Wuben D1 Flashlight Review
Wuben has released the Wuben D1 flashlight, a flashlight meant mainly as a floodlight. It includes an 18650 cell with USB-C charging, too! Read on for more.
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the Wuben D1 flashlight product page.
Versions
I believe there is only one version, the one seen here.
Price
This Wuben D1 flashlight lists at$56.99 but is on sale for $51.29 right now.
Short Review
Aside from how quickly the Wuben D1 drops out of the highest output level, this is a nice little light. I’d take a lower high output (say, 700 or 800 lumens) if it’d just hold that for a minute or so. The build quality is great, and the user interface is fine. It’s a nice package.
Long Review
The Big Table
| Wuben D1 Flashlight | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Cree XP-L HI (6500K) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $51.29
20% off coupon, too: zeroair20 |
| Cell: | 1×18650 |
| High Runtime Graph | Medium Runtime Graph |
| LVP? | Yes |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (mA): | 0.03 |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | USB-C (on cell) |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | – |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 1100 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 506 (46% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 6.5 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 130 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 140lux @ 4.849m = 3292cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 114.7 (88.2% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | 6500K |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 6300-7000 Kelvin |
| Item provided for review by: | Wuben |
| All my Wuben 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
- Wuben D1 Flashlight
- Wuben 3400mAh 18650
- Lanyard
- Spare o-rings (2)
- Charge cable (USB to USB-C, with female USB port for powerbank function)
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
The Wuben D1 is a surprisingly “small” 18650 flashlight. Dimensionally, it might not be actually “smal,l” but it just rides that way. It seems thin for a tube light. The build quality is great – I’d say it punches about right at $50ish.
The cell tube has a cell-direction marking. There’s a good bit of design work in the tailcap that aids in grip when unscrewing and also grip when holding. It’s good to see this design carry through to the body, too.
These threads are anodized, triangle cut, and not very long. I’ll say, though, that the cell sticks out a bit, and you have to push the tailcap in order for it to grab the threads. That’s not a bad thing – it means the cell is making good contact.
Here’s that beefy tail spring.
The head has a nice beefy spring, too, but maybe not quite as thick as the tail spring.
Size and Comps
I said the Wuben D1 seems slim? Here’s a bit of confirmation: 105mm x 23.5mm. That 23.5mm is narrower than many tube-style 18650 flashlights. 109g with the included 18650.
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
A pocket clip is going to be the main way to carry the Wuben D1. The clip ships attached, and lives in only one specific place (much like some Olight pocket clips do). This is fine for my carry style and causes no problem.
The “right way’ to use this two-way clip allows very deep carry (which I like), but the other way of the two-way-ness of this clip is the opposite. When carried this way, the light sticks out of pocket by over an inch. In fact, just under 1.5″ sticks out this way. I don’t personally like this, but if you want easy access with bezel down carry, it’s actually perfect!
Next up is the lanyard, which attaches through this hole in the tailcap. It could also go into the holes in the pocket clip (seen above), and I would say the pocket clip is actually secure enough to hold the lanyard.
Finally, there’s a magnet in the tailcap. This magnet holds the D1 very securely.
Power and Runtime
Wuben provides a single 18650 for running the D1 flashlight. This is the ABE3400T, and it provides many of the functions listed for the D1.
We’ll cover more of those later. But first of all just look at the cell – this is a 3400mAh 18650 with a button top.
The cell fits into the D1 in the usual way: positive terminal toward the head. Remember, there’s a silk-screened icon reminder of this orientation.
Below are a couple of runtime tests. See how quickly the output drops from >1100 lumens? That’s a big disappointment on an otherwise great light. Even by 30 seconds, we’re seeing less than half the claimed output.
On the other hand, the medium level looks great, at 4 hours of 350 lumens. Hard to complain too much about that.
Charging
While the Wuben D1 flashlight doesn’t have onboard charging, the included cell does. There’s a USB-C charging port on the positive end.
Wuben includes an appropriate cable for charging the cell. It’s a USB to USB-C cable.
Here are a couple of charging logs. Charging looks pretty solid, at around 1A. The cell could certainly handle more than 1A. One amp is much less than 0.5C, for this 3400mAh cell.
While charging, the indicator on the positive terminal of the cell blinks red. When charging is complete, the blinking turns to a steady red.
USB-C to USB-C charging did not work with this cell.
Powerbank
That USB-C port can also output power, which is pretty neat. The included cable allows for that, too – the USB end of the cable has both male and female plugs.
Here’s one discharge graph from the cell until the output ceased. I ran the test at around 1.2A because any higher than that, the cell voltage dropped out of Uthe SB specification.
Here is a bit of detail on the first couple of minutes, where you can see that I ramped up the discharge current, and how the cell voltage responded. At around 1.4A the cell voltage drops below 4.7V or so.
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | 1100-400 | 30s+2.5h | 506 | 3.70 |
| Medium | 300 | 5h | 348 | 0.69 |
| Low | 100 | 30h | 87 | 0.14 |
| Moon | 5 | 150h | 4 | 9.12mA |
Pulse Width Modulation
No PWM is seen on any 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
A single switch controls the Wuben D1. It’s an indicating e-switch and has Wuben’s “W” logo. The logo is very evenly lit and can be multiple colors.
Here’s a user interface table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Click | On (Mode Memory) |
| Any | Hold | Mode cycle (Moon > Low > Medium > High) |
| Off | Hold | Moon |
| On (any but High) | Double-click | High |
| High | Double-click | Strobe |
| Off | Double-Click | Strobe |
| On | Click | Off |
| Strobe | Double-click | SOS |
| Off | Click 4x | Lockout (indicated by 3 blinks from main emitter) |
| Lockout | Click 4x | Unlock to Moon^ |
| Lockout | Click | Switch blinks to indicate lockout |
| Off | Click 3x | Iterate switch breathing function |
^ The manual says “Low” but it’s actually Moon.
The switch seems to regard the cell charge level. For example, when the light is turned on, the switch will indicate for a few seconds, then shut off. It indicates as follows:
Blue: >90% charge
Blinking Blue: 40-90% charge
Red: 15-40% charge
Blinking Red: 0-15% charge
LED and Beam
While it’s not stated in the product manual or description, Wuben confirmed to me that the D1 uses a Cree XP-L HI emitter and has a CCT of 6500K.
This is a flashlight intended for flood, and the optic you see above really does help with that. Wuben claims a 175° field of output, and I have no doubt that’s accurate.
I happen to love Cree XP-L HI emitters, but at 6500K, this one’s a little cool for me.
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
As stated above, Wuben said this is a 6500K Cree XP-L HI. The CRI and CCT measurements I took confirm that. In fact, on the higher output levels, the CCT tends toward cooler than 6500K. Wuben made no CRI claim, but it looks to be in the low 70s.
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
What I like
- It’s a slim light
- Very feature-packed
- Powerbank function is aided by the male/female charging/discharging cable
- The user interface is simple with nothing that you’ll need hidden away (there are some fun things like the “breathing” switch tucked away, though!)
What I don’t like
- Rapid drop from >1100 lumen output
- 6500K CCT
- Price might be a bit high
Notes
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