Wurkkos FC13 Flashlight Review

The Wurkkos FC13 is an 18650 flashlight using one Cree XHP50.2 emitter for high output. It offers USB-C charging and an indicating switch, too!

---

Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Wurkkos FC13 flashlight product page.

Versions

Three emitters are available: Cree XHP50.2 in 5000K or 6000K and Luminus SFT-40 in 6000K. Each is available with or without a 18650, and the 18650 adds around $3.

Price

The Luminus option is priced at $31.54. Both Cree options are a couple dollars more, and the cell adds around $3 to any package. These are available at wurkkos.com.

---

Short Review

The Wurkkos FC13 flashlight has a neat switch backlight, so for the novelty alone, this light is probably worth the price. It runs Anduril too, so if you are into disco modes or ramping, it’s a great choice for that reason, too. USB-C charging works great and overall it’s just a nice low-cost option. It has the usual Wurkkos build quality too, so that’s good – great even, at $35 or so.

Long Review

The Big Table

Wurkkos FC13 flashlight
Emitter:	Cree XHP50.2 (5000K)
Price in USD at publication time:	$33.46
Cell:	1×18650
Runtime Graphs
LVP?	Yes
Switch Type:	E-Switch
Quiescent Current (mA):	?
On-Board Charging?	Yes
Charge Port Type:	USB-C
Charge Graph
Power off Charge Port	with cell: all modes without cell or tailcap: all modes except highest
Claimed Lumens (lm)	3500
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	3413 (97.5% of claim)^
Candela per Lumen	3.7
Claimed Throw (m)	214
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	378lux @ 5.091m = 9797cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	198.0 (92.5% of claim)^
Claimed CCT	5000
Measured CCT Range (K)	4400-5000 Kelvin
Item provided for review by:	Wurkkos
All my Wurkkos 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

• Wurkkos FC13 flashlight
• Wurkkos 3000mAh 18650
• Charging cable (USB to USB-C)
• Spare o-rings (2)
• Manual

Package and Manual

Build Quality and Disassembly

The build quality here is great.  Really not much more to say about it than that –  The whole product is a high-quality package.

Threads, as you can see below, are square cut, anodized, and lubed. Only a button is here on the head; no spring.

The tailcap has a spring. On the head end are the same threads – in fact, the cell tube is reversible.

Size and Comps

Dimension: 113.7mm (length) x 29mm (head diameter)
Weight: 77 grams (without battery)

If the flashlight will headstand, I’ll show it here (usually the third photo).  If the flashlight will tailstand, I’ll also show that (usually in 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.

Also above on the left is a new feature light!! Laulima Metal Craft sent this Todai in tumbled aluminum for some size comparison photos like the ones above. Laulima has a bunch of incredible items. I’ve tested one (the Laulima Metal Craft Hoku) (the official site for Hoku is here) that was a Friend Fund Friday review. I was impressed enough by that Hoku that I bought a Laulima Metal Craft Diamond Slim (also in tumbled aluminum) (review is upcoming!) These lights by Laulima have impeccable build quality and not only that, they’re quite configurable. There are some (great, actually) default configurations, but Joshua Dawson (of Laulima Metal Craft) is open to ideas and emitter options and the like. I haven’t reviewed this Todai, but I have to say, it feels absolutely fantastic and I love it thus far. (Notably, I love how warm and eggy those emitters look through the TIR.)

Retention and Carry

Included (and installed) is a two-way deep carry friction fit pocket clip. The clip is not reversible and can only go on the tail, but again, it’s a two-way clip. Bezel down the light sticks up a bit over the pocket. Bezel up, there’s around 2″ out of the pocket. (To wit, there’s no good reason to bother with a two-way clip here, since so much will stick out of the pocket in a bezel-up carry.)

Because of the clip setup, the light could reasonably be used on the bill of a cap (“hat light”) but overall the light is probably too heavy to do this very well. But it would work.

Even though the clip isn’t reversible, the cell tube is! So if you really need bezel-up carry, you can achieve that easily.

Also included is a standard lanyard, which attaches through a hole in the tailcap. The lanyard can also attach through a hole in the pocket clip.

There is no magnet in the tailcap and no nylon pouch included.

Power and Runtime

A single lithium-ion cell powers the Wurkkos FC13 flashlight.  The proper size is 18650, and one can be included with your purchase if you opt for that package.  The cell is a button top 3000mAh 18650 and is not special or proprietary, or customized in any way (except the nice Wurkkos wrapper).

The cell goes into the light in the “normal” way – the positive end toward the head.

Below are a few runtime graphs.  The claim of 3500 lumens is almost certainly for the 6000K emitter version. I’m recording at 30 seconds, which is well after the stepdown. The initial output is around 3800 lumens, which is practically incredible from a single emitter. Of course, we have the typical stepdowns, and don’t forget – this light just isn’t big enough to hold 3800 or 3500 or whatever lumens for long. There simply isn’t enough mass! That’s no slight to the light, it’s simply thermodynamics.

Low voltage protection is observed at least in some of the runs. The light didn’t always shut off, but the switch indicated in every case that the voltage was low. If the switch setting in Anduril is set to “Voltage,” the indicates as follows:

>4.4V: white-ish (red+blue+green)
4.1-4.4V: blue
3.7-39.V: cyan (green + blue)
3.5-3.7V: green
3.3-3.5V: yellow (red+ green)
2.9-3.3V: red
<2.9V: off

Charging

Another feature of the Wurkkos FC13 flashlight is built-in charging. There’s a USB-C port in the head, which has a press-in cover. This cover is quite thick, and when installed properly, very secure. It has a thick edge and must be pushed deliberately into the opening.

An appropriate charge cable is included.  It’s USB to USB-C.

When charging, the switch flashes orange and turns steady orange when charging is complete.

Here’s a single graph of C to C charging. Charging looks quite good!

Here’s a charge graph with the USB to USB-C setup.  It’s fairly normal, and charges at around 2A.  The cell should handle that easily.

Powerbank

The powerbank feature on the Wurkkos FC13 flashlight works great, too! The USB-C port seems most comfortable under 2A output, which is reasonable. Here are a couple of graphs!

When discharging through the powerbank feature, the switch is orange. The switch will turn blue when the battery is low.

Modes and Currents

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
Turbo (Double Click from on)	3500	2.5h	3748 (0s) 3413 (30s)	13.48
Highest Stepped	1080	2.8h	1107	2.08
	420	4.3h	367	0.71
	150	6.5h	121	0.25
	57	11h	47	0.09
	20	32h	16	0.03
	5	5d	3.8	[low]
Lowest Stepped	0.5	40d	0.3	[low]
Lowest Ramped	–	–	[low]	[low]

Pulse Width Modulation

There is PWM on all modes except Turbo.  On all but the lowest output level, it’s not PWM that I can call “noticeable.” It’s plenty fast PWM.

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

The switch seen on the is an indicating e-switch.  It is a soft and low switch with a translucent center and edges that show colors – RGB!

The switch is configurable, according to the manual.  You will need to be in Advanced user interface to configure the switch!

The light ships with Andúril2! I’m not completely sure which version of Anduril the Wurkkos FC13 flashlight has, but the text below should at least get you started on using the light. I think it’s an improvement over the first iteration(s). There are some things some users might not love about it, but I think overall it feels much more approachable. I will note though that the nomenclature might be a bit confusing – the light (all lights with Andúril2) ships in Simple UI. This is not Muggle Mode. You may think “Well duh” and by now you’ve already seen the blistering runtime on turbo of Simple, so you get it. But just be aware, don’t hand this light to the uninitiated thinking they won’t set their hand on fire while using Simple UI. Here is where I’d tell you how to switch to muggle mode. There is no muggle mode.

Here’s a user interface table! This table is directly from ToyKeeper’s Andúril2 manual, which you can view here:

http://toykeeper.net/torches/fsm/anduril2/anduril-manual.txt

I am putting this in a table here with ToyKeeper’s permission. Thanks, TK!  This is so much better than me writing it because it’s more reliable, and I completely trust its accuracy (at least, if I can paste it accurately). I’m breaking it up a little differently than ToyKeeper did, though I certainly understand why it was done her way originally.

The manual covers secondary RGB output – that works here too but it’s on the switch. That’s a downside, because while you’re actuating the switch (for example, during a hold action) it’s hard to see what the switch response is (for example, if you want to cycle the switch RGB modes). But you just have to sort that out. It’s possible.

First, the table for Either User Interface.  These actions work whether you’re in Simple or Advanced UI.

State	Action	Result
Off	1C	On (ramp mode, memorized level)
Off	1H	On (ramp mode, floor level)
Off	2C	On (ramp mode, ceiling level)
Off	3C	Battcheck mode
Off	4C	Lockout mode
Off	13H	Factory reset (on some lights)
Off	15+C	Version check
Ramp	1C	Off
Ramp	1H	Ramp (up, with reversing)
Ramp	2H	Ramp (down)
Ramp	3H	Tint ramping (on some lights)
Ramp	3H	Momentary turbo (on lights without tint ramping)
Ramp	4C	Lockout mode
Lockout	1C/1H	Momentary moon (lowest floor)
Lockout	2C/2H	Momentary moon (highest floor, or manual mem level)
Lockout	4C	On (ramp mode, memorized level)
Lockout	4H	On (ramp mode, floor level)
Lockout	5C	On (ramp mode, ceiling level)
Batt check	1C	Off

A table for only Simple User Interface:

State	Action	Result
Off	2H	On (momentary ceiling level)
Off	10H	Disable Simple UI
Ramp	2C	Go to/from ceiling

A table for only Advanced (aka “Full”) User Interface:

State	Action	Result
Off	2H	On (momentary turbo)
Off	3H	Strobe mode (whichever was used last)
Off	5C	Momentary mode
Off	7C	Aux LEDs: Next pattern Switch LEDs: Next option
Off	7H	Aux LEDs: Next color
Off	10C	Enable Simple UI
Off	10H	Simple user interface ramp config menu (1: floor, 2: ceiling, [3: steps])
Ramp	2C	Go to/from ceiling (or turbo if at ceil already)
Ramp	3C	Change ramp style (smooth / stepped)
Ramp	5C	Momentary mode
Ramp	5H	Sunset timer on, and add 5 minutes
Ramp	7H	Ramp config menu (1: floor, 2: ceiling, [3: steps])
Ramp	10C	Turn on manual memory and save current brightness
Ramp	10H	Manual memory config menu (1: off, 2: set timeout)
Lockout	7C	Aux LEDs: Next pattern
Lockout	7H	Aux LEDs: Next color
Lockout	10H	Auto-lock config menu (1: set timeout)
Strobe (any)	1C	Off
Strobe (any)	2C	Next strobe mode
Strobe (any)	3H	Tint ramping (on some lights)
Strobe (any)	5C	Momentary mode (using current strobe)
Candle	1H/2H	Brighter / dimmer
Candle	5H	Sunset timer on, add 5 minutes
Party strobe	1H/2H	Faster / slower
Tactical strobe	1H/2H	Faster / slower
Biking	1H/2H	Brighter / dimmer
Lightning	1H	Interrupt current flash or start new one
Batt check	2C	Next blinky mode (Temp check, Beacon, SOS)
Batt check	7H	Voltage config menu
Temp check	1C	Off
Temp check	2C	Next blinky mode (Beacon, SOS, Batt check)
Temp check	7H	Thermal config menu
Beacon	1C	Off
Beacon	1H	Configure beacon timing
Beacon	2C	Next blinky mode (SOS, Batt check, Temp check)
SOS	1C	Off
SOS	2C	Next blinky mode (Batt check, Temp check, Beacon)
Momentary	Any	On (until button is released)
Momentary	Disconnect power	Exit Momentary mode
Config menus	Hold	Skip current item with no changes
Config menus	Release	Configure current item
Number entry	Click	Add 1 to value for current item

To be completely honest, I’m not entirely sure yet what’s the best way to tell if you’re in Simple user interface or Advanced UI. Based on what I see here and with the light in hand, I think the fewest-clicks way will be 3 clicks from on (technically “Ramp” in the table, but I think “On” is accurate.) This action – 3C from Ramp – in Advanced user interface will iterate smooth or stepped. In Simple UI, this action will do nothing. There are other ways, though. For example, double-clicking from the top of the ramp will either do nothing or go to Turbo. If it does nothing, then you’re in Simple. If it goes to 11, then you’re in Advanced. One more reliable way to check between Simple and Advanced is to enter Batt Check (3C from off) then see what 2C does. In Simple, the light will just turn off. In Advanced, the light will go to the temperature check.
Another great way to tell, thanks to a reader is to see what the lowest level of ramping is. Advanced user interface has a quite low low. Simple user interface has a much higher “lowest level.”

LED and Beam

Wurkkos seems to call this emitter interchangeably “Cree XHP50B” and Cree XHP50.2. I’m not sure if those are the same, but in any case, the emitter pictured below is what I received.

The single emitter uses an orange peel reflector.

The bezel is flush and does not really let light escape when headstanding.

LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)

CCT stays in the range of what Wurkkos claims – around (or below) 5000K. That’s great. The CRI is low, though, at around 70.

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

• Great value
• Cell included for $3!
• Excellent use of Andúril2 user interface
• 5000K emitter option (and they’re a little warmer than that, too!)
• Indicating e-switch is a novel variety
• USB-C charging works well

What I don’t like

• Andúril PWM
• Green tint out of this Cree emitter
• Changing RGB modes on the switch is hard because you have to use the switch to do it

---

Notes

• 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!
• Please use my amazon.com referral link to help support zeroair.org!
• Please support me on Patreon! I deeply appreciate your support!