WowTac A6 // Compact-USB Rechargeable 18650 EDC // Full Review

robo819 · 2019-12-11T11:17:51.000Z

This is the WowTac A6 , a very compact , USB rechargeable 18650 EDC light. (2 year warranty on the lights from WowTac.)
The A6 was sent to me from WowTac for review NO other compensation other than keeping the light.

Light can be found on Amazon …… Amazon.com

or on the main WowTac site …… Wowtac A2S LED Headlamp
For those with Facebook here is the link for their page … WOWTAC (ALL links are NON affiliated)

The A6 came well packed in a larger Amazon box with large bubble wrap inside and the WowTac box inside that.
The contents included the Light itself , the clip , 2 extra O-rings , 1 extra USB port cover , USB charging cord , owners manual and the wowtac branded 2600mAh cell.

*NOTE: This light does work fine with other protected cells and will work with button top high drain , but a solid bump on the tail end can make the light go off or flicker with shorter unprotected cells. I found that it does not make a difference however on the output no matter what cell I used in the light , it keeps about the same lumen output.

As mentioned already this is a very compact 18650 light , as shown here beside the BLF A6 (left) and the Thorfire TG06 (right) and the light alone.

A sturdy clip that holds well in jeans and cargo pants (have not tried slacks)

The A6 has an Orange peel reflector for a broad beam with smooth transition from the hotspot and a smooth bezel on it. The LED is perfectly centered and it does have AR coated lens. It is also easy to open and get to the LED , so probably a good candidate if you wanted to mod this light.

All of the anodizing looked great out of the box and I found NO thin or bare spots , pinpricks , or anything of that nature. The threads are all well cut square threads and are very smooth on my sample.

All the knurling is well made and grippy.
The tailcap is flat , so it tail stands well and there is a lanyard eyelet that will not interfere with the tail standing , if you wish to add a lanyard.

The branding or etching is well done and the switch and USB ports are laid into the light nicely.

The switch also has a power / Low Voltage indicator , with Blue showing power on (except moon mode) and Red showing when the voltage is low. This same indicator also shows Red when charging from USB and then Blue when the cell is fully charged. The cell can be taken out of the light and charged externally also , if you prefer NOT to charge the cell inside the light.

The UI is a very simple one…….Press and hold (about 1 1/2 second) for Moon mode….a quick click to turn light on …… press and hold to cycle Low/Medium/High…… A quick double click for the Turbo Mode (from any mode including off) and 3 quick clicks gets you to the hidden strobe (from any mode including off). Also there is mode memory for the Low / Medium and High Modes. Simply turn the light off in any of those 3 modes and when you turn it back on it will remember the last used mode.

Overall a very well built little light and as mentioned it is very compact and can be charged from a computer , wall wart , power bank , in the car , or a regular external charger can be used if you would rather remove the cell and do that. It gets a thumbs up in my book even if the Turbo lumens on my sample are a little lower than listed.

Note…. *Wowtac requested that I do the drop testing and water testing on this light (as they have with the last few) which surprises me really , because most companies do not ask that of a reviewer. Also I emailed them telling them that the A6 was not making the 1460 lumens that is listed for this light , but in fact only making 1251 lumens at start from my sample. They have referred the problem over to the tech department for further analysis , but I was informed the lights being tested at the factory are in fact making at , or close to the listed specs.
They told me to carry on with my review because it is my actual test results and an honest review………….so Kudos to them for being open and honest about ALL the products and NOT just the ones that get good reviews or praise.*

*Here are my charts from the Lumens , tail amperage and run time test that I did……….

The Beamshots………

3 feet / white garage door / Low Mode

10 yards … L / M / H / Turbo

Gate 50 yards …. High / Turbo

Gate 75 yards …. High / Turbo

Garage 70 yards … High / Turbo

If you do not want to see the whole video , but maybe interested in seeing the WATER TESTING (starts at 13:32 of video timeline) , DROP TESTING (starts at 15:53 in video timeline) , or the live outdoor footage comparing the BLF A6 and the Olight M2T warrior with the Wowtac A6……that footage starts at 17:34 of the timeline.

Video followed by listed specs…………

FEATURES
LED:SST40 with a lifespan of 20 years of run time*
1Max Output:1460 LumenPowered By:1*18650 Battery (Included)Weight:96g (excluding battery).
Dimension:98.5mm*26.5mm*23.5mm
•Runs on: Wowtac li-ion 18650 battery (3.7V/2600mAh).
•Super Bright: Max 1460 lumens LED flashlight producing an intense beam of bright light up to 571 feet.
•Quality & Reliable: Premium AL T6061-T6 made, waterproof to IPX-8 for all weather condition, 1.5 meters impact resistance tested.
•Versatile Modes: Intelligent Low / Medium / High / Turbo / Strobe / Firefly light modes, makes A6 the perfect handhold tactical flashlight for hunting, camping, fishing, indoor and outdoor activities.
•Favorable Design: 1-inch diameter design for any tactical devices, pocket-size shape suitable for tool use and handheld, anti-slip knurling on flashlight body, memory function and low voltage indication available.
•Dimension: 98.5mm*26.5mm*23.5mm.
•30 days worry-free money back; 2 years limited warranty for flashlight; 1 year limited warranty for battery.

ACCESSORIES
•Spare O-rings x 2
•Customized USB rechargeable 2600mAh 18650 battery x 1
•USB charge Cable x 1
•Instruction Manual x 1
•Pocket

ggf31416 · 2019-12-11T14:32:23.000Z

Zeroair got 1465lm, I’m not sure if the lumen measurement calibrations are different or they are using different SST40 bins in manufacturing. ~~Which version was the one you tested, the CW or the NW?~~ Edit: it was the CW.

robo819 · 2019-12-11T14:57:23.000Z

ggf31416:

Zeroair got 1465lm, I’m not sure if the lumen measurement calibrations are different or they are using different SST40 bins in manufacturing. ~~Which version was the one you tested, the CW or the NW?~~ Edit: it was the CW.

Yea it has me and WowTac both scratching our head. I know my light box (tube) is pretty dang accurate and even went back and checked it against several lights that I know the lumens are correct on , just to be sure something had not changed.

I calibrated my light tube off the Maukka light set and I was 3% under his calibration lights. All the known output lights I checked are still spot on , so I guess maybe I just got a driver with a different resistor or something maybe.

I have the A4 V2 to review next and it shows really close to their listing of 1895 lumens , with my set up showing 1910 lumens.

Bearbreeder · 2019-12-11T19:01:17.000Z

Thanks for the review

Thats a mighty big stepdown

Firelight2 · 2019-12-11T19:28:48.000Z

Cute little light.

The knurling looks awesome! Looks very grippy.

djozz · 2019-12-11T22:22:35.000Z

I like it too, it will make a great bike light. A bit expensive so I hope for a deal at some point.

Thanks for the nice review and very good pictures. One complaint: those fast picture-swapping gifs are very tiring (I’m the pre-MTV generation) and make me not check the pictures very well (hey that looks l…no,gone). I would not mind all the pictures as still pictures in the review.

wle · 2019-12-11T22:12:14.000Z

looks like the same switch as manker u11 and e11 === TERRIBLE!

i hope not but the manker switches look and act the same as this one

wle

robo819 · 2019-12-12T00:57:18.000Z

wle:

looks like the same switch as manker u11 and e11 === TERRIBLE!

i hope not but the manker switches look and act the same as this one

wle

It is just a little E-switch. Kind of small for my thumbs or fingers so I don’t get a good click on it sometimes.

robo819 · 2019-12-12T00:59:17.000Z

djozz:

I like it too, it will make a great bike light. A bit expensive so I hope for a deal at some point.

Thanks for the nice review and very good pictures. One complaint: those fast picture-swapping gifs are very tiring (I’m the pre-MTV generation) and make me not check the pictures very well (hey that looks l…no,gone). I would not mind all the pictures as still pictures in the review.

I was putting the link to my still photos in my reviews and have forgotten to do so the last few reviews.

Here is a link to all the stills if you want to look though…………

postimg.cc

Wowtac A6 — Postimages

robo819 · 2019-12-12T01:01:15.000Z

Firelight2:

Cute little light.

The knurling looks awesome! Looks very grippy. :sunglasses:

very compact and yes the knurling does have a good grip.

robo819 · 2019-12-12T01:01:56.000Z

Bearbreeder:

Thanks for the review

Thats a mighty big stepdown

Glad to do the review………yea the step down is a big one.

Firelight2 · 2019-12-18T08:28:06.000Z

One other observation:

The head on the Wowtac A6 is almost identical to the head on the Thrunite T1.

They have the dimensions, fins, button and charging port cover.
The T1 has a silver-colored bezel, while the A6 has a slightly thinner black anodized bezel.
The UIs are slightly different.
The driver circuitry is slightly different. I assume the T1 has a boost driver to power the neutral white XHP 50.2, while the A6 has a linear driver for its SST-40.
The A6 has an 18650 tube while the T1 has an 18350 tube with different knurling. The threads are the same and the battery tubes are interchangeable between both lights.

robo819 · 2019-12-18T09:04:46.000Z

Firelight2:

One other observation:

The head on the Wowtac A6 is almost identical to the head on the Thrunite T1.

They have the dimensions, fins, button and charging port cover.

The T1 has a silver-colored bezel, while the A6 has a slightly thinner black anodized bezel.

The UIs are slightly different.

The driver circuitry is slightly different. I assume the T1 has a boost driver to power the neutral white XHP 50.2, while the A6 has a linear driver for its SST-40.

The A6 has an 18650 tube while the T1 has an 18350 tube with different knurling. The threads are the same and the battery tubes are interchangeable between both lights.

You are correct. WowTac is partnered with ThruNite and many of the designs are the same or similar. The main difference is that on SOME of the lights from wowtac you may find a slightly thinner battery tube or some other very minor difference. The build quality however is usually right there with the Thrunite stuff.

Basically wowtac is just a less expensive version of the Thrunite products I guess you would say.

EDIT: this is even in the product description on some of the newer Wowtac models…………

WOWTAC——Sub-brand Of ThruNite

WOWTAC is committed to providing millions of outdoor sports enthusiasts with professional and cost-effective flashlight products.

So far,ThruNite and WOWTAC have sold millions of flashlights all over the world, and our product are highly recommended by customers.

We will always maintain our original intention,providing better products to support our outdoor adventure fans.

fluke · 2020-01-02T21:17:27.000Z

This is legoable with Thrunite T1 as long as head end of tube is correctly orientated.

Oli · 2020-07-21T17:08:42.000Z

Neutral white is now an option on Amazon.com

VrestoTaylor · 2021-11-16T19:35:55.000Z

Reflowing the original led with xhp50 makes sense here? With this original driver……
btw-anyone knows where to buy it? Cant find it…

Firelight2 · 2021-11-16T19:52:35.000Z

Wowtac A6 uses a linear driver, so you’ll need the 3V version of the XHP 50, which is available from Kaidomain. The downside of the 3V version is that it is only available in 6500K cool white.

VrestoTaylor · 2021-11-16T21:28:40.000Z

Firelight2:

Wowtac A6 uses a linear driver, so you’ll need the 3V version of the XHP 50, which is available from Kaidomain. The downside of the 3V version is that it is only available in 6500K cool white.

ok ok thank you…anyway,the driver will not give max potential of the led or?

robo819 · 2021-11-17T05:27:47.000Z

The stock driver in the light would not give nearly enough to push the XHP 50. You would need 3 to 4 times the amperage probably, to get good performance from the 4 die emitter.

VrestoTaylor · 2021-11-17T08:53:43.000Z

robo819:

The stock driver in the light would not give nearly enough to push the XHP 50. You would need 3 to 4 times the amperage probably, to get good performance from the 4 die emitter.

ok thanks a lot.Resolved:)