Top 3 Best EDC Flashlights

Testing Team December 30, 2024 404776

We tried and tested every flashlight for you — as a result, here are the only three worth considering (from best to worst)

At last! Forget endless Reddit forms, YouTube videos, or Amazon Reviews. Get your hands on the best EDC flashlight of 2024 without a shadow of doubt. Our ruthless testing revealed that 80% of flashlights are too big or bulky, die too quickly, and simply don’t have the “oomph” you need.

Here’s great news about the modern day EDC flashlight:

With new LED technology installed in flashlights, you can now slip a heavy-duty, high-lumen flashlight in your back pocket or clip it onto your waistband or belt — and even forget it’s there. How? With the EDC (everyday carry) flashlights! They’re small, handheld — yet highly effective and powerful — lights that anyone can hold in their hand like a TV remote. As a result, you’re getting the powerful beam of a big, awkward, heavy duty flashlight but with a lightweight, pocket-friendly form factor.

What’s this mean for you? The answer: a LOT.

For starters, hunt for run-away pills under the couch so that you won’t lose important medication — and never let your blood sugar or heart health get out of control because you missed your daily meds. Or for simple things like puttering around the house or office. Even more, you (or your adult children) will never be without a tool to scare off the creeps lurking in the shadows or wild animals hiding in the bushes. The EDC flashlight is the single best “safe signal” to use if you’re somewhere dangerous and you need to silently call for help or deter danger away. In other words, when you have an EDC flashlight in your pocket you’re putting the control back in your (or your loved ones) hands — literally.

Without further ado, find out what we discovered in our testing of all the best EDC flashlights on the market today — and what makes them the best bang for your buck. Trust me, the next time you’re out with your friends and you pull this out, the look on their faces will be priceless!

From best to worst:

Cyber Tools Tactical Pocket Flashlight

Cyber Tools’ new-to-market pocket flashlight stood out from the rest. It checked all our boxes. Cyber Tools Tactical Pocket Flashlight. What makes this one so special? For starters, it powerful flashlights holds the power to burn a hole in your pocket. Luckily, they’ve installed a sensor that detects when you slip it into your pocket so it automatically turns off so its extra fast (but it doesn’t switch modes or struggle to turn back on).

Regular Price: ~~$99~~

NEW YEAR, NEW YOU SALE: $69

This feature also avoids draining the battery (kind of like how easily and often this happens with the iPhone flashlight). In addition, this flashlight has the power to magnetically stick to metal surfaces for hands-free use for work in your garage and similar situations. Both of these features are never-before-seen in EDC flashlights today. Even more, the build quality and durability of this flashlight is unmatched! Drop it, throw it, hit it and you’ll be left with a perfectly working flashlight — with maybe a few scratches.

At first glance, it looks less like a flashlight and more like a modern TV remote. With its sleek, rectangular shape it’s got a great feel for your hand or pocket. And with 1200 lumens, it holds the power to temporarily blind anyone. Coupled with that, you get a built-in laser pointer and it’s rechargeable and water-resistant.

You recharge this light with a micro USB and get up to 10 hours of light.
The charging cable is included in the box that’s built for presentation and safe shipping.

This flashlight sits at our number one recommendation to anyone and everyone when it comes to getting your hands on a great pocket EDC flashlight.

Our Final Verdict:

PROS:

CONS:

Where to Buy

Regular Price: $89

At spot number two we have something that, at first glance, doesn’t even look like a flashlight. With a similar form factor, as our number one recommendation we have the Olight Arkeld Pro. It bears a strong resemblance to a small remote for a TV (Roku or Fire, for example) more than anything else. Which, in our opinion, is an advantage. This fairly flat, rectangle-looking thing (besides the fact that it’s a bit rounded on the top and bottom) makes it feel more natural in your hand.

Olight knows how to manufacture a quality product — and this flashlight is no exception. You get five main modes with this light. Plus, onboard charging, green laser, white LED, and UV LED. With a total output of 1300 lumens, this is a moderately floodly light. Great for doing things around the house and office. Oh, and that UV light? Perfect for detection scenarios, like investigating whether or not a $100 bill is real or fake, for example.

Some companies ship their lights in “presentation cases” that have a cool, sleek look to them. The Olight Arkeld Pro, however, is more of an actual carton for damage-free delivery and is built to be recycled. As for the battery — it’s built-in. With an integral battery and charging, the entire cycle from dead to fully charged should take around two hours.

Overall, we highly recommend this light. It’s lightweight, it’s grippy, it’s powerful, it’s silk, and (most importantly for pocket flashlights) is great for on-the-road with its stainless steel clip.

Our Final Verdict:

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Where to Buy

Regular Price: $41

he most popular EDC flashlight on Budgetlightforum, the Wurkkos TS10, slides in at number three. For good reason, too — this light is a hard hitter. It’s one of the best “bang for the buck” lights on the market right now. As a pocket flashlight, at its price point, you can’t really ask for much more.

This light comes with 1400 lumens, Anduril 2, triple TIR optics, and a great feel. And with auxiliary lights to boot! Fair warning, though — for a new user or upcoming enthusiast, this could be a challenge. The user interface could be a learning curve that could bring a challenge, but if you mean business, this is an exciting (and valuable) thing to learn.

As for the form factor of this Wurkkos, it’s very small. Like “gets lost in your pocket” small. In fact, we’d go as far as to say, you can mistake it for a keychain light. Depending on your intention with using this light, that may be great news. However, you should know, this light does have its downfall. There is not a lot of meat on these bones, and that means your hands might get toasty on higher modes before too long — because of the high thermal transfer.

The packaging of this very pocketable light is more sophisticated than you may expect. Typically orange and white with a large logo up front, this retail packaging has a hang tab and plastic insert to house everything during shipment. Another thing we enjoyed about this light was the clip. It acts as an anti-roll feature, as the body of the light is quite round, with nothing holding it in place. Plus, the stiffness makes it safe and secure when it’s clipped

Our Final Verdict:

PROS:

CONS:

Where to Buy

Conclusion

Overall, with the price point and size of this light, we love and highly recommend it. It’s one of the best pocket EDC flashlights you’ll find.

There you have it — our top 3 pocket EDC (everyday carry) flashlights. We’ve done the researching, testing, and hunting for you — these lights are straight-shooting and the best bang for your buck.

Testing Team

Consists of writers, scientists and subject matter experts. and We physically ordered and tested all the products listed. We always try to do both quantitative and qualitative testing. Quantitative involves measuring various categories of performance. Qualitative testing involves activities such as using the product, conducting focus group testing, and researching online reviews to derive benefits and drawbacks for diverse users.

Want a closer look at the testing and review process behind this article? Here’s a peek inside the Shoppers Advocate testing lab to show how we ensure the accuracy and reliability of our findings.