[Review] Wuben E05 - Impressive eSwitch 14500

It should fit fine. The only thing is I don’t remember if it’s a 1mm or 1.6mm thick MCPCB (I’m thinking 1mm, but I didn’t measure). Worse case if you use a 1.6mm and it was a 1mm is that you’d have a tiny gap between the stainless bezel and the head. You might be able to sand down the gasket a bit to add clearance. What LED are you thinking about swapping in?

Probably a warm XPL2 like you did.

Great review!! Thank you. :+1: Mine are supposed to be here Wednesday, I can’t wait. :wink:

The picture of your daughter is great, she’s a cutie & maybe a budding ‘flashoholic’ too. :wink:

Got one, the 3 hour run time on high is what sold me. Most 14500 flashlights chew through the battery very fast on anything other than a low setting.
The coupon code from Vipon puts this light at 19.97 with prime, couldn’t say no to that.

Got the Wuben TO46R last week and am blown away by the quality, fit and finish and performance.
The packaging is even better than a lot of other light in the same price range.

Thanks gchart for the great reveiw!
Later,

Keith

Thanks guys. This really is a great light. I took it deer hunting with me this weekend (with a bigger one for backup, and my TH20 for gutting in the dark) and it looked great out there in nature with the 4000K that I swapped in, and plenty bright.

Thanks for posting the information and the emitter swap photos. I was about to buy it but didn’t like the UI. I want simple click for on/off. Press and hold should be for changing mode, which is far more intuitive and has become the standard for BLF UIs.

This is always subjective, for me I want the modes to change fast and not have to wait.
The timing on hold for off is not as bad as it sounds, put it this way, if you press it to turn it off and just move your hand to your pocket it will be off before you secure it.
Unless you are trying to avoid sniper fire the delay is very reasonable.

My only wish would be for a shortcut to moonlight but they have made hold down from off to go to Turbo which is more important to me, so I guess it’s no big deal.
Can always shut off in moonlight and then it will be memorized.

One thing that really pleased me with this flashlight is it has almost a Foy bezel, but just has a small subtle crenulation so you know if the flashlight is on of you set it down on it’s head.
Tint looks like pure white with normal tint shift for the type of emitter.
Testing capacity on the battery as we speak.

Overall best buy of the year for me on a AA/14500 EDC by far.
Later,

Keith

Mind got here today. I charged the battery & fired it up…… I am amazed at this little light!!

Everything you guys wrote about them is true!! I could not be happier with this purchase…. This light nails it. :+1:

Thanks for the objective/atypical review.

Gamed runtime?
150-181 lumens on HI for so many m.a.hours ?
If more photons are needed, next level begins ~ 1000?

Yesterday I was tempted to put a Luxeon V on mine to improve the beam quality! It was late so I gave up, but that will be a next step on this :wink: It surely has less shift than the XPL2 on it and still puts a great amount of light out of it!

I’m a fan of that 4000K 80 CRI XP-L2, it does have the XP-L2 tint shift at the edge of the hotspot but it being soft yellow instead of the greenish that the cool white XP-L2 shows, makes all the difference to me.

Thanks for the very good review!

I picked mine up yesterday. Its a VERY nicely made light. I like or can live with just about all its “quirks” like the odd UI, but im not very happy with the beam pattern it produces.

Mine has a smooth reflector, and the tint shift is truly a CREE rainbow. I can visually see at least 3-4 steps of color transition. I could probably live with that, but the thing thats bothering me the most is that the hotspot is a donut with a dim spot in the center.

I only paid $20 for mine with a coupon from Amazon, but im not 100% sure I want to keep it.

Hi Keith,
What’s the coupon code? Thanks.

Hey Gebe,

Each code is one time use, you may be able to buy more than one in your order but only one amazon order will process. Try adding one a at time into the cart then go to checkout and add code.

Need to get code from this site;
https://www.vipon.com/product/5620536-WUBEN-E05-EDC-Flashlight-900-Lumens-Cree-XPL?ref=ss_5620536_18_title

You need to join the Vipon but all that they want is valid email, can be throw away yahoo,gmail, etc.
They have lots of good codes and it is all for Amazon, easy peasy.

HTH
Keith

Thanks much Keith but the code isn’t working. What a wonky site that vipon is! It took forever to join and at first it wouldn’t let me navigate the site unless I downloaded their app. After much frustration, I finally got through to get the code.

Went to Amazon but the code is no longer any good.

Ended up modding mine with the Luxeon V: “REVIEW”: Wuben E05 V1.0 – AA/14500 battery – XPL2 LED - 900 lumens [PIC HEAVY] [***MODDED WITH Luxeon V]*** - #20 by MascaratumB
Much better beam if compared with XPL2 :wink: :stuck_out_tongue:

Awesome, thanks for sharing. I’m ok with my current LED, but have been keeping an eye out for something else… LH351D, Luxeon V2 (waiting for reviews of that), etc.

Looks like they reactivated it with price .01c different which should be good now.
I always used the site with desktop so have no idea of mobile app.

Anyway try again.
I may see if it will let me buy another with new code for gift for my brother.
Update; Just tried it and……NOPE, once you buy with vipon code with amazon you are locked out from doing another purchase even with different code on same item.
So stock up on original purchase or use another members account.

The other deal you may want to get on is this one;
https://www.vipon.com/product/5590944-AIDIER-Pocket-Keychain-Super-High-Bright-180-lumen?ref=ss_5590944_2_title

Great little light with big output, does have pwm on low but still excellent aaa flashlight for less than $5, now will only let you order 1 of these, oh well was good while it lasted.

Later,
Keith

Tried it again Keith and this time it worked. Thanks much!

Just received one of these from Amazon using the coupon for $19.95.

That price, the positive review, and the bunch of unused 14500's sitting in the drawer, are what convinced me.

There is a lot to like here.

Some random observations tho:

  • To keep the provided USB-charging 14500 at nominal capacity, the overall length of the cell is increased considerably in order to fit the charging circuit. This works fine in the E05 as it is designed to accommodate the extra length, but not so for re-using in other lights you may have on hand. My ancient AW protected 14500 works just dandy in the E05.
  • I wish it had come with an OP reflector as the beam pattern is a little rough with the smooth one. Not being inclined to mod, I can live with this though.
  • The light came with the battery pre-installed and charged to mid capacity. To do this, they must have some confidence that parasitic drain will not deplete the battery before it reaches the customer. Wondering if it has been measured.
  • I am not a fan of the magnetic end cap ... or magnets in general for anything intended for EDC. Keep them away from your mag-stripe credit cards, work ID/access cards, and the like!