When Wuben offered me the E8, I briefly wondered if it was even interesting enough for a review. It doesn’t set any brightness records and for a 14500 light, it isn’t exactly tiny. But the design definitely has something going for it, and the side lights are definitely a standout feature!
All my reviews can be found on my website.
Disclaimer: Wuben provided this light to me free of charge. This had no influence on the review.
All measurements were done using hobby-grade equipment, inaccuracies and deviations are therefore possible.
Aside from the aluminum version presented here, there is also a premium titanium version. Additionally, there are different side plates and accessories.
You can find everything directly on Wuben’s website.
The light arrives in the typical white-and-blue Wuben box featuring an illustration of the light and all the important details. Hidden inside is another white box that folds open.
The light rests in a cardboard tray, protected by a plastic bag. Next to it lies the accessories, neatly organized in another cardboard box. Included are a lanyard, a short USB-C-to-C cable, a multilingual manual, two replacement O-rings and 6 replacement magnets for the side panels.
The light is definitely unusual. Hexagonal, with three sides slightly longer and three slightly shorter. The anodization is flawlessly executed, and the sparse lettering is sharply laser-etched.
Overall, the light fits well into Wuben’s futuristic design language, albeit with significantly more classic cues than the X-series. The design certainly doesn’t need to hide, this light stands out!
The switch is nicely made and can be equipped with a fidget spinner or D-ring.
It feels like it could use a slightly more defined pressure point, as there is a bit of “dead travel.” However, I didn’t have any issues using the light. Additionally, the switch feels very high-quality, it appears to be made of metal.
At the front, two Luminus SST-36F and one UV LED work behind a purple coated lens.
On the body of the light, there are three LED strips behind replaceable covers. These provide a pleasant, broadly diffused light.
The light itself has neither a charging port nor a battery indicator, but the battery is rechargeable via USB-C.
I find the tailcap really cool, it’s quite unusual. When screwed in, it’s almost impossible to identify as such - but once unscrewed, it’s a whole different story.
Lockout works surprisingly well this way, even one-handed. However, you have to screw the cap in fully. If it isn’t completely tight, the light won’t turn on.
Sofirn SC13 Copper, Jetbeam RRT01 Raptor, Trustfire L2 Pro, Wuben E8, Wurkkos TS10 TiCu, Acebeam Tac AA 2.0
The light weighs in at 87g.
According to my measurements, the dimensions are 25.3mm at the thickest point of the “diameter” with a length of 96mm.
Lanyard: A lanyard is included. It feels high-quality but can only be attached to the clip.
Clip: The clip is pretty and fits the light well, but it’s rather stiff. It doesn’t like thicker fabrics, but works perfectly with thin ones. It is attached with two screws. Assuming you have a matching mini-hex key, it can be removed.
Magnet: Magnets are only present for attaching the side panels, not for mounting the light itself to surfaces.
(Jacket)pocket: The light isn’t the thinnest, you’ll notice it in tight pants. As long as the pants aren’t skinny fit, the light carries inconspicuously. In a jacket pocket, you likely won’t even notice it.
The UI is simple and controlled entirely via the reverse clicky switch.
- Full press until it clicks to turn the light on/off.
- With the light on, a half-press cycles through the brightness levels
- 4 quick half-presses switch the light source.
For the front light there is Low, Medium and High.
For the side light, there is low, high and flashing.
For UV it’s only one mode.
All measurements were performed in my 30cm integrating sphere. Note: the starting temperature for the High measurement was 27°C. An Opple Light Master III and a TASi TA636B lux meter were also used.
The beam pattern of the light is quite floody. There are no artifacts, the beam is a good mix of a very wide spot and a softly tapering spill.
The beam profile of the UV light is similar to that of the white light. It is powerful, but emits a comparatively large amount of visible light. This is also because the two main LEDs are visibly excited as well. This even becomes visible in the spot of the UV light, where the white light mixes in, leading to a very interesting orange tint.
The side lights emit a uniform, pleasant light. Unfortunately, I have no way to measure their output, but I consider the specified values to be roughly realistic. I did, however, create a runtime diagram for them!
All measured levels follow the same curve. It drops linearly— not surprising for a small light with limited driver space and three light sources.
You can clearly see the battery warning starting at 50% in the diagram.
| Spec/measurements | low | med | high |
|---|---|---|---|
| max. output | 10 / 17 | 150 / 156 | 1300 / 1360 |
I measured the throw at 2m and then converted it - I calculated 120m, which is slightly above the factory specification. However, the strength of the light is definitely the near range up to about 30m.
| side lights | front light | |
|---|---|---|
| CCT | 4400K | 4800K |
| CRI | 67 | 70 |
| DUV | 0,016 (yup, really) | 0,003 |
The main LEDs do their job remarkably good. The side lights work well as mood lighting or for marking something when using the yellow covers. Without the covers, they are strongly yellowish-green. This didn’t bother me, as I used the light exclusively with the yellow covers. With the colored covers, this shouldn’t be noticeable. However, I cannot say how it looks with the clear ones.
Flicker is in the green zone. A look at the raw data shows hints of PWM.
It was detectable with the camera across all levels, but only to a small extent. I could never perceive it with the naked eye, even with fast movements - I would describe it as not disturbing in any way.
The battery reached 999mAh in the capacity test on my Vapcell S4+ — compared to the 920mAh specification!
The charging curve looks quite good overall; the small “hiccup” at the beginning is perfectly fine for a cell with integrated charging. The rest of the CC and the CV phases are wonderful.
The E8 is definitely something special. The SST-36F LEDs do an amazingly good job - low CRI, but neutral CCT with a neutral tint. Add to that a UV light that, while unfiltered, is quite powerful.
The side lights with replaceable panels are something new. They work really well as mood lights, signal lights, or simply to pleasantly illuminate a small table.
Clearly, due to its concept, this is not a hardcore outdoor light. But it is definitely a great EDC light with multiple functions and a simple UI - and those who enjoy “fidgety” lights might be very happy with it!
It finds its way into my pocket regularly and has earned a permanent spot in my rotation of favorite EDCs.