I carried Maglights both as a mechanic and inspector for about twenty-five years. As I got older, they got heavier and seemed to give less light. Nothing to do with aging eyesight, of course.
I bought a couple of Streamlight Propolymer Luxeons a few months ago; one uses 4 AA batteries, the other 3 C cells. I have since brought all the Maglights home and distributed them among family and friends. The Streamlights produce a gorgeous white light of constant brightness until the batteries are exhausted. And that takes a while. Some days I use them for a full shift, non-stop. Either will make a full shift without a battery change. The AA light is small and light, but the C cell light is somewhat brighter. Both are waterproof and explosion proof. And light. Did I mention how heavy Maglights are?
LED's are not all the same. 1-watt white Luxeons emit about 20X as much light as a single "high brightness" LED, and they work well in a reflector.
In a side-by-side test, the "spot" from a 1-watt white Luxeon in even a 1-3/8" dia reflector is both whiter and brighter than that from a 2D Maglight with fresh batteries,and it is much more uniform with no mottling. In a 2" dia reflector (like the 2D maglight) it is markedly brighter than the Maglight.
Flashlights of quality (not design and weight) comparable to a 2D Maglight but using a 1-watt Luxeon and suitable drive electronics for constant brightness over battery life, are currently about 3X to 5X the price of the Maglight. There are cheaper knockoffs, but they lack the suitable drive electronics, dim significantly as batteries age and are down to a feeble glimmer when the batteries are only about half exhausted. Lights that use 3 alkaline batteries (4.5 volt system) are almost certain not to have drive elex. Lights that are nominally 3 volts (2 alkaline cells) certainly do use drive electronics, some better than others but all pretty good.
There are also 3-watt Luxeon flashlights. They are probably about twice as bright as an otherwise-similar 1-watt. Most of them use a
6-volt system, often two CR123 lithium cells. They don't necessarily have drive electronics but usually do. I know of one small "3-watt" light that uses a 3-watt Luxeon -- but only runs it at a bit over 1 watt. Specsmanship! According to the specheets, the 3-watt Luxeon actually produces less light at 1 watt (about 33 lumens) than the 1-watt Luxeon's rated 45 lumens.
Reflector size has considerably more effect on brightness than watts, at least up to 2" dia or a bit more.
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