[Review] Wuben H1 headlamp :: High CRI + Red

Other Types of Lights LED Headlamps
1

I’ve owned a few Wuben lights and overall, I really like them. Good build quality, great drivers, etc. So when Wuben offered me their new H1 headlamp for review (thanks, Wuben!) of course I said yes! Let’s see what it’s all about…

This is an abbreviated version of my review that you’ll find over at 1Lumen.com



Packaging:
Wuben does an excellent job with packaging & presentation. But what comes in that lovely package? You’ll find:

  • Wuben H1 headlamp
  • Wuben-branded battery (2600 mAh, protected)
  • Three-way headband (with a grippy silicone pattern on the inside!)
  • Spare o-rings
  • Micro-USB charging cable
  • Manual


LED, Lens, Etc:
As can be seen from the removal of the bezel assembly, the Wuben H1 houses several LEDs: primary white LED, auxiliary High-CRI white LED (2835 footprint), auxiliary red LED (2835 footprint), and a bi-color indicator SMD LED.

The OSRAM P9 is nicely centered in a small, smooth reflector. It seems to be slightly cool, perhaps around 5700K. The aux LEDs are behind a diffuser that creates a very wide and even spill of light. The white aux LED is claimed to be High-CRI (I have no way of backing this claim up) and if I had to guess a CCT, I’d say it’s around 4000K.



User Interface & Driver:
The Wuben H1 utilizes a single button to control all three LEDs and their modes. This kinda concerned me at first, but it’s not too bad and it’s pretty easy to comprehend.

Modes: Moon, Low, Med, High, White Aux, Red Aux

From OFF:

  • Press and Hold: turn on last used Aux mode (aux white, aux red, flashing red)
  • Single click: turn on last used primary mode
  • Double click: strobe mode
  • Triple click: enable/disable blue “breathing” indicator LED
  • 4x click: lock-out mode

From ON:

  • Press and Hold: rotate through modes
  • Single click: turn off
  • Double click: activate high/turbo mode (or if you’re already in high mode, it will activate strobe)

Miscellaneous:

  • Mode Memory is present in both the primary modes (moon-low-med-high) as well as the aux modes (aux white, aux red, flashing red)
  • An LED under the switch indicates the battery capacity remaining
  • There are a few blinky modes: Strobe, SOS, Beacon, and Red Flash
  • Lock-out (4 clicks) disables all functions
  • No PWM!
  • Blue “breathing” standby light can be enabled or disabled

Charging:

  • There is built-in charging via Micro-USB
  • Charge rate was around 1 amp
  • Charging terminated at 4.19 volts
  • Indicator is red (charging) to blue (done charging) (perfect for us color challenged folks)


Performance:
Lumen measurements:

  • Moon: 1 lm (spec: 1 lm)
  • Low: 95 lm (spec: 80 lm)
  • Medium: 480 lm (spec: 400 lm)
  • High @ 0s: 1164 lm
  • High @ 30s: 1171 lm (spec: 1200 lm)
  • Aux White: 12 lm (spec: 10 lm)

Throw numbers:

  • Lux at 5m: 167
  • That equals 4175 cd (spec: 3900)
  • Which translates to 129 meters (141 yds) of throw (spec: 125 m)



Pros & Cons:

  • What I like:
  • Versatile
  • Bright main LED
  • High-CRI aux
  • Red aux
  • Built-in charging
  • Great regulation
  • Nice strap
  • Full kit for a fair price

What could be improved:

  • Mode memory with no shortcuts
  • Micro-USB charging
  • Big jump between Moon and Low
  • Short-lived “high” mode


Final Verdict:
The Wuben H1 embodies nearly everything I want in a headlamp. Bright main LED, super-floody high-CRI and red LEDs, built-in charging, etc, etc. Sure, there are certainly a couple things I would change. Micro-USB? What year is it? And I would really appreciate some predictability in the UI - like some shortcuts, or dropping mode memory (or make it configurable?). But all of those things are fairly minor quibbles in comparison to all the good things that the H1 has going on. I think my go-to headlamp (a customized Convoy H1) will be taking a backseat from here on out to make room for the Wuben H1!





I know ya’ll wanted to see my ugly mug

Headlamps, left to right: Thrunite TH20 (AA/14500), Wuben H1, Convoy H1

Small 18650 lights, left to right: Lumintop FW3B, Wuben H1

Indoor Beamshots:
These are close range indoor beamshots with white balance set to 5000K for all

Wuben H1 primary LED

Wuben H1 aux white

Wuben H1 aux red

Thrunite TH20 NW (left) vs Wuben H1 primary LED (right)

Thrunite TH20 NW (left) vs Wuben H1 aux white (right)

Convoy H1 5000K (left) vs Wuben H1 primary LED (right)

2

i can just pretend 480 is high mode, not medium, then its the same as sp40, but no constant dimming lol

3

Oh, hey! It’s you. :smiley:

White / Red headlamps sure are getting popular.

Sofirn are prototyping a D25 headlamp with SST20 White and SST20DR 660nm Deep Red:

I wonder the the red aux LED in the Wuben H1 is… :nerd_face:

4

Looks like a nice design, at least its not mini usb

5

oh thats sofirn? i didnt even know, i googled d25 headlamp, and i saw 77outdoor…

whos barry then?

6

also, whats the purpose of that red aux exactly? like a real life practical use case

7

Red is good if you want to navigate without killing your night vision (dark adjusted eyes). Also, as a hunter, it doesn’t spook wildlife.

Sofirn and 77Outdoor are like cousin companies I think. Barry works for Sofirn and is active here on BLF.

8

OH! well thats some back story i didnt know…thanks

9

so you would recommend wuben h1 over sp40 any day of the week then?

is there anything better than the h1 in this price range? under or around $30

10

If you want the output to be consistent and regulated so that the light doesn’t gradually dim over time as the cell voltage drops, then the Wuben H1 is better.

11

right, i was wondering if theres any other ones around the same price that could maybe do like 600lm or 800lm, also regulated, or more/better features

12

Thanks for the review gchart, very informative.

I can’t tell from the picture for sure, but it seems the P9 diode is integrated with the pcb, and the black plastic sheet around is the washer. Please correct me if I’m wrong since I’m not sure what is the white round thing underneath. Could it be the LED mcpcb?

PS: you’re not that ugly, but I like only girls :laughing:

13

Good question! It appears that the driver board has a circle cut out of it and that an MCPCB with the LED sits in that cut out. Interesting, space saving design, huh?

14

everybody goes through an experimental phase

15

This WTF P6 led must be replaced immediately ;))

16

If you demand another CCT, then sure… but what makes you say that? P9 is 3737 BTW but I bet you could probably do a 3535 ok. Or I guess shoehorning a new MCPCB would work.

17

I wish I hadn't just spent $30 on a Wowtac A2S. I would have picked the H1 instead. The A2S needs some DC-Fix to make the beam more my preference for a headlamp. The H1 not only has that full flood capability I like, but regulation, a brighter main light and a red light too!

Thanks for the review.

18

Just gift the Wowtac to someone this Christmas and get yourself an H1 :wink:

19

i need to make more friends like u

20

I already bought two Wowtac A2 headlamps and two W1 EDC lights to give to as gifts to some non-flashlight people.