[REVIEW] Wurkkos TS30S - Anduril SBT90 thrower for $65!

LED Flashlights – General Info 21700 Flashlights
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With an SBT90.2, Anduril, USB-C charging port, and overall great design, the Wurkkos TS30S has become one of my favorite lights and is highly recommended.

Link to the light on Wurkkos’ online store: Wurkkos TS30S USB C Rechargeable 21700 Flashlight Powerful SBT90.2 LED 6000lm Anduril Version


SUMMARY

What I like:

  • Overall design - great mid-size thrower for the outdoors
  • Luminus SBT90.2 for under $70
  • Anduril
  • Decent performance

What I don’t like:

  • Tint lottery - the second TS30S I have has a pretty ugly greenish beam
  • Older Anduril instead of A2 (and no flashing pads)
  • Murder bezel is no longer available

BUILD

The Wurkkos TS30S is overall very well-built for the price. It utilizes a 21700 battery (included) and features a large smooth aluminum reflector. The head has a USB-C charging port with a very solid rubber flap for water resistance. For me it is pretty much the perfect form factor for an outdoor thrower light, and feels great in the hand. My only complaint are the slightly sharp cooling fins on the head.


PERFORMANCE

On Turbo @ startup with a freshly charged cell, I got 4,500 lumens with the stock battery and 5,005 lumens with a Molicel P42A. This is what I expected from an SBT90 and a FET+7135 driver, though it is quite a bit below Wurkkos’ claim of 6,000 lumens - which was never going to happen with this setup.

Turbo Thermal Limit Comparison:

Performance on turbo is going to depend on the heat level, and Anduril allows the thermal limit to be adjusted. With a target of 60C, the TS30S can sustain full turbo (over 3,500 lumens) for an impressive 162 seconds. For the remainder of the tests, I set mine to a target of 50C which is the best balance of performance and heat for my uses.

Turbo Total Runtime (50C, Stock Battery)

Turbo Total Runtime (Y-axis adjusted to 1K lumens)

Overall performance on Turbo is quite good for this driver type, with the light sustaining over 600 lumens through most of the run, climbing up to ~800 as the battery voltage drops. Total turbo runtime is just under 2 hours, which is great.

Maximum Regulated Level

The maximum regulated output is about 360mA/143 lumens - there is a slight drop in the first little bit of the run, and afterwards it is super stable. This is honestly my favorite level, as 143 lumens is super useful in this throwy beam.


BEAM

The SBT90.2 produces 40cd/l for a maximum of 201,300 cd on Turbo - very impressive!
Even better, this beam pattern is really excellent for outdoor usage, with a tight clean hotspot, bright soft corona, and wide spill that illuminates a decently wide area.

Beam quality is very good, with only a very faint ring in the spill that is unnoticable in use. Tint-shift is not present, and the 5600K/70CRI beam on my first light is very neutral. However, the second light I received has a very greenish beam, so there is definitely a tint lottery going on here. I guess between these two it evens out to just decent.


INTERFACE

The TS30S runs ToyKeeper’s Anduril… the old Anduril, not A2. It’s fine honestly, it’s still a great interface and does more than I realistically need it to. Still, it would be very nice to have the updated firmware, and flashing pads for interfacing with the MCU - they’ve done it on more recent lights, so updating this one with those features would be much appreciated.


Well, that’s the end of this review. Both lights were sent to me by Wurkkos for the purposes of review, but I was not otherwise paid for the video. All test results and opinions are my own. If you have any questions let me know!

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Thank you for the very well done and thought out review. The video start gave me a chuckle. I especially appreciate your taking time to do the thermal regulation comparison graph. It’s fantastic and shows what a higher limit buys - a few more minutes of glory lol .

Agreed with your discussion very much. Green tint on my Wurkkos is about average for throw lights, and something I do not see it in real life use for a super thrower, where things are far away and dark. The lesson I’ve learned with the few throwers I have is if you want that perfect OCD beam color and tint, throwers (except the medium throw Getian GT-FC40) are NOT the light. For that get a S21D with Nichia and TIR, and of course forget about throw. All my high-throwers with smooth reflector have varying green tint that gets worse at low output (Cree XHP35, SFT40, SBT90.2). For throwers, as long as the green is “typical” and not excessive, IMvHO take the LED and run :slight_smile: .

I have few Nichia’s and GT-FC40, but SBT90.2 is far and away THE most fun light and I’ve stopped looking for throwers since I bought it. 1000m throw and useful beam at $60? Nothing on market comes close. BTW, an AR lens from flashlightlens.com will get another 4% or so of brightness gain, and this gain has no heat penalty like with high current battery replacement.

1 Thank
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I’m glad you liked the review!

Other high-CRI LEDs like the GT-FC40 are certainly impressive, but for real-world usage I haven’t foudn anything that beats the SBT90.2’s combination of output, efficiency, throw, and decent coloration. This light really is a killer deal, it’s my go-to thrower right now.

Thanks for the info on the lens! I hadn’t thought of replacing it, I might give it a try to see what difference it makes. I’d also like to swap the greener light I have to the SFH55, like the one in this post: Reddit - Dive into anything

While the SBT90 still seems the more practical option, it might be cool to see Wurkkos use one of these San’an emitters in something.

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Saw this and thought it was a new review for a moment. We do appreciate your videos! I’m guessing the engagement on BLF for this post was low because everyone jumped straight over to Youtube.

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Ah sorry, I just forgot to post my reply initially.

These reviews don’t tend to get a whole lot of engagement on BLF but that’s fine, the main work is all in the YT videos. I mostly use these as a place to summarize the review, lay out the data in quick format, and post all the graphs that don’t make it into the video. Then I can link to it elsewhere if needed.

1 Thank
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Saw this review on YouTube. Great review. I ended up picking up one of these lights. So far, I am happy with my buy. For the money, you cannot go wrong.

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Great review and great light. Picked up two @ $55 each. If you don’t have one, get one.

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Agreed. Unmatched price/performance ratio, reasonable size, great mix of hotspot and spill; this un-assuming light does indeed have “everything.” No other thrower in this price range comes remotely close.

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This was my first SBT90.2 light as the price was the cheapest SBT90.2 I could find when I bought it in Sept last year.
During that time it still come with the ‘murder’ bezel. :smiley:

Sold it as the head is just kinda big for my usage and bought the more expensive Manker U22iii as the smaller size suits my need better.
Other than this reason, the Wurkkos is a solid light for me