Wuben C2 Flashlight Review
Here is the Wuben C2 flashlight, a light that offers great output but also USB-C charging, and a USB-A powerbank. It includes the 21700, too! Read on!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the Wuben C2 flashlight product page.
Versions
I believe there is just one version of the Wuben C2 flashlight.
Price
The Wuben C2 comes in at a surprising $46.99. After the D1 review, which saw that light priced at over $55, this more-featured C2 MSRP of $46.99 is pleasantly surprising. They are different lights, so don’t compare the two on features.
Wuben actually included a 20% off coupon for this light, too! Here’s the 20% off coupon:
zeroair20
Short Review
Well, there are certainly plenty of features on this C2 flashlight. Pretty much everything about it is great: output, build-quality, price, feature set, package. I have just two complaints. USB-C to USB-C charging does not work (and associated to that: USB-C output does not work). And secondly, the emitter is cooler (and really more green) than I prefer.
Long Review
The Big Table
| Wuben C2 Flashlight | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Luminus SST-40 (6500K) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $37.59
Here’s a 20% off coupon, too: |
| Cell: | 1×21700 |
| Turbo Runtime Graph | High Runtime Graph |
| LVP? | Yes |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (mA): | 0.13 |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | USB-C |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | with cell, without cell, without tailcap: lowest 3 modes |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 2000 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 1675 (83.8% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 16.3 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 358 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 928lux @ 5.439m = 27453cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 331.4 (92.6% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | 6500 |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 5700-6200 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 C2 flashlight
- Wuben 4800mAh 21700
- Charging cable (USB to USB-C)
- Spare o-rings (2)
- Lanyard
- Manual
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
I don’t have a single build-quality complaint about the Wuben C2. It’s a well-built flashlight and all the features (but one) are nicely implemented. There are even a couple of nice touches that suit me personally.
You might be thinking this light looks familiar – that’d be about right. A long while back, Wuben introduced a light with nearly these same features (for the time, anyway), and I was so impressed that it made it into the Fun Fund Friday review category. That light is the Wuben TO50R, and it is still a solid flashlight!
Specifically, I’m talking about the bezel. I just like bezels that aren’t “flush.” This one has some “teeth” (which aren’t really teeth, because they are not bitey in the least.)
Around the head are some minimal-depth cooling fins.
Here’s the tailcap. It’s very tailcappy.
This tailcap has a shape that helps with grip for removing it. You might never actually have to remove it, though, since the C2 has built-in charging.
Threads here on the C2 tail end are beefy [probably] trapezoidal threads (not actually square, I think). They’re anodized, lubed, and of moderate length. The anodizing does mean it’s possible to mechanically lock the C2 with just a very minimal loosening of this tailcap.
I’ll add it here while we’re talking about removing the tailcap. The pocket clip really gets in the way of unscrewing the tailcap. It’s not the biggest deal, and the light is big enough in diameter that this issue can be dealt with. But it’s a bit annoying. The flip side is that the pocket clip is “in the tailcap area” which means it’s a nice and deep carry.
Size and Comps
128.6mm x 29mm and 109g (without cell) or 190g (with 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
A pocket clip is going to be the main way to carry the Wuben C2. The clip ships attached and lives on the tail end. It can rotate around the body of the C2, but can not be attached to the head end. The clip is a one-way clip providing nice, deep carry.
Next up is the lanyard, which attaches through this hole in the tailcap.
There is no magnet, pouch, or anything else.
Power and Runtime
Wuben ships the C2 with an appropriate cell – a button top 21700 cell with a 4800mAh capacity. Wuben gives this cell the name of ABD4800.
The cell fits into the light in the normal way, with the positive terminal toward the head.
In case you forget that direction, there’s a little silkscreened icon on the tail end of the body.
Charging
Wuben added two other important features to the C2 flashlight. First is the charging port. It’s a USB-C port in the head. This port is covered with a press-in rubber cover and is opposite to the e-switch on the head.
An appropriate cable is included. It’s USB to USB-C
Here are a couple of charge cycles. These are both USB to USB-C. C to C does not work (unfortunately.) Charging from USB (A) is quite quick at around 2A for the CC phase. Time-to-charge is also respectable at around 3.5 hours. For a 4800mAh cell, that seems good.
Powerbank
The other feature I mentioned above is that the C2 can be used as a powerbank. There’s a USB-A port right beside the USB-C port.
As a powerbank, only the USB-A port can be used. That USB-C port does not have any out functionality. Here’s a discharge cycle from the USB port. This looks great and can provide high current for a little while, moderate current for a long while, and minimal current until the cell reaches around 3.0V. It’s good to see low voltage protection on the powerbank side of things.
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 2000-700 | 1m-3h | 6.40 | |
| High | 1200-600 | 3m-3.5h | 3.22 | |
| Medium | 400 | 5h | 0.91 | |
| Low | 130 | 15h | 306.7mA | |
| Eco | 5 | 300h | 15.43mA |
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 C2. 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 excluding flash and Turbo) |
| Any | Hold | Mode cycle (Eco > Low > Medium > High) |
| Off | Hold | Eco |
| On | Double-click | Turbo |
| Turbo | Click | Previous state |
| Off or Turbo | 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 Eco |
| Lockout | Click | Switch blinks to indicate lockout |
| Off | Click 3x | Iterate switch breathing function |
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
In the C2, Wuben has used a Luminus SST-40 emitter. This emitter is coupled with a smooth and shallow reflector.
As mentioned above, the bezel is toothed, and so light can escape while headstanding.
The beam is more hotspot than you might have guessed.
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
It looks like Wuben is rating this as a 6500K emitter. On the lower modes, we see a CCT much below that rating and even at the higher outputs, we’re just trending toward 6500K and never reach it. This is fine!
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
- Complete (and robust) package
- Powerbank feature
- Good beam profile
- High output
- Especially great value with the coupon code “ZERO20” bringing the price down to $37.60!!
What I don’t like
- C to C charging doesn’t work
- USB-C output doesn’t work
Notes
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