For its compact size, ergonomic design and powerful performance, the SeaLife Sea Dragon Mini 900 was our Testers Choice for compact dive lights.

For its compact size, ergonomic design and powerful performance, the SeaLife Sea Dragon Mini 900 was our Testers Choice for compact dive lights.

I’m Roger Roy, the ScubaLab director.

We tested the SeaLife Sea Dragon Mini 900 dive light.

For its compact size, ergonomic design and powerful performance, it was our Testers Choice for compact dive lights.

We tested lights at Wilger Testing Company, an independent lab in Sarasota, Fla., where we used an integrating sphere to measure total light output with both a fully charged and a used battery.

We also tested lights at Devil’s Den Spring in Williston, Fla., where a team of test divers scored them in 8 categories including ease of use, light output and beam size and shape.

Divers overwhelmingly chose the Mini 900 as their favorite compact light of the test, where it took the top score in nearly every evaluation category.

The beam was rated very good for color, brightness and penetration, and excellent for power control, it can step down to half or quarter power for increased flexibility.

It was rated excellent for power control, thanks to the push-button switch that lets you easily cycle through the power modes and two emergency strobes, one of which is an SOS flash. Divers also liked the colored battery level indicator that surrounds the switch.

The light’s anodized-aluminum construction and textured grip helped it sit nicely in the hand. “It has it all,” as one diver put it. The only nitpick divers had was that the chintzy lanyard felt at odds with the rest of the light’s overall quality.

For its Zen-like balance of size, ergonomics and performance, the Sea Dragon Mini 900 is our Testers Choice for compact dive lights.