Introduction.
The latest edition of diving lights by Wurkkos is the DL02, and I have to say, it’s unique! It’s the first I’ve seen with a “pointer” switch to select low, medium, high, or off. No more confusion about what mode you’re in, whether there’s one more mode higher or lower, etc. You can tell visually and by feel where it is. Totally tactile!
[photo courtesy of Wurkkos]
Description and first impressions.
The light came in the typische orange and white Wurkkos box with the light, included cell inside, lanyard, extra O-rings, and charger with usb cable. The included cell is a 5000mAH 21700 in Wurkkos livery.
The light itself is a smooth semigloss black. Everything’s nicely machined, no sharp edges or corners anywhere, flawless anodisation. Tapping on the front glass yields a dull thump, so it feels like the front glass is thick.
The battery tube is a bit concave, narrowed at the middle for good grip. There’s no knurling anywhere, which is what I’ve seen on most diving lights. I imagine that’s to not abrade sensitive things like air-hoses? Either way, the narrowed tube provides a good grip when holding the light “sword” style, that your longest fingers find that groove and hold onto the light pretty securely.
The rear raised-tab that’s for the lanyard is nicely done. Smooth curves/chamfers, thick tab, wide cutout for the thick lanyard material.
Modes and mode-selection.
The 3 modes are all their is, aside from off. High is 3000lm which later drops to 1800lm and then finally 1000lm. Medium is 1000lm which after a couple of hours drops to 300lm. Low is 300lm which goes for 12 hours according to the manual. No crazy blinkies or anything, which is refreshing.
The selector switch defines the modes and the UI. Off is straight up/down. Flicking the switch to the left instantly goes to high. There’s no mistaking that. Flicking the switch to the right gets you to medium, and an extra push in that direction gets you to low. Again, there’s no mistaking which modes you want or are in.
Each position is 45deg offset, with off being at the 6:00 position. High would be at 7:30 on the left. Medium at 4:30, and low at 3:00. So again, each position is incredibly easy to tell, both visually and by feel. Nice!
Charge indicator.
In the middle of the selector switch is an LED that shows the charge state after you turn on the light. Unlike other lights which just flash the status when the light is first turned on, the DL02 keeps showing the status as long as the light is on. Again, no more surprises if the power runs down! You’ll see it to from green to flashing-green to red and then to flashing red the entire time. According to the manual, solid green is 75% to 100% charge. Flashing green from 75% down to 50%. Red from 50% down to 10%. Flashing red from 10% 'til it runs down altogether. Underwater, you absolutely need to know the charge status, and if you start running low on power, as to not get caught in the dark!
The beam.
The actual beam is a nice tight hotspot that’s meant to cut through the water and light up what’s in front of you. While I’m definitely a fan of floody beams, while underwater, you’re not likely to be looking at stuff just a few feet in front of you as you might do at home and even in a single room, but are instead looking at coral, critters, etc., well out on front of you, and need a throwy beam.
So a tight beam with some spill around the periphery is what the DL02 serves up. There’s a bit of a bullseye pattern but nothing too distracting. I haven’t heard of many white walls underwater, so a perfectly artifact-free beam shouldn’t be an issue. And the intensity of the spot is so much more than that of the spill. Color is almost perfectly neutral, or “white-white”. There’s no corona to speak of, as the hotspot is pretty tight, and spill more or less matches the hotspot’s color-temperature as well. I’m actually surprised there’s no yellowish corona or anything, as that seems to be the norm, but this beam is quite clean.
Diving?
I had the light soaking in a utility sink overnight, then turned on for an hour or so, then taken out. No water ingress or any condensation inside at all. Okay, so that’s more snorkeling depth than diving, but I don’t have any deep-enough utility sinks. 
Final thoughts.
I guess that’s it, as the design is solid, the UI is incredibly simple, and the beam is appropriately throwy. Unlike most general-purpose or EDC lights, the features of the DL02 are designed solidly with divers and diving in mind. The positive ID of the switch and the selected light level. The charge-status being lit all the time Everything! Not a hint of guesswork.
While I don’t scuba-dive, I do like dive-lights for weather extremes, as they’re definitely unaffected by rain, even monsoons. Drop one in a puddle or even in a water-tank, and you can retrieve it without issue. In fact, just hose it off with more water and it’s good as new.
Still, if you dive, I think the DL02 is an excellent choice as it removes any guesswork, from the mode it’s in or what you want to select, right down to the state of charge as you’re using it. No surprises from anywhere. Noice!