The Best Mini Flashlights of 2018

Hello, and welcome again to Fenix-store.com. Today, we will be going over the best mini flashlights of 2018. Fenix has a lot to offer in this field of small and mini keychain flashlights, so let's get right into it, and we'll touch on some for the best ones we've got.

Best Mini Keychain Flashlight - Fenix UC01 (discontinued. Recommended replacement - Fenix E03R Keychain Flashlight)

First of all, we'll talk about the Fenix UC01 rechargeable keychain light. This is probably the best of any flashlight of 2018 for your keychain, that it does come with an included easy-to-use keychain carabiner clip. This is also one of the best budget-conscious lights that Fenix has available right now, because its price point is only $12. It offers full USB recharge ability, and an included battery, and it has three output levels with a maximum of 45 lumens.

 

This is a very small rectangular light, and it is great for a keychain, especially for even the kids to use on a keychain or anything like that. The 45 lumen output is not too bright that it will be dangerous, but it is enough light that you can easily see your way. It will last you about an hour and a half on that high setting, 45 lumens, and then it also has a mid of 20, and a low of 1 lumen. That's the Fenix UC01 (discontinued; recommended replacement E03R).

Fenix Mini Flashlight for Your Keychain - Fenix UC02 (discontinued. Recommended replacement - Fenix E02R) 

Next on the list, I'll go ahead and talk about ... This is my personal favorite. This is the Fenix UC02 rechargeable LED keychain light. This light, first of all, the Fenix UC02 does come in three different colors. It comes in a black, blue, and a purple, so you have a little bit of a custom flashlight vibe going on there. It also really is one of the best mini flashlights of 2018 because of its very, very tiny compact size and the 130 lumen output that it boasts.

It also is, as the UC02 name suggests, a rechargeable flashlight through a USB cable. The maximum output is 130 lumens. It has two lumen output settings, one other setting besides that 130 maximum, at a 10 lumen setting. A 10 lumen setting will last you about four hours, and that is a good enough light to see in the dark, look for something you dropped in your seats or something like that in the car, and at a price of only $25, the Fenix UC02 is hard to beat, and it's so tiny, you don't even hardly notice it on your keychain.

The Fenix UC02 (discontinued; recommended replacement E02R) does also come in a stainless steel edition. It's a little bit more, just $5 more, and that one will have two different options, both with the stainless steel silver body, and then one has blue markings on it, and then one that has gold. Again, even with the stainless steel, you get more customization available with the color choices in addition to the steel choices.

Best Mini Fenix Headlamp - The Fenix HM50R   

The best mini headlamp that we have this year and probably one of the best mini headlamps of 2018, is going to be the HM50R. This headlamp is just barely larger than the length of a single AA battery. It is fully rechargeable, comes with a battery, and it boasts an output of 500 lumens. This uses a 16340 battery, so you get a lot of power in a small package with this battery. It also has a high output of 130 lumens, and a medium output of 30 lumens, plus a low output of 4 lumens. That allows it to get a maximum run time of almost 130 hours on that 4 lumen setting.

As I said, it does come with a Fenix 16340. That is the Fenix ARB-L16-700 battery, and it is also a removable headlamp. You can actually take it off, so not only is it one of the best mini headlamps, it is also one of the best mini flashlights of 2018, because you can, in fact, take it off of the headband and then hold it as much as you want, and then slide it right back into the headband, so you've got your headlamp again.

Mini AAA Flashlight - Fenix E05 

Next, we have the Fenix E05 LED flashlight (discontinued; recommended replacement Fenix E01 V2 mini flashlight). This one is just the standard AAA light. This one is a $20 price point, but I'd still say that it could be considered to be in the running for the best mini flashlight for 2018, just because of its small, compact size, the fact that you can use that AAA. The AAAs are very easy to come by, very inexpensive. Lots of customers will always really want the ease of use that comes with a normal AA or AAA battery, and the peace of mind that you know that if you need one in an emergency, you're always going to be able to find an AAA battery. It can use rechargeable AAAs, or disposable AAAs, and it boasts an output of 85 lumens for just a small pocket light.

 

It is barely larger than a AAA battery. You can put it in your pocket, put it on your keychain, anything like that. It's similar to Fenix UC02 in that it has a twist head for activation. However, this one offers three brightness levels that you select between by screwing the light on and off in succession. It will start on the 85 lumen high setting, and then you turn it off and back on again, it'll go down to medium. Turn it off and back on again, it'll go down to low, and then it'll continue to cycle in that order. This is also a somewhat customizable flashlight, because it comes in a black, a blue, and a purple color, so you have a little bit of choice in what you want your light to look like, which I think is good fun.

Fenix Headlamp HL10  

Another mini headlamp to look at in 2018 will be the HL10 headlamp (discontinued. Browse our other Fenix headlamps). This is also a single battery AAA headlamp. It has an output of 70 lumens, and just like the Fenix HM50R, the Fenix HL10 is removable from the headband, so you can easily take it off and hold it in your hand if you need a little bit closer look than just being on your head. At only $27, the Fenix HL10 is really a great budget headlamp with a not-too-shabby 70 lumen output. This headlamp also does come in the black, purple, and gold colors, so Fenix is really great about always making sure that these smaller lamps and smaller flashlights that you might be getting, they always have some color choices, so you get to have a bit of fun picking a color that you want. You don't always have to go with black like you do with the larger lights. The mini flashlights and mini headlamps are really where you get to let your personality show just a bit with your color choices.

Fenix E12 AA Flashlight  

Probably one of the best AA flashlights will be the Fenix E12 LED light (upgraded to the Fenix E12 V2.0 EDC flashlight). This is a single AA light. Just like the Fenix E05 is for the AAAs, the Fenix E12 is just barely larger than a AA battery itself, so it's very compact. It's a great pocket light. This one maybe not so great for a keychain because it could be a bit bulky if you were to attach it to the keychain. It might get in your way, but if you just want to hold on to it, hold it in your pocket, you probably won't even notice it being in your pocket because it's so small.

This one gets a little bit brighter than the others that we've been talking about because AA batteries can hold a bit more energy than the AAA batteries, so this one has a maximum output -- this is, again, the Fenix E12 flashlight -- this one has a maximum output setting of 130 lumens, and it also does have two other settings: a mid at 50 lumens, and a low at 8 lumens. That single AA battery is going to get you a maximum run time of up to 40 hours, which is pretty cool. You can use either a throwaway alkaline AA battery or even use rechargeable nickel metal hydride or lithium batteries in this flashlight.

Mini Camping Lantern - Fenix CL09  

Thank you so much for joining us today. We'll just cover one more thing here. This is the Fenix CL09 camping lantern. Now, you might not have considered that a camping lantern might be on the list of the best mini flashlights of 2018, but this lantern is so small and compact that I had to include it here. This is a 200 lumen output lantern with an amazing diffuser on the end. It floods the area very, very well, and it uses a single 16340 battery, which it does come with. The battery itself that it comes with has a USB port in it. This is the Fenix ARB-L16-700U battery. You can just take the battery out, and plug it directly into a USB cable. No external charger or extra charger or accessories needed. This Fenix CL09 lantern comes in black and a gray color, so again, you have some color customization options. It boasts a maximum run time of 48 hours, plus offers a red flashing mode for emergencies, and a green output mode for night lighting.

 

So, that's about it for the best mini flashlights of 2018. Thank you very much for joining us today on Fenix-store.com. Hope that you enjoyed learning about these flashlights today. Keep an eye out for the Fenix UC02 and the Fenix CL09. Those are two of my favorite mini flashlights that are coming out in 2018, or are out now currently in 2018. We hope that you've enjoyed it, and you have a great day.