With the plethora of portable lasers and laser modules now on the market, there are so many colors and power levels to choose from. Knowing what lasers of different power levels can do is essential for understand lasers and their applications.

One important point that needs immediate clarification is that the power of a laser does not depend on the color of the laser. Power depends only on how many milliwatts or mW the laser gives out. For example a blue 100mW laser will have the exact same power as a green 100mW laser. The color of a laser will effect how visible but not how powerful the beam is. Green light is much more visible than blue light BUT not more powerful or better for burning.

10mW: The consensus amongst governments is that power levels of more than 1 to 5mW are capable of causing eye injures. This number is somewhat conservative and 10mW or more of power is needed to cause eye injuries.

15mW: The minimum power needed to have a beam point or beam dot that is visible in daylight. Also the minimum power needed to have a laser beam that is clearly visible at night.

35mW: Lasers need to be at least 35mW in power to have a beam that is visible during the day out of direct sunlight. Even the most powerful portable lasers will not have a visible beam in direct sunlight. Visibility will depend on the angle the beam is viewed from and the background color.

55mW: A laser beam of this power can burn holes in thin black plastic.

75mW: At this power level a laser beam can pop black or dark colored balloons and sting bare skin. Light colored balloons can also be popped if a black section on them is marked with a texta or sharpie. The ability to sting skin also depends on color with darker skin colors stung more easily than lighter skin colors.

95mW: Light matches and cut electrical tape. Lighting matches can be tricky and some types of matches such as safety matches will not light at 95mw or even higher power levels. When lighting matches, both the match and laser need to be held still. Many 75mW lasers can burn electrical tape but 95mW of power is often necessary.

125mW: Lasers of this power can melt rubber and some plastics. Credit cards can melt and burn at this power level. Great for controlling spending.

Note: These power levels are just estimates and the actual burning ability of lasers will vary between lasers, operating temperatures and the quality and power of batteries used.