Fenix GL19R Pistol Light

by moondog on May 1, 2023 with No Comments

Fenix is best known for making affordable EDC tac-lights, used by LEOs and EMTs. At SHOT Show, I visited the Fenix booth and got a walk-through of their newest products. They sent me their new GL19R to test and evaluate. This is an update to their GL19 featuring a user-replaceable CR186350 lithium battery that can be recharged internally through a USB-C port in the side of the GL19R.

The unit itself has a matte black anodized finish and a solid all-metal body. The unit comes with a Glock-sized recoil lug pre-installed and an optional Picatinny 1913 recoil lug. The GL19 controls are ambidextrous pressure paddles/pads on either side of the rear of the unit.

The GL19 has a “Turbo” mode and a lower power “High” mode which is a bit of marketing spin since they are effectively identical to a “High” and “Normal” mode on any other light. Fenix’s stats claim the GL19R outputs 1200 lumens in Turbo; in my testing a recorded 1840 lumens. It’s rare to find a Chinese flashlight maker whose lumen numbers are overly inflated and even rarer to find one whose products actually perform better than their stated claims. This bodes positively to the performance of Fenix’s other products.

The GL19R is IPX 68 with the 8 in that rating denoting that the unit can survive immersion in up to 3m of water. I tested the unit’s run time while submerged in a pitcher of water. In Turbo mode the unit stayed on for approximately 35 minutes before shutting off. The unit survived the test without any observable moisture entering.

Overall I was pleased with the GL19 which performed as well as higher-end lights from Surefire and Streamlight and costs slightly less O-Light (the budget flashlight king). I would have preferred slightly more resistant controls requiring more pressure to activate. What may be a deal-breaker is that the GL19 has a strobe mode that can not be disabled. Fortunately, the strobe is not easily activated, requiring the user to first activate the unit, and is a ‘Momentary’ mode. I suggested to Fenix that they could fix this issue by incorporating a lock-out mode with some sort of ‘easter-egg’ style key combination (ie. holding down both activation buttons for 20 seconds).