First impression, right out of the box: I like it! A lot!
(Disclaimer: This light was provided to me by Wuben)
Meet the Wuben X3 Owl!
The Owl is a very unique flashlight. Why call it the Owl? Well… it has 2 big eyes on the front. And, the head swivels around. It can be a straight light. Or, a right angle light. Is this useful? Yup! I found it to be very useful.
I’ve been carrying this light around for a few days. And, Wuben really did good on this one. The swivel head, the charging case, the high CRI LED, the red light, the digital display. It’s a great light!
First up, the white LED. It’s a Samsung LH351D 5000k. Slightly green. But, 90 CRI. It’s only rated for 700 lumens. But, that’s quite enough to light up a room.
The red light: It appears to be an SST-20. But, it’s not DR. Maybe something in the 630nm range? I’m not sure. However, 80 lumens of it is much brighter than it sounds.
Features of the Owl:
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Swivel head: I’ve found this to be extremely helpful. Sometimes I need a straight light. Sometimes I need right angle light. Even in situations where I previously used a straight light, standing this guy up with the head swiveled 180 degrees has made life a bit easier. The swivel function is tight enough to hold it in place. However, it’s not too tight where it’s difficult to rotate the head.
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Digital Display: The display is very handy! It doesn’t overload you with useless info. It just provides the necessities. Current level, Lumens and battery. The lumens are adjustable from 1 - 50 - 150 lumens. And then double click for Turbo and get 700 lumens. When charging, it shows percentage in 10% increments. It would be nice to see this in 1% increments. But, it’s not even close to a deal breaker.
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The whole light: The flat, kinda wide light fits comfortably in my larger hands. I have no problem holding the light or pressing the buttons with the head in either orientation. The body of the light is semi-opaque white hard plastic. Some of the internals are visible through the body. There are also 2 blue LED’s inside the body that shine through, and can be turned off if desired. The plastic parts of the body (at least 74% of the body) are GITD! Functional use or nifty gimmick? I feel it’s somewhere in the middle. Obviously GITD is good for finding it in a dark room. However, like all GITD, you need a light source to charge it. It doesn’t get a lot of charge (if any at all) from the light sources on the head. However, the blue lights do provide a small amount of light that will then provide a small amount of glow from the body. At the base of the body are the “feet”. These are multi-use. They provide the connection to charge the battery from the case. And they house the magnets. The magnets are… not great! Are they strong enough to hold the light? Yes. However, they’re housed in some black plastic pieces that make them slick. So, while it’ll stick to a vertical surface, I’ve yet to find one where it didn’t slide right off. I was able to stick it to my pocket knife and hold it upside-down. However, even rotating the knife a few degrees caused the light to slide off. Believe it or not, this is one of only two major complaint about this light. My other complaint is that there is no USB-C way to charge battery in the light without the case. However, there is a wireless charging pad on the front of the light. I’ve tried it… it’s very finnicky! Fitting a USB-C charger in the light would make a lot more sense than wireless charging. The pocket clip is just right! Tight! But, not too tight. Wide! But, not too wide. It is only a 1 way clip, though. However, the swivel head makes a 2-way clip almost not needed.
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The charging case: A little bulky to carry in shorts/pants pockets. But, easily manageable in a jacket pocket. The light fits very snug in the case. However, it’s not difficult to remove, at all. There’s a cover that flips open to hold the light in. The lid is opaque and is intended to be used as a shade while the light is in the case. The top of the case is open to give access to the button and display. It also houses a 3000mah, non-replaceable battery. Setting the light in the case and turning it on with the cover closed provides a very nice, floody light. The red light also functions the same way. There’s a USB-C charging port on the front with a rubber cover. And at the end of that cover is a button. Press it and a light turns on next to it for a few seconds. This is a charge level indicator. Blue–Red–Flashing Red. When it hits flashing red, it’s time to charge the case. The back side of the case only has the connector for the lanyard.
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The lanyard/charging cable: I’ve never seen a charging cable like this one. At first glance, it looks like a wide lanyard. Press the buttons and the “wide lanyard” pops out of its housing and is now a USB-C to USB-C charging cable. Check out that housing. It’s got a lightning cable adapter built in! You can charge either an Android, or an iPhone from the case!
Pics:
Size comparison to a G5 and X4
Glowy Owl!
Pros:
Decent LED that’s not trying to be a lumen monster.
Nice, small design
Lots of unique features
3000mah charging case
Powerbank functionality
That charging cable!
GITD body (I like it, even if it’s barely a function)
Red light
Digital Display
Lid that doubles as a shade (I like it and will use it often)
Cons:
Lack of USB-C charging on the light, itself
Magnets that barely function.
Overall thoughts:
I really like this light. If you go for the charging case option, it’s well worth the money. I feel that the added features were ones that were well thought out and are actually useable. Some may not have been executed the best. But, in the end, they still help.