Wuben A9 High Power Flashlight Review
The Wuben A9 is a high power Cree XHP70.2 flashlight with three emitters and a customized battery that charges via USB-C. The output is very high! Read on!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the Wuben A9 high power flashlight product page.
Versions
There’s just one version of the Wuben A9 high power flashlight.
Price
This Wuben A9 high power flashlight sells for $249.99, and that includes the customized battery shown in this review. Here’s a 20% off coupon, too:
zeroair20
Short Review
There’s a lot to like about the Wuben A9. This truly is a “high power” flashlight that holds around 10k lumens impressively. The lower modes are quite steady too. I don’t love customized batteries and this one is very customized. It works well though, and has built-in USB-C charging. Charging is a bit slow, though. The price is a bit high for the A9, but for its intended purpose (probably search and rescue) it’s pretty reasonable.
Long Review
The Big Table
| Wuben A9 high power flashlight | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Cree XHP70.2 (Triple) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $249.99 Here’s a 20% off coupon, too: zeroair20 |
| Cell: | 1xCustom |
| Runtime Graphs | |
| LVP? | Yes, with switch warning |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (mA): | ? |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | USB-C (on cell) |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | – |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 12000 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 9241 (77% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 4.94 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 420 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 2370lux @ 4.716m = 52710cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 459.2 (109.3% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | – |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 6100-6500 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 A9 high power flashlight
- 10200mAh customized battery
- Wall wart (with multiple wall connections)
- Charging cable (USB to USB-C)
- Spare o-rings (2)
- Survival lanyard
- Shoulder strap
- Wuben Dog Tags
- Manual etc
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
The Wuben A9 high power flashlight isn’t a small light. That should be evident here and below. That doesn’t mean it’s too big, though – it’s suitable for such a high output flashlight.
This size also means it has a good bit of mass, which helps dissipate the heat created on high output levels
Only the head comes off. This is a bit of a disappointing experience; there’s a nice bit of great knurling on the body exactly where you want it to be for removing the head. However, holding (even just holding, not even twisting) the head causes problems. First, the switch is in the way. Secondly, there’s really no grip for unscrewing the head. It’s not necessarily a problem, except that the battery has both contacts on one end, and loosening the head doesn’t disconnect power immediately, so there’s a chance of accidentally turning the light on.
The head has a beefy spring for positive contact, along with flat contacts for the negative part of the cell. The tail end has a spring, too.
Size and Comps
215mm x 68mm and 447g 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 is 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. I also reviewed that specific edition, the “Oveready BOSS FT Collector Vintage Brass” 35. I love it!
Retention and Carry
A few ways to carry the Wuben A9 high power flashlight are included. A shoulder strap is probably the most prominent way. That strap connects through this hole in the head, firstly.
It could also connect into one of these holes in the tailcap, too. I appreciate that there are sets of holes – one is a double hole and the other is single. These both offer different advantages, and it’s a very nice touch that these holes are different.
A tripod hole is included in the tailcap. And while I think it’s a standard hole for typical tripod mounts, it’s more useful for the included shoulder strap, which has an attachment that screws in here.
The shoulder strap is very robust.
Also included is this sort of “survival lanyard” that has a built in whistle, compass, and knife.
Power and Runtime
Wuben uses a customized and proprietary in the A9. It’s a 10200mAh cell at 7.2V. There are a bunch of cells in this battery pack. I would guess it’s eight 18650 cells, and a 2S4P configuration.
The battery has both contact points on the positive end, as well as having a negative terminal on the other end.
This battery goes into the A9 in the usual way – positive end toward the head.
In case you forget, there’s a little marker on the tailcap. This icon doesn’t really look like the included battery, so I’m not sure how helpful it is.
Below are a few runtime tests. Wuben claims 12,000 lumens for the A9 and while I don’t read this light having output that high, it’s still very high at around 10,000 lumens. Not just 10,000 lumens, but it holds that for around a minute and a half! That’s very respectable. Lower modes are very stable, too. Even after the stepdown, the light holds around 2000 lumens for hours.
Low voltage protection is observed, with respect to this being a 2S battery – cutoff voltage is around 6V, which is around 3V per cell. Perfectly acceptable. The switch will also give you an indication that voltage is low, by blinking red.
Charging
The Wuben A9 high power flashlight itself does not have built-in charging, but the included battery has a USB-C charging port on the positive end.
Wuben also includes a wall wart, and the wall wart has a couple of connection types.
A USB to USB-C charging cable is included, too.
Wuben states in the manual that charging will take around 12.5 hours, and I find that to be approximately true. This is a big battery, so it’s reasonable that it could take a while to charge but it also charges at only 5V – there’s no Power Delivery setup that can deliver 20V or whatever at 2A. It’s all 5V at 2A, so a max of 10W. That’s very low for this battery, and I’d love to see this battery charging improved.
That said, what charging is performed is very consistent. While charging, the switch blinks red and when charging is complete, the switch turn steady green.
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps (@8.4V) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 12,000-2,600 | 60s-3.6h | 9673 (0s) 9241 (30s) |
12.92 |
| High | 4,000-2,600 | 4h | 3547 | 3.45 |
| Medium | 1000 | 11h | 864 | 0.74 |
| Low^ | (the manual does not actually cover this mode!) | – | 85 | 0.08 |
| Lowest | 20 | 23d | 24 | 0.02 |
^ As far as I can see in the manual, this light has an extra mode. It’s not hidden, it’s just not covered. The lowest mode is what I’d call the “normal” lowest. I’ll cover the details below.
Pulse Width Modulation
None of the outputs use 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
An indicating e-switch is used for controlling the Wuben A9 high power flashlight. It’s a proud switch and has the Wuben “W.”
Below you can see the switch indicating in green – it can also indicate in red. It’s a nice, even illumination.
Here’s a user interface table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Click | On (Mode Memory) |
| Off | Hold (and release upon on state) | Low (That is, Low with all three emitters on) |
| Off | Click^ | Lowest Low (That is, Low with just one emitter on) |
| On | Click | Off |
| On | Hold | Mode advance (ascending, 4 modes) |
| On (But not Turbo) | Double Click | Turbo |
| Off | Hold (continually) | On in Low, continuously ramping upward |
| Off or Turbo | Double click | Strobe |
| Strobe | Double click | SOS |
| Any | Click 3x | Iterate green switch “breathing” |
| Off | Click 4x | Lockout (Light blinks 3x to indicate) |
| Lockout | Click | Switch breathes green (if breathing is enabled) |
| Lockout | Click 4x | Unlock to Low |
^ This bears some discussion. Accessing “one emitter on” is only possible when the light is shut off in the lowest level. This sets mode memory to “low” but when you click to turn the light back on in low (mode memory) it actually is just one emitter, not all three. This might be seen as a fault but 1) it’s clearly intentional and 2) it’s actually fantastic to have a lower, and fifth output level.
LED and Beam
Three emitters are used in the Wuben A9 high power flashlight. They are Cree XHP70.2 emitters and the CCT or CRI is not stated.
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
While the output on this light is cool, it’s not as bad as it might be for a light of such high output. The light does drift to cooler, but peaks under 6600K. CRI is low, at around 70. This is not too bad, really, for such high output.
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
- Very high output
- Lower modes are very flat in output
- USB-C charging is very consistent
- Very robust package including a nice shoulder strap
- Carry case is sturdy
- Hidden one-emitter “super” low level
What I don’t like
- USB-C charging is slow, using only 5V input
- Hard to remove the head because of lack of knurling
- Coolish and low CRI
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!
