Wuben TO46R & TO10R review (3x XP-G3, 18650/16340)

Disclaimer: The Wuben TO10R and TO46R were provided for testing by manufacturer free of charge.

Manufacturer website: wubenlight.com

Wuben’s triple emitter TO10R and TO46R are almost identical besides some small UI differences (TO10R has ramping, TO46R has momentary turbo) and the battery they utilize. The larger TO46R has an 18650 while the TO10R uses a 16340/RCR123. Protected batteries are supplied with the lights and can be charged right in the flashlight via a Micro USB port.

The lights sent for testing were high CRI (90+) versions with neutral white (5000K) Cree XP-G3 emitters.

The Wuben TO10R or TO46R are not hotrod triples with direct drive but with somewhat conservative maximum output of 650/1300 lumens.

Since the emitters and optics are identical on both lights, some tests pertaining to tint shift were only done on the TO46R.

Specifications
Battery: 18650 or 2xCR123A (TO46R), 16340 or CR123A (TO10R)
LED: 3x Cree XP-G3 in neutral white (5000K)
CRI: 90+
Optics: 3x clear Carclo triple optics
Waterproof: IPX8 (2 meters for 1 hour)
Impact resistance: 1.5 meters
Mode memory: yes
Low voltage protection: yes, also warning via backlit side switch
Thermal regulation: no, timed stepdown

Measured dimensions and weight
TO46R
Length: 119.7mm
Width: 25mm
Head width: 28.9mm
TO10R
Length: 86.6mm
Width: 24mm
Head width: 28.9mm

Weight
TO46R: 83g plus 49g for the battery
TO10R: 79g plus 9g for the battery

Interestingly the lights weigh almost the same. This is because of the thick wall and a tailcap magnet on the TO10R. The heads are identical in weight.

Box and contents

Included in the packaging in addition to the flashlight itself:
Battery
Lanyard
Micro USB charging cable
One extra o-ring
Manual

Batteries and internal charging

Both lights come with a Wuben branded protected battery. A 16340 (650mAh/2.4Wh) for the TO10R and an 18650 (2600mAh/9.62Wh) for the TO46R.

Battery measurements

Wuben 18650 2600mAh/9.62Wh
Capacity: 2550mAh (measured at 6W discharge down to LVP)
Energy: 9.1Wh (@6W)
Maximum current (OCP): 9-10A
Minimum voltage (LVP): 2.35-2.40V
Internal resistance (Ri): 63-65mOhm (measured at 5A DC)

Discharge curve at 8 watts.

Wuben 16340 650mAh/2.4Wh
Capacity: 650-730mAh (measured at 1A discharge down to 2.5V)
Energy: 2.2-2.4Wh (@1A)
Maximum current (OCP): 3.2A (other battery sample tripped at 6.2 amps, at which the IR had dropped the voltage down to 2.8V)
Minimum voltage (LVP): 2.46V
Internal resistance (Ri): 134-183mOhm (measured at 5A DC)

The other 16340 sample was much better with regard to capacity and internal resistance. Its over current protection was also set to trip much higher.

Discharge curve at 1A.

Charge current measured from the USB port not across the battery

Physical appearance

The TO10R could easily fit an 18350 battery if the walls were machined thinner on the tail end.

There’s a magnet in the tailcap of the TO10R.


Wuben TO46R, Convoy S2+, YLP Gryphon T95 CRI, Astrolux S41, Eagle Eye X5R


Wuben TO10R (16340), Astrolux S42 (18350), Jaxman E2L (18350), Astrolux S41 (18350), Emisar D4 (18650)

The bezel is not glued but it’s screwed on pretty tight. I got mine out with a pair of strap wrenches. After that it’s very straightforward to either swap the emitters or put some filters between the optic and lens or lens and bezel. The MCPCB is 20mm.

User interface

The light is operated via two electronic side switches. Lower one is the main power switch and right above it is the mode switch.

Basic use is very easy. Turn the light on from the power switch and it comes on at the memorized output level. Another click to turn the light off. Mode switch cycles through modes in ascending order. There’s no fear of accidentally activating strobe, since you can cycle the modes as fast as you want.

However, there’s some missed opportunities utilizing the switches. There’s no direct access to moonlight from off, which is the biggest omission in my opionin. Also, the mode switch does nothing when it’s clicked from off. It just activates strobe with a long click and hold. The power switch doesn’t recognize double/triple clicks but just jumps between on and off. It can be used to activate turbo via a double click and hold with a delay of about one second. Momentary turbo is available with a click and hold from off after a 0.8s delay.

Since there’s no turbo on the TO10R, it doesn’t have a momentary turbo. For consistency, I would have preferred a momentary high at least. The TO10R also offers ramping by holding the power switch. The ramp always starts towards the low end and you can’t change the direction without going to the output floor or ceiling.

The side switch has a backglight that warns of low battery voltage.

On the TO46R it turns red at 3.2 volts, blinks red at 3.0V and the light shuts off at 2.7 volts.
On the TO10R the thresholds are 3.4, 3.3 and 2.7 volts.

UI cheatsheet

TO46R
From off:
Power switch single click: turn light on at previously used mode
Power switch click and hold: momentary turbo (with 0.8s delay), not memorized
Power switch double click and hold: constant turbo (via memorized level after a 0.8s delay), not memorized
Secondary switch single click: -
Secondary switch click and hold: momentary strobe

From on:
Power switch click: turn light off
Power switch click and hold: turbo (return to previous mode via secondary switch click)
Secondary switch click: cycle modes (moon-low-medium-high-turbo-moon…)
Secondary switch click and hold: strobe (return to previous mode via secondary switch click)

TO10R differs from the TO46R in that it doesn’t have a momentary turbo. Instead, from off you get momentary strobe with the power switch AND the secondary switch, which is a waste of switches.

When the TO10R is on, holding the main power switch activates ramping, which is very smooth. It doesn’t blink at the end of its range and always starts by ramping down. The entire ramp takes three seconds from when you start holding the button of which one second is you waiting for the ramping to begin.

The ramp is quite linear in that it seems to adjust brightness faster on the low end which makes it harder to make slight adjustments. If you click the mode switch after adjusting the output via ramping, it takes you to the next predefined output mode, which I like.

Beam and tint

When examined on a white wall, the hotspot is quite uneven with greenish yellow spots on it. The corona around the hotspot is a strong green tint. All in all, in its unevennes it’s not pretty, but can be improved significantly by inserting d-c-fix diffusion film and a minus green filter between the optics and lens.

Beam angle measurements were done on medium output level to prevent variation during the test that lasts several minutes.

If in the following plots the curve moves gradually down or upwards, it’s usually very difficult to see any artifacts and the beam will appear smooth and even. A perfectly uniform beam would be a horizontal line. Sudden changes to either direction will be more visible. This unfortunately is not the case with the XP-G3s which exhibit a strong tint shift throughout the beam.

I’ve also plotted the beam profile using three Samsung LH351D 4000K CRI90 emitters instead of the Cree XP-G3s. That configuration also utilizes a Lee Zircon 804 minus green filter which subtly improves the overall tint. The filter doesn’t affect the tint shift at all which is where the Samsungs excel. The beam is much more consistent with pretty much zero tint shift. The LH351Ds are much floodier however (wider beam with less intense hotspot).

Because my TO46Rs are from a different batch, the one with LH351Ds being a prototype, I can’t compare the output numbers directly. They have done some changes to the driver/firmware between the batches.

Duv value plotted against beam angle. Duv 0.000 means the tint is perfectly neutral and lies on the black body radiator line. Positive values mean green/yellow/orange, negative purple/magenta/rosy. There’s a strong green tint around the hotspot with a peak at 20 degrees (duv 0.0117) when using the XP-G3. Very consistent with the LH351D.

CCT against beam angle.

Tint deviation in respect to hotspot. Larger numbers mean that the tint is farther away from the hotspot tint.

Beam profile in candelas.

Beam profile in meters of throw. This makes it easier to see the shape of the spill.

TO46R tint vs. beam angle. Please note that the light had been warming up for 15 minutes to completely stabilize, which is why the hotspot color temperature is a bit different from the 30s measured value below in the mode comparison chart.

With the original XP-G3

With the LH351D plus a Zircon minus green filter

TO46R tint in different brightness modes.

TO10R tint in different brightness modes.

Spectral data and color rendering

If you have an hour to spare, I recommend watching this presentation on IES TM-30-15 which also shines light into color rendering in general.

The lights are CRI90+ as specified. It is normal for the CRI to drop on some emitters when driven harder.

Please note that even with the Duv value indicating that the light would be neutral in tint (no green or magenta), that’s not true since the measurement is only done at the hotspot.

CRI data from the highest mode (turbo for the TO46R and high for TO10R)

Other modes
TO46R
Moon https://i.imgur.com/SI3ecDl.png
Low https://i.imgur.com/xwSofnF.png
Mid https://i.imgur.com/e4dDgB8.png
High https://i.imgur.com/5ojx8Om.png

TO10R
Moon https://i.imgur.com/gvNZ7Fj.png
Low https://i.imgur.com/675P3O4.png
Mid https://i.imgur.com/cc3GvF4.png

For comparison, TO46R with Samsung LH351D and Zircon 804 minus green filter on turbo

Output and runtimes

Manufacturer’s claimed output specs
Maximum output:
TO46R: 1300 lumens
TO10R: 650 lumens
Other modes
TO46R: 604/200/38/7 lumens
TO10R: 200/35/5 lumens
Throw
TO46R: 135 meters (4556 candela)
TO10R: 90 meters (2025 candela)
Special modes: strobe, SOS

Measured output

The TO46R lumen output falls 15% short of the specified 1300. Runtimes are quite accurate though. There’s not much strain on the battery with the turbo level drawing under 4 amps from it. Experimenting with high current batteries didn’t improve output, which is natural for a regulated light.

The TO10R measurements do match the advertised output specs. The runtimes do not however, with the actual numbers being quite far off on the lower levels (9 hour 17 minutes vs. 12 hours specified).

Total system efficacy is very good for a CRI90 light. For some reason, the TO10R scores higher on this. Good efficacy combined with the stable output on lower levels squeezes the most juice out of your batteries.

TO46R runtimes

TO10R runtimes

Temperature

Switching between no cooling and using a fan demonstrates that the stepdown isn’t temperature controlled. Neither is the output significantly improved when the light is kept cooler.

On turbo, the TO46R reaches 50°C at three minutes, so the stepdown is timed well. I would rather have a real temperature sensor though.

Due to the premature stepdowns on lower levels and on the TO10R, the lights don’t get hot to hold. The TO10R stepdown on mid from 190 lumens to 117 lumens is also totally unnecessary.

Flicker

PWM is not used to regulate output.

There is some ripple (>40kHz), but it is not visible on any mode. A snob index of 0% pretty much rules out the possibility of it being an issue to anyone. On the mid mode which has the highest level of modulation I couldn’t get any artifacts to show up on a cell phone camera either.

TO46R on mid

TO10R on mid

Other modes:
TO46R
Moon https://i.imgur.com/RTTKp8E.png
Low https://i.imgur.com/REvu94m.png
High https://i.imgur.com/oi4nh6y.png
Turbo https://i.imgur.com/0hHc10G.png

TO10R
Moon https://i.imgur.com/dQxVXvp.png
Low https://i.imgur.com/CDsvWl5.png
High https://i.imgur.com/GA8aXUF.png

No audible noise was heard on any mode including strobe.

Snob index: a rating which tries to convey flicker visibility with a single number
It takes into account frequency content, duty cycle and modulation depth among other things. Thanks to Parametrek.
<1% - Highly unlikely to be visible even to a camera
1-5% - Probably not visible to the naked eye (high frequency PWM, >10kHz or low modulation at lower frequencies) (warmed up incandescent)
5-10% – Might be visible to the most sensitive people who know what to look for and try hard enough
10-20% – Sensitive people will see it at least on bright reflections, probably not a dealbreaker yet in general use
20-50% – YMMV area. If you can usually spot mid frequency PWM, you’ll easily see the flicker
>50% – Visible to most people at least on some occasions (low frequency PWM, <200 Hz)

Standby current

I measured the standby current at an insignificant 23µA at 4V. A slight twist of the tail/head will break the circuit and prevent any drain.

Verdict
Wuben has done a good job on their compact triples. They can be made satisfying even for tint snobs by just swapping out the emitters or smoothing the beam of the XP-G3s via a frosted Carclo optic (10511 for example) or d-c-fix and minus green filters if needed. This might requires some tools though, since while the bezel is not glued like the head it’s screwed on pretty tight. The usual trick of the underside of a mousepad didn’t cut it but I was able to remove it quite easily with a pair of leather strap wrenches.

The user interface could be polished a bit to offer direct access to the lowest mode from off, but other than that, the lights are very easy to use. The tactile feedback of the switches is good, and the overall build quality is impressive. Integrated USB charging works fine too.

The driver has sound design, but the firmware should get some love. Considering the high CRI, the efficiency is good, while output is regulated and flat throughout the battery life. You can reset almost the maximum output regardless of battery voltage. I am not a fan of the totally unnecessary timed stepdown of the 190 lumen mid mode on the TO10R though. The stepdown could also happen much later on the 540 lumen high mode on the TO46R.

+ Constant output regulation

  • High output available with low battery voltage
  • Good efficiency for a high CRI light
  • No visible flicker
  • Standard Carclo optics for easy modding of the beam
  • Tint modifiable by inserting any filter between the lens and optics if you can remove the bezel

- Cree rainbow manifests itself as a green ring around the hotspot

- No shortcut to moonlight mode from off

- Wasted UI opportunities on the TO10R (hold from off activates strobe on both switches)

- Premature timed stepdown instead of thermal regulation

- Unnecessary stepdown of the 190 lumen mid mode on the TO10R

  • The TO10R should come bored to fit an 18350

Great and comprehensive reviews!

I replaced the clear 10507 optics from the TO46R with a floody frosted 10509 which got rid of all of the tint shift in the beam. The less frosted 10511 and 10508 didn’t quite mix the tint enough, but I was white wall hunting. They may be fine in real life.

However the end result with the 10509 was too green overall (duv 0.0061) so I added a Zircon 803 minus green filter between the optics and lens. This pretty much perfected it. The light is a bit too floody for me though and I prefer the LH351D with the clear narrow spot 10507 optics.

The hit on output was significant. Throw dropped from 3865cd to 1800cd or 53. Lumens from 1105lm to 830lm or 25. The numbers for the LH351D are 2330cd/1035lm. For some reason the output on my stock production light was worse than on the prototype sample.

With the 10509 and Zircon 803 installed

Compared to the original

Compared to the LH351D, which has a much spottier beam

Your reviews are always the best! Extremely detailed and contains all of the test results anyone can hope for.

I do have a question. Do you think DC-Fix reduces lumens less than swapping 10507 w/ 10508 optics? Also the 1,035 lumens on the LH351D was with the Green filter correct?

@Maukka, do you know what kind of driver the TO46R is using?

Looking at the runtimes, it seems like it is either going direct drive in the high modes, then bucking in the lower modes, or it is just using a boost converter to 9V, but I really doubt it, especially since the XPG3s are run in parallel, right?

Thanks for the awesome review maukka! I can wait to get this light, despite those shifts scare me a bit.
I am using the “old” TO10R with DC-Fix and it improves the beam a bit, reducing the green.

However, that filter you use is quite awesome, despite reducing (a bit more) the ouptut!

Again, thanks for the review and all data! Even the one I cannot interpret exactly :smiley:

It looks like a buck driver. For the low drive current of 3.7A I don’t think it’s direct drive. Even when not cooling the light in between resetting the turbo, the output doesn’t sag more than 20% when the batteries are >50% since the XP-G3s have quite a low forward voltage. And they are in parallel.

That is a test I will be making shortly. Yes, the LH351D had the Zircon 804 minus green filter which lowers output 15. The stronger 803 I had on the XP-G3 lowers it by 17 so the 10509 on its own accounted for 9.5% lumen loss (1105lm*0.905*0.83=830lm)

Swapped the optics back to the stock clear Carclo 10507 and added d-c-fix and the same Zircon 803 minus green.

The tint is perfect and the beam is very clean without green corona. Some very slight discoloration on the edge of the beam, so it’s quite not as perfect as with the 10509.

The throw dropped from 3865cd to 2190cd or –43, which is still a bit more than with the super floody 10509 optics. D-c-fix accounts for –32 and Zircon minus green for –17% of that.

Lumen output dropped from 1105 to 848 which is very close to the 10509. There the d-c-fix accounts for just –8%.

Comparison table:

Tint at the center of the hotspot with the XP-G3, 10507, d-c-fix + Zircon 803.

Thanks, that’s very useful data. So it’s better to use a floody optic than DC-FIx given the losses are similar but the tint mixing is much better with the floody optics.

I don’t have enough lights yet to know whether I’m really a tint snob, but if the tint or tint shift turns out to bother be now I know where to look on how to fix it.
Thanks maukka for your testing :+1: