Streamlight TLR-7 HL-X Sub: All Streamlight Sub Versions Compared

Introduction

For years, the Streamlight TLR-7 Sub has been the go-to light for those running the Glock 43x MOS or P365. With 500 lumens and 5,000 candela, it wasn’t the brightest, but it was one of the only lights compatible with slimline pistols. Recently, Streamlight released the “HL-X” version of the TLR-7 Sub, now boasting 1,000 lumens and 10,000 candela.

That’s nearing the performance of some full-size lights, but it doesn’t come cheap: the HL-X Sub’s MSRP is $295, and the street price is likely to be around $175.

In this article, I’ve used my calibrated lab equipment to find out if the HL-X Sub is worth the price, and compiled measurements from all version of the 7-Sub.

Manufacturer Claims and Specs

Here’s a quick reminder on the differences between the Subs:

Attribute	Streamlight TLR-7 Sub	Streamlight TLR-8 /TLR-8G Sub	Streamlight TLR-7 X Sub	Streamlight TLR-7 HL-X Sub
Date released	January 19, 2021	November 3, 2022	July 17, 2024	September 25, 2024
Lumen claim	500	500	500	500 (CR123A) 1,000 (SL-B9)
Candela claim	5,000	5,000	5,000	5,000 (CR123A) 10,000 (SL-B9)
Runtime Claim	1 Hour	1.5 Hours	1.5 Hours (CR123A) 1 Hour (SL-B9)	1.5 Hours (CR123A) 30 Minutes (SL-B9)
Battery Type	CR123A	CR123A	CR123A / SL-B9	CR123A / SL-B9
Price	~$134.79	~$166.92 (Red laser) ~$248.47 (Green laser)	~$142.99	~$175

For the TLR-7 HL-X Sub, Streamlight did not go with the extended face-cap that’s on the TLR-7 HL-X. The new light, as far as I can tell, is dimensionally identical to older versions.

If you’ve already got a holster for your pistol with another version of the TLR-7 Sub, it should work with the new HL-X.

Speaking for myself, Werkz holsters are compatible with the new light.

Note that the TLR-8 Sub hasn’t received the “X” or “HL-X” updates, so there is no available version with rechargeable batteries (as of 10/24/24). The TLR-8 Sub tests identically in its output to the standard TLR-7 Sub, so I’ve omitted it from the results below.

Into the Lab: Lumens, Candela, Color Temp and CRI

Lumens

Lumen output is a measurement of the amount of light coming out the front of an emitter. Using my integrating sphere, I’ve collected data off all of these lights so you can see how they compare. If the light is duel-fuel, I’ve tested output with both types of batteries.

Streamlight Claims 1,000 lumens for the TLR-7 HL-X Sub.

Let’s get a closer look at the first ten minutes:

At thirty seconds, this light produced 1143 lumens, exceeding its claim by almost 15%.

Here are the measured lumen outputs for each of these lights:

Attribute	Streamlight TLR-7 Sub	Streamlight TLR-7 X Sub	Streamlight TLR-7 HL-X Sub
Lumen Claim	500	500	500 (CR123A) 1,000 (SL-B9)
Measured Lumens (30s)	613	554 (CR123A) 572 (SL-B9)	609 (CR123A) 1,143 (SL-B9)

I’ve been measuring lights for years, and I’ve always been impressed by Streamlight’s accuracy as regards their lumen claims. Even though it seems like our sample of the Streamlight TLR-7 X Sub is a bit of a dog, it still exceeded its lumen claim.

If lumen output is your priority, then you should go with the TLR-7 HL-X Sub. But there are other factors to consider, such as runtime and candela, so let’s see how it fares.

Runtime

Streamlight claims 30 minutes of runtime for the TLR-7 HL-X Sub, but it actually ran for 40 minutes and 19 seconds before dropping to 10% of its initial output.

Here are the other light’s runtimes, for reference:

Attribute	Streamlight TLR-7 Sub	Streamlight TLR-7 X Sub	Streamlight TLR-7 HL-X Sub
Runtime Claim	1 Hour	1.5 Hours (CR123A) 1 Hour (SL-B9)	1.5 Hours (CR123A) 30 Minutes (SL-B9)
Measured Runtime	1:50:49	1:54:26 (CR123A) 1:00:48 (SL-B9)	2:04:18 (CR123A) 40:19 (SL-B9)

Streamlight is conservative with their runtime claims.

Runtime is short on the HL-X Sub, but given its application, this isn’t an issue. If the user wants more runtime, the HL-X Sub can be reprogrammed to run at 50% output (though I didn’t measure this setting), or simply swap to a CR123A. Though at that point, you may as well buy one of the previous generations of the Sub, and save the cash.

Candela

Candela is a measurement of a beam’s intensity, which indicates how focused the light is in a particular spot. Higher candela enables a light to reach greater distances and blind potential assailants. For subcompact lights, it’s difficult to adequately focus a beam enough to achieve high candela.

Candela is measured at the instant of turn-on, and at thirty seconds.

Streamlight claims 10,000 candela for the TLR-7 HL-X Sub.

Attribute	Streamlight TLR-7 Sub	Streamlight TLR-7 X Sub	Streamlight TLR-7 HL-X Sub
Candela Claim	5,000	5,000	5,000 (CR123A) 10,000 (SL-B9)
Measured Candela (0s)	3,794	3,837 (CR123A) 4,385 (SL-B9)	4,133 (CR123A) 8,418 (SL-B9)
Measured Candela (30s)	3,717	3,780 (CR123A) 3,995 (SL-B9)	4,104 (CR123A) 8,077 (SL-B9)

The TLR-7 HL-X Sub fell short of its candela claim.

This isn’t a huge surprise to me, since older versions of the Sub did as well.

As an aside – when I see a discrepancy between a manufacturer’s claim and my own measurements, it does give me some pause. However, SureFire’s lights consistently measure at their candela claim, as you can see here and here. The recent Modlite PL50c, and Modlite HOG, also met their candela claims according to my measurements. If my measurements were inaccurate, I wouldn’t expect them agree with the specs of two other reputable brands.

This isn’t to knock this particular light or Streamlight generally, these are just my observations. At 8,000 candela, this light still produces by far the most intense beam of light out of any of the subcompact pistol lights I’ve tested.

Color Temp and CRI

Color temperature and CRI both refer to aspects of light which exist independently from its quantity (lumens) or intensity (candela).

Color temperature is simply how “warm” or “cool” a light appears. An example of a warm light is an incandescent bulb (~3,000K), and an example of cool light is Xenon headlights (~5500K). CRI (or, Color Rendering Index) is the measurement of a light’s fidelity to the sun, on a scale from 0-100. That is, an apple illuminated by a 5000K, 100-CRI light will appear exactly as it would under natural sunlight.

Both color temperature and CRI can be important factors in positive identification of an assailant.

Here’s how the TLR-7 HL-X Sub performed with the SL-B9:

Light	Streamlight TLR-7 HL-X Sub
CRI	71.9
Color Temperature	6325K

This is about on-par with previous generations of the Sub. The light is very cool at 6325K and CRI is low at 71.9. While I’d like to see improvement in these two areas, high output LEDs often perform poorly here.

Final Thoughts

If you’re the type of person who’s convinced a weapon light is necessary, then you may as well spend the money to get the right one. In my opinion, there is no reason to opt for a previous generation of the Sub unless you plan to exclusively run non-rechargeable CR123As, or need a laser.

Streamlight continues to push the envelope and meet the demands of those running subcompact pistols. If I were running a slimline pistol, this would be the pistol light I’d choose, with one exception. If you’re running a P365 X-Macro, or another slimline pistol with a standard picatinny rail, then you may want to consider the Sig Sauer Foxtrot2R, or even the Streamlight TLR-7 HL-X, since both of those options have higher candela.

Pro	Con
Dual-fuel High lumen output Compatible with slimline pistols	Cost Lower candela than TLR-7 HL-X or Foxtrot2R