Wowtac A3S - Anyone see it yet?

beam0 · February 6, 2018, 5:40am

Firelight2:

Got my Wowtac A3S. Here are my preliminary impressions:

What I like:

Noticeably brighter than the A3. XPL HI is definitely superior to XPG2 in this kind of light. Brighter with the included battery. When I replace the stock battery with a Sony VTC5 18650 or IMR 18500 it gets much brighter.

Same UI and body shape as the A3. Nice knurling and side switch. The UI is excellent… probably the best I’ve seen in a stock zoom light.

Super-smooth zoom action. Much better than my A3. In my A3S there is clearly an opening somewhere for air pressure to equalize. Result is butter-smooth zoom cycling. Probably the smoothest of any zoom light I own.

Absolutely pristine beam pattern with no artifacts. The beam pattern is the cleanest of any zoomie I own. No rings or imperfections anywhere in the beam at any zoom setting.

What I am indifferent to:

The spot beam does not come fully into focus. This is aesthetic choice by Wowtac. By having the spot beam come to a fuzzy circle it looks better. But the downside is some throw is lost compared to a zoomie that brings the image of the LED die into sharp focus. The A3 is also designed this way.

What I don’t like:

The bezel is considerably wider than it needs to be. Lens looks to be a standard 20mm aspheric, but the bezel is 32mm wide. If you’re going to make a light with a wide bezel, make use of the extra width by including a wider lens or reflector… especially for a pocket EDC where size is important. Otherwise go with a narrower bezel.

*The light comes with a Wowtac brand 18650 with built-in USB charging por*t. By itself this wouldn’t be a bad thing, except that the battery compartment length is designed to accomodate this extra-long 18650. The spring in the compartment is short. As a result most other 18650s are too short to make contact and the light won’t work with them without modification. Also you lose USB charging if you swap to a different battery.

Modding Potential: excellent:

*The head and tailcap threads are compatible with Convoy S2*. This means you can easily swap the stock body tube with those designed for the Convoy S2 or Jaxman E2L. Swap in an 18650 tube for those lights and the A3S becomes slightly shorter and no longer has issues with the battery compartment being too long for non-wowtac batteries. Also you can swap in18500 and 18350 tubes allowing you to use the light with different battery types.

Note that if you try the swap there may be an issue with the threads at the head of the light being slightly too short to make contact with the back of the driver. I fixed this by bending a thin strip of copper into a C-ring and inserting it at the back of the driver. But you could also use some wire or a bent paperclip.

I haven’t tried to open up the A3S yet, but I did open the head of my A3. Getting at the LED to swap to something else doesn’t look too bad. This might be a decent candidate for a dedomed SST40. I suspect a driver upgrade won’t be necessary. In my testing with the stock LED the light was substantially brighter on better batteries. The driver looks quite good.

Overall I’m quite impressed with this light. It’s one of the best stock zoomies I’ve tried. Great interface. Great feel in the hand. Excellent output. Easily lego’d for different battery types.

Thanks for posting all this detailed and useful information!

I’ve just came across this light and it looked like the best zoomie yet, now it looks even better! I guess as a mod host the 3S model would be best because of the smoother “vented” zoom action.

(Further comment/inquiry posted in robo819’s review thread)

Newlumen · February 6, 2018, 5:17am

I like my wowtac a3s and deerelight xsearcher. Both are modded with the Olson black led.
Wowtac a3 have 759 lumen and 100k cd… or 632 m… dereelight hit 1600 meters. Both lights deserve to swap with the new Olson black.

toddcshoe · February 10, 2018, 5:01am

Just grabbed two of these off Amazon. $19.99ea. and 20% off when you buy 2. Got two of them plus free shipping for a bit less than $32. I don’t have any zoomies so I thought I would get two. One to use and one to experiment on. That way when and if I destroy it I won’t have to order another one.

https://www.amazon.com/Flashlight-Zoomable-Adjustable-Resistant-Tactical/dp/B074V77QFR/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1518238701&sr=8-5&keywords=wowtac

beam0 · February 10, 2018, 6:15pm

Do you have both the A3S and the A3? (only the A3 shown in your photo)

I’m a bit confused but I think you typed A3S by mistake?

“I like my wowtac a3s”
“Both are modded with the Olson black led. Wowtac a3 have 759 lumen and 100k cd”

.

Many posts here about the A3 and not about the A3S. That’s fine, all posts are relevant since the lights are somewhat the same, but I wanted to point it out to avoid confusion, since this thread was about the A3S not the A3.

One of the most informative posts here is by Firelight2 (post #20 above) because he has both lights and reports a comparison in his first few comments.
This comment steers me away from the less expensive A3 even as a host: “Super-smooth zoom action. Much better than my A3…………………………” (Note: I didn’t copy his entire comment)

beam0 · February 10, 2018, 4:32pm

Thanks for posting. I’m sure you’re aware of this: those are the A3 with XPG2 600lm, not the A3S with XPL-HI 1000lm.
No biggie, just wanted to point it out to others that there is an upgraded version now, (what this thread was about).

A3: Wowtac A3 Zoomable 600 Lumen - WOWTAC Official Store

A3S: Wowtac A3S Zoomable 1000 Lumen - WOWTAC Official Store

beam0 · February 10, 2018, 4:31pm

Firelight, I don’t see the A3S on amazon anymore, do you know what happened to it? Can you check your purchase link and report back?

robo819 · February 10, 2018, 4:48pm

I don’t know if it will help or answer any questions , but here are the links to both my reviews on the A3 and the A3S.
Both reviews have Lumens , Amperage and Runtime Test charts in them as well as the video with all the still photos , beamshots and outdoor live footage.
A3 here……Review Wowtac A3 / Side Switch--Zoomable
A3S here……… Review WowTac A3S (Zoomable 18650)

You can still get the A3S from the Wowtac site for $29.99 if it is not listed on Amazon also.

Itsme · February 10, 2018, 4:56pm

The Wowtac A3S is still for sale on amazon.ca

beam0 · February 10, 2018, 6:11pm

Thanks robo yes this helps a lot, even though I commented there almost forgot you also reviewed the 3S since only the A3 is showing in your sig.
Also thanks for your reminder it can be purchased direct, although I always prefer amazon if prices are equal.

Just to let you know the amazon link you provided in your A3S review links to the A3 instead, so you might want to strike it out or something for now. I’m thinking it originally linked to the A3S (which is no longer showing on amazon) I guess Wowtac for whatever reason changed the listings, so it remains to be seen whats going on with the A3S on amazon.

beam0 · February 10, 2018, 6:12pm

Thanks, I hope they get it straightened out and relist it on the USA site.

Newlumen · February 11, 2018, 12:17am

Hey beam, its a wowtac a3 modded with oslon black flat led., u know what… i want a wowtac a3s in xpl hi version… where can i buy it? Thanks

beam0 · February 11, 2018, 4:11am

Not sure whats going on with that site, how do you purchase anything from there?
None of the products have an “Buy” button or “add to cart” button…… There’s only “Add to Wishlist”

There is a shopping cart, but no way to add anything to it.

beam0 · February 11, 2018, 4:24am

It was listed on amazon a short while ago, I’m trying to find out why it’s not listed now, I had it save in my amazon shopping cart and now it’s showing “currently unavailable” and if you click on the product link it goes to the old A3!

It may be that they ran out of them at amazon and it didn’t get re-stocked yet, (it’s an FBA item so amazon keeps stock in their own warehouse)

I believe it used to able to be ordered directly from wowtac’s website, but currently none of the products on that site have an “Buy” or “Add to Cart” button. It’s unusual because on the Thrunite site when something is out of stock the product page still has the “Add to Cart” button but it will show “Expected Ship Date”

I wish I would have ordered one when it was still listed instead of waiting, now I’m wondering if the Wowtac line is being phased out?

I’ll contact wowtac tonight to try and find out what’s going on, I’ll post here when I get an answer. Or maybe someone else who knows something will chime in here.

beam0 · February 11, 2018, 4:28am

Unfortunately USA customers will see this: “This item does not ship to your selected location”

beam0 · February 11, 2018, 4:34am

I emailed wowtac for answers, but now I’m wondering if it has something to do with the holiday in China. Although Thrunite.com has “Add to Cart” buttons on all products listed.

beam0 · February 21, 2018, 4:35am

Got a reply from Wowtac about a week ago, they indicated wowtac.com is _“not open for purchase_”

They did say they would fix the amazon listing, however nothing has changed, so I emailed them about it again tonight.

.

“Thank you for contacting us.
www.wowtac.com is not open for purchase, so there is no Add to cart button.
The listing of A3s is inactive now, it is not visible on amazon.
We will fix this issue within 24 hours. then you can buy it.
Thank you for attention and support”

toddcshoe · February 21, 2018, 4:38am

Thank you beam0. I have been waiting to hear anything. I do a search every other day or so and haven’t found one yet. Thanks again.

beam0 · February 21, 2018, 6:56am

No problem, Actually I didn’t realize it because I forgot to check that email for a while but they replied to me in 1 day. I messaged through their website on the 11th and they replied on the 12th. so pretty quick!

.

I just got an auto reply to tonight’s email:

“Thank you for your email! Out of office till Feb 23,2018 for having Chinese New Year holiday. We will get back to you ASAP when we come back. Sorry for the inconvenience”

I’ll check it on Friday/Saturday and reply here. Since I first contacted them I ended up ordering a different zoomie, which I just received today, I had real high hopes for it but I’m not too happy… You can read the posts I made tonight on the review thread (starting at post #4):

beam0 · February 23, 2018, 8:23am

A3S back in stock at amazon!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074V88YD2/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ANOETMJCIED7V

robo819 · February 26, 2018, 11:10am

Not only is it back but I just got word from them that they are doing 20% off through March 5th with coupon code……… woww2018

Code is also good on the A1 and the A3