[review] Wurkkos TS21 21700 light, 4000K!

One word: wow. :smiley:

I got my TS21 and played around with it for quite a while, and that sentence pretty much sums it up.

You have a 21700-based light, whose cell has about twice the capacity of generic 18650s, and isn’t much bigger than most 18650-based lights. In fact, just grabbing it off a table, it’s easy to forget that it’s not an 18650-based light. It’s got the distinctive grippy design of the FC11, has a flat magnetic tailcap (with a cutout for a lanyard), stainless-steel bezel to help prevent damage to the head if banged or dropped, and has a trio of warm-white (4000K) SST20s providing the light.

That’s a mini-review right there. :smiley:

The light came in the usual orange-and-white Wurkkos signature box, with the light itself properly mummified in bubblewrap for protection. Along with the printed manual is the snap-on deep-carry two-way clip (it’ll make sense when you see it), the usb-C charging cable, and a baggie with lanyard and extra O-rings. The included cell is inside the light, so don’t forget to remove the insulating disc!

As usual, the anodisation is a flawless semigloss black with not a single nick or ding or void anywhere. There are some shallow fins on the head to help with cooling somewhat. Grippy knurling on the tailcap helps when opening the light to get at the cell.

The sideswitch controls all functions. It’s the usual raised-button with center “window” with status LEDs underneath. The LED can be set to dim/bright/blink/off when the light is off, to act as a locator (or not).

Diametrically opposite of the switch is the charging port, with stiff rubber flap to keep out water and dirt. Charging is simple, just plug it in, watch the switch light go red while charging, then turn green when done.

The SST20s in 4000K are quite nice. Definitely warm without being yellow, and good color rendition. This triple makes a great addition to my TO46Rs and E2Ls.

This is a rather hefty light, definitely solid and substantial, so it may not be a perfect pocket-light, but it seems quite solidly built and able to take some abuse, ’though I would never subject my lights to that. :smiley:

The user interface (UI) is the Anduril, and there’s plenty of documentation which goes into the features in detail, even tutorials online. Suffice it to say that it’s click on/off, press’n’hold to ramp up/down (or step up/down if you select stepped vs ramping), and so on. It can do… lots… and might take some time to master those esoteric functions, but the gist of it is pretty simple. Learn at your own speed and at your leisure.

Claimed brightness is 3500lm, and I don’t doubt it. Keep in mind that this is definitely a flooder, so it spreads light around a wide area, and intensity may not seem like much, but total light output is immense. It might not “reach” the trees in the next yard down the way a “thrower” would, but it could light up your own yard in a nice (and huge) blanket of light.

It makes a perfect walking/hiking light, lighting up a huge swath in front of you. It’s also quite nice around the house, and even gives my EC50 a run for its money. :smiley: Of course, it’s also quite good for close-up work, and puts down a wider hotspot vs a small but intense hotspot a thrower would. The TIR lenses mix and project the beam quite nicely.

And in fact, the beam is nigh perfect. Zero ringiness like even the best reflectors would have. Faint spill with almost all the light caught by the lenses and focussed into the wide hotspot.

So there it is. It might be a bit pocket-heavy, being such a substantial light, but it’s a little powerhouse that can lay down a wide blanket of wonderfully warm light. It’s definitely a keeper, and fits a jacket-pocket quite nice, and would be the perfect light for walking or hiking as mentioned.

Definitely a keeper, that about sums it up. :smiley:

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Good review. I have this light and I do like it. My only beef is with the stepdown which seems faster than any other light I own.

I calibrated the temp sensor and set the high temp regulation to 60c. I don’t notice any step down in mine, but it does get toasty real quick :smiley:

Same here. Temperature calibration was spot-on, and if it did step down on me, it was gradual enough that I didn’t notice.

Thermal calibration done, Works perfect now.

And don’t forget, in general, if you’re doing thermal recalibration, have a thermometer set right next to the light, and leave both overnight to equilibrate. Then hit it fast so you don’t warm up the insides by either holding the light too long, or having the light on for too long. That itself could bump it up a few degrees in a very short time.

Good advice. TY

Are they using Anduril 2 now?

Unno. How ya tell?

I am not that familiar with it. I think it would of come in simple mode as default and you would need to click like 10H to get into advanced?

yes, will soon update to Anduril 2.0 with reverse charging
New color already with Anduril 2

Where is the new color?

So let’s say I have 2 TS21s with the proper C-C cable, and I plug each one into it. Which one charges which? Do they fight over it? Who wins?

Unno, use a phone to charge a flashlight, use a flashlight to charge a phone. My head hurts trying to figure it out.

Why not just take the temperature of the light, then use that figure for the calibration? Tweak the input a bit to compensate if desired. Instant read thermometers are cheap and plentiful.

Waiting for the light to settle at room temperature, then using the indirect ambient air temperature figure, assuming it’s accurate, and correlates to that of the light, seems to introduce a lot more time and potential error into the measurement than necessary.

The aim is to ensure that the light’s sensor reading corresponds to the temperature of the light itself, not the air, and that measurement can be taken at any point in time.

The space-time continuum will rupture. Do not attempt.

What would you say if you plugged a TS21 with 50% battery to a phone with 50% battery and after two hours they were both fully 100% charged.

1 Thank

click on the pic

Are they for sale yet?

Maybe it’s just me being all about budget, but I think 45.99 is a bit too much for this light.

Got mine for $29.42 to my door @ Amazon, after coupon code.

Trust me- this light is more than worth every penny.

You know what color is even more boring than black? Gray. Gray is the color of the office where I work. Gray carpet, gray chairs, gray cubicles, grey painted walls, grey doors. Every shade of grey you could ever want. Just like these boring Wurkkos flashlights.
Almost as bad as all the different versions of tacticool brown: flat dark earth, desert, camel, dirt, etc. :confounded: