“REVIEW”:  Wuben E19 – 2*AAA - Penlight - Nichia 219C - High CRI – 200 Lumens [PIC HEAVY]

MascaratumB · 2019-12-15T16:35:56.000Z

Hi BLF! This is the review of the Wuben E19 flashlight.

The flashlight was sent by Wuben for review, with no other compensation than keeping the flashlight and accessories. Thanks Jelina for sending the flashlight!

As always, I will do my honest and critical review on this light!

You can find information about this flashlight and purchase it on/through the link below (non-affiliate link). It is also available from other online stores.

WUBEN

Wuben E19 High CRI Flashlight& Pen Light - 200 Lumens, AAA-Powered

Discover the Wuben E19, a high CRI flashlight powered by AAA batteries. This 200-lumen penlight is perfect for accurate color rendering. Get yours today.

Price: USD 14.99

Here are some videos made by Wuben on this light, but I couldn’t find any video review so far:

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GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS
Body Colour: Black
Material: Aluminum
Emitter: Nichia 219C (Neutral to Warmish White)
Lens: AR Coated Lens
Reflector: Smooth
Battery: 2 x AAA Alkaline / 2 x AAA Ni-MH
Switch: Reverse Mechanical Tail Switch
Max runtime: 80 hours (on AAA alkalines)
Max beam distance: 55 meters
Max output: 200 lumens
Candela: 770 cd
Waterproofness: IP68 (2 meters underwater, 1 hour)
Impact resistance: 1,5 m
Working temperature: –10˚C to 60˚C
Low Voltage Warning: Not specified and Not Tested
Reverse Polarity Protection: physical RPP on the driver’s positive (+) contact (there is a black disc hindering contact with the negative pole of the batteries)

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PACKAGE: THE FLASHLIGHT & ACCESSORIES

The Wuben E19 box arrived in a Wuben branded box, similar to their other latest products. Inside, the E19 was fit inside a protective plastic bag. Behind I found the few accessories this light comes with.
The box has some short and direct information about the flashlight, the general specs we need to know about it

Besides the 2 x AAA alkaline batteries that were inside of the flashlight, these are the only accessories this flashlight comes with: pocket clip (already attached to the E19), 2 o-rings, User Manual and Warranty Card. Simple and direct, again!

Lets take a look at THE FASHLIGHT !

The Wuben E19 is a penlight! It is the first 2xAAA penlight I have, BTW!
It is a slim, elegant, matte anodized flashlight. It has some “pineapple knurling” in the lower part of the battery tube and in the tailcap.

It is composed by 3 main parts (head, battery tube, tail), and the head has a glued bezel. I didn’t open it for this review’s purpose!

One thing that stands out is the protruding switch button in the tailcap. Also, the flashlight itself doesn’t have any hole for a lanyard. Instead, it has a “non deep carry” and “non reversible” pocket clip to which a lanyard can be attached.

In one side of the head we find engraved the Wuben logotype and on the other side the model reference (E19) and the “HOT” warning. Both these marks are blue, and so is a line that sits below these two engravings.

In the tail, on the one side we find the polarity indication for a correct placement of the batteries, and on the other we have the CE and serial number. These are lined up with the head’s engravings.

In the HEAD we can also see an AR coated lens, a Smooth reflector, and below that there is a Neutral/Warmish Nichia 219C that I would say it has a 4500K being – probably - Ra9050 sm403, according to my “eye” measurement and this post (BLF) and this post (CPF). This is not 100% sure, though, so don’t take my words as certain.

On the other part of the head, we can see the driver and a black disc that prevents activation if the batteries are placed in bad polarity orientation.

The BATTERY TUBE is…lets say…split in half in what concerns to its looks. The upper part (towards the head) doesn’t have knurling, while the lower part has ”pineapple knurling”. There are 2 groove lines more or less in the middle that separate both these parts.

Also in the lower part of the tube, there is a deeper groove and the place to attach the pocket clip. As mentioned above, the clip is not reversible!

The threading is also different on both parts. Upper threads are anodized, while the lower threads are not. Both extremities have sealing o-rings. The threads seem to be triangular (not 100% sure) but they are smooth. They were not lubricated at the flashlight arrival.

NOTE: Due to the anodization of the threads, it is not possible to lock the flashlight by unscrewing the tailcap. Instead, in case it is need, it is the head that should be unscrewed.
This is also important for long time storage!

About the TAILCAP, I also didn’t dismantle it for this review’s purpose. Later I will do it and show what it has inside. What we can see, besides the mentioned engraving, is the protruding switch button. We also not that there is no lanyard hole!

I believe this is made for a quick and easy access with gloves and also for a good location of the flashlight when in a chest’s pocket.

Inside we find a thing but strong spring (not sure what the material is). The switch seems to be held in position by an aluminum or stainless steel ring. The spring comes from inside a plastic structure and is also secured by a small “lip” on the side. I will take photos later to show this.

The switch button has a W on top of it
NOTE: This switch has a…strange action feeling. If on the one side it seems to act like a forward clicky switch, as we have to press a bit to make it act (turn ON/OFF/change modes), on the other it is very sensitive and if we push with much strength, it will probably turn the light OFF when we just want to change modes. So…this is something that I will recommend Wuben to pay attention to.

And now, let’s see how heavy and long this flashlight is/can be! Time for the WEIGHT and DIMENSION part.

Here’s a glimpse of the weight!

One thing I notice when I was taking outdoor photos is that for being slim and having 2 batteries inside, this flashlight needs a stable and truly horizontal surface in which it can stand vertically. Otherwise it will incline very easily (from the top) as it doesn’t have a large base and is tall.

Here’s a glimpse of the its’ dimensions!

It is not a short flashlight, even if we are talking about a 2 cell light. But it can be easily carried in coats or shirts pockets with no trouble.

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And now it is time for an ACCESSORIES interlude, just to present the polyglot….ooops, multilingual User Manual.
Just like the rest of the package and the flashlight itself, the User Manual information is quite simple, but well written.
Beside the Package List (what’s included…), we can know more about the Product Operation (About; Installation; Operation; Power Source), the Parameters, Maintenance, FAQs and Warranty Policy.

The UM is written in at least 10 Languages: English, Deutsche, Français, Español, Italiano, Arabic, and 4 other languages that I presume to be Chinese (2), Japanese, and Korean.

(sorry for crappy photos, but the paper is reflective and…it ruins my patience to take a nice photo of it. Also, click to enlarge them!)

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USER INTERFACE, OUTPUT and RUNTIME

So, this flashlight as a simple User Interface, composed by 4 regular modes (Eco, Low, Medium and High) and 1 special mode (SOS). All the operation is controlled by the reverse clicky tailswitch. The flashlight has “memory”.

How does it operate?
FROM OFF:
-Full press = ON.

FROM ON:
-Full press = OFF.
-Single tap = advances to the next mode
-Triple tap = enters SOS (single tap to back to previous mode; full click for OFF)

NOTE:Subsequent quick turn ON/ turn OFF will make the flashlight advance in modes.

And how long can we expect this flashlight to run with 2 x AAA Alkaline batteries? The test from Wuben results in this Output vs Runtime :

Eco : 2,5 lm ///// 80 h
Low : 10 lm ///// 34 h
Medium : 50 lm ///// 13 h
High: 200 lm > 40 lm ///// 10min > 2,3 h
SOS : 20 lm ///// ——

It would be interesting to have a test with some Eneloop Ni-MH batteries to know how it would perform with that type of cells!

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SIZE COMPARISON

Well, it wouldn’t be a review without some comparison with other lights I have around, so take a look on how the Wuben E19 looks like amongst others

AeroCell Family

Wuben Family

Big Sister

AAAs Family :student:

The Regulars Family

Wuben E19 meets The 2xAAs Family

Superstar’s Family

“All by…itself!!”

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BEAMSHOTS

Let’s start by seeing what the Wuben E19 flashlight does when it is switched ON.

NO PWM: Wuben has been producing flashlight without flickering and with Constant Current Circuit drivers, that result on this

BEAM PATTERN: This is how it looks like when we put it against a wall

BEAMSHOTs: Well, this is not a long range flashlight, so I opted not to make outdoor beamshot comparison with other lights. The flashlight gives a nice illumination range at +30meters (on HIGH), but not much than that. Still, I took some indoor and outdoor photos

Building at 45m (on HIGH):

TINT COMPARISON and COLOUR RENDERING
Instead of making outdoor beamshot comparison, I opted to make tint comparison with some other flashlights and also to see how this light performs vs others regarding colour rendering. Here they are below:

Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Wuben TO50R (4 Samsung Lh351D 5000K 90CRI)

Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Wuben TO46R (3 CREE XP-G3 5000K 90CRI)

Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS “hc-lights.fi “BLF 348” (Nichia NVSW219BT 5000K High CRI)

Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Sofirn C01 (Yuji 3200K High CRI)

Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Sofirn C01 (Yuji 5700K High CRI)

Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Olight i3T EOS (Luxeon TX ~ 6500K)

Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Nitefox K3 (CREE XP-G2 ~6000K)

Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Convoy T2 (Luxeon V 4000K)

Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS RovyVon Aurora A8U (Nichia 219C 5000K)
!https://i.imgur.com/U6JmUge.jpg

Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Amutorch S3 (Nichia 219C 4500K)

Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Lumintop Tool 25 (XP-L HD ~6000K)

Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Skilhunt M150 (Luxeon V2 5000K)

Double Comparison now :

Sofirn C01 (Yuji 5700K High CRI) VS Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Sofirn C01 (Yuji 3200K High CRI)

Skilhunt M150 (Luxeon V2 5000K) VS Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Convoy T2 (Luxeon V 4000K)

Olight i3T EOS (Luxeon TX ~ 6500K) VS Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS “hc-lights.fi “BLF 348” (Nichia NVSW219BT 5000K High CRI)

TO46R (3 CREE XP-G3 5000K 90CRI) VS Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Wuben TO50R (4 Samsung Lh351D 5000K 90CRI)

Nitefox K3 (CREE XP-G2 ~6000K) VS Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Lumintop Tool 25 (XP-L HD ~6000K)

RovyVon Aurora A8U (Nichia 219C 5000K 90CRI) VS Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Amutorch S3 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI)

Last but not least, the colour rendering!
Sofirn C01 (Yuji 5700K High CRI) VS Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Sofirn C01 (Yuji 3200K High CRI)

Olight i3T EOS (Luxeon TX ~ 6500K) VS Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Lumintop Tool 25 (XP-L HD ~6000K)

Skilhunt M150 (Luxeon V2 5000K) VS Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS “hc-lights.fi “BLF 348” (Nichia NVSW219BT 5000K High CRI)

TO46R (3 CREE XP-G3 5000K 90CRI) VS Wuben E19 (Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI) VS Wuben TO50R (4 Samsung Lh351D 5000K 90CRI)

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GENERAL IMPRESSIONs

My general impression is quite positive, despite there are some aspects that I would probably change in this flashlight!

The Goods:
1 – As other flashlights from Wuben, the E19 model has excellent quality in body construction and seems very reliable in terms wearing. It is a slim, elegant and well built flashlight. I also like the contrast of blue and black that this light has, despite the minimal “blue” parts.

2 – I like the tint and colour rendering that this flashlight allows, being a very nice option for some type or works in which we don’t want to “hurt the eyes” Also, it doesn’t have tint shifts, what is great

3 – Being a 2 x AAA flashlight, it is a nice option for a gift because it uses easy to find batteries, so someone that doesn’t work with rechargeable or Li-Ion batteries can use it without issues!

4 – I like that it doesn’t have PWM, making it good for photography and for tint comparison!

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The “suggestions to improve”:
There is not much to say about bad things, so the ones I will mention are mostly some preferences, and some things I think that would value this flashlight even more.

1 – The UI and Memory mode: if this flashlight is supposed to be used in “medical situations” I believe that having memory is not a good thing. A flashlight like this could/should always start on ECO (moonlight) mode. Also, if it had 3 regular modes (Eco, Low, Mid) + hidden High (double click) + and eventual blinking mode (SOS or Strobe, triple click), I think it would be much better.

2 – The Reflector: I think that an Orange Peel (OP) reflector would probably be better than the SMO reflector it comes with. Why? There are some small artifacts that cannot be seen here in the photos, but that an OP reflector would prevent. Also, being a not much powerful light, it is preferable to have more spill that and hotspot (the one it has is not every marked, but still…).

3 – The Switch Button: due to the strange action when pressing the button (as mentioned above) it would be preferable to have a more responsive one. Actually I believe that this light would be a good candidate to have a Forward Clicky Switch.

4 – The Pocket Clip: the one it has is not bad, not at all. But a deep carry clip and an option to make it reversible, would be nice.

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SOME MORE FANCY PHOTOS

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This said, thanks Wuben for sending the light and thank you for reading.
Comment, question, critize folks

Best regards!

MascaratumB · 2020-01-11T00:04:51.000Z

As promised a long ago!
Use a pointy tweezer to unscrew the taill “pill”. It is well screwed in, but not glued

Pressing mechanism with 2 parts

And the general structure with the small switch with integrated spring and its “pill”.

All components!

1stein · 2019-12-15T18:47:33.000Z

Interesting light. Thanks for the review. Lots of work and time invested…

MascaratumB · 2019-12-16T01:35:27.000Z

1stein:

Interesting light. Thanks for the review. Lots of work and time invested…

Thanks for reading and your words!

Yes, there was some time invested… During the week, at night, to take the photos, yesterday and today to take the outdoor photos and write the review
But I guess this way people will know what to expect from this light

NeutralFan · 2019-12-16T02:22:39.000Z

Excellent review MascaratumB! Agreed that an OP reflector would be better. And for me, the double AAA format seems strange - very thin and long. Tail standing is also important to me. But I do like the Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI. I wish I could buy them somewhere.

MascaratumB · 2019-12-16T13:17:23.000Z

NeutralFan:

Excellent review MascaratumB! Agreed that an OP reflector would be better. And for me, the double AAA format seems strange - very thin and long. Tail standing is also important to me. But I do like the Nichia 219C 4500K 90CRI. I wish I could buy them somewhere.

Thanks Neutral Fan!
Yes, OP or even an optic would be nice for this light, better than the SMO reflector, because it causes some rings and even a small “artifact” in the hotspot due to the centering.

The 2xAAA is new to me, but I don+’t dislike it! However, the 2xAA feels more comfortable as the Tool 25!

About the LEDs, I remember someone was selling something like that around here, but can’t remember who, nor even if it was this specific type of LED.
It produces a great beam and in tint in my opinion

MascaratumB · 2020-01-11T00:05:36.000Z

Post #2 updated with taicalp photos!

“REVIEW”: Wuben E19 – 2*AAA - Penlight - Nichia 219C - High CRI – 200 Lumens [PIC HEAVY] Multiple AAA Flashlights

As promised a long ago! Use a pointy tweezer to unscrew the taill “pill”. It is well screwed in, but not glued [image] Pressing mechanism with 2 parts [image] [image] [image] [image] And the general structure with the small switch with integrated spring and its “pill”. [image] [image] [image] [image] All components! [image]

Unheard · 2020-09-10T03:46:40.000Z

MascaratumB:

Yes, OP or even an optic would be nice for this light, better than the SMO reflector, because it causes some rings and even a small “artifact” in the hotspot due to the centering.

I think the LED is out of (below) focus.

Otherwise a nice light. Wish the pill would have been as easily removable as in the E19 UV to correct this problem [or trying to do so].

I had exactly the same problem with a D25A (XP-L to 219B swap). Can be seen in the beam profile, where it is not parallel, but diverges. So, this problem will not go away with an OPR I think.