I was recently approached by Wuben to review their as yet unreleased D1 flashlight and was glad to oblidge. After a pretty reasonable shipping time from Taiwan the DHL package arrived today. My Benchmade 940 Osborne made short work of the packaging and soon I was to the meat and potatoes. Despite this light being provided free of charge I do want to offer my honest opinion and I will be calling out flaws I noticed.
First, it was packaged in a simple yet effective cardboard box with cut out foam inserts. No frills and no frustration- good on my end! No instructions or specifications were included, and the light is not listed on their website yet. I have an email out to my contact at Wuben and will update with that information when it is received. As it is, this is a tube style 18650 flashlight with a two-way pocket clip and a side switch. Interestingly this light appears to use a very low-profile optic similar to what I’ve seen on my newer Fenix E20 V2.0. Also interestingly, despite how floody the Fenix light is this Wuben D1 appears to have a balanced hotspot with a mild and broad spill surrounding it- actually my generally preferred beam shape as it offer excellent utility in both distance and flood. I should be clear here, this is not a thrower by any means it’s just throwier than my other example of a shallow optic light. Like I said, no specs were included with the light so its guess work at this point which LED is used but I suspect its one of the small surface area chips like the Osram (and others). Tint is a cool white which I do find a little harsh.
The user interface appears quite simple, though I can’t promise I didn’t miss a hidden feature or mode. Click on, click off with mode memory. Hold from off to go into moonlight, hold from on to cycle modes moonlight-low-medium-high. Double click from on or off for strobe. Double click again to switch between strobe and SOS. Triple click does nothing. Haven’t found a direct on to high mode. The side button is unlit when off and glows a soft blue during use. Haven’t used it enough to drain the battery so unsure if it also functions as a battery level indicator. The battery provided an 18650 with a blue wrapped labeling it as 3400mah. It is also printed with some Chinese-looking characters that I do not know the meaning of. There is a circuit board to allow USB-C recharging and it has a low profile but very nice button top.
EDIT: Received a reply from Wuben with the manual pdf. 1 click: Turn on/off. Double click: strobe (from off). 4x click: Lock out. When the light is on, double click to go to turbo then strobe. Triple click toggles the switch backlighting. Press and hold to cycle through Moon-Low-Med-High. Also the lighted switch functions as a battery level indicator. It illuminates blue for a few seconds at turn on to show >90, red for >40 and will stay illuminated red for <15% capacity remaining.
The major flaw that I have found is the charger. While the battery does have a USB-C port and it even comes with a cable (which has a very nice side USB port)
There is an LED on the top (positive) end of the battery. I did not see it begin flashing after a few minutes when initially charging, but after topping up to 99% on my Vapcell S4 and then plugging it into my laptop the battery dd begin flashing red. I will update this section with how it behaves after completing the charge.
EDIT: Received the owners manual from Wuben. Flashing red on the battery is charging, solid red is charge finished. You can also use this as a 18650 powerpack and when using it in this mode the LED is supposed to light up blue. Another feature which I really appreciate is the explicit compatibility with CR123 cells. Per the manual they are OK to run in this light (though it advises again 16340/18350/rcr123a).
Physically the light is well build. Its only slightly longer than my Zebralight SC64w and clearly is smaller than a Convoy S2+. Anodizing is even and smooth; although it can be scratched with my S30V knife intentionally it does require a bit of force. There is no actual knurling but the body machining is visually appealing and provides a pleasant balance of grip and low profile. Most of the machined edges are chamfered though there are also grooves obviously to increase grip which appropriately grabby. The pocket clip is a 2-way style which is attached at the head allowing bezel up deep carry as well as ballcap use. It can also be switched to a body groove to allow for a bezel down carry while still being able to be worn on a ballcap visor. On my sample the clip is slightly loose- not that it will pop off but it can wiggle in the mounting groove and thus provides very low retention on a ballcap or pocket edge. I’m going to bend the clip slightly which should resolve this but wanted to be honest about the as-received condition. Despite this, the clip does work will in my blue jeans pockets and makes it very easy to find the side switch as, in the factory configuration, it will not rotate around. Threads are smooth and anodized with different threads for the head and tail ends. O-rings are fairly thin but are tight. Little to no lube was present on the threads or o-rings on my sample (though that is not necessarily a problem IMHO a one can easily use their own, preferred lube). I did not remove the bezel lens ring as similar designs are a press-fit. The lens does feel like plastic to me, although lightly dragging the tip of my BM 940 on it did not result in any scratches but I could feel it “grabbing.” There are springs on both the PCB and the tail cap and they are quit robust as well as appearing to be coated in gold or some such plating. To me they do feel like steel springs with a plating though I cannot be sure. Additionally, the tailcap has a magnet.
Overall impression this light appears to be good quality with a nice in hand feel and a good, tactile side clicky. The pocket clip is a good design though a little flimsy. If you are in the market for a throwy, compact 18650 light and are happy with a side switch configuration and the cool white emitter then this light is a nice choice. Not exactly sure where it will fall in the market as its not released and Wuben has not informed my of an MSRP at this point in time. I do like these low profile optics that are becoming more prevalent and its nice to see one that is able to produce a tight hotspot.
