Review: XTAR WK25B and WK26 compact EDC

XTAR WK25B and WK26

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★+

Summary:

Battery: Single AA for WK25B single 14500 for WK26
Switch: Forward Clicky
Modes:

WK25B Fixed, hi-lo-strobe

WK26 Customizable, hi-med-lo-strobe-sos

LED Type: Cree XP-E R3
Lens: Glass
Tailstands: Barely
Price Payed: $0 - Review samples couretsy of www.szwholesale.com
From: szwholesale.com

XTAR WK26

Pros:

  • Multiple modes (5, hi-med-lo-strobe-SOS) with option to disable them as one see fit. Unwanted modes can be disabled.
  • High quality machining, anodization and general build quality
  • Very bright and very long range. The beam is quite concentrated.
  • A very good forward clicky* (not everyone likes them in multimode lights)
  • Smooth as butther threads (a staple in XTAR offerings)
  • Comes in a nice box

Cons:

  • High beam concentration and long throw comes at a price. At very close distance faint rings can be observed on walls.
  • Forward clicky, not everyone likes them in multimode lights
  • Switch just barely allow tailstanding. By fiddling with a bit the problem can be solved rather easily though.
  • No spare orings in the package (might be a review sample thing only)

XTAR WK25B

Pros:

  • Exremely well driven at high
  • High quality machining, anodization and general build quality
  • Very bright and very long range. The beam is quite concentrated.
  • A very good forward clicky* (not everyone likes them in multimode lights)
  • Smooth as butther threads (a staple in XTAR offerings)
  • Comes in a nice box

Cons:

  • High beam concentration and long throw comes at a price. At very close distance faint rings can be observed on walls.
  • Forward clicky, not everyone likes them in multimode lights
  • Switch just barely allow tailstanding. By fiddling with a bit the problem can be solved rather easily though.
  • No spare orings in the package (might be a review sample thing only)
  • No mode customization just hi-lo-strobe

Features / Value:

WK26

The WK26 is a rather flashaholic only EDC pocket thrower. Modes customization is easy to do but generally not for the random casual user. Maily flashaholic only beacure it can be powered only by a single 14500 li-ion battery. Unwanted modes can be disabled/configured by bridging contacts just under the positive contact of the battery. I prefer soldering but some had success with trace repair pencils.

Wk25B

The Wk25B Looks just like the WK26 however this one is intended to use with AA's only. Alkalines or ni-mh are all that is required by this one. It has fixed modes without memory hi-lo-strobe. No customization. A pity. A very solid offering for the general corowd flashaholic or not. Compact, well driven smooth feel and presence. Both feature a SMO reflector.

Build Quality: ★★★★★

Bothe lights are built exatly the same mind the driver. Clean looking, excellent threads, finish and machining. Really nothing flawed but since we are generally always looking for the perfect EDC some might wiant a clip for it others would like a 0,5mm more recessed tailcap boot to have it talistand perfectly. O-rings where matters and lubed decently in stock form. No messing required, insert a battery and go. :)

The WK26 features a hot surface warning on the head since it can become quite hot if used on high for some time.

Forward clicky! A strange thing on a multimode light (the WK26 can be made 1 mode only in needed). At first i was quite puzzled finding out a forward clicky. The mode change was a bit awkward at first but upon playing with it i found it quite simple to do since the switch has a little "feedback" halfpressed so you can half press it nicely untill the desired mode is on and then fix it by a full click. I like the feel of the switch. It just feels that you're handling a very high quality flashlight not a random budget thing.

Battery Life: Up to debate

WK26

Battery life of the WK26 isn't the greatest since 14500 excells in size/performance ratio not in capacity. The measurements shows:

High: 930mA

Medium: 340mA

Low: 14mA (This thing can probaly run for more than a day easily)

Test done with a 14500 protected flame trustfire that fits it prefectly. (not much experience with 14500 form factor but some occasionaly reported size issues)


WK25B

Battery life? Well depends how you drive it:

High: 2,55A on a fully charged eneloop

Low: 140mA on a fully charged eneloop (can probaly go for 15+h)

You can get some pretty good runtime out of it on low and have the great kick on high that such amperage can provide.

Light Output: ★★★

Both provide very high output. Wk25B It's the most powerfull offering i had pleasure to use powered by classic AA batteries. Not driven conserviatively is a plus. Want more runtime? That's what's low mode for. Being my first CREE XP-E R3 based lights i can only say that i like what i see. Also worth to mention is the color temperature around 6000K which is very likeable. We all got used to pretty much 6500-7000K+ 1A rated CREE's. The color rendering is quite much better than standard cold CREE's we all have around. It's not neutral white (doesen't claim to be) but not far either. I find it a great plus.

Both are really fine thrower lights. Considering the reflector size it is really impressive.

Beamshot at 1,2M from wall. (WK26 at high)


Summary: ★★+

Both are excellent choices for edc. WK26 for flashaholics mainly and WK25B for everyone else including flashaholics who are not bothered by the strobe much. Being an almost exclusive thrower it is not the best choice for floodlights lovers. It's for everyone else and not just for for the amazing wow factor the throw can provide. No nonsesense sober design. No attack head/bezel and very compact yet sturdy design. Highly reccomended, WK26 is the better choice for a flasaholic that do not mind it being 14500 only.

A special thanks to www.szwholesale and XTAR itself for providing these 2 little gems for review. Since i recieved them for free some might argue the authenticity of the review. Well, it's hard to be totally objective but i try my best to be. I exposed the pros and cons. Anyone can make it's own final decison based on that. I like them both. The WK25B would be really awesome with a medium instead of the strobe but somehow strobe is really popular (excluding most flashaholics) so they surely did not put it there just to annoy typical flashaholics i guess.

Which one to get? Your pick if you liked one better than the other and need it's features.

Nice review shame Xtar cannot make one light that takes AA/14500 driven at the above levels that would be perfect.

How comes no beam shots?

Great review, mate :D But yeah, what happened with those beam shots?

Thanks for the review. The WK25B really is impressive on a nimh. It's by far the best output on nimh of any 1xaa light I have ever used. Its brighter than the Xeno E03 on nimh, but its a completely different beam. I have to say that it will be my top recommendation for those that want the brightest 1xaa nimh light they can get and yet it maintains some great quality for the price.

Silly me. :) Updated. :P

I agree completely. :)

NIX

anyone for a spam sandwich?

Thanks. Can you make a few shots more with other lights for comparison?

I've posted beamshots comparing my WK26 against a few other 1x14500 lights in my WK26 discussion thread. I ended up keeping the WK26 and giving away my Balder SE-1 XP-E R3 as a Christmas gift to a coworker.