Hello Friends!
Wuben sent me two E2 and asked for a review - so here it is.
Why two? I asked them if they can send me two because I wanted to open one to have a look inside. I was expecting to have to dremel this thing apart to have it opened, because I was certain that it would be glued shut - which it isnt!
So, let’s give you a couple of pictures.
These lights look rather nice, I think. The gradient fits them well. The button is made from aluminum. The light is waterproof
Behind the flat part there is a little PCB on both sides with a row of High-CRI LEDs and a blue and red one.
The USB-C cover is weirdly stiff, it’s not made from rubber but hard plastic with a glued-in part from a somewhat hard rubber. It’s not easy to get it away when you charge the light and it stopped me from disassembling the light further than I did.
Some noname emitter
The damage on the right side is from removing it.
The magnet in the back is strong enough to hold the light on any angle, but it’s not super strong, so having it on an uneven or very small surface probably won’t work well.
I also don’t like magnets on lights made for the keychain.
Wuben has made a necklace for this light with a holder that doesn’t just snap on but has two wings that you may press to release the light
And yes, it’s plenty strong enough…
Now, let’s take it apart! I used one of these super flat 0.1mm thin phone openers and it went very smoothly. Just put them in on both sides and pry a little up and the bezel comes apart.
Inside the bezel there is a mineral lens with a gasket and another gasket that pushes against the case, so that the light is waterproof.
The reflector is made from plastic.
Here you can see the little nubbins where the bezel clicks in
You see the cutout of the PCB, there the rubber-part of the USB-C cover goes in, but I wasn’t able get it out without cutting it, which I didn’t want to.
A little aluminum to dump some heat:
Props for using thermal paste!
It’s really not in the same weight-class with these lights, because all of them are much bigger, heavier and brighter, but I thought it’s good for a size comparison with lights that many of us have.
With some other keychain lights including the one I Use so far (second from left).
Something that I really like, it has a battery indicator:
Thermals:
It does get toasty, but since this light has basically zero thermal capacity, you don’t burn your skin with it.
Front-light:
White side light:
So, the front-LED isn’t something to write home about, but who cares about CRI in a keychain light?
Well, I do.
So I put in a SFT25R 5700K High CRI in one and will put a 519A 5700K in the other.
The UI:
Switch the light on with a simple press. It has memory.
Long press it switches modes.
Double press goes from Front-Light to side-light white to side-light red.
White front modes: Low, Mid, High
White side modes: Pulsing, Mid, High
Red Side light: Flashing in ~0,5Hz (Beacon mode), flashing police (quite slow compared to others)
So, what do I think about it?
Pros:
- Super small
- Not super expensive
- looks and feels very nice
- bright enough for what a keychain light is usually used for
- you can open it without destruction
- 3535 LED for easy modification
- GITD case
- charges with smart USB chargers (those who can deliver more than 5V)
Neutral:
- The LED doesn’t get cooled beyond a little thermal mass of a small aluminum part
- Not super cheap
- It has a magnet (not good for use as a keychain light)
- weirdly stiff USB-C cover
- Low is 5 Lumens which some might find too bright
Negative
- No lockout
And maybe this: While charging, one of the lights gave me a light-show:
It did charge with no problems, but that was irritating. Usually the red light is on during charging and the blue one when it’s done.
I wasn’t able to duplicate this, though.
