Took my kids on a trip to Egypt after they got OWD/AOWD certified....there was a planned night dive. We picked up a couple of Magic Shine knock offs from DX.com for about $20 US. That was in 2014....they are still going strong.
There is a mentality that a good dive torch should/will cost some coin and that one should stay away from cheap torches. I have seen lots of divers spend good money on a torch at local dive shops or from online dive shop sources only to have problems with them....some have had difficulty getting their defective torches replaced under warranty even in the first few months of ownership which resulted in them having a relatively expensive paperweight. I have also seen folks spend lots of money on a torch and lose it because they either did not attach it properly or inadvertently dropped and lost it...again an expensive mistake.
The divers in one of the local clubs I am a member of took a look at my torches and how much I paid for them and many have gone out and ordered their own...for less than $20 US if you drop it or it works for one trip then no worries...it is cheap enough to have one as a backup or spare to loan out and not worry if it doesn't come back.
I was on dive in the Philippines doing a drift dive through a tunnel (Gato island I believe), my partner was taskloaded with his gopro and used his new nearly $200 torch to push himself away from the face of the tunnel...he was a relatively new diver and probably should not have been on that dive but that was not my call....after the dive his torch was missing chunks of aluminum from the bezzel and the body....good money washed down the drain and he was upset....had he wrecked a $20 torch it would have weighed nothing on his mind.
I dive relatively all year round, especially since I started diving with a drysuit. I carry at least one of these torches with me clipped to my harness on every dive I do regardless of whether conditions warrant it or not, it is just part of my standard kit just as much as my DSMB. I have never had a problem with any of the 4 identical torches we own and have had them down to +/- 45 meters and in both warm and cold water (4-5C). None of ours nor our club members have flooded and the only time we had one fail was when we did not recharge the batteries fully between use...but that is our fault.
If you were diving in an overhead environment or spent thousands on underwater photography equipment I would have a different recommendation but you would also be asking different questions. For general recreational diving with no overhead you can spend a lot on a torch if you want or you can save some money and put it towards other uses such as tanks fills, other equipment, more diving, etc.
If you go with the one I linked to from DX.com I will say that the split ring it comes with is not a secure attachment point. I lashed a bolt snap to mine and for my kids I made a small loop of parachute chord and double zip tied it to the light then attached an extendable coil lanyard to it so they can clip them to their BCs and comfortably use them without fear of dropping.
900LM 5-Mode White Diving Flashlight - Black (2*18650)
YMMV,
-Z
