Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is probably my 10th Thrunite light. I find that Thrunite strikes a good balance between quality, performance and price. The TC15 is no exception. I highly recommend this light, but there are a few things to look at before you buy. I’ll start with the positives, and then a few possible negatives to consider before you buy. Positives: Brightness and levels: This light is bright! Up to 2300 lumens is going to be more than most people will ever need for all but the most unusual of situations. 99.9% of regular everyday situations will be covered with this light, and its various levels, in my opinion. I like the spacing of the brightness levels. At first I was concerned about the difference between medium at 250 and high at 1050, and thought 500 in between would be useful. However, in practice I found it to be just fine. The levels are 1, 25, 250, 1050 and 2300 lumens plus strobe. User Interface: with the side electronic switch it’s very easy to access several levels at will. From the off position you can access firefly, last level used and turbo. This is extremely important to me, and very useful. Firefly is accessed by a long press, Turbo by a double click and last mode used is accessed by a single click. Strobe is accessed by a double click from Turbo. High, medium and low can be cycled through by a long press when on. Many lights don’t have this ease of functionality. I usually keep the light on medium so I can have quick access to three useful levels of light for whatever situation I’m in. I find strobe largely useless, and I like that it’s unlikely to accidentally access it. Teachability and ease of use for “non-flashlight” people: an often overlooked feature with these newer “high-tech” flashlights is the ease of use and being able to teach someone, like other family members, how to access the different modes. I’ve had several lights where the UI was unnecessarily complicated, and often times strobe or some unwanted mode was accessed by accident. Some lights were even difficult to turn on or off intuitively! The TC15 is very easy to use and easy to teach others how to use. Most people are not familiar with high-tech flashlights and just want a light they can turn on and off. They don’t want to think about what they have to do. The UI is easy enough for those people to use. Built in charger and battery level indicator: A built-in charger is extremely useful when traveling. There’s no need to carry an extra charger. It also eliminates the need to buy a separate charger. There is also a battery level indicator that can warn you when your battery is getting low. Also, very useful. Build quality: The TC15 feels solid in the hand. There’s no battery rattle. The threads are nice and smooth. The knurling is nice and grippy without feeling aggressive to the touch. There are no blemishes or defects cosmetically of any kind. It’s a very nice looking flashlight. Size: The TC15 is very compact. It’s the smallest AND brightest 18650 light I have. I have had single AA lights that were nearly the same size. It’s pretty remarkable that it’s this small and has a built in charger! While it’s a tad bulky for an every day carry in a front pant pocket, it is doable. However, it’s very compact for a jacket pocket, cargo pants pocket or keeping in a purse, etc. It also comes with a pocket clip, holster and lanyard to increase portability options. Price: at $49.99-$59.99, a light of this build quality, performance, and with an 18650 included is pretty much unheard of. You will see other cheaper lights that have specs that appear better, but 99% of the time it’s marketing bs and they don’t come close. The TC15 is the real deal at a great price. Possible negatives: I say possible negatives because none of these things are deal breakers for me, but they are something to consider. 18650 battery: 18650 batteries are not common. If you need a replacement in an emergency situation it will almost be impossible to find quickly. So, in the case of prolonged use or during a power outage, you will likely need to have additional 18650’s on hand. It appears that this light cannot take two CR123’s as an alternative, so you’re stuck with 18650’s only. It’s also worth noting these batteries need a little more care compared to normal AA, AAA, C and D cells that people are used to using. If you’ve never used li-ion rechargeables before, read up on them first. Smooth switch: I find the smooth electronic switch difficult to locate by touch. Which means that I can’t always turn on the light quickly when needed. I find I’m fumbling around to find the switch. There is a rubber switch cap accessory included, but I haven’t been able to unscrew the switch to replace the smooth flat metal switch. It seems that it needs a special tool to loosen it. I tried to unscrew it using an awl and wound up scratching the light. Easy to accidentally activate the switch: a drawback to these electronic switches is that they can be easily activated accidentally. It doesn’t take much to turn the light on by another object in a pocket or bag. This can result in the battery being unknowingly depleted. The good thing about the TC15 is that it can easily be locked out with a quarter turn of the head to prevent this. However, you have to remember to turn the head each time you put it away or want to reactivate it. If someone is not familiar with this type of lock out, they may think the light is broken or battery dead when they try to use it. It has happened with other lights in the past, and I had to show the person how to unlock it. On the flip side, this is better than some other lock out methods that are not as easy to activate or deactivate. USB cover tab: this is a bit of a nitpick, but there’s a little pull tab on the usb cover that I find a bit annoying. I notice it all the time when I’m holding the light. I sometimes think something is stuck to it and try to wipe it off. My finger seems to catch on it all the time. I cut the tab off and now it’s perfect. I would have preferred they had something more like the TC20 cover. Conclusion: I really like this light. It’s compact and bright! What I perceive as possible negatives are really more about preference than about something wrong with the light. I think they are things to be aware of, but for most people shouldn’t be a deal breaker. I don’t think you can go wrong with this light. If any additional things come up as I use this light, I’ll be sure to update the review.