Wuben L3 Flashlight Review
The Wuben L3 flashlight boasts 3000 lumens using the Luminus SST70. It has fast-charging (at 12V) via USB-C. It has a neat charge port cover, too! Read on!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a referral link to the Wuben L3 flashlight product page.
Versions
There’s just one version of the Wuben L3 flashlight.
Price
The Wuben L3 flashlight lists for $49.99, but at Amazon, there’s a 20% coupon, making the Wuben L3 flashlight just $40 (referral link).
What’s Included
- Wuben L3 flashlight
- Wuben 4800mAh 21700
- Charging cable
- Lanyard
- Spare o-rings (2)
- Manual
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
The build quality is fine. This is a big light, though. Maybe not “big for a 21700 light,” (but also a little big for a 21700 light.)
Only the tailcap is removable, and it’s a bit hard to remove. The grip that’s present isn’t all that useful. The threads are unanodized and smooth enough. It can’t be locked out mechanically because of these unanodized threads!
Size and Comps
28mm x 138mm and 176g (with cell)
If the flashlight can headstand, I’ll show it here. If it can tailstand, I’ll also show that here!
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 in the photo above, my Standard Reference Material (SRM) flashlight is the Hanko Machine Works Trident, an 18350 light. While I have not reviewed or tested the Gunner Grip version seen here, I have tested a Hanko Machine Works Trident Total Tesseract in brass. I love the Trident, and it’s a striking contrast to the inexpensive Convoy S2+, another great SRM.
Retention and Carry
There’s a beefy belt clip that attaches only to the tail end of the Wuben L3 flashlight.
A lanyard is also included, and it attaches through these two holes in the tailcap.
Power and Runtime
Wuben includes a 4800mAh 21700. It’s a standard button top.
The cell goes into the L3 with the button (positive) toward the head. If you forget that, you can look at the little icon on the body.
Below are a few runtime tests. As far as I could tell, Turbo is momentary-only. So each time you see a blip to high output, that’s me holding the button down again.
Maybe interestingly, but when Turbo fades (probably because of temperature regulation), it will fade to output lower than high. If you were previously on high, and release the switch, the light will go back to (aka increase to) high. You can see that in a number of spots below. Output reaches near-Turbo levels quite often once the light has cooled down. I stopped the test manually – the light would have continued with repeated presses of Turbo or stayed at some other level. But the point was to see what Turbo does.
The temperature lines in these charts are included as general context, not precise measurements. The values represent the range (min to max) during testing, but should not be taken as exact readings. Temperature sensors are attached however feasible and not always on the bezel or hottest spot (assuming that can even be clearly defined). Even with ideal placement, too many variables affect temperature to definitively state a specific max value.
Charging
The Wuben L3 flashlight uses USB-C for charging. There’s a neat screw-down cover over the charging port.
Wuben includes a USB-C to USB-C charging cable, too.
Charging is labeled as “fast” because the C to C can charge at 12V. 12V at around 1.4A or 5V at around 2.6A. Either way it’s pretty fast, at around 2 hours. Also this should be fine for the cell, since it’s a big 4800mAh.
Modes
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 3000 | / | 2833 (0s) 2333 (30s) |
| High | 1500-1100 | 4m+2.5h | 1279 (0s) 1263 (30s) |
| Medium | 500 | 6h | 421 |
| Low | 150 | 20.3h | 128 |
| Moon | 5 | 120h | 4.25 |
Pulse Width Modulation
The lowest two levels have a bit of disturbance. I’m not sure that this is PWM, though.
Click here to 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 just one button for controlling the Wuben L3 flashlight. It’s a two-stage e-switch on the tail.
Here’s a user interface table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Hold (halfway) | Momentary (mode memory) |
| Off | Click | On (mode memory) |
| On | Click | Off |
| On | Tap | Mode advance (Moon > Low > Med > High)^ |
| On | Hold (halfway) | Turbo |
| Any | Double tap (halfway) | Strobe (steady!) |
| Any | Triple tap (halfway) | SOS |
| Strobe or SOS | Tap | Return to the previous state |
^ Successive clicks through the modes don’t cycle “Moon > Low > Med > High > Moon” (as you would expect, and as you are used to.) They Cycle “Moon > Low > Med > High > Med > Low > Moon > Low” which makes it hard to know where you are and where you’re going to land.
LED and Beam
The Wuben L3 flashlight uses a Luminus SST70 emitter. It has a smooth reflector.
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
The CCT is surprisingly toward-neutral here, from around 5200 to around 5700K. CRI is (very) low, though, and the Duv is (very) positive, too.
CCT (Correlated Color Temperature) refers to the measurement of the color appearance of light, expressed in Kelvins (K), which indicates whether the light is warm (yellowish) or cool (bluish). A lower CCT (below 3000K) is considered warm light, while a higher CCT (above 5000K) gives cooler, bluish light.
CRI (Color Rendering Index) is a measure of how accurately a light source renders colors in comparison to natural sunlight. Scored on a scale from 0 to 100, higher CRI values indicate that colors appear more true to life and vibrant, similar to how they would look under the sun.
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
The Wuben L3 flashlight is a bright light and it does offer fast charging! Output doesn’t seem to hit the claimed 3000 lumens, and while I don’t love the momentary-only Turbo, it does hit near-initial output after cooling down. That’s impressive! The light is also not just starkly cool white, which is a relief.
The Big Table
| Wuben L3 flashlight | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Luminus SST70 |
| Price in USD at publication time: | – |
| Cell: | 1×21700 |
| 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: Low only without cell and/or tailcap: no modes |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 3000 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 2333 (77.8% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 8.3 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 226 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 528lux @ 5.82m = 17885cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 267.5 (118.4% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | – |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 5200-5700 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 I like
- Not cool white
- High output
- Fast charging (12V)
- Two-stage e-switch
What I don’t like
- Overall size
- Low CRI
- Mode advances up then down then up
Notes
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