The Best 18650 Flashlights of 2018

*Check out our current article on 18650 Battery Flashlights.

Hello and welcome again to Fenix-Store.com. Today we'll be discussing The Best 18650 flashlights in 2018. Some of these are going to be brand new Fenix flashlights that have a come out or are about to come out, some of them will be some tried and true favorites that are still available at this point in time, and either way, no matter what they are, they're gonna be some of the best lights that you can find, and they're all gonna run on the 18650 rechargeable battery.

To start off with, we'll go with our absolute top seller, which is the Fenix PD35 Tactical flashlight. Like I said, this is our absolute best selling flashlight that we have here. The light is a 1,000 lumen maximum output flashlight, and it comes with two programmable settings, or a choice between two settings. You have the outdoor mode and the tactical mode. Now the Fenix PD35 Tactical will come standard on the tactical mode, which means in the tactical mode the flashlight side switch will not do anything, and it will actually all the functionality will be controlled through the tail cap. The Fenix PD35 Tactical is setup like many of our other lights, where it has the tail switch power switch and the side switch for mode functions. However, in the tactical mode, it will remove functionality from the side switch and put that functionality exclusively on the tail switch. This allows for quick access to turbo, strobe, and low modes, and it will also remove the memory functions. So the light will always turn on in the turbo setting.

 

The way that it works is that, like I said, it will always turn on in turbo. If you want to go to strobe then you will just need to do a half press of the tail switch and then a full press of the tail switch, that will cycle from turbo to strobe. If you want to get to low, you just do a half press, a half press, and then a full press of the tail switch, and that will get you to the low mode, and it will cycle in that order. So any half press of the tail switch that you will cycle to the next mode in line, the next brightness level in line. So it will cycle from turbo, to strobe, to low, to turbo, to strobe, and low and so on.

To access the outdoor mode on the Fenix PD35 Tactical, you just turn on the flashlight with the tail cap switch, as normal, and then click and hold the mode switch for about three seconds and then it will flash and after that you'll note that you're in the outdoor mode. In the outdoor mode, it is more of a traditional setup of mode functionality. Where the tail switch turns the light on and off and then the side switch cycles between five different brightness levels, plus the strobe mode.

It's a good idea to use 18650 batteries which are recommended because they will absolutely get you the most bang for your buck in the long run. You'll save a lot of money by going with an 18650, even if it is a little bit higher upfront investment. The reason being is that these are, of course, rechargeable batteries and you are able to use non-rechargeable CR123 batteries, you can use two of those to one 18650, but the light will drain through them fairly quickly and they are minimum of $1.50 per each battery. So you can imagine how that might very quickly become more expensive than a $22 Fenix 18650 battery.

The next light on the list of best 18650 lights for 2018 is going to be the Fenix UC35 flashlight (upgraded to the Fenix UC35 V2.0). This is a rechargeable LED light that will get you 1000 lumen maximum output. In many ways, the Fenix UC35 and the Fenix PD35 Tactical are actually very similar. They both have the same basic body shape and the same setup of tail switch power and side switch mode function, however, the two main differences between the Fenix UC35 and the Fenix PD35 TAC, is that the Fenix UC35 does offer a micro USB charging port integrated right on the head of the light, and it doesn't feature the tactical mode that I covered just a moment ago on the Fenix PD35 TAC.

 

Instead you just have the standard five brightness levels controlled by the side switch plus the strobe mode. The good news though, is that the Fenix UC35 flashlight, as with all of our rechargeable flashlights, comes with a battery, so for the price of $89.95 you get not only the Fenix UC35 rechargeable light, but you also get a 3500 milliamp 18650 battery (3500mAh 18650 temporarily unavailable; see other 18650 batteries) included. So it ends up being about the same price as the cost of a Fenix PD35 TAC plus a Fenix battery as well along with it.

The Fenix UC35 will also, of course, come with a USB cable to charge the light, and we do also have AC adapters available for the USB cords so that you can charge that anywhere if you need one, but most people already have that type of accessory around their house.

The best 18650 headlamp that we have to offer for 2018 is going to be the Fenix HL60R. This headlamp offers an impressive 950 lumens from just a single 18650 battery and as the R in the name dictates, it is a rechargeable light, directly rechargeable with a micro USB, just like the Fenix UC35 is, and also like the Fenix UC35, it does come with a Fenix 18650 battery.

The thing that makes this headlamp most impressive, is the amount of brightness that you get out of just a single battery and it's all compact in one spot right on the front of our head. There are not external battery packs or cables that you have to worry about. 950 lumen maximum output. Easy to select with a single mode selector switch and no confusion at all.

The Fenix HL60R headlamp comes in a black and a desert yellow color, so you have a little bit of customization options available as well. And it also offers a pair of small red LEDs, not for night vision, but rather for a very dim map reading ability. These red LEDs are not going to illuminate a cave or even a trail, but they can definitely help you if you're trying to read at night and conserve your night vision.

Next one is going to be the best tactical flashlight that we have for 2018. Now this will be the Fenix TK20R rechargeable LED tactical flashlight. This light clocks in at 1,000 lumen maxim output and is offered for $99.95. It also, as intended by the R in the name, of course, it does feature a built in micro USB rechargeable port and includes a battery as well. So this will include a Fenix 18650 2900 milliamp battery and so you have everything that you need and all in one package starting at just $99.95.

The TK20R has a maxim output of 1,000 lumens, as I said, and it will offer a good amount of throw for that. The deeper bezel allows for a longer through than what you might get with the Fenix PD35 TAC, as well as allows for a strong strike bezel, which is one of the things that makes this is a really impressive tactical flashlight.

So the ease of charging with the built in USB cable, as well as the impressive strike bezel, good through and 1,000 lumen output, makes the Fenix TK20R a very good light for tactical purposes, a great light for police, for rescue works, but especially for police and security guards.

That will about wrap us up for today. Thank you, again, as always for joining us here on Fenix-Store.com. We're very happy to of course talk to you anytime that you need help. Hope you've enjoyed the run down as some of the best flashlights of some of the best 18650 flashlights for 2018, and I hope that you will be looking to join us again in the future. As far as if you have any questions, you can always feel free to contact us at 800-616-1326 or you can always send us an email at support@fenix-store.com.