Wowtac A1S Flashlight Review

The Wowtac A1S Flashlight is a Cree XP-L HD dual switch light, most notable for its low price.  Read on for thoughts and testing!

---

Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Wowtac A1S Flashlight product page.

Versions

There are two emitter options:  CW and NW.  I have the CW here.  There’s only one body type.

Price

This one is currently going for $35.95 on Wowtac’s site.  However on Amazonit’s much less – $25.99 with cell (referral link)!

---

Short Review

Like I said above, this one doesn’t do anything exceptional, but at $26 it’s a good deal for certain.  The build quality makes it a very good deal in fact.

Long Review

The Big Table

Wowtac A1S
Emitter:	Cree XP-L HD (CW)
Price in USD at publication time:	$35.95
Cell:	1×18650
Turbo Runtime	High Runtime
LVP?	Yes
Switch Type:	Dual
On-Board Charging?	Yes
Chargetime
Power off Charge Port with no Cell?	–
Claimed Lumens (lm)	1150
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	872 (75.8% of claim)^
Claimed Throw (m)	277
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	395lux @ 5.804m = 13306cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	230.7 (83.3% of claim)^
All my Wowtac reviews!

^ Measurement disclaimer:  Testing flashlights is my hobby. I use hobbyist-level equipment for testing, including some I made myself. Try not to get buried in the details of manufacturer specifications versus measurements recorded here; A certain amount of difference (say, 10 or 15%) is perfectly reasonable.

What’s Included

• Wowtac A1S Flashlight
• Wowtac 18650 with built-in charging
• Charge cable (USB to micro-USB)
• Spare o-ring (2)
• Pocket clip
• Manual

Package and Manual

Typical Wowtac and Thrunite packages.  Same with the manual.

Build Quality and Disassembly

The build quality is good.  Especially when considering the low price.

I like the knurling, and it’s in needful places.

The head doesn’t have a bunch of cooling fins but generally doesn’t need a ton.

It’s possible to tailstand the A1s, but with the tailcap design, it’s not terribly stable.

The cell tube removes completely from the head and tail and is in fact reversible.  More on that later.

The threads are nice and thick square-cut and also anodized.  This means aside from the lockout of the mechanical switch, it’s possible to lightly twist the tail to lock it out more surely.

There’s a long thickish spring on both the head and tail.  The tailcap has an aluminum retaining ring, so if your mechanical switch needs maintenance, it’s possible.

Size and Comps

Officially:
Dimension:137.5mm*25.4mm
Weight:87g (Battery Excluded)

Fairly long.

When seen beside the S2+ you might even be wan to call it very long.

Here’s the test light with the venerable Convoy S2+.  Mine’s a custom “baked” edition Nichia 219b triple.  A very nice 18650 light.

And here’s the light beside my custom engraved TorchLAB BOSS 35, an 18350 light.  I reviewed the aluminum version of that light in both 35 and 70 formats.

Retention and Carry

A pocket clip is included but not attached.  It’s a friction fit clip and doesn’t really attach in a “deep carry” way.

Mine’s also a little crooked, but these clips are thin enough that it could probably be bent correctly very easily.

As I said above, the cell tube is reversible.  That means that while the clip goes on only one spot in the body since the tube is reversible, the clip effectively is.  That said, if the clip is on the head end, around half of the light will stick over the shoulder of the clip, which is not ideal.  But it works.

There is no lanyard included, but if you have one (hundred) laying around like I do, you could attach it in the tailcap.

Since the clip can be reversed by means of the body, it’s probably possible to use this as a hatlight, if you’re extremely determined to.

Power and Runtime

The A1A runs on a single 18650, and one is included.  It’s a protected button (ish) top cell (not really a proper button top, despite looking like one below).

Here are a couple of runtimes.  Cooled, highest two modes as usual.  My light just didn’t hit the output it was supposed to hit… not sure what’s going on but even at startup it’s not hitting 1150 lumens, much less at 30s, when it’s only at 872 lumens.

On bench power (and in the runtimes as you can see) there’s an emitter warning – it flashes on and off.  This is a low voltage warning, and happens at around 2.9V.

Charging

The included cell has built-in charging via micro-USB.  I am not a fan of this feature but in this class light it’s probably not a bad idea….  And there’s no special or proprietary requirement that this feature binds on the light itself.  If you wish to use your own cell, you’re very free to do so.

Wowtac includes a charging cable, too.  It’s USB to micro-USB.

Charging is very slow, at around half an amp.

Modes and Currents

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
Turbo	1150	3h		3.13
High	460	5h		0.83
Medium	140	18h		0.18
Low	24	6d		0.02

Pulse Width Modulation

There’s notable PWM on all but the highest mode.

Here you can see a “baseline” – a chart with almost no light hitting the sensor.

Then there’s the Ultrafire WF-602C flashlight, which has some of the worst PWM I’ve seen. It’s so bad that I used a post about it to explain PWM! Here are multiple timescales (10ms, 5ms, 2ms, 1ms, 0.5ms, 0.2ms) to make comparing this “worst” PWM light to the test light easier. That post also explains why I didn’t test the WF-602C at the usual 50us scale.

User Interface and Operation

There are two switches on the A1S.  First, there’s the mechanical tail clicky.

Then there’s an e-switch in the head.

The tail switch is for electrical connection – if it’s off there is no circuit, and the side switch will do nothing.

Here’s a user interface table!

State	Action	Result
Off	Click Tail Switch (TS)	On to last mode^
Off	Press TS	Momentary On last mode^
TS On	Click Side Switch (SS)	Mode Advance (LMHT SOS)^^
TS On	Hold SS	Strobe
On	Click TS	Off

^ Strobe and SOS register as “Turbo” in memory.
^^ Once the light has been on for 2s, the next SS click will be Low.

If the TS is on, the light will have output (period).

LED and Beam

The emitter here is a Cree XP-L HD, and my sample is CW.  There’s an NW available though, so obviously buy that one instead.

The reflector is very smooth and provides a beam with a good hotspot, and not much spill til the highest two modes.

These beamshots are always with the following settings:  f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure. These photos are taken at floor level and the beam hits the ceiling around 9 feet away.

Tint vs BLF-348 (KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b version) (affiliate link)

I compare everything to the Killzone 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!

Random Comparisons and Competitive Options

Here’s a link to a relevantly filtered page on parametrek.com.  I use that site a lot!  This category has a ton of entries, but I think the A1S is probably the least expensive, making it a very compelling option.

Conclusion

What I like

• Complete package with cell for low price
• Good build quality

What I don’t like

• Didn’t hit output specs
• Very long

---

Notes

• This light was provided by Wowtac for review. I was not paid to write this review.
• This content originally appeared at zeroair.org.  Please visit there for the best experience!
• For flashlight-related patches, stickers, and gear, head over to PhotonPhreaks.com!
• Use my amazon.com referral link if you’re willing to help support making more reviews like this one!
• Please support me on Patreon! I deeply appreciate your support!