EDIT - Please note the TS21 tends to step down and become dimmer extremely quickly and what I do to improve this is set the thermal limit to 55°C. IMHO, one main reason to get this light is if you are an experienced hobbyist and want to “collect” the fantastic Nichia 219c 5000k LED in this Wurkkos light (no tint shift, just pure “white” color/daylight light).
The birth of this new TS21 version likely started with the above exchange months ago in a review thread of TS21 w/ Luminus SST20 LED. Someone was complaining about the green tint of SST20, and Wurkkos responded with the possibility of improving tint by replacing it with Nichia 219c. The reason for the existence of this new TS21 is clear - great beam color from its LED, Nichia 219c. It’s available at Aliexpress site here.
The 219c 5000k at time of release is the best LED in the Wurkkos line up wrt to CRI, Ra, R9. Whereas Nichia 219b is legendary for its below-BBL magenta tint (and the number of people obsessed with it, me included), the 219c does not have quite the same reputation. What it does have is a fantastic daylight neutral-tint, its CCT is 5000k and Duv extremely close to the BBL line. In actual use, it is the LED that makes things look most like how they were during the day. For this reason, I think it would be a great addition to any Nichia light collection. The beam is devoid of any color, whether magenta of 219b 4500k, or greenish hell of some Cree LED’s.
My light has the blue - pink cameo finish, which I was too keen about at first but now that it’s no longer made, I like it better lol. My favorite is still red.
The light has been reviewed extensively so I will just touch on a few MUST DO’s :
1. Increasing max thermal limit above the default 45 degrees C is necessary to because the TS21 has among the fastest and most severe step-downs I’ve experienced. At default level, brightness fades quickly, much faster than Sofirn IF25a and Emisar D4V2 for example. I reset my max limit to 55° C at first, and now 60° C.
2. Calibration of temp is absolutely necessary. My TS21 read 24 C when actual room temp was 21, further worsening its tendency to fade when hot.
3. The button light (aka Auxilliary LED) on HIGH setting has too much parasitic drain (~13 mA, much more than typical 1.5 mA). It’s therefore very important to set the button light to either DIM (too dim for me) or BLINKING. And since in Anduril 2 there is apparently LVP (meaning the Aux LED will automatically turn off if battery is less than 2.8V) only for blinking, not dim mode, blinking or off are the preferred two settings.
4. The switch button, which has 2 LED colors: blue during charging, and amber during standby, seems to be behaving better but still not perfect. The blue LED doesn’t turn on randomly anymore. So far I only see it coming on after unplugging from charging cable and after entering Anduril menu to adjust setting such as thermal calibration, lasting about 30 seconds, but not any other time, mostly.
5. The switch-button’s amber-colored light OTOH is still a little odd. At the top 3 brightest level, it’s on both during standby and when light is on. At the 4 lower brightness levels, it’s on during standby, but turns OFF when light is on. BTW, at low setting, this amber light is barely visible. I set mine either off completely or “blinking” so it’s visible but doesn’t consume too much energy.
Measurement from maukka using Convoy diffuser, showing a bin with R9080 LED’s. HERE and HERE (with Reylight’s Smooth Reflector) Ra 94, R9 81. The LED in my Wurkkos has Ra = 95.6, R9 not known.
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and others on “untinted/neutral white light” (above the BBL at 5000k) versus people’s preference for negative DUV (under the BBL, like the magenta tint of 219b sw45k).
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. Samsung is above BBL line (yellow greenish), one Nichia is close to BBL line (slightly above), and the other Nichia is below BBL (magenta).
