A dependable flashlight is a must have in any digital camera bag. The Wuben X4 tries one thing totally different, with its distinctive rectangular design, highly effective foremost beam, and versatile aspect gentle. It guarantees to be a flexible gentle, however does the pursuit of doing every little thing compromise its efficiency?
I’ve been attempting out a spread of lights over the previous couple of weeks, looking for the proper choices to replace my setup with. Wuben’s distinctive lighting kind components have been fascinating, and I not too long ago shared my expertise with the compact G5 and pen-light PL01. These very compact lights are nice for duties at arm’s size, however wouldn’t be ample to gentle a complete hike. The X4, with 1,500 lm turbo and an 18650 battery, pushes into “common flashlight” territory whereas nonetheless bringing some non-standard options.
Construct and Design
The very first thing you discover concerning the X4 is its form. Skipping the normal tube design, Wuben has opted for a flat, rectangular physique that feels dense and sturdy within the hand, albeit at a minor value to consolation. The all-metal building provides it a premium really feel and an IP68 waterproof ranking, which means it could actually deal with an unintended drop in a puddle or a dusty surroundings with out situation. The angular design may be very pocketable and prevents it from rolling away, nevertheless it feels distinctly totally different from a extra commonplace spherical flashlight.
Wuben’s distinctive method extends to the controls. A 3-position slide change on the aspect selects the first mode: Foremost Gentle, Facet Gentle, or Lock. As soon as a mode is chosen, urgent the digital aspect change turns the sunshine on and off, whereas a rotary dial surrounding the change permits you to soar between brightness ranges. It’s an intuitive system that gives good management over the output, nevertheless it doesn’t perform precisely like a dimmer change, because it steps between outlined ranges.
For fast entry to max energy, a tactical change on the tail immediately prompts the 1,500-lumen turbo mode from common lighting modes, or it could actually additionally set off the “moonlight” mode should you simply have to look in your bag. In case you’re in a rush, attending to turbo from off generally is a bit tough. You need to cease on the center detents on the sliding change, with the final detent solely triggering moonlight.
As a substitute of a standard screw-off tailcap, the X4 has a hinged, locking door that makes swapping the battery fast and straightforward. The sunshine incorporates a USB-C charging port, which is revealed by sliding the primary mode change. It’s a sensible, built-in design selection that retains the port comparatively shielded from the weather.
Efficiency
In my testing, the X4 proved to be a succesful performer, albeit with some caveats for choosy eyes. The primary gentle, powered by 4 LEDs with a mixture of spot and flood optics, produces a helpful, all-purpose beam. At its peak, it throws out a robust 1,500 lumens, which is greater than sufficient to gentle up a distant topic or scan a big space. After a brief burst, it steps right down to 400 lumens, offering constant, usable gentle for prolonged intervals.
Nevertheless, the standard of that gentle is a combined bag. The beam’s colour temperature is on the cooler aspect, and its colour rendering index (CRI) is pretty low. For common use like navigating a path, that is completely effective. Whereas hotter, higher-CRI beams are usually most well-liked by flashlight aficionados, this beam continues to be very usable. The all-in-one beam profile is handy, with a mixture of flood and throw. I did discover myself wishing for a option to choose simply the flood or throw LEDs for extra particular duties, although.
The X4 has extra than simply that front-facing beam. The aspect gentle affords each a hotter 4000K white gentle and a full vary of RGB colours. The nice and cozy white gentle is especially helpful. Mixed with the robust magnetic base within the tail, you possibly can stick the X4 to any ferrous floor to create a hands-free space gentle for altering lenses or establishing gear. It’s vivid sufficient at 100 lumens to flood a private workspace space and will be dialed down to only 1 lumen.
The aspect gentle additionally helps RGB lighting with user-selectable colours, however as that is only a colour wash-style beam, it’s fairly restricted in performance.
Powering all it is a commonplace, user-replaceable 3,400 mAh 18650 battery. It is a huge benefit over lights with proprietary or built-in batteries. You’ll be able to carry a number of spares and swap them within the subject with out ready for a recharge. The upper-capacity 18650 cell additionally means you get many hours of runtime at even vivid output ranges. Once you do have to cost, the USB-C port allows through-device charging, and the RGB aspect lights double as a handy battery standing indicator.
Who’s It For?
The Wuben X4 is a jack of all trades. It’s small and lightweight sufficient to be an on a regular basis carry gentle, delivering each a beam good for lighting a hike and flood lighting suited to altering lenses or finding out a map. The elective bike mount will be simply repurposed to connect the sunshine to any pole, supplying you with a small, positionable gentle supply in a pinch.
Whereas the alternatives of LED temperature and CRI would possibly depart flashlight followers a bit dissatisfied, the extra common viewers will discover that this gentle does a number of work for a sub-$50 MSRP. Using a regular 18650 battery is a win in comparison with built-in batteries. For creators on the lookout for a compact, powerful, and adaptable gentle to deal with a variety of duties, the Wuben X4 is an choice value contemplating. It’s obtainable now from Amazon, in white, gray, and black.
