Streamlight Stylus Pro C4 Pen Light Review

I love flashlights, second only to firearms, and lately I’ve been looking for a new EDC (Every Day Carry) light. In the past I’ve carried the Surefire™ E2D Defender, and even bought the LED version (it is a tad longer than the original). Both are very bright and are great if you wear cargo pants with extra pockets due to their size or if you want your flashlight to double as a backup weapon with their strike face bezels. However, I wanted something smaller, that didn’t heat up, that runs on everyday accessible batteries, and is still relatively bright.

I already own two Streamlight™ weapon lights that are attached to my bedside pistols. (The 630 lumen monster–the Streamlight TLR-1 HL) I have been VERY pleased with them thus far, so when I saw an Amazon “Lightning Deal” for the Streamlight™ Stylus Pro Penlight with 4 ½ out of 5 stars reviews— I rolled the dice and bought two.  If you plan to purchase one for yourself after reading this review, please support this site by doing so here:  Black Silver Blue Red Green Orange   Initial Impressions: They arrived promptly and I was glad to see that they came with two, AAA Energizer batteries, a belt loop nylon holster, and a spare button cap for the on/off switch. So far so good, as far as the price was concerned. Not sure what the spare button cap is for, because is identical to the installed cap, and I can’t say that I’ve ever worn through the tail cap of any of my other lights, so it’ll get thrown into that “random parts” drawer (black hole abyss), never to be found again in the event that I DO need it someday. I also like that there is no dirt or water access to the C4 “bulb” itself. You can’t open the housing around the bulb, which is a non-issue because the “bulb” will outlive me—in fact Streamlight™ guarantees it.

Streamlight™ stands behind these lights with a Limited Lifetime Warranty, promising that it will “be free from defects, including LED, for a lifetime of use.”  What they won’t guarantee is the abuse I was about to put my silver version through though, heh heh.  So minus abuse and batteries, the switches and electronics are warrantied for 2 years as long as I keep the proof of purchase—my online Amazon receipt should suffice. Now for the abuse…inspired by their list of Features:  What does “IPX4 water-resistant” really mean? It means, that my silver Stylus Pro needed to go swimming. I’ll refer you to the video below so you can see its capabilities in the water for yourself, but the light held up fine.  There were no water bubbles escaping from it when submerged, however when I opened up the tail cap, small beads of water did make it in there, likely due to my attempts to shake water OFF of the flashlight once I pulled it out of the water bucket. The instructions recommend keeping the o-rings and threads “lubricated with silicone grease”. I should probably reapply some now since it went swimming… Conclusion, it is “water resistant”, but clearly not “water proof” and Streamlight™ is wise to make this distinction clear in their list of features.

The next feature to test was the “unbreakable polycarbonate lens”. I didn’t feel like taking a tack hammer to the lens, but I did turn it on, throw it up in the air 9 feet or so, and let it drop onto my carpeted Man Cave floor MULTIPLE times and there was not hiccup at all. The light never shorted out and there is no dis-figuration to the housing or the lens. (The silver housing is ‘too purdy’ to purposely drop it onto pavement where it would obviously end up with scars.)

Lastly, I tested the “6.25 hour run time”.  One of my biggest gripes with my Surefire lights, besides their bulk, was their limited run time on expensive CR123 batteries. Granted, they are putting out significantly more lumens (500), whereas this light only puts out “48 lumens” at its peak and it is certainly not a secondary weapon. Different purposes, different lights, I digress… The diminished light output followed the data in the graph above precisely, but then proceeded to beat the 6 hour 15 minute run-time mark by nearly a full hour! The light ran until 7hours 14 minutes!  My Surefire™ E2D LED has a “low” setting that also puts out 5 lumens, so it’s not a terrible amount of light, but it’s not great. At the 6 hour mark I would say it was as bright as those handheld lights doctors use to test your pupils’ response, but for this light to last another hour at 5 lumens, isn’t too shabby. Now I need new batteries…

Final notes and conclusion: The tail cap is relatively difficult to compress to turn the light off/on. I think this by design so that as you’re carrying it in a pocket it doesn’t turn off/on accidentally (Surefire™ G2 issue) and you end up with a dead light when you actually need it. The pocket clip is very strong, and rotates smoothly around the tail cap. It strikes a perfect balance between being able to rotate the clip and not come off the tail cap, without some serious effort. At 5 ¼” long and a max diameter of .58”, it doesn’t bother me to keep it in my front pants pocket or in my Brad Thor Alpha Jacket “tactical pen pocket”. It even fits in that jacket pocket WITH the supplied holster. All in all, I’m happy with it and it will be a welcome addition to my rotation of EDC gear. Edit: I just bought a Red version one too—darn Amazon and their “Lightning Deals”! I’ll give the silver one to my wife to carry in her purse, next to her holstered Sig P238.

If you plan to purchase one of your own after reading this review, please use the following links to support this site & this product review: Black Silver Blue Red Green Orange