Disclaimer: Wuben sent the light to me for free. They did not pay me for the review and they had no influence on it.
Specs by Wuben
You can find all information on the manufacturers site:
What you get in the box and build quality
The light comes in a typical white Wuben box with blue accents. It flips up in two parts and makes a good, high quality first impression. Included is a multilingual manual, a USB-C cable and a lanyard. The battery is shipped inside the light, a little blue tab isolates it for the big journey.
Wuben sent me the white version of light, which would have been my preferred option if I were to choose. The grey-white on the X2 pro was very nice, but the X4 is pure white - so white that it is hard to get a good contrast for pics. It feels amazing.
There is a grey and a black version, too
Manufacturing is flawless. While my X2 pro had a scratchy wheel, a very hard to adjust side light and a not always responding button, the X4 is the complete opposite. The side button feels very good, the wheel runs smoothly with exactly the right resistance for my preferences. The tailswitch is my favourite. It has a very satisfactory click, is easy to find and very well placed so my hand lands nearly automatically on it.
The side slider has enough resistance to not get dislocated in my pocket, every position is easy to find. It’s nicely sized, better than the mini slider on the X2 Pro. I was suspicious if it would work while using the side switch. Before holding the X4 in my hands, I thought that the X2 Pro slider would be better in EDC use, but surprisingly I found the X4 slider to be easier and more comfortable to use.
The optics are the same as the X2 pro, also not covered by glas. Fine for me, no glass that can break and some scratches wont hurt the performance.
The USB-Port is hidden under the side slider. I like ports that are waterproofed internally, that’s way safer than a rubber flap and the slider protects it against dirt. Very good solution.
The anodization is amazing. As I mentioned, it is almost unreal white. Very smooth, a bit slippy, but the light makes up for this with the surprisingly ergonomic shape. The black parts share the same feel.
The battery is inserted from the back. X2 pro and X4 share the mechanism for the battery door. It worked well for me on the X2 pro and so it does on the X4. The mechanical lock works fine, it pops open if you press the unlocked button, makes good contact with the battery and there is a rubber gasket which I absolutely trust for the IP68 rating.
Size
I measured the light on it’s thickest parts including the clip and battery to 143g and 96 3 35,3 x 26mm
left to right: Sofirn SC13 Copper, Wuben X4, Wuben X2 Pro, Sofirn IF24 PRO
Carrying Options
Lanyard: a basic lanyard is included. Unlike the X2 pro there is no hole for it, so you can only attach it to the clip.
Clip: The clip is beefy and strong, very securely attached to the light with 2 screws. Its not deep carry, but has room for thicker webbing or trousers. The clip seems to be slightly too wide for the light. I didn’t even notice this until I read about it, now I have to mention it.
Magnet: There is a magnet in the tail. It is a bit weak, most likely because the lights doen’t sit flat on surfaces because of the tail switch. As long as the surface isn’t slippy, the light will stay put in horizontal position. So it works, but it could be better.
UI
Let’s have a look back at what the community said about the X2 Pro: Moonlight is missing, instant access to turbo is missing and if using the tail switch going to memory wasn’t the best option.
And Wuben listened. And they didn’t only make it better, they made it good! Have a look at the UI table in the manual:
Looks complicated? In fact, its very intuitive. Let’s explain it starting with the side slider:
- Lock - Everything is locked.
- side light: side switch and wheel control the side light, back switch goes to momentary turbo on the front light
- front light: side switch and wheel control the front light, back switch goes momentary turbo on the front light.
- moon: wheel doesn’t do anything, side switch and back switch active moon (no momentary)
- There is strobe: with the side switch in sidelight or frontlight position, double click the tail button.
There is a little inconsistency with the back switch, I would prefer it to be always momentary. I found myself not only once activating moon permanently with the back switch while I intended to use it only for a brief moment, like I do it with turbo on the other side switch positions.
In the side switch mode, as already mentioned, the back switch goes to momentary turbo. Controls for the side switch are:
- click for on/off
- hold from on to change between RGB and white
- Wheel controls brightness on white and colour on RGB - the brightness on RGB ist not changeable.
- From off, a double click activates a two color flash, further double clicks cycle through red-blue, red-green and red-yellow, memorizing the last used mode.
- In color mode, you can activate a beacon in the selected color with a double click
In the front light mode, controls are easy:
- Click for on/off
- Wheel controls brightness from moon to turbo
- double click goes to turbo, another double click goes back to the previous brightness.
Colors in the side light are preset, you can choose between red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, dark blue, purple.
If you use the wheel to change the brightness, it’s mostly smooth and nearly stepless (there are steps, but wuben did a good job with the transition). There is a bit of a jump if you start at moon. Could be smoother, but nothing you wouldn’t experience using a light with preset modes.
There is no more focus option like in the X2 Pro. The UI profited heavily from this. Just for the sake of playing around with it, I wish a triple click could change the wheel from brightness control to focus control.
Beam profile and measurements
Measurements are done in a 30cm integrated sphere with a TSL2591 lux sensor. I didn’t have the chance to use a calibration light until now, but it is dialed in quite good and matches the values of other reviewers very closely. Keep in mind this is hobby equipment and measurements can be flawed. The temperature is measured on the head of the flashlight, but i can’t guarantee it’s on the hottest spot. In addition, I use an Opple Light Master III.
As mentioned in the section above, Wuben removed the focus option on this light. It was so fun to play around with on the X2 Pro and worked really good! But to be honest, I didn’t miss it while using the light. The beam profile is nice, a wide, bright spill with a smooth transition to the big spot. Of course the throw is limited, as always with small lights, but I found the beam very useful for EDC, walking the dog,…
The side light is pure flood and warmer. Compared to the X2 pro it might seem like a downgrade at first, as it has basically a Wuben G5 integrated. It’s not like that, they are simply to different to compare. Each has it’s own advantages and disadvantages. The X2 pro steps down to around 200 lumen very quickly and is unregulated, the X4 keeps its output steady. I measured 125 Lumen, so quite a bit over spec. I double and triple checked that, but it also corresponds to my optical impression. Very nice!
The front light hits the spec at startup, quickly stepping down. But after the stepdown, it’s regulated very well. I think this (and only supporting one battery type) is the main reason wuben ditched the focus - it’s not easy to regulate the output if you have the LEDs on different channels, and it gets nearly impossible if you want to keep price and size reasonable. Good decision, if you ask me.
CRI is low, on the frontlicht I measured 67, on the sidelight 71.
CCT on the front ranges from 5700K (DUV 0,011) on low to 6200K (DUV 0,003) on Turbo.
The sidelight doesn’t change over the brightness scale, it’s allways around 4000K and DUV 0,004.
The flicker test of the Light Master Pro is in the green area over all modes on both light sources.
Summary
I really liked the X2 Pro and carried it quite a bit. As Wuben reached out and asked if I wanted to try the X4, I immediately said YES! And it didn’t disappoint.
The shape of the light is a perfect fit for my hands, so are the buttons, wheel and slider. The UI has changed in all the little things I didn’t like in the X2 Pro. Unlike my X2 Pro, my X4 matches the spec, is regulated very well, has a moon mode and finally the back button not only feels really gut but is also perfectly integrated in the UI.
I really dig the futuristic look of the Wuben ECL Series and hope they continue evolving this further,
I don’t want to praise the light overly much, but it got me from the first second I had it in my hands.
And while I didn’t miss the focus in real use, I missed playing around with it. Hope Wuben brings it back some day in a future light, as it is unique and a good fidget toy.