Intro
Small pistols have evolved. No longer are they the huge compromise between size, carry comfort, shootability, and capacity. We are now in an era where there are dozens of compact and subcompact pistols that have over 11 round capacity, are fun to shot, conceal well, and have available accessories to turn them into the shooting machines people want. So if you want at least 15 round capacity, an optic, a compensator, and a light, you can run something like my Glock 19x, or a Glock 43x MOS. Which would you rather carry every day?
In light of this age of competent compact pistols, we wanted to test a range of popular compact lights.
To help with this testing, I brought in Jamison and Cole. Watch the full video here:
Here are the factory specs on these lights:
| Light | Mfr Price / MSRP | Lumen | Candela | Battery | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olight Baldr S | $129 | 800 | 4400 | Magnetic Rechargeable | Green Laser |
| Olight Baldr RL Mini | $109 | 600 | 4225 | Magnetic Rechargeable | Red Laser |
| Surefire XSC | $329 | 350 | 2000 | Rechargeable Battery Pack | |
| Streamlight TLR-7 Sub P365 | $225 | 500 | 5000 | Single CR123A | |
| Streamlight TLR-7A | $225 | 500 | 5000 | Single CR123A | |
| Amazon Light | Under $30 | 300 | Unknown | Single CR2 |
Lab Testing
The lab gives us objective measurements of these lights. I want to cover max lumens and how those measurements compare to manufacturer claims. I also want to test runtime because a longer running light may be useful for people. Additionally, candela is a good measurement of how far a light can punch and how blinding it can be to an opponent. Finally, we measure the quality & temperature of the light, which impacts our ability to properly see critical colors such as skin tones.
Lab: Lumens Over Time / Max Lumens
For lumen testing, we follow ANSI / PLATO standards. This means that the “max lumen” rating is actually an average with multiple samples taken between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. The light must perform well over those 90 seconds to have a high max lumen rating. The first 30 seconds are discarded, as some lights may take some “warm up” time, and others may only have a brief high output time. We sample every 3 seconds. Additionally, runtime is determined as the time a light will stay at or above 10% of its rated lumen output. This means that a light with a 500 lumen output needs to stay at or above 50 lumens, which a light with a 300 lumen output has to stay at or above 30 lumens.
First, our lumen over time graph, which shows how well a light maintains output.
The first thing that jumps out to me is that the Streamlights, which appear to be at a lumen disadvantage on paper, have stronger lumen output than even the 800-lumen Olight Baldr S after about 2 minutes. Whether by chance, or by design, the Olights have high output for the first 2 minutes, which gives them strong ANSI / PLATO lumen numbers. To make the contrast even more stark, at 3 minutes, the $30 Amazon light has 171 lumens, besting the Baldr RL Mini’s 109. If you want at least 300 lumens past the 3 minute mark, then you only have the two Streamlights and the Olight Baldr S to choose from.
Summarizing the lumen data, we get the following:
| Lumen Testing | Olight Baldr RL Mini | Olight Baldr S | Surefire XSC | Streamlight TLR-7 Sub P365 | Streamlight TLR-7A | “Amazon Light” |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spec | 600 | 800 | 350 | 500 | 500 | 300 |
| Measured Max | 719.6 | 883.7 | 408.4 | 633.8 | 629.2 | 175.1 |
| Percent of Advertised | 119.93% | 110.46% | 116.69% | 126.76% | 125.84% | 58.37% |
| 10% of Spec | 60 | 80 | 35 | 50 | 50 | 30 |
| Runtime to 10% of Spec (Minutes) | 39.33 | 44.58 | 32.75 | 98.83 | 82.67 | 44.33 |
Lab: Max Candela
In a slight deviation from ANSI / PLATO specs, our candela measurement equipment is calibrated at one foot, which can explain slight differences versus manufacturer specs.
| Olight Baldr RL Mini | Olight Baldr S | Surefire XSC | Streamlight TLR-7 Sub P365 | Streamlight TLR-7A | “Amazon Light” | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measured Candela Max | 3596 | 3999 | 1880 | 3538 | 3441 | 3086 |
Here we see that the Olight Baldr S, supported by its high lumen output, is the winner. The surprise here is that the Amazon light provides over 3,000 candela with a measly 175 lumen measurement. This is an example showing how focusing a light with low lumens can provide higher than expected candela. The Surefire XSC lags significantly behind all the other lights on candela.
Lab: Light Quality
We now have the ability to measure light CRI, and accurately measure color temperature. CRI, or “Color Rendering Index” compares how faithfully the light provides specific spectrums of light. A CRI of 100 would faithfully replicate sunlight. Lights with CRI below 90 typically cause the subject to look washed out or green. R9, a specific subset measurement of CRI, is particularly important, as it has a drastic impact on the ability to show skin tones.
The other measurement we capture here is color temperature. This shows whether the light is “warmer” or “cooler” in the way it blends the spectrums. Higher values are “cooler” and lower values are “warmer”. We prefer a either a sunlight temperature (about 5600k) or a bit warmer. Warmer colors tend to punch through environmental conditions such as fog and smoke better.
| Olight Baldr RL Mini | Olight Baldr S | Surefire XSC | Streamlight TLR-7 Sub P365 | Streamlight TLR-7A | “Amazon Light” | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measured Ra (average) | 68.3 | 71.7 | 70.4 | 68.1 | 67.8 | 74.4 |
| Measured Color Temperature (Kelvin) | 7806 | 7648 | 6389 | 6935 | 6863 | 6473 |
The big surprise is the Amazon light, which provides the best color rendering index average, as well as color temperature that was only beaten by the Surefire XSC. I was surprised that the Ra of the Streamlights was not as good as the Olights, even though Streamlight provides a better color temperature.
Lab: How to Rank?
There are many variables here, and I think the simplest method of ranking is the easiest. For each of these tests, I ranked the results from 1-5, with 1 being the best, and 5 being the worst. Then summed the results. In this case, a lower total number is best.
| Olight Baldr RL Mini | Olight Baldr S | Surefire XSC | Streamlight TLR-7 Sub P365 | Streamlight TLR-7A | “Amazon Light” | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Lumens | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Minutes of Advertised Output | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Runtime | 5 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Candela | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| CRI | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| Temperature | 6 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Overall Rank | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
In short, the two Streamlights and two Olights were just about even in these tests. Both the Amazon light and the Surefire XSC lagged some. The more interesting comparison is between the Olights and the Streamlights. If someone is debating between the Baldr RL Mini and the Baldr S, the Baldr S provides more lumens, more candela, and better light quality. If someone is choosing between the TLR-7 Sub and the TLR-7A, the Sub is very slightly better in every respect.
Summary
The data above is only a fraction of our testing. For the full results, please see the video linked above. Our most expensive light, the XSC, didn’t impress Cole, but it did withstand the torture testing quite well. The least expensive light from Amazon not only lacked output, but it also has sub-par switches and broke on the first impact. The Olights and Streamlights did perform well across the tests.
