[Review] Wuben T70 (4200 Lumens, USB-C, 26650, Choices)

liquidretro · 2018-11-19T02:08:56.000Z

Today on my review table, I have the Wuben T70 4200 lumen flashlight. The light is powered by an included 26650 battery and has USB-C for recharging. Wuben as a brand has been out for a little while but for me this is the first light from them I have had. Thanks to Banggood for sending this to me to look at.

Full Image Gallery: Wuben - T70 - Album on Imgur
YouTube Version of this Review:

Packaging
A lot of thought was put into the design and perfection of the packaging on the Wuben T70. The outside of the package is a black box with a picture of the light touting the 4200 lumens and a few of the key facts. On the back of the box are some stats, and a runtime chart. The box itself has a magnetic closure on the right hand side. Inside the box the light is nicely held in some laser cut foam, underneath is the paperwork. On the right hand side there is a cardboard box which contains all the accessories. The belt holster is nylon and decent quality, it’s got a plastic D loop, velcro belt loop, and a place for an extra battery on the side. IT also comes with a Wuben branded flat lanyard, and a Wuben branded USB-A to USB-C charging cable, and a pair of extra o’rings. Overall the packaging here is nicer than most other flashlight brands.

Construction
This light is made from Aluminum and anodized in a smooth black semi gloss finish. Starting at the tail cap, the light tail stands well due to the flat tail cap. It has some milled accents in it that serve as grip. Inside the tail spring is double, and beefy. Threads are square cut and smooth, and the oring is large. The lanyard hole is small for the lights diameter, no para cord is fitting through this one. I like that it has a very small battery symbol on the side laser engraved in to tell orientation. More lights should do this. The body tube is glued to the head section of the light. It has lengthwise grooves milled into it that are on the larger side about 4.25mm.

The head section of the light has quite a few milled in areas that act as heat syncs. Flats are milled in for the button and the charging port opposite. The button is surrounded by a silver ring. The button itself is silicone and has a clear W in it so the power indicator LED underneath shows through for battery status.

The charging port opposite is a silicone cover and seems to fit well, I had no air pressure issues with it or having it come loose accidentally. Underneath is a USB-C charging port. The top part of the head has more heat syncs and has 6 design areas milled in. The front strike bezel is raw aluminium with a few machining marks left behind.

Machining quality overall is very good for this price range of light. Edges are chamfered where you expect and a little sharper in others. Overall it creates a nice package, anodizing is good quality too.

Size/Weight/Comparison
Overall max length is 140mm, maximum diameter in the head is 42 mm, minimum diameter is 31mm in the body tube. Weight with the included battery is 256g and the light is IPX68 water rated which is very respectable for onboard charging, Dropping it in water won’t be an issue.

The Lumintop ODF30 is pretty similar in size to the Wuben T70 but without the onboard recharging. Diameter in the head is nearly identical, as is the body tube diameter. The Wuben T70 is about 22mm longer in overall length. I like the extra length of the T70 in my hand and I think it’s a little better balanced light too. See the video for

LED/Runtime/Heat
The Wuben T70 features a Cree XHP 70.2 in Neutral White. It’s a big emitter. The box lists that Wuben plans to offer the light in Warm, Neutral and cool white.

I found the beam to be pleasing for an XHP 70.2, and a good all around beam. The hot spot in the center is relatively large and the spill isn’t too dim. It’s a useful beam for general use. It has some Cree Rainbow being an XHP 70.2, the center is the most neutral white, it goes a bit yellow on the outside of the hotspot, and just slightly blue at the outside edges of the spill.,

The reflector is a nice aggressive orange peel and it has a fairly thick piece of double anti reflective coated glass. Heat is pretty well controlled after 30+ minutes of runtime the light is warm at 104F but not uncomfortable or dangerously hot. It’s large enough that shorter runtimes get a little warmer but nothing to worry about.

Runtime
Turbo Runtime on this light is good for about 3 minutes before the light steps down. This stepdown is significant to about 25% relative output, but remember this is still roughly 1000 lumens. It continues here for a solid 93 minutes before the light steps off sharply at LVP. Overall runtime was 95 minutes from turbo. My runtime test was done with the included 5000mAh Wuben battery.

UI
This light has 2 UI modes, and it’s fairly easy to switch between them. By just triple clicking when the light is on. It confirms you have changed modes by blinking

First is the standard defined mode UI for this light. It’s a Low at 40 lumens, medium at 400, high at 1300, and turbo at 4200. The light has memory so it resumes where you left it when you power it back on. It does have instant access to turbo by pressing and holding when the light is off. I could see this accidently coming on unintentionally but I didn’t have that problem, and losing the tail cap any is a good mechanical lockout. The light has strobe at 4200 lumens, and SOS at 100 lumens. To get to them just double click and single click t o switch between them.

Ramping UI
The ramping UI is also available on this light but it’s got some caveats. It starts on low, and ramps up slowly, blinking at the top, or bottom of the range to let you know where you are. However if you are anywhere in this range that isn’t at the top or bottom and want to go the opposite direction, you can’t you have to go to the end of the range before going backwards. For example if on low and wanting to make the light brighter you click the button and hold and let off when it’s at the desired brightness. Let’s say you have you want to make it less bright, so you press the button again and the brightness continues increasing until you hit turbo at 4200 lumens before you can start decreasing. To further complicate this the light has memory so it can start very bright if that’s the last mode you used.

To improve this it would be simple, like on Narsil firmware just reverse direction when the button is pressed and have it be a little faster.

Charging
The light features USB-C for recharging which is great, but it will only charge with a USB-A to USB-C cable. I tried charging with a USB-C to C cable with various power sources and nothing. This isn’t the first time I have seen this on a USB-C light. Total charge time using a 2A charger, with the included 5000mAh Wuben battery and the supplied USB-A to USB-C cable, was 3 hours 31 minutes.

Pro

Nice machining, anodizing, and overall construction.

Emitter Tint options including neutral and warm white as well as body color choices.

USB-C charging but isn’t USB-C to C compatible like many other lights

Includes a 5000mAh 26650 battery.

Con

Ramping UI has no reverse, so if the light is too bright you have to go all the way to the brightest to then start to decrease it. It would be more useable if had the ability to ramp down when the button is pressed, like the Emisar D4.

Manual needs some polish of a native English speaker.

Short Replacement warranty of 15 days. While the light is warrantied for longer for repair 15 days is very short. Registering the product increases this time.

Conclusion
The Wuben T70 is a pretty good light without any major flaws. I can think of a few ways in my opinion to improve the ramping UI, and make it USB-C PD compatible but that’s about it. It feels nice in the hand, and is pretty well balanced with the 26650 battery. I like that it comes in different body colors, and 3 emitter choices. If you are looking for a little larger general purpose light with USB-C recharging that throws pretty well the Wuben T70 would be a nice choice. I am looking forward to reviewing more lights from Wuben in the future to see what l this new brand can do.

MascaratumB · 2018-11-19T02:16:26.000Z

Thanks for your review liquidretro!
I’ve just reviewed the Camouflage version of this light and I have the same feeling about the UI (specially the ramping mode) as well!
Other than that this is an awesome flashlight, with Wuben quality being of major confidence!!

Also, thanks for the test on runtime and heating, I couldn’t do that on mine, but people will know what to expect from this light, for sure!!
Thanks!