I have a soft spot for flashlights these days and I was happy to take the opportunity to try out this klarus EP12 flashlight.

You definitely get what was promised in the product description, a very bright, (more or less) robust zoomable LED flashlight with an in-house 4000 mAH 21700 battery.

The light image is largely OK, I think it's positive that in zoom mode the otherwise so often seen square illuminated area is simply not there and here too a nice, pointed round area can be seen, which many do less well. The emitted circle is quite homogeneous overall and really nice without zoom.

Another positive thing to mention about the zoom is that it is adjusted by turning the lamp head and therefore does not adjust accidentally.

I am quite sure that the brightness of this klarus EP12 reaches the advertised 2000 lumens, because other 2000s of mine are at a similar level, although for example It is definitely praiseworthy that the product description does not, as is often the case, give any utopian fantasy values.
It should also be mentioned here that in my opinion 500 lumens is usually more than sufficient for "normal" use and you will probably rarely use this klarus EP12 at the brightest level.
Although not really premium, the klarus EP12 is rather high quality and without any notable weaknesses it is still well made.
The operating concept of the lamp is really simple and above all good. Switch on at the highest brightness level, then each subsequent click is one level darker, you can get to the SOS by pressing and holding. The lamp can be switched off with a simple click after it has been lit for a few seconds, which is what I would like for some other people too. If I could wish for something else, however, it would be that the lamp would remember the last brightness level.

After removing the transport lock in the battery compartment, you can start using it.
Briefly press the power button and the flashlight lights up, the button lights up green, if you briefly press the button again, the light goes off again - it's that simple, I'm impressed - yes, seriously.
(With the last flashlight I tested, despite the instruction manual, it took me half a day to figure out how to deactivate the night light...)
Anyway, this flashlight only has 2 other functions besides the on and off function: If you press the button again within 3 seconds of switching it on, the brightness is reduced. And if you press the button for 2 seconds, it flashes "SOS". But if you briefly press the button again, this nonsense is completely deactivated again.
The lamp is made of metal and very robust. It is larger than I would have expected from the product photos.
The light is really extremely bright. The large beam of light even illuminates the living room during the day.
It is more than sufficient if you dim the lamp by one level.
At maximum brightness, the lamp becomes lukewarm after a short time.
The size of the light cone can be changed by turning the cap.
The lamp is charged using the USB cable provided. The large battery is replaceable.

I charged the light- per the instructions- the day I received it, and tested it as soon as the evening came around. To my amazement, this flashlight cast an extremely bright, and useable beam, all the way down a neighborhood block! I could clearly light the trees and the end of my street- while standing at the other end! The beam's focus is adjustable, and I was using a narrow beam... but even when widened out, this flashlight really packs a punch! I've purchased other rechargeable LED flashlights that claim to be bright... and I usually take the pictures in the listing- showing how bright the flashlight claims to be- with a grain of salt... But in this case, the pictures are pretty much right on the money! If you're going to get stuck in the dark, THIS is the flashlight you want to have in your hand! I love to camp, and I guarantee I'll be taking this flashlight with me! It's an excellent tool to take with you on wilderness hikes, too- since I've no doubt you could flag down a helicopter with this thing, in an emergency! (PS... DON'T go pointing this light at aircraft, either.) While this flashlight is a little bigger than the average rechargeable flashlight, it still easily fits in the hand. Charging is easy- no battery removal necessary, as there is a charge port, built in. If a super-bright hand-held flashlight is what you're looking for... Look no further!

There is no shortage of zooming flashlights on the market. Most are off brand low quality products with ridiculous claims of thousands of lumens. They act both as a spot and floodlight while really not doing a very good job at either.

This is different. This is a zooming flashlight made by a well known brand. I am a collector and own several flashlights, but this is my first Klarus. Right off the bat you can tell it's a quality product just from the nice packaging and excellent fit and finish of the light itself.

It's solidly built with a nice matte black anodized aluminum body. The tailcap comes off to remove the battery and exposes a very beefy tail spring. The spring is heavy duty to handle the high current drawn from the battery by the powerful emitter.

The head doesn't slide forward and back like most zoomies, instead it twists to move the head between modes. This design improves the waterproofing, one of the biggest drawbacks of zooming flashlights. There is onboard USB C charging and the rubber flap over the port is used to prevent water intrusion. I did notice that this rubber cover does sometimes pop open from the pressure changes inside the light when retracting the head. That's a pretty good indicator of how water tight it is.

The beam itself is OK. I'm not a huge fan of the round projector like beam the convex lens creates in this type of light. I much prefer a defined hotspot with transition to spill. It's not terrible, but not my preference. It's a cool white emitter, and the tint is fairly clean, with some tint shift around the edges of the beam. The emitter itself is perfectly round instead of the typical square. This makes the beam stay round instead of squaring off when in spot mode like most zoomies. That's a really big advantage of this light over others.

It uses a side switch, though I'd much prefer a tail switch for this design. The UI isn't the best, but is easy to use. Tap once for on, then tap to go thru the three modes, then off. Once the light has been on for a few seconds a single tap will turn it off instead of changing modes. There are no shortcuts for turbo or moonlight. Press and hold the button from off or on for strobe mode.

The light comes with a high quality protected 4000mAh 21700 cell. Despite the included cell being longer than standard 21700's I did test an unprotected Molicell P42A and that worked as well. That's a good thing since it means you don't have to buy expensive protected cells if you want spares.

Overall it's not a bad flashlight, especially compared to the hundreds of off-brand zoomies that are in the same price range. If you want a zooming flashlight, this is one to consider since it's a much better design than most.

These are awesome. I like simplicity. I didn’t want a flashlight with a million different settings. This one is simple. It has high, medium, and low brightness.