This is the Wuben X4 a multi-purpose EDC flashlight with a lot of features, side neutral white/RGB AUX, brightness ramp with a dimmer rotating switch, mode sliding selector, USB-C charging, tail magnet and more!
• My opinion:
The X4 has a lot of good features condensed in a single flashlight, in fact it has so many features that it confused me sometimes, the X4 is not perfect, as it tries to do everything in a small body, but it has many useful features that for those that like multi-feature flashlights will like, especially if you want to carry a single light for everything. In my opinion 4 cool white emitters on the main beam is too much, it could have a single throwy emitter like the SFT-25R and red/UV emitters to add more useful features to the package, or even add some warm/neutral LEDs to the main beam and let you select a throwy or floody beam on the main light, the side neutral white emitters are pretty good and have a nice tint, very good for doing up close work.
I think I would trade the rotating dimmer for more water resistante, as, for me, the dimmer is more of a gimmick than actually useful, as it will probably fill with dust in the future and makes the light less water resistant. The tail switch feels good to click, but it could be used to actually turn the flashlight ON instead of only momentary.
• Pros:
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Useful battery indicator
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3 types of illumination options
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Nice tint on the side neutral white emitters
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Tail switch with easy and fast access to “Turbo” and “Strobe”
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Accepts protected/unprotected button-top/flat-top batteries
• Cons:
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TIR not protected by glass
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Mode slider selector turns the light OFF when changing modes
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Main cool white emitters have a slightly green tint]
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Dimmer is not much precise
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IP65 rating
• Box contents
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X4
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21700 Wuben protected Li-ion battery
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Wuben lanyard
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USB-C charging cable
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User manual
• Price
The Wuben X4 is currently priced at $49.99 in Wuben official store
• Body and build quality
Colors/Material Options: The X4 is available only in aluminum, with 3 anodizing colors: White (featured on this review), Grey and Black.
Material: The main body is entirely made of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy, with what I suppose to be standard type II anodizing.
Main body: The main body has a lot of smooth areas, there are some screws on the button side.
Clip: The clip does not have the strongest grip, but it will hold the flashlight well. The clip is held by 2 Allen screws on the main body.
Tail stand and rolling: The X4 can head/tail stand and does not roll.
AUX lights: It has RGB lights and 4000K white light as a side light, the light is very diffused. It’s possible to adjust the brightness of the white light, but not of the RGB as it can only cycle between the 7 colors available and blinkies. The RGB light cannot be configured to be always ON and help to find the flashlight in the dark.
Buttons: This flashlight features 4 buttons, one standard e-switch to turn the flashlight ON/OFF, one tail button for quick “tactical” access, one slider mode selector button, and, one of the highlights of this flashlight, the rotating button for changing brightness level/RGB color. The slider mode selector button is kind of annoying, because if you try to change modes when the flashlight is already ON, it will turn OFF the flashlight, also, the rotating brightness selector is not much precise and sometimes you need to move it a lot to start changing the brightness, this is helpful to prevent accidental changes on brightness though.
Battery contact: Contact is made with the battery by 2 gold-plated springs. I usually prefer springs for battery contact because they absorb impact if the flashlight is dropped and protect the driver/LED.
Bezel: The bezel is a little higher than the TIR lens to help prevent scratches.
Water Resistance: It has IP65 ingrees rating, this means that it can withstand jets of water, but cannot be submerged; the main water-proofing is made by a rubber gasket on the tail cap held by pressure of the tail cap lock, the bezel also has O-rings and also on the lens.
Magnets: The tail cap has a strong magnet to hold the flashlight horizontally and vertically.
Size comparison: FireFlies X4 Stellar (21700) on the left and Convoy S2+ (18650) on the right.
• Weight and size
Weight:
-With battery: 141.4g
-Without battery: 91.7g
-Battery (Wuben 18650): 49.8g
Size: 34.1mm (length) x 26.4mm (width – with clip) x 96mm (height)
• Battery, runtime, and charging
Battery: The Wuben X4 comes with an 18650 Wuben branded battery ABE3400 with 3350mAh of capacity. The battery is protected as it is 69.0mm tall, around 4mm taller than usual 18650 batteries. Non-protected cells can also be used on this flashlight.
Battery Indicator: It features battery indicator on the side RGB LEDs! To access it you must select the side light or the main throw light on the mode slider selector and, with the light OFF, hold the main e-switch for 1 second. The RGB light will light up and represent the battery level as it follows:
| Color | Battery Level |
|---|---|
| Solid Blue | ≥ 90% |
| Flashing Blue | 90% - 40% |
| Solid Red | 40% - 15% |
| Flashing Red | ≤ 15% |
Charging: The X4 features USB-C charging on the main body, the USB-C port is hidden below the mode slider selector, to access it you need to slide the selector all the way to “moonlight”, then the USB-C port will be accessible. It has an input of 5V 2.4A and is expect to fully charge the battery in 2.5h. The red RGB light will turn ON when the flashlight is charging, and when fully charged the blue light will be lit. The USB-C charging cable actually has the Wuben logo, which is not common for flashlights to come with the brand name on cable, as usually the cables are generic, this one at least has the brand name.
• Modes, Runtimes, Throw, Candela:
Modes: The X4 main light has a smooth ramp, so the only pre-defined brightness levels are “Turbo” with 1500 lumens, and “Moonlight” with 5 lumens (Which is not an ideal moonlight in my opinion). The side white light has also a smooth ramp with “Turbo” having 100 lumens and “moonlight” 1 lumen. The RGB lights have a locked brightness at 10 lumens.
Turbo: This flashlight turbo has around 1500 lumens, very bright, gets hot fast thought, around 30 to 40 seconds before major stepdown.
Moonlight: Moonlight is also present on this flashlight, but it has around 5 lumens, which is too bright for a moonlight mode in my opinion. The moonlight is not bad, and has no PWM, but it’s too bright.
Blinkies: It features some flashing modes, as tactical strobe on the main cool white light by triple clicking, red-blue/yellow/green flashing and also RGB flashing.
Advertised specs:
Main Cool white light (FL1 Standard)
| Mode | Brightness level (lumens) | Runtime |
|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 1500 lumens | 40s - 3h |
| Moonlight | 5 lumen | 285h |
*I noticed a stepdown at around 40 seconds of Turbo.
Side light (FL1 Standard)
| Mode | Brightness level (lumens) | Runtime |
|---|---|---|
| Neutral White (Turbo) | 100 lumens | 8h |
| Neutral White (Moonlight) | 1 lumen | 720h |
| RGB | 10 lumens | 70h |
| RGB Blinkies | 10 lumens | 250h |
| Multi-color flashing | 10 lumens | 185h |
Throw: The flashlight is tested to throw 205m on the FL1 standard, by my testing it could reach 100m but was not that bright, so I assume it could hit around 150m with the light still being useful, decent for an EDC flashlight with so many features.
• Emitter, reflector and CRI:
Emitter: Wuben, sadly, does not specified the emitters anywhere I could find, and I also couldn’t recognize the LEDs. For the main cool white beam, it seems to use 4 of the same tiny LED, each with a type of TIR optic; they have some green tint, especially on lower levels, not the worst I’ve seen though, it’s only slightly green; they are all turned ON at the same time, you cannot choose which turns ON. The neutral white lamp and RGB lights have a plastic diffuser in front of it, making them super floody.
Lens: The TIR is not protected by glass lens.
Reflector/TIR: It has 4 TIR optics on the main white beam, one beaded for a floody beam, two being on the sides for a better flood illumination and one large clear TIR for throw.
Beam profile: The hotspot is not a perfect circle from up close if you go wall hunting (lol), but with some meters it appears more pleasant, the transition between the hotspot and the flood area is smooth. Around the flood circle there are artifacts only visible if you point it at a wall from up close.
CRI: All the LEDs seem to have standard CRI.
• Beamshots Camera settings:
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35mm lens 1" F8 ISO800
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(The trees at the back are at a distance of around 100m)
X4 - “Turbo” (1500 lumens)**
I always try to match what my eyes can see on the beamshots, so camera settings may vary.
• Driver and UI
Driver: The driver is not stated anywhere, but certainly it is a regulated driver, as the LEDs have no PWM and I didn’t notice output drop when the battery level dropped.
UI: The UI has a lot of buttons to press, the main e-switch is for turning the flashlight ON/OFF; the tail “tactical” switch goes to momentary turbo by clicking it, double-clicking it will go to strobe mode; the mode slider selector if for… well, selecting the mode you want, from top to bottom: moonlight - main cool white beam - side neutral white/RGB - lockout; and the rotating dimmer is for changing the brightness level.
Low Voltage Warning: Yes, the battery indicator will flash red when the battery charge is too low.
Reverse Polarity Protection: It features reverse polarity protection, so don’t worry if you insert the battery by the wrong side.
Temperature Control: The brightness output will drop significantly when the driver reaches a hot temperature around 55°C (131 °F).
Lockout: The light features lockout on the mode selector, the flashlight will not turn ON when the lockout mode is selected.
A special thanks to Telma and Wuben for sending this flashlight for me to review!
*I am not being paid to do this review, everything here is my honest opinion.
Thank you for reading my review 