Armytek Wizard C2 WUV Headlamp Review
The Armytek Wizard C2 WUV is a headlamp with both white and UV emitters, and onboard charging! Read on for some testing.
Official Specs and Features
The Armytek Wizard C2 WUV Headlamp is not yet on the Armytek website, so I can’t link to a product page.
Versions
The WUV version really makes this one stand-alone. There are other Wizard C2 headlamps, and many Wizards in general
Price
I’m unsure on the price, but it’s likely to be in line with other Wizard C2’s, which usually come in around $90. This one will be available at KillzoneFlashlights.com!
Short Review
The Armytek Wizard C2 WUV Headlamp is a solid headlamp. If you’re in need of a UV light, this is a great choice. Most notably because it’s not just a UV headlamp – you still have access to a white emitter light, too.
Long Review
The Big Table
| Armytek Wizard C2 WUV Headlamp | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Cree XD16 (with UV) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | Unsure of the price, but it’ll soon be available at KillzoneFlashlights.com! |
| Cell: | 1×18650 |
| Turbo Runtime Graph | High Runtime Graph |
| LVP? | |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (mA): | 0.01 |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | Proprietary Magnetic |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | With or without cell: No |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 1100 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 907 (82.5% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 3.5 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 98 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 156lux @ 4.554m = 3235cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 113.8 (116.1% of claim)^ |
| All my Armytek 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
- Armytek Wizard C2 WUV Headlamp
- Armytek 3200mAh 18650
- Charge cable (USB to proprietary magnetic)
- Spare o-rings (2)
- Pocket clip
- Headband (with over the head strap)
- Manual
Package and Manual
This package/manual combo keeps a long tradition with Armytek information. Much of the information you’ll want (output levels, runtimes) is only found on the box and is not found in the manual.
You might have keenly noted the QR code there at the top of the page, which says you can follow the link there and go to the full manual. I did that and as of now the link works but the pdf there is blank. I expect that to change once the product listing gets updated. Here’s the link. Here’s the QR code, anyway.
Build Quality and Disassembly
I was looking back through some old reviews (specifically this link, which you can look at too), and noted that I’ve quite a few Armytek lights, and 75% of those have been Wizards. This Wizard is different from those previous ones at least in the UI, but much of this review is going to be the same as those – the body is essentially unchanged. (And I’m on an Armytek review pace of about one every two years. We need some Primes or Predators or Vikings or Dobermann’s in here!)
If you’ve handled Armytek lights before ,you know the very specific anodizing Armytek has. The Armytek Wizard C2 WUV Headlamp has the same chalkboard texture as other Armytek lights. That’s not bad! This finish provides a surprising level of grip, just from being matte finished.
The body is devoid of knurling, and that includes the tailcap, which you’ll have to remove for cell swaps. Or not – with built-in charging, the cell can just live in the light.
Armytek is no stranger to imprinting on their lights, and we can see branding and the like in a few places. Atop the (flat) head is one such place.
The tailcap has printing on both sides, too.
Here you can see the threads on the tailcap. I didn’t have luck removing the head from the cell tube, but with the right motivation (and need) you probably could do so. These threads are unanodized and quite long. They are not the smoothest threads I’ve used, either.
Unlike some previous generations of the Wizard, this one does not have a spring on the head end. There’s just a button for positive contact.
Armytek Wizard C2 WUV Headlamp Size and Comps
Officially 112mm long and 33mm in diameter. With cell, the Armytek Wizard C2 WUV headlamp weighs 115g. 65g without cell.
If the flashlight will headstand, I’ll show it here (usually the third photo). If the flashlight will tailstand, I’ll show that here, too (usually the fourth photo).
Here’s the test light with the venerable Convoy S2+. Mine is 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
This is a headlamp, so the primary means to carry the Armytek Wizard C2 WUV Headlamp will of course be the headband.
This is a very nice headband, most importantly in the light-connection area. First of all, the light clicks into those stubby arms.
This alone is quite secure, and I’d call it “good enough.” I’d run the light this way without any qualms.
But when you just need to go to 11, you can be double secure with this thick o-ring that pulls over the light.
Note that the o-ring lives on the headband. You don’t have to keep up with it separately, and since it’s there you might as well be using it.
The “over the top” band isn’t really removable. Alternatively, removing it involves reworking the whole headband. It’s possible, yes, but it’s not something you’d do off and on. And I’m not saying it’d be easy. But I’m 83% sure it can be done non-destructively.
Armytek also includes a pocket clip with the Wizard C2 WUV Headlamp. This is a deep carry clip and fits right in the grooves that are in place for the headband connections (clever, yes).
There’s a downside to that, though. Attaching the clip in this place, while still making it a deep carry clip, means that the shoulder to arms ratio is very long. Removing the clip is…. complicated… to do in such a way that doesn’t bend something, or scratch something, or both bend and scratch something. And of course, with the clip occupying one of the stubby arms from the headband mount, you can’t use them concurrently.
It’s a friction-fit clip, of course. Clip hug!
A final note on the clip: it’s reversible. It can fit in either headband arm slot. Carry is just a bit less deep in this orientation.
The tailcap magnet, which is used for charge connection is also strong enough to hold the Armytek Wizard C2 WUV Headlamp to a surface.
Power and Runtime
The Armytek Wizard C2 WUV Headlamp is powered by a single 18650 lithium-ion cell. My package included a cell, and based on website information, all packages do too.
This is a standard 3200mAh 18650, and non-Armytek cells will work fine in the light, too. Because of springs on the head and tail, you could likely use any type 18650 you have on hand.
The cell fits properly into the light with the positive terminal toward the head.
I performed four runtimes. Turbo (the highest mode) steps down fairly quickly and then is very stable. Actually, I accidentally grabbed the wrong cell for all these tests, then realized what I’d done…. I retested the turbo output since it’d be the most affected mode (pulling over 4A). So here’s the proper cell on Turbo first:
As you can see, the included cell allows a slightly higher highest output, at around 954 lumens. Overall this is lower than the 1100 lumen claim, but I can explain some of that, too. The head design of the Wizard has those cooling fins in the “neck” area, and I can’t make the head rest flat against my test setup. It’s probably at least nearly 1100 lumens as claimed, anyway.
Now here are three runtimes with a lower capacity cell (around 2600mAh) from another brand. If these don’t match the claimed runtime, this is why – it’s a lower capacity cell.
While I didn’t see the light shutting off on these tests, I did see the light shut off when testing with bench power. That shutoff was around 2.5V, which is a little low for my tastes. BUT with a cell, the cutoff will probably be slightly higher (and in the “that’s ok” range.)
One thing that surprised me on this Wizard is that I didn’t notice an indicating switch here. The other and most recently reviewed Wizard C2 was a Pro model, which did have an indicating switch (and maybe that’s the difference between a Pro and not-Pro model
Charging
Charging on the Armytek Wizard C2 WUV Headlamp is via a proprietary magnetic charge base.
A charging adapter is included. It’s USB to proprietary magnetic, as seen below.
Two indicators are built into the charging base. There’s a red and green LED, and they can both be steady or blinking.
Green Steady: Charging is complete
Green Flashing: Cell voltage evaluation before charging
Red Steady: Charging is occurring
Red Flashing: Unscrew the tailcap 1/4 of a turn to begin charging
The overall duration of charging is fine – around 3.5 hours. But charging seems to drop in and out, and I don’t have a good explanation for that. Still, charging works fine. Termination is around 4.16V, which is good. Charging the cell up to 4.2V only added around 2mA, which is negligible.
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 1100/520 | 90s/2h30m | 954 | 4.10 |
| Main2 | 410 | 4h | 343 | 0.81 |
| Main1 | 130 | 13h | 113 | 0.20 |
| Firefly | 0.6 | 65d | 0.3 | 2.56mA |
| Strobe | 410 | 17h | – | – |
| UV Turbo | 1595mW | 3h | – | 1.32 |
| UV Main2 | 491mW | 7h30m | – | 0.31 |
| UV Main1 | 120mW | 32h | – | 0.06 |
| UV Firefly | 1mW | 9d | – | 2.56mA |
| UV Strobe | 1595mW | 15h | – |
Pulse Width Modulation
No PWM on any of the white output modes. I can’t test for PWM on the UV modes.
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
A single e-switch is used for controlling the Armytek Wizard C2 WUV Headlamp. This looks like the other indicating e-switches, but I never noticed this one lighting at all.
Here’s a user interface table! The user interface is the same regardless of whether you have selected the white or UV output.
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Click | On (mode memory) |
| Off | Hold | Firefly |
| Any | Hold | Mode cycle (excludes Firefly on repeats) |
| On | Click | Off |
| On | Click 2x | Iterate white or UV output |
| Off | Loosen tailcap (1/4 turn), Hold switch, tighten tailcap, continue to hold switch, loosen tailcap (1/4 turn) | Add or remove strobe modes |
LED and Beam
The Armytek Wizard C2 WUV Headlamp has two sets of emitters. The white two are Cree XD16 at 5500K, and the other two are ultraviolet emitters at 400nm. These emitters are behind a dimpled optic.
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT) for the Armytek Wizard C2 WUV Headlamp
Beamshots
These beamshots always have 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 keep the test flashlight on the left and the BLF-348 reference flashlight on the right.
I compare everything to the KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!
Conclusion on the Armytek Wizard C2 WUV Headlamp
What I like
- Great User Interface – probably simpler than most other Armytek user interfaces
- Build quality seems robust
- Addition of a secondary UV emitter.
- Cell isn’t proprietary – any type 18650 will work and charge in the light
- Headband connector is very secure
What I don’t like
- Tailcap threads could be smoother
- I don’t like the “back off 1/4 turn for charging” – why is this necessary?
- Proprietary magnetic charging in general
- White emitter can only be had in 5500K, and nothing warmer
Notes
- This light was provided by KillzoneFlashlights.com for review. I was not paid to write this review.
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