Wuben F5 Lantern Review
The Wuben F5 is an interesting little lantern with a bunch of features! Multiple CCTs, USB-C charging, and powerbank features… read on!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the Wuben F5 lantern product page.
Versions
There are at least two colors available. I think that’s the only difference, though.
Price
While these list for $44.99, the going price right now is 30% off, at $31.49. Buy yours at wubenlight.com. Here’s a 20% off coupon, too:
zeroair20
Short Review
While I had a bit of an issue with my first one, the second Wuben F5 lantern has performed flawlessly. I love it, too – the CCT selection is useful and the light (I mean the output itself) is great. USB-C charging and powerbank features are just nice bonuses!
Long Review
The Big Table
| Wuben F5 Lantern | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Unstated (3000K) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $31.49
Here’s a 20% off coupon, too: |
| Cell: | Internal |
| High Runtime Graph | |
| LVP? | Yes |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (mA): | ? |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | USB-C |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | All modes |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 430 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 409 (95.1% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 0.6 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 25 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 41lux @ 2.363m = 229cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 30.3 (121.2% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | 3000 |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 3200 Kelvin |
| Item provided for review by: | Wuben |
| All my Wuben reviews! | |
| Wuben F5 Lantern | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Unstated (5700K) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $31.49
Here’s a 20% off coupon, too: |
| Cell: | Internal |
| High Runtime Graph | |
| LVP? | Yes |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (mA): | ? |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | USB-C |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | All modes |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 500 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 469 (93.8% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 0.5 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 25 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 55lux @ 2.136m = 251cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 31.7 (126.8% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | 5700 |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 5700 Kelvin |
| Item provided for review by: | Wuben |
| All my Wuben reviews! | |
| Wuben F5 lantern | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Unstated (4500K) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $31.49 |
| Cell: | Internal |
| High Runtime Graph | |
| LVP? | Yes |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (mA): | ? |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | USB-C |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | All modes |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 480 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 492 (102.5% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 0.6 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 25 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 52lux @ 2.309m = 277cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 33.3 (133.2% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | 4500 |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 4000-4200 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 F5 lantern
- Charging cable (USB to USB-C)
- S-Biner
- Manual
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
The body here is plastic. There’s a bit of metal on the back of course, where the hanging ring is. The tripod connector is also metal.
Overall, the build quality is nice. The charging port cover could be considered a bit basic but does seem functional.
Size and Comps
This isn’t a full rectangle device – the sides taper a bit toward the back. The dimensions are listed as follows:
84mm x 78mm x 28.5mm and 203g.
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’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
It makes sense that there would be a few ways to carry or hold the Wuben F5 lantern. And there are. First is the lanyard, which attaches through this lanyard hole on one corner.
I think the lanyard is a style that’s been used by Wuben before, but it’s definitely a style some newer Olights use. I like it.
Next is the tripod connector. This is a metal inset into the plastic body. I believe this is a standard 1/4″ part.
Finally, there’s this loop on the back, which also incorporates a magnet. The magnet is plenty strong, too, and that surface (even with the loop down) is flat.
There’s also a metal S-Biner but really, this doesn’t attach to the light itself (and seems a bit superfluous to me.)
Power and Runtime
The Wuben F5 lantern is powered by two internal (built-in) 18650 cells. They look to be in series, and they are soldered in place.
Output is within range of the claim. After a few minutes, there’s a stepdown which holds steady for hours. The lantern does finally shut off with low voltage protection.
Charging
With the built-in batteries comes built-in charging. In this case, USB-C is used.
An appropriate cable is included – USB to USB-C. And here’s my word of caution. Remember I said I have had two of these, and one had an issue? I’m pretty sure there was some issue with me attempting C to C charging. If you asked me to guess, I’d say something inside couldn’t negotiate the higher (possible) voltage from a C source (in this case, the source could provide up to 20V), and something inside the Wuben F5 lantern fried. I don’t know what, and it didn’t turn into a dangerous situation. But it stunk in “that way” (maybe lithium-ion electrolyte?) and will no longer charge.
The replacement, on which I have only ever used USB-A to USB-C charging, has worked flawlessly! So don’t necessarily be scared off buying this inexpensive feature-packed lantern, just don’t use a C to C source with it.
Here’s a charging graph. Charging is at a brisk >2.1A, and doesn’t take too long at all, at under 3 hours.
During charging, the four blue indicating emitters on the side indicate as follows:
0-25% power: one blue flashing
25-50% power: one blue steady, one flashing
50-75% power: two blue steady, one flashing
75-100% power: three blue steady, one flashing
100% power: four blue steady
Powerbank
The USB-A port can be used as a powerbank, too. But only the A port – the C port is only for charging!
Here’s a powerbank usage graph. In the first couple of minutes I sort of “stress test” it, to see how high the output current can go before shutting off. Then I just set it at a lower current and let it go until the powerbank shuts off.
During discharging, the four blue indicating emitters on the side indicate as follows:
0-3% power: one blue flashing
3-25% power: one blue steady
25-50% power: two blue steady
50-75% power: three blue steady
>75% power: four blue steady
Modes and Currents
3000K:
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | 430/230 | 5m/10h | 409 |
| Medium | 120 | 20h | 105 |
| Low | 7 | 190h | 7 |
5700K:
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | 430/230 | 5m/10h | 492 |
| Medium | 120 | 20h | 124 |
| Low | 7 | 190h | 7 |
4500K:
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | 430/230 | 5m/10h | 463 |
| Medium | 120 | 20h | 119 |
| Low | 7 | 190h | 7 |
Pulse Width Modulation
Fortunately, none of the modes have PWM.
3000K:
5700K:
4500K:
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
Wuben went with three e-switches on the F5. The center button is for on/off and CCT switching while the other two move the modes up and down (only).
Here’s a user interface table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Click Power button | On (Mode memory) |
| On | Click Power button | Off |
| On | Double click power button | CCT advance (5700K > 4500K > 3000K order) |
| Any | Click Power button 3x | “Breathing light” from blue battery indicator LEDs |
| On | Click Plus button | Output advance (LMH) |
| On | Click Minus button | Output decrease (HML) |
| On | Hold plus button | Output increases ramping style |
| On | Hold minus button | Output decreases ramping style |
LED and Beam
Wuben doesn’t state what emitters are used in the F5 lantern. Whatever they are, there are a bunch! I count 60, and that’s 30 each of two CCTs. There are 30 3000K emitters and 30 5700K emitters. It’s possible to mix these two too, to achieve around 4500K output.
On the lowest mode, it’s possible to easily discern each emitter. But on the higher modes, the output is brighter enough that it all sort of blends together and is diffused nicely.
It’s not possible to mix the CCT any way but to 4500K, though.
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
Maybe a bit of a surprise here from this lantern is that not just are the CCT options fun, but the CRI is actually quite great too! I don’t think Wuben bills this as a high-CRI, but it certainly is. Across all outputs the CRI remains around 96-97, which is simply fantastic. Even the r9 is great.
3000K:
5700K:
4500K:
Beamshots
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.
3000K:
5700K:
4500K:
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.
3000K:
5700K:
4500K:
I compare everything to the KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!
Conclusion
What I like
- CCT options are useful
- Plenty of carry options
- User interface is easy enough to understand and use
- Useful as a powerbank
What I don’t like
- Not possible to tint mix between 3000K and 5700K except for exactly 4500K (ramping between would be great!)
- C to C charging doesn’t seem to work (and seems to have killed my first copy of this light)
- Internally I think there’s room for more than a 2S cell setup, which could extend runtimes
Notes
- This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
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