Armytek Bear WRG Flashlight Review
The Armytek Bear WRG flashlight has three emitters: a main white, red, or green. All offer great throw, and switching is easy. It also includes a 21700!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the Armytek Bear WRG flashlight product page.
Versions
I believe there’s just one version of the Armytek Bear WRG flashlight.
Price
The Armytek Bear WRG flashlight sells for $104.99 at flashlightgo.com.
What’s Included
- Armytek Bear WRG flashlight
- 5000mAh 21700
- Charging cable
- Holster
- Diffuser
- Lanyard
- Cell adapter
- Spare o-rings (2)
- Manual etc
Package and Manual
Frustratingly, the manual is a user manual, not a specs manual. There’s no info about the modes, etc to be seen here!
There is a full PDF manual though – linked by QR code in the more brief manual above. Here’s the English manual:
Build Quality and Disassembly
Armytek promotes this finish as a special anti-slip matte finish. That’s accurate. It’s very matte! Some (including me) would call it chalky, but I wouldn’t say the chalkiness of this Armytek Bear WRG flashlight is off-putting.
The build quality is, of course, very good.
The Armytek Bear WRG flashlight also sports a very “flashlighty” look.
Below you can see the tailcap threads (unanodized) and the spring. The spring is beefy!
In the head end is also a spring, but it’s much less beefy than the tail spring. Still, it’s nice that both ends do have a spring!
Size and Comps
Head diameter: 45 mm
Body diameter: 23.6 mm
Length: 122 mm
Weight (without battery): 135 g
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+. The version below is a custom laser-engraved Convoy S2+ host by GadgetConnections.com. I did a full post on an engraved orange host right here! Or go straight to GadgetConnections.com to buy your Convoy S2+ now!
Also above is the light beside a 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 lanyard is included, and it attaches through this hole in the tailcap.
It’s a pretty nice and “better than basic” lanyard, too. There’s a tiny split ring, even!
Also included for carry is this open holster.
I believe this is how the light is really meant to be placed in the holster. This incorporates the diffuser (and also provides an extra bit of protection for the light!)
Power and Runtime
Armytek includes a 5000mAh 21700 lithium-ion cell in the package by default.
This is a flat-top cell. Also included is this adapter that will allow using one 18650 cell.
The cell goes into the light with the positive end toward the head.
Below you can see three runtime tests. There’s a big stepdown on “Main 3” (not called “Turbo”). Main 2 is very steady though, but that’s expected with the much lower output (around 325 lumens).
The claimed runtime on this mode is 30 hours, but it never dipped, and after 36 hours (where I know my Excel will be struggling with all the data), I stopped the test.
In all cases, the switch blinked red to indicate low voltage.
Charging
Armytek uses proprietary magnetic charging on the Armytek Bear WRG flashlight. I would guess this is their standard charger. The light comes with the charger, though, so maybe it doesn’t matter too much.
The charger has a couple of LEDs to give some indication of what’s going on. Notably, the tailcap must be loosened by 1/4 of a turn for charging to work! This also means the light doesn’t work (at all) while being charged.
I’m not sure it’s required but I had the best luck with this charger if I already had the tailcap loosened before connecting the charger to the light.
The charger will give useful information before, during, and after charging.
Charger not plugged in:
Green: Device is in waiting mode.
Charger plugged in:
Green blinking: evaluation of battery voltage.
Red blinking: unscrew the tailcap to 1/4 for charging.
Orange blinking: clean the tailcap and threads of the flashlight parts or use a different power source.
Red: Charging with rated charging current is going on.
Orange: USB power source voltage is too low, charging current is reduced.
Green: Charging is finished.
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main 3 | 1500 – 600 | 2h30m | 1386 (0s) 1374 (30s) |
4.97 |
| Main 2 | 350 | 5h30m | 323 (0s) 323 (30s) |
0.64 |
| Main 1 | 50 | 30h | 45 | 0.08 |
| Firefly | 0.5 | 30d | [low] | [low] |
| Main 3 Red | 130 | 5h30m | – | 0.47 |
| Main 2 Red | 70 | 10h30m | – | 0.17 |
| Main 1 Red | 35 | 24h | – | 0.13 |
| Firefly Red | 0.5 | 30d | – | [low] |
| Main 3 Green | 180 | 5h30m | – | 0.59 |
| Main 2 Green | 120 | 10h | – | 0.26 |
| Main 1 Green | 70 | 23h | – | 0.11 |
| Firefly Green | 1 | 30d | – | [low] |
Pulse Width Modulation
None of the modes 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
There’s an e-switch on the Armytek Bear WRG flashlight. It’s on the head and has Armytek’s usual yellow button cover.
Switching between the emitters is easy – there’s a physical selector switch to go from white to green to red. There’s no mixing of emitters or anything like that. As far as I can tell, there’s no difference in user interface for any of the emitters. That’s a nice feature! It also means the table below covers all emitters, no matter which you have selected.
Here’s a user interface table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Click | On (mode memory) |
| Off | Hold | Firefly |
| On | Click | Off |
| On | Hold | Mode advance |
| Any | Double click | Beacon |
LED and Beam
I can’t see where Armytek has stated it, but having removed the bezel, TIR, and white lens cup, the white emitter is clearly a Luminus SFT-40. It’s easy to remove all that stuff too, so if you wanted to swap in one of those awesome warmer Luminus emitters, you should have good luck!
The reflector and cup come out with some coaxing. They aren’t affixed, they just fit very snugly.
Here are a couple more. You can see the MCPCB!
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
The CCT here is cool to very cool, with a positive Duv and low CRI. The white emitter is much more intended for output and throw than it is for enthusiast CRI and CCT. Again, it should be very easy to mod if you wish!
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. These photos are taken around 18 inches from the door.
I compare everything to the KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!
Summary and Conclusion
Of course, I like that this light is very flashlighty! I like the emitter selector, too. Output is good and nearing the specs. Red and green are both useful and I really appreciate that the user interface is the same for all three emitters. It’s a bit spendy, but the Armytek Bear WRG flashlight is a very solid package!
The Big Table
| Armytek Bear WRG flashlight | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Luminus SFT-40 |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $105.00 |
| Cell: | 1×21700 |
| Runtime Graphs | |
| LVP? | |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (mA): | ? |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | Proprietary Magnetic |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | No |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 1500 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 1374 (91.6% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 60.99 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 510 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 2580lux @ 5.866m = 88778cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 595.9 (116.8% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | – |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 6300-7300 Kelvin |
| Item provided for review by: | flashlightgo.com |
| All my Armytek 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 I like
- User interface consistency
- Easy selection between three emitters
- Includes cell
What I don’t like
- Matte finish
- Not a big difference in modes for red or green.
Notes
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