Recently I got a flashlight that I didn’t expect. Back then it wasn’t even officially announced! So I was very surprised when I found this Wurkkos TS26S in my mailbox.
It was long planned and from time to time Wurkkos asked the community about feedback. Now it is finally available and I can say: It is awesome!
You can find the German version of this review on my website: SammysHP Blog › Wurkkos TS26S
The flashlight was provided by the manufacturer for this review. Thank you very much!
Overview of hardware
- Wurkkos 21700 Li-ion battery with 5000 mAh (unprotected, flat-top, 3.67 V at arrival)
- Lanyard
- Clip (already attached)
- 2x replacement o-ring
- USB-C charging cable
A manual wasn’t included, probably because I got an early version and the manual wasn’t printed yet.
The design is something different: Instead of simple knurling or that ribbed design that was used over the last years, the TS26S has helical grooves around the battery tube. Some people like it, some hate it. It feels nice in the hand, gives some positive feedback gives it a modern look. The black anodization almost has a satin finish.
Silver, crenelated bezel for a slightly tactical feeling and helps to see if the flashlight is turned on when it stands face down.
Length: 121.8 mm
Diameter (head): 35.0 mm
Diameter (battery tube): 26.5 mm
Diameter (tailcap): 28.0 mm
Weight (without battery): 107.4 g
Weight (21700 battery): 68.4 g
Weight (total): 175.8 g
The clip isn’t simply clipped to the body. Wurkkos designed it as a captive clip that is secured between the head and the battery tube! No more loosing the light because the clip accidentally separated from the light. Unfortunately you can’t swap the direction because the battery tube isn’t symmetrical. But it’s a two-way clip at least.
If you want to remove the clip, simply unscrew the head, temporarily remove the thick o-ring and then you can pull off the clip. There’s a thin o-ring that stops it from rotating freely which you can/should remove as well. Be careful, there doesn’t come any replacement with the light.
Afterwards you’re faced with a 1.2 mm wide gap between head and battery tube. Pure cosmetic issue, but it doesn’t look great. There are ways to mitigate this problem, which I’ll show at the end of the review.
A hole in the tailcap lets you attach a lanyard. Unfortunately it prevents the light from tailstanding when a lanyard is attached.
This is also a problem when you want to use the magnet in the tailcap. It is barely able to hold the flashlight horizontal, but only without a lanyard.
Opposite of the switch you’ll find a USB-C charging port. The cutout might be a bit small for some USB plugs.
The well known silicone cover protects the port from water and dirt. It sits tight, but is sometimes a little hard to close.
If you want to utilize the full charging speed of almost 12 W, your power supply should be able to deliver 5 V / 2.5 A. At a battery voltage below 3 V it charges with a reduced current. During charging the status LED in the switch will light up in red, afterwards it switches to green. The flashlight is partly usable during charging, but not all modes are available.
Nice threads, nothing wrong with them. It is rated as IPX8 and should survive a little water without problems. Thick springs at the driver and in the tailcap, making it compatible with flat-top and button-top 21700 batteries, but only unprotected will fit. The magnet behind the spring might be removable, maybe with some force to break the glue.
Manufacturing quality is excellent, as usual. Only the cooling fins on the head are very sharp, especially due to their width.
User interface
Large electronic side switch on the head with a rubberized surface and integrated status LED. Just in case you think there’s something wrong with the circle: The spiky thing is Wurkkos’ logo.
It uses the well known simple UI, should be easy to understand. Wurkkos already announced a “TS26” without S that is supposed to come with Anduril.
| State | Action | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Off | 1 click | Turn on (last used brightness, except Eco and Turbo) |
| Off | 2 click | Turbo |
| Off | 3 click | Strobe |
| Off | 4 click | Lockout |
| Off | Hold | Eco |
| On | 1 click | Turn off |
| On | 2 click | Turbo |
| On | 3 click | Strobe |
| On | 4 click | Switch between stepped/smooth ramping |
| On | Hold | Increase brightness (Low → Medium → High) or increase/decrease brightness in smooth ramping mode |
| Turbo | 1 click | Previous brightness or turn off |
| Turbo | 2 click | Eco |
| Turbo | 3 click | Strobe |
| Strobe | 1 click | Previous brightness or turn off |
| Strobe | 2 click | Turbo |
| Strobe | 3 click | Switch between Strobe → SOS → Beacon (not memorized) |
| Lockout | 2+ click | Unlock and turn on in last used brightness |
| Lockout | Hold | Momentary Eco |
Smooth ramping goes from Eco to Turbo. That’s one way to turn the light on in turbo with a single click. Unfortunately the ramp isn’t perceptually linear, so it is almost unusable. On the other hand the steps are well spaced.
Strobe changes its frequency between 8 and 14 Hz every two seconds. SOS is a little weird, but who uses it anyway. The beacon is a nice, bright flash every two seconds. Too bad the mode isn’t memorized and every time you turn it on you’re back at strobe.
Strobe:
SOS:
Beacon:
For the first five seconds after turning on the flashlight, the status LED in the switch will show the approximate state of charge. When the battery is low, the switch will continuously blink red while the light is on.
| Color | State of charge |
|---|---|
| Green | 75% – 100% |
| Green blinking | 25% – 75% |
| Red blinking | < 25% |
Because the switch is slightly raised, it’s easy to press it by accident. Thus better lock the light either via 4C or mechanically by loosening the tailcap before you put it in your pocket.
Illumination
Four nice Nichia 519A with a color temperature of 5000 K with a rating of 3100 lm. More important to me is the outstanding CRI of these LEDs. Very good choice!
The TIR optic is protected by a 2 mm glass lens. As far as I can see it doesn’t have any kind of anti-reflective coating.
I’d describe the beam as center weighted. A large, even spot with smooth transition into the spill. Tint is neutral over the full beam without tint shift.
With this beam the TS26S performs great indoor and outdoor. It’s not a searchlight with enormous throw, more suited to get a good overview of your surroundings. The high turbo brightness is beneficial in that situation.
Driver and runtime
Thankfully Wurkkos gave the TS26S a nice boost driver! Constant brightness for a long time, yay! Of course there are some stepdowns, but the manufacturer was so nice to mention a few of them in the official specs.
| Mode | Brightness¹ | Runtime¹ | Intensity¹ (Throw²) | Current³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 3100 lm / 750 lm | 2 min + 2:30 h | 9113 cd (191 m) | 8.55 A |
| High | 750 lm / 350 lm / 220 lm | 1 h + 1:42 h + 1:30 h | 2618 cd (102 m) | 1.62 A |
| Medium | 200 lm | 12:45 h | 655 cd (51 m) | 0.32 A |
| Low | 30 lm | 68 h | 121 cd (22 m) | 0.06 A |
| Eco | 3 lm | 325 h | 15 cd (7 m) | 0.01 A |
| Off |
¹ According to manufacturer ² ANSI FL1 ³ Measured
Slightly cooled, the flashlight reached 43 °C in turbo. After the stepdown it stabilized at around 35 °C.
Uncooled it hit 51 °C and ramped down faster. After activating turbo again it even heated up to 63 °C. But it quickly reduced the output due to the temperature protection.
On lower voltage the driver isn’t able to deliver full output. Thus the turbo brightness is reduced.
Thanks to the boost driver all levels operate without PWM. At 3.2 V the status LED starts to flash red, at 2.6 V the flashlight turns off to protect the battery.
If you are in an emergency situation and your phone’s battery is empty, you can also use the TS26S as a powerbank. Calling for help might be better than having light, right?
Modding
To fill the gap between head and battery tube when not using the clip, you can add an o-ring of an appropriate size. Or you can 3D-print a matching ring, as I did. This would also be a great opportunity to add a color accent to the light.
I also dedomed the LEDs. This lowers the color temperature and makes the light slightly rosy. Also the throw is increased. The bezel was easy to unscrew due to the crenelation and it’s hard to damage 519A while dedoming.
Conclusion
A novel design, four Nichia 519A with outstanding color rendition, a boost driver for constant brightness and a simple user interface. The Wurkkos TS26S is an excellent flashlight in its category – good job, Wurkkos!
There are just some minor details that need to be improved, like the sharp cooling fins. Also it would be nice to have a symmetrical battery tube with a single direction clip that you can turn around.
