Writing the Wuben X4 review/ report took up a good part of the winter holidays and now, having received 2 new Wubens to go over i can’t commit as much time as i’d like so the following 2 reports will be in the old loose thoughts from everyday use format. I’ve carried both of these lights as primaries and put them through rigours of my everyday life spent partly in a cozy home/ office, partly outdoors and partly in the field practicing hands-on electrical engineering heroism- the following is what stood out to me (as opposed to going over set properties).
For transparency- i’ve been approached by Wuben to review the X1 Pro, the E1 i got as a replacement for the review X4 that broke after a fall. I have received no compensation other than the lights which i’m keeping, and invitation to Wuben affiliate programme in which i’m not engaging. Also, no AI has been used.
X1 pro
The X1 pro is a fan-cooled dual channel (flood/throw, 4× XHP50 + 1× XHP50) light from the heckin chonker weight class, and given the heft, capacity and active cooling i’d class it as a sustainer- yes turbo steps down, but high levels are sustained really well. This goes hand in hand with mounting provisions, i’m mostly thinking bike handlebars or tripod mounted specialty worklight. The two flood/throw channels are pretty well balanced for daily use though floody channel is quite throwy for nearfield use, and being a heckin chonker with up to 5× XHP50 operating, the light output can be too much for inside nighttime use even on low. 4 intensity levels don’t help this either.
I’ve been enjoying using it as a hiking handheld, the 2 channels are well balanced for nearfield/downtrail lighting, e.g. walking/ searching for trail marker. The light is typical Wuben- low CRI cold white, i’ll be looking to emitter swap it, as it is now it provides plentiful light but the vibrant springtime colours look quite fugly..
(GITD pawb sticker not included)
form
- weak point that maimed my Wuben X4 has been addressed! battery latch catch is now a separate piece held by 2 li’l T4 Torx screws so if it snaps i’ll just print a new one (or ask nicely for a replacement hehe). The part is also more rounded with the sharp internal stress risers gone. Good job Wuben!
- button is prone to accidental activation yet not easy to locate by feel, the printed warning to lock when not in use is warranted
- (subj.) right paw operation is way more ergonomical than left- channel switch under thumb/ button under index and vice versa, respectively- the light is not leftie/rightie-agnostic, keep in mind
- since i do this quite a lot it’s worth mentioning- forget about holding it in mouth no matter how briefly
- channel switch is magnetic for waterproofing- i’ve been able to fuzz it with external magnetic field
- speaking of waterproofing, USB rubber cap appears quite watertight, switch is magnetic, battery hatch has a substantial seal- fan is a normal PC style fan, exposed to elements and would be susceptible to water damage
- bundled Blet holster
is secure but not immediate- velcro needs undone first. I’ve been pulling the light out downwards- pulling it tail up opens the rubber USB flap and tugs on it, not ideal. When the lanyard is fitted, pulling downwards becomes awkward. I do like the way it’s not covering the optics so the light can be used holstered
- vertically the holster only really works optics-down (my preferred anyway), too top heavy otherwise
- holster swivels out and provides decent pawsfree operation
- the light screams BIKE LIGHT at me and there is a bundled rail adapter of some sort (plus tripod thread)- i’ll have to investigate and also a way to connect a wired handlebar remote button would be nice for this light- wonder if there’s pins in the USB for that?
- bundled type C lanyard is brilliant! love it! cable has data lines connected, sometimes it doesn’t click into place fully so needs checking and longevity of cable used to tug a chonker light around is to be seen
function
- UI makes sense! it should still be Andúril on the sideswitch paired with physical channel switch, but it’s straight forward and there is a way to always start at ramp floor- 1H from off, second 1H will then go up from ramp floor
- it’s not much of a ramp though, 4 steps AND there is no way down, always through ceiling or off-then-1H
- any-1C- ON/OFF
- off-1H- lowest mode, 2nd. 1H step up
- on-1H- step up or wraparound
- any-2C- turbo toggle
- any-3C- Wuben style dual freq strobe, doesn’t seem to be turbo level
- it’s not much of a ramp though, 4 steps AND there is no way down, always through ceiling or off-then-1H
- button LED should have aux mode, now it only shows battery state when on or charging
light
- spill of the throw channel maps roughly 1:1 to the hotspot of the flood channel making the channel switch function as a spill-to-hotspot intensity ratio switch which is quite nice
- reflectors are covered by what appears to be AR coated glass, the coating gives the throw channel a pronounced fugly brown halo with a sharp edge caused by internal reflections in the glass i presume, this halo is quite distracting in walking use
- there are significant artifacts around the periphery of both beams caused by the 2×2 arrangement and probably also the smooth throw reflector and square glass cover
< click for slightly better res - the thing puts out a serious amount of light, subjectively up there with Noctigon M44 on flood, D1 on throw
- mehh blue tinted high CCT low CRI emitters
- both around 6000K, 70CRI, flood channel measures a whiff warmer
- mehh blue tinted high CCT low CRI emitters
- standard XHP50s though- might swap them for warmer high CRI versions
beamshots
walking down trail
< click for slightly better res
treeline about 50 m away
treeline about 150 m away
up on a hill about 5 km away, throw channel
closer tree about 20 m away, treeline about 50 m away
down a shaft
power
- the fan is noticeable and in a quiet forest it can be distracting but it mostly sounds like hissy white noise with no squealing, buzzing or whining (so far?), fan turns on after a time delay or temp threshold, never runs with the light off. In bike use the fan wouldn’t matter at all.
- included batteries are Wuben branded long button top protected 21700s
- nominally 4900mAh each
- unable to test actual capacity- cells are too long to fit in MC3000
- connected 2S1P with a balancing pin in the battery door
- built in powerbank delivers 10W to my phone, negotiates PD properly, bundled data cable works regardless of direction
- while on-the-go charge from holster works well, the lanyard buckle with cable removed jingles
SndUp | audio_2026-03-14_00-58-00
Wuben E1
For all i’ve grown to like it for, friendship ended with E1 when i was using it as a worklight in a dark electrical panel and was having trouble telling the red and brown wires apart, in neither channel mode- i’ve measured it then and there and it clocked in at CRI 70, both colour channels. For a light sold as high CRI photography light this is a nonstarter. The phone flash it’s meant to augment/ replace performs better.
Should Wuben fit it with decent LEDs, it’s alright-
- UI makes sense, 1H on/off prevents accidental pocket activation, 1C switching between 3 CCT modes
- i’d like more CCT steps and 1C switching between encoder brightness and encoder colour temp
- really really useful worklight form factor, adheres magnetically to electrical panel walls etc., has wide range of usable positions and takes up little pocket space, great EDC secondary
- it does work well as a phone stand
- can be charged and fully used at the same time- i’ve stuck one of the bundled magnetic discs to the rear of my work laptop and been using it as a webcam fill light, USB can be plugged in when the light is fully flipped out
- encoder is clicky and doesn’t register fast spin, a brief pause is needed between clicks which is annoying but can be learned
- battery level is, outside of charging, only shown when the light is on and the indicator light is facing the same way main emitters are meaning battcheck is always more or less blinding..
- faux leather pouch is nice, i’ve been using it to store my USB cable tester which i’ve also used to determine that the bundled type C cable only has Vbus and GND lines connected, born ewaste, instant disposal
Another sad part to the E1 story is that it’s my 2nd Wuben that died to a waist-level floor drop- rotary encoder got hit on-axis and can no longer be pressed in leaving the light inoperative so beware its susceptibility to that.
