Today is a Fun Fund Friday review I’ve had in the works for quite some time (to wit, I received this light in maybe May?). So the world might have moved on from this light, but I think it is still worth talking about (and the review data is done now, so….). This is the Wuben TO50R, which started on BLF as “The Flashlight.” It claimed at the time 2500 lumens (bumped to 2800 now), high CRI, on-board charging, a cell included, and can be used as a powerbank, too. Read on for a bit of testing, and thoughts.

Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the official product page.

Versions

I am reviewing the very first edition of this light, but I think Wuben has released revision 2 by now. It’s just a few small changes, I believe. So the content here is by and large still relevant.

Price

My copy of this light was purchased (by me) at the group buy price on budgetlightforum. The price now is much higher – I’m seeing $165.00 at BangGood (affiliate link). Amazon has them for just a bit more.

Short Review

This light is great. Mine will mainly see use when I need something I can use as a powerbank, and the 4800mAh included cell will be great for that. Otherwise, and as a flashlight, it’s still very good. High CRI, massive output, and just general good quality make this a nice light to have.

Long Review

The Big Table

* Measurement disclaimer: I am an amateur flashlight reviewer. I don’t have $10,000 or even $1,000 worth of testing equipment. I test output and such in PVC tubes!! Please consider claims within 10% of what I measure to be perfectly reasonable (accurate, even).

What’s Included

Wuben TO50R HC Flashlight

Wuben 4800mAh 21700 (not pictured here)

Charge cable (USB to micro-USB, with USB out too)

Nylon pouch

Lanyard

Cell adapter (21700 to 18650)

Spare o-rings (2)

Package and Manual

Nice box here. Also nice long clear manual, too.

Build Quality and Disassembly

The TO50R (and yes, it’s a mix of ‘o’ and ‘0’ in the name – capitalized letter first, then number) sports one of my least favorite flashlight design features. That’s spirals. It hasn’t been a favorite all the way back since some Zanflare light had it ages ago. But there’s no functional problem here with it. The light holds just fine, and any knurling would be essentially decorative anyway.

But you might notice that the light is fairly large. It’s a 21700 tube light with built in charging, so yes, it’s going to have some size to it.

But it has heft, and feels like a good quality light.

The cell tube is directional. The thick square cut overly lubed anodized threads are the tail end, and the unanodized finer threads go toward the head. A directional body is fine in this case, since the pocket clip is reversible.

The tail cap has a big beefy spring, while the head has a brass button.

The plastic ring shown here in the head is not a form of reverse polarity protection – it doesn’t inhibit any type of cell to be used.

All in all this is a very nicely built light. Very well considered.

Size and Comps

Officially the light is 124.5mm x 31mm, and weighs 130g (without battery). 202g with battery.

Not a small light.

But amazingly around the same size as a Convoy S2+ – at least in length. A bit thicker of course.

Retention and Carry

I personally carry this light in my back pocket or bag, but a nylon pouch is included. The pouch is nice and stretchy, and has a separated sleeve for a cell, a feature I haven’t seen before.

For a cell or for the 18650 adapter, of course.

Next up is the pocket clip. This is a very springy clip, and has a big mouth for easy connection with a pocket. It also allows quite deep carry, with a very tall shoulder. There’s a lip right where the clip connects to the body, too, which aims to prevent the light from snagging on a pocket – it works pretty well.

As you can see, the clip allows for almost completely submerged carry. There’s also a lanyard connection on the tailcap.

The tailcap even has a magnet, and yes that magnet is strong enough to hold this light in any orientation. It’s a very strong magnet. I didn’t explore it, but the tailcap has a retaining ring, so if you wished to remove the magnet, you probably could.

Power and Runtime

Wuben provides with the package the appropriate cell for this light. It’s a 21700 light, and Wuben’s cell is a 4800mAh button top. The big capacity comes in handy when considering that this light can also be used as a powerbank!

Also included by Wuben is a plastic adapter which will hold 18650 cells in the center of the tube. With a spring on the tailcap, contact can be made without any metals in the adapter.

Here’s a runtime on the Turbo. The light impressively hits the target of 2800 lumens at 30 seconds, staying over 2700 for around 1.25 minutes. This is impressive, and one couldn’t reasonably expect much more, since there’s not a bunch of mass on this light to deal with the heat produced. The light does exhibit LVP. The sawtooth might not be the best practice for a light, but a user using this light would likely be modulating the output manually anyway (if being hand held at least) because of the heat, so it doesn’t bother me.

Here’s a runtime on High, which is very stable at around 1300 lumens (!!!) for impressively over an hour!! LVP was exhibited here too.

When the light is activated, the indicating switch will display an approximation of the cell voltage. This indication turns off after 5s.

Blue steady: 100%-91% power

Blue flashy: 90%-41% power

Red steady: 40%-16% power

Red flashy: <15% power

The TO50R also has on-board charging, by means of a micro-USB port in the head. The port is opposite the switch, and because of this I really had to look at the light to get my thumb on the switch. The charge port cover does sit very flush on the body, while the switch doesn’t, so with a bit of use you’d get used to this very quickly I think.

A cable is also included. This cable is special because it has a full sized USB port, too. That full sized port can be used for USB-out from the light. A nice feature.

Charging of the large capacity 21700 cell happens at a respectable current of 1.5-1.9A, and takes just over 3 hours. Not much more you could ask than that (ie you wouldn’t really want to charge a cell faster.)

Here’s USB output from the provided cell and provided cable. I was able to pull around 3.4A at a maximum but that was with significant voltage sag. But the claim of 2A output is very accurate, with a voltage of around 4.8V. Once the output shut off at 2A, I lowered my drain to 1A and pulled more energy from the cell. The light does get warm when 2A is being drawn out this port.

Modes and Currents

Mode Mode Claimed Output (lm) Claimed Runtime Measured Lumens Tailcap Amps Turbo 2800/1000 1m/107m 2857 >7.0 High 1250 3h 1406 2.77 Med 250 8h 0.48 Low 50 27h 0.13 Micro 10 91h 0.06 Moon 1 191h 0.04

PWM

No PWM observed. The sawtooth seen on the lowest mode (leftmost below) is not PWM, and isn’t visible by my eye anyway.

For reference, here’s a baseline shot, with all the room lights off and almost nothing hitting the sensor. And here’s the worst PWM light I have ever owned. Also one of the very first lights I ordered directly from China!

User Interface and Operation

There are two switches on the TO50R. Both e-switches and both on the head. They’re together, basically one button cover but two e-switches. The power switch has indicating function, and a translucent power icon. These switches are quite clicky, with low action. The other “top” switch has a “W,” presumably for “Wuben” (but not in their logo font).

The switches are good, and just a little proud. It’s possible to differentiate them by feel from the charge port cover, but it did take me some time to get used to doing so.

The UI is quite advanced. Many modes, a few way to get to many of the modes, etc. The graphic below will be most helpful.

(I think that image is part of the official literature but still to give credit to the author, I found that image here.)

Here’s a UI table!

State Action Result Off Click Power (P) On (Mode Memory) Off Hold P (~1s) Lowest Mode Off Use Mode button (W) Momentary Turbo On Click P Off Off Hold P (~2s) Special Modes (blinky group) Special Modes Click W Special advance (Strobe > Beacon 1s > Beacon 10s > SOS) On Click W Mode advance (Low > Med 1 > Med 2 > High) (Moon and Turbo are not in the cycle) On Long press P Turbo Turbo Long press P Return to previous mode On Long press W Momentary Turbo Off Very long press P (~8s) Lockout Lockout Very long press P (~5s) Unlock

I think that covers the UI, but there’s a real chance I left something off.

LED and Beam

This Wuben is a quad Samsung LH351d emitter light. These emitters are high CRI, and behind a clear optic.

I love the beam profile, and I also really like the high CRI-ness of these emitters.

These beamshots are always with the following settings: f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure.

Tint vs BLF-348 (Killzone 219b version)

I compare everything to the Killzone 219b BLF-348, because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!

Conclusion

What I like

Compete package kit

2800 lumens on Turbo

High maintains >1000 lumens for over an hour!

Powerbank option

High capacity 21700

Includes adapter for 18650

Versatile UI (easy to get to Moonlight, and Turbo is always accessible)

What I don’t like

The retail price of $165 is quite high

The clip could possible be better, though it really works great

Notes

This light was provided by me for review. I was not paid to write this review. I purchased this light with my own money

This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!

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