic or some other cost-efficient material, and skimp on the internals, weakening the light's impact resistance. Not us. The Beacon is made from the ridiculously strong aircraft-grade anodyzed aluminum as any high-end tactical light in our store. If you run the Beacon over with your truck, you first concern needs to be for your tires, not the light.
It's also impact-resistant. It's ultra tough, and ultra rugged, as any higher-priced tactical LED flashlight. At FlashlightZ, we know there's no room for shortcuts when it comes to a tactical light's durability. We have such confidence in the durability of our light, it comes with a LIFETIME WARRANTY.
If you ever have a problem with your light, send it to us. We'll repair or replace it, and send it back. Done and done. When you buy a FlashlightZ Beacon, you've put your money down for a high-power, durable, working flashlight. And not for two years, not for five years...for the rest of your life.
The light is also an ideal size for tactical LED flashlights. It's only 5 3/4" long, or 146 mm, and the body is only 25 mm wide, or 1". A light's not very tactical if it can't be mounted to a rifle, and this size makes it compatible with most flashlight gun mounts. And at under 5 ounces, it's also a great weight and size just for carrying around in your pocket, or attaching to your belt by way of the heavy-duty pocket clip.
Easy Tactical Interface
Let's talk about the interface. The light has only a single switch, located on the tail for the convenient reverse grip. The interface is as simple as we could make it: turn the light on to active one of its five modes (three brightness settings, strobe, and SOS). The highest brightness setting is 1,000 lumens, a super-bright output that can hold its own with most any other tactical light of its size, but we'll talk more about the LED in a second. When you turn the light off and on again, it cycles to the next mode. Easy-peezy. Admittedly, the experienced flashlight user may prefer a more advanced method, but for a first-time user not familiar with programmable buttons and dual switches, this is an instantly intuitive method.
This light also comes with one of the most sought-after functions customers call us with, and that's zoom functionality. Again, we've kept this slimmed down and simple for any user. Just pull up the head for fully-adjustable zoom. The zoom can be adjusted from a wide floodlight to a very narrow beam. The laser-like max zoom position extends the light's distance to an incredible 800 meters!
CREE LED Flashlight
So let's talk about the LED. I promised you we would talk about it, and I want to talk about it, so let's talk about it. The LED is a CREE XM L2. This is a high-power LED that, according to CREE's website, is capable of 1198 lumens. We only advertise it at 1,000 lumens, on account of our blushing modesty. But this is comparable to almost any high-end tactical light of its size, and pretty much blows away lights at the same price point. When we were designing this light, we knew that an ultrabright LED was something that just couldn't be left out. So you know what? We didn't.
Another feature people don't just want, but need at this point in the tactical flashlight game is rechargeability. People have almost come to expect that the batteries in their tactical light can be recharged without the use of an external charger. The Beacon needed to be rechargeable if it was going to be the tactical light for the average consumer and flashaholic-in-waiting. So when the head is fully extended, a hidden micro-USB port is revealed, allowing you to easily recharge the 18650 lithium-ion battery. Did I mention the 18650 lithium-ion battery is included? This light is ready to go right out of the box.
The only issue here is that this port does create a weakness in the light's waterproofness, since the head can't be extended when it's raining.
Tactical Accessories
So let's talk about some of the accessories now. We wanted a no-frills light, but some accessories are just necessary for tactical flashlights. I've already mentioned the heavy-duty pocket clip which makes the Beacon as easily tansportable as any everday carry tactical light. There's also the anti-roll tactical ring, which keeps your light in place whether it's on the table or on your keyring. It has a convenient small hole for attaching it to your keyring, which is something not everyone likes to do with a light of this size (five inches long), but it's a given that a tactical light will have this option. This is a real tactical light - we didn't want anyone to not get the basics they expected!
And here's a huge element of this light that many other lights can't claim. This is a light sold exclusively by FlashlightZ. We're confident in our great customer service. If you have questions about your light, if there's ever an issue with your light, we will take care of you!
Listen, at FlashlightZ, we've been doing this a long time. And we know what's important in a tactical LED flashlight. We know what makes the best tactical flashlight, and what's just extraneous bells and whistles. We knew there was a way to bring the quality of tactical lights - the brightness, the durability, and the reliability - to a more cost-efficient option. The Beacon is an intelligently designed flashlight, where we've held on to all the important features of a tactical light and given you simple, one-touch control that puts 1,000 lumens in your hands. No learning curve required. The Beacon is also ranked as one of the 10 best tactical flashlights of 2017!
It may not be too modest to give a good review to your own light, but I feel like we've got a tactical LED flashlight that deserves a strong rating. Since the only issues I can see are the exposed charge port when the head is extended, and the possibility that advanced flashlight users won't warm to the simple interface, I give this light 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.
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