Fenix Flashlights and Headlamps

What Fenix makes, and what this page covers

Fenix makes portable lights. Its company profile lists five groups: flashlights, headlamps, bicycle lights, camping lanterns and accessories. On this site, Fenix shows up in two of them, flashlights and headlamps, and the product grid above has a filter for each. Fenix bike lights and lanterns aren't in this grid.

The grid shows what's on Amazon right now, and it changes week to week. So I'll write about the lines and what separates them, not about how many of each are listed this Tuesday.

Fenix model names follow a loose pattern. The letters give the family (PD, TK, HM, HP, HL and so on), and in this grid an R after the number mostly goes with rechargeable lights; the HM23, without one, runs on AA. Mostly: the PD35 V3.0 lists a rechargeable battery with no R. "V2.0" or "V3.0" marks a newer version of the same model. Fenix's own store doesn't define every code, including the "-T" on some lamps, so read each lamp's specs rather than trusting the letters.

Lineup notes: Fenix flashlights

The Fenix flashlight lineup is big. Fenix Lighting USA's flashlight page lists more than a dozen series, including PD, TK, E, LD, LR, WF and WT. It tags a TK model as its pick for a tactical flashlight, an E model for everyday carry, a WF model for work and an LR model as its brightest search light. The grid holds PD, TK, E, HT, WF and LR lights. Values come from Amazon listings unless I name the maker.

PD: the compact lights

The PD lights are the PD25R, PD35 V3.0, PD35R, PD36R Pro, PD36R ACE, PD40R V3.0 and PD45R ACE. All list a rechargeable battery, most charge over USB-C and most have a tail switch. Output runs from several hundred lumens on the PD25R to a few thousand on the ACE lights. The PD35 and PD36R listings call them tactical. The store lists the PD36R at 2,800 and 3,000 lumens on a 21700 battery. The PD40R V3.0 adds an aluminum body and a beam of about a third of a mile.

TK and HT: the bigger lights

The TK16 V2.0, TK20R V2.0, TK21R and TK28R list several thousand lumens, a tail switch and a strobe mode, and their listings call them tactical. The TK28R is the brightest of the four and adds a red light. The HT18R V2.0 is the throw light: the longest beam in the Fenix grid, about two-thirds of a mile, and its listing says it has no tail switch. The tactical flashlight guide explains the label.

E: pocket and backup lights

The E01 V2 is a keychain light on one AAA, at about a hundred lumens. The E12 V3.0 is a penlight, a slim pen-shaped light, on one AA, with a low-mode runtime of about four days. The E18R V2.0 is rechargeable and lists over a week on its lowest mode. The E28R V2.0 and the E06R Pro RG add red and green light, and the E06R Pro lists a built-in pack.

WF26R and LR35R Pro

The WF26R is from the series the store tags for work. Its listing names a charging dock, a tail switch and a strobe. The LR35R Pro is the brightest Fenix flashlight in the grid, around ten thousand lumens, with a red light and a low-mode runtime of well over a week. That's a truck light. (Walt calls a flashlight in your teeth "the old way." This one wouldn't fit.)

Flashlights from every brand are on the handheld spotlight page, with ranked lists for tactical flashlights and rechargeable flashlights.

Lineup notes: Fenix headlamps by family

HM: the all-round headlamps

The HM family is most of the Fenix grid. It runs from small to serious:

• HM23: the AA lamp, with a long runtime listed and modest output
• HM50R: a small rechargeable at 700 lumens, with red light
• HM53R and HM55R: mid-size rechargeables around 1,200 lumens
• HM60R, HM61R, HM65R, HM70R and HM75R: the 1,600 to 2,200-lumen group, most with spot and flood beams and red light
• HM71R: higher output, listed at 2,700 lumens

Fenix's store tags the HM65R V2.0 as its all-purpose pick. Its page lists a magnesium alloy body, which the maker says is lighter than comparable aluminum, plus IP68, 2 meters impact resistance, eleven modes and 5.08 oz with battery and headband. The red light comes on with a double tap.

Here's the thing about the HM family: several models sit close together in output. What separates them is the beam setup, the red light, the battery and the weight. The lumen number alone won't sort them.

HP: the high-output lamps

The HP family is where the big numbers live. The HP12R-T and HP25R list 1,300 and 1,600 lumens. The HP30R lists 3,000. The HP35R and HP35R SAR list 4,000 lumens and the longest beam distance in the grid. Fenix's store calls the HP35R its most extreme headlamp, and there's a SAR edition of it in the grid too.

Real talk: 4,000 lumens is more light than you need to find the truck. It's the right tool if you're tracking or searching across open ground, and the wrong one for tying your boots in a ground blind. Check the maker's weight for any of these before you buy one for a long walk in; your neck does the carrying.

HL: the light and hybrid lamps

The HL lamps are the lighter, simpler group. The HL18R-T and HL45R list hybrid power, meaning a rechargeable pack or AAA cells. The HL32R-T lists 800 lumens and spot plus flood.

Fenix's HL18R-T V2.0 page lists 800 lumens, a 1900mAh pack with USB-C charging, three AAA cells as a backup, IP66, 1 meter impact resistance, a slide lock against accidental switching on, and 3.63 oz with battery and headband. It also says the lamp steps its output down a little when it gets hot, at 131°F, to protect itself.

The hybrid design solves my favorite problem: the lamp you forgot to charge. Pop in AAA cells from the kitchen drawer and you're back in business.

How to choose within the Fenix lineup

Pick the power source first

My one opinion on this page: for a deer camp, pick a lamp that can also run on store-bought cells, or carry one that does. The Fenix grid gives you three choices:

• AA or AAA: the HM23 headlamp, the E12 V3.0 and the E01 V2, on cells you can buy at any gas station
• Rechargeable only: most HM and HP lamps and nearly every Fenix flashlight, charged by USB
• Hybrid: the HL18R-T and HL45R, pack or AAA

Fenix's HL18R-T V2.0 page lists alkaline and Ni-MH AAA cells as usable and bans 10440 lithium-ion cells. It also says the battery-level indicator only works with Fenix's own pack. Read the battery table for the exact lamp before you stock the drawer.

More on charging and battery life is on the rechargeable headlamp page.

Then lumens and beam distance

Lumens are total light output. Beam distance is how far the light stays useful. Streamlight's summary of the ANSI FL 1 standard defines beam distance as the distance where the light falls to 0.25 lux, and runtime as the time until output drops to 10 percent of where it started.

That second one matters. A long runtime figure usually belongs to the lowest mode, not to full blast. When a Fenix listing shows a big runtime number next to a big lumen number, those two aren't the same setting. (Renee asked why I read the fine print on headlamps and not on her lease. Fair question.)

The headlamps page compares lumens and beam distance across brands.

Then spot, flood and red

Many Fenix lamps list spot plus flood. A spot beam throws far and narrow, for the far edge of a field. A flood lights a wide circle up close, for the truck bed and the tree base. Lamps with both let you switch, or run them together.

Most of the grid lists a red light. The National Park Service explains why that helps: bright white light breaks down rhodopsin, the pigment your eyes use for night vision, in seconds, and full night vision takes about 20 to 40 minutes to come back. Dim red light doesn't trigger that breakdown. On a walk in before daylight, red keeps your eyes ready for the woods. See the red light headlamp page.

Then lockout and controls

A headlamp that switches itself on in your pack is a headlamp with a dead battery at 5 a.m. Fenix lists two ways to stop that: an electronic lockout on the HM65R V2.0 (hold both switches for three seconds with the lamp off) and a slide lock on the HL18R-T V2.0. Learn the lock before the trip, not by flashlight. Or, well, by headlamp.

Then weight and fit

Fenix gives weights with battery and headband on its own pages, which is the number that counts. The HL18R-T V2.0 lists 3.63 oz and the HM65R V2.0 lists 5.08 oz. The big HP lamps carry larger packs. Go by the maker's figure for the exact lamp; Amazon's weight field isn't reliable for this.

Matching a Fenix light to the job at camp

Here's how the specs line up with the jobs we actually do at Hemlock Run. This is a reading of the spec fields, not a ranking.

• Walking in before daylight: a red light and a low white mode matter more than the top number; most HM and HL lamps list red
• Camp chores and the cooler: a modest output close up; the HM50R and HL18R-T list 700 and 800 lumens, and the HL32R-T adds spot plus flood
• Long trips without an outlet: AA or hybrid power, so spare cells keep it going; the HM23, HL18R-T and HL45R
• Searching open ground after dark: the high-output HP lamps and the HM71R, with the longest beam distances listed
• Light on the head all day: the lowest maker weight you can find for the output you need
• A backup in every coat: an E01 V2 or E12 V3.0 on store-bought cells

Notice that no single lamp covers every line. That's why camp ends up with more than one. (Renee counts them every November. I count them as "inventory.")

If you're tracking after the shot, bring more light than you think you need and a second light as backup. Recovery rules vary by state, so check your state wildlife agency before you go out after dark.

For a ranked list across brands, see best headlamp.

Charging and battery care

Most Fenix lamps and flashlights charge by USB. The U.S. Fire Administration says not to charge lithium-ion batteries below 32°F or above 105°F. Charge at room temperature, not in a cold truck or on a sunny dashboard. Use the charger and cable meant for the lamp.

Before a trip, top off the pack and run through every mode at the kitchen table. Fenix's HL18R-T V2.0 page adds one rule for the AAA slot: don't mix brands, capacities or types of cells. That one I follow even when I'm in a hurry.

Fenix facts

Here's what I could verify from the maker's own sites:

• Company: Fenixlight Limited, founded in 2001, per its company profile
• Location: Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, with research, production and sales in-house, per the same profile
• US arm: Fenix Lighting LLC of Littleton, Colorado, a division of Open Air Brands LLC, per the Fenix Lighting USA store
• Warranty: Fenix Lighting USA's product pages list a limited lifetime guarantee and describe free repair within five years, with different periods for batteries and accessories; read the current terms for the exact lamp
• Counterfeits: the same pages warn about counterfeit Fenix merchandise in the US market

Charge it Thursday, test it Friday, and wear the red light Saturday morning. The deer don't care how many lumens you own. Neither, it turns out, does Renee.