The World's Brightest Flashlight Might Not Be On Your Radar, But Users Say It Should Be

One of the most important gadgets you can own is a strong, reliable flashlight. Whether you're going out camping in the middle of absolute nowhere, spelunking in a pitch-black cave, or prowling the wilderness, you absolutely need strong, reliable lighting to find your way in the dark. This is to say nothing of full-on emergency situations like search and rescue operations. In these kinds of situations, a regular flashlight, even from one of the major brands, may not cut it.

If you're looking for truly powerful lighting, the kind that will shine your way forward like a portable lighthouse, an attractive option is the MS32 flashlight from Imalent. This handheld flashlight doesn't look too different from most bulky flashlights, but with a combination of powerful LEDs and focused lenses, it boasts quite possibly the highest lighting ability of any commercially available flashlight, even more than military-spec lights. Compared to that dollar store flashlight, it's definitely much more of an investment, but if you ask users and enthusiasts, it's an investment worth undertaking.

For more information on our recommendation of this light, check our methodology at the bottom of the page.

The Imalent MS32 is a heavy-duty handheld flashlight, designed not only to provide the most powerful lighting a consumer can get their hands on, but do so in a safe and optimized manner.

The highlight is, of course, the front lens, which is made up of 32 separate Cree XHP70 2nd LEDs. When powered on using the handle-mounted toggle switch, you can cycle through lighting levels ranging from a mere 80 lumens all the way up to its maximum power of 200,000 lumens. For reference, 200,000 lumens would be roughly equivalent to the headlights of 100 cars all shining onto the same spot, enough raw lighting power to turn the dead of night into high noon.

Of course, such a powerful light naturally generates a lot of heat and sucks up a lot of energy, but the developers have thought of that. The sides of the light have a shark-fin design to better dissipate heat, and there's a separate toggle that activates a CPU-like copper radiator cooling system to vent heat out in a balanced fashion. As for energy, the MS32 receives its power from a swappable battery pack, which can be recharged in about 2 hours with a Type-C PD 100W charger. At full capacity, this battery is rated for up to 345 hours of use.

Saying you've got the world's brightest flashlight is a bold claim that definitely requires some manner of substantiation. If you asked the flashlight enthusiasts of YouTube, though, they'd agree it's a claim that the Imalent MS32 more than backs up.

YouTuber Charles BridgTec tested the light out in a large field, running through all of the available lighting settings. When he tested out on the highest, 200,000 lumen setting, the ensuing light shone so far, it passed the boundaries of his testing area, even illuminating some trees out in the distance. He did note that the light is on the heavy side and can be tiring to carry one-handed, unlike the pocket-ready angled flashlights you'd find in the military. It does come with a shoulder strap, however, which helps a bit.

Another lighting YouTuber, Lumencraft, used the MS32 to completely light up the side of a baseball stadium in the middle of the night. He called it a fantastic flashlight with a good build that's easy to use. His only real sticking points were that the cooling system could do a little more, and as Charles BridgTec noted, it's not the most comfortable to hold. Even so, Lumencraft says that if you have a situation that necessitates this much light, it's a sound investment.

When buying any kind of tool or utility, and especially one with a somewhat hefty price tag, you need to be sure that you're actually getting your money's worth. This is why, to supplement our recommendation of the Imalent MS32, we sourced opinions from outdoor and sporting flashlight enthusiast YouTube channels. To ensure these opinions come from informed, well-regarded places, we sourced from amongst channels with at least 20,000 subscribers.