Wuben T101 Long range flashlight Review (XHP70,3480Lm,2x18650) Outdoor beamshots

Hello
This is my second review of a flashlight provided by Wubenlight for test and review.

The current review is on the biggest flashlight in their product line,the T101.
It is a 3480 lumens flashlight powered by two 18650 batteries.
The powerful beam is entrusted to a large multi-die Cree XHP70 LED.
Wuben T101 can be operated by the tail switch for On/Off and mode changing by an electronic side switch.
The model is also equipped with a built-in charging electronics.
Read the review below for more information,my thoughts,runtime measurements and outdoor beamshots.

Weight comparison with other similar form flashlights.
Wuben T101= 462gr.
Fenix TK47= 475gr.
Olight M3XSUT= 367gr.
ThruNite Catapult V5= 652gr.
Nitecore TM16= 696gr.(not on the picture)

In size Wuben T101 is not much different than the other similar 2x18650 flashlights.
It has a cleaner design,as the head looks very well with all the needed cooling fins,stainless steel bezel and large,square button with the W letter.
The battery tube lacks any specific knurling or grooves.
Black matte anodizing.
Wuben 18650- Wuben T101- Fenix TK47- Olight M3XSUT- ThruNite Catapult V5

Cree XHP70, Cree XP-L Hi, Olight M3XSUT, ThruNite Catapult V5

Pictures from the included instruction sheet.

Wuben T101 comes in a nice hard case with metal frame and insulating foam inside.

Inside the case.
A wall charger with EU and US plug is included. Output 5V,2A.
Connecting the flashlight is possible with the included USB C cable.

Two spare O-rings and instruction sheet are also included.
The hard plastic case with metal frame is a good way to carry and store the flashlight with all of the needed accessories.
There is a place for spare batteries as well.

Wuben T101 comes with two Wuben 18650 IMR batteries with capacity of 2600mAh.
There is no any marking but the batteries seem to have a protection circuit,which is a good idea knowing the T101 can charge the batteries inside the body,connected in series.
adding these batteries to the set is a great option for new users and even for me,as this saves us the higher care with finding correct high discharge batteries with protection circuit.

In my medium size hand. There is no much anti-slip grooves(no knurling),but I did not find it a problem with this large flashlight.
The only thing that bothers me a little is that the reflector is very deep and the most of the heat goes to the cooling fins at the sides of the switch.
I can easily notice the heat while using the T101 on Turbo mode. The cooling fins positioned closer to the bezel get much less of the heat.
To sum up,it is getting hot around the switch,while working on Turbo mode.


The side switch is big and comfortable.It is designed to fit any size fingers.
It is relatively easy to find in the dark by touch,especially compared to other flashlights,for example Fenix TK47 is taking me a lot of time,as well as the Olight M3XSUT.

The switch cover is made of silicone,but feels reasonably hard on pressing.
It is easy to know when it is pressed and has a soft click sound when pressing it.
The W letter is illuminated only when the flashlight is connected for charging.
Red color when charging,blue color when charged.

The overall anodizing on my sample is very good with very few imperfections.
The front cooling fins are precisely machined with well rounded edges.
The cooling fins around the switch are a little different and with no edge smoothing.

User Interface

Wuben T101 has a forward clicky tail switch responsible for the On/Off operation.
Momentary On is possible-great for signaling.
Turbo-High-Mid-Low-Moonlight modes and hidden Strobe and SOS can be activated by the electronic side switch.
Just click the switch to change the current mode.
Fast double click activates Strobe mode.Another fast two clicks while in Turbo mode activate SOS.

All modes except Strobe and SOS are instantly stored in the memory for the next time when you turn the light ON.
The mode memory works flawlessly on my sample.No waiting as it is in the cheaper flashlights.

There is also a shortcut to momentary Turbo mode-press and hold the side switch for a second from any of the other modes.
Releasing the switch will return the mode you were on previously.

My only recommendation could be about the mode sequence.Turbo mode comes after Moonlight,which may be harsh to the eyes.
In my opinion it is better to go from Turbo to Moonlight-Low-Mid-High-Turbo.

Soft silicone cover for the charging port. I had no problems with it,so far.
It is on the opposite side of the mode switch.

USB C charging port with a good sealing cover.

The glass lens on my sample is impressively clean with great(high quality) anti-reflective coating which makes the glass to look like it is not there.
The aluminum reflector is also clean. I can spot some micro dust on the LED,though.

55 mm reflector diameter and about as much depth.

Macro look of the LED.The centering ring seems on its place,but the LED itself is not soldered precisely on its heat-sinking board.
It is worth to note it,but I don't think this is affecting the beam that much with a heavily textured reflector like the one used in this model.

Macro of the texture.

Square cut threads.Anodized on the battery tube and the tail cap.
For some reason my T101 sample lacks anodizing on a few places of the threads(visible on the picture below).
Interesting is the treatment of both springs-in the tailcap and the head.
Their end is pressed and filed to get a wider contact surface resulting in better contact with the battery and easier current flow.
(click on the picture to see it larger on Flickr)

Clean of knurling tailcap. Noticeable is the specific for all Wuben flashlights similar to infinite W channel.
The cap allows tail-standing,but as you may expect from a long heavy flashlight,it is stable only on a flat hard surface and any vibrating may bring it down.

The flashlight is long and pressing the tail switch requires to hold the flashlight at its end.
One hand holding it takes a good effort. I would prefer a nice protruded switch instead of the tail-stand/lanyard ears.

Runtime measurements

Wuben T101 was tested on Turbo and High mode.Batteries charged in an external charger for more equal voltage.
The two batteries are connected in series. It is recommended to use batteries charged to the same voltage.
This will allow a little longer runtime.

Lumen measurements:
(with non professionally calibrated integrating sphere)

Turbo mode= 3350 lumens
High mode= 1240 lumens
Mid mode= 440 lumens
Low mode= 92 lumens
Moonlight mode= 13 lumens

3420 lumens maximum initial brightness measured in the Turbo test.
(3480 lumens stated in the instruction sheet)

The T101 is programmed to decrease its output after 2,5 minutes on Turbo mode.
In my experience the head could get hot after a minute with output of more than 3000 lumens,especially in warm ambient temperature.
This step down is a good prevention of damaging the driver.It is uncomfortable to hold a hot metal,as well.
According to the instruction sheet,Wuben T101 features advanced temperature regulation technology.
I did not managed to activate it in my test or at least not what I expect. It needs more tests to confirm how the ATR implemented here actually works.

The output after step down is about 1900 lumens which is still quite a good output for most uses.
There was a second small 200 lumen step down 24 minutes after the first step down,in my test.
The output after step down is well regulated,constant.
When the batteries are almost empty,the output starts to decrease slowly until the Low voltage protection in the flashlight kicks in.
The LVP in the batteries was not triggered after the three tests I run to take the graphs.
About 2,8V resting voltage in each of the batteries.

The driver has also a Low voltage warning function.
When the voltage of the batteries is low,the light will flash a few times every five minutes.
These flashes are the vertical lines in my graph(some of the flashes were not recorded).

Current draw on Turbo mode is high,about 4,5A.

I am not very excited to charge batteries in series,but still this is a good option to have when traveling,or in the woods.
The charging circuit works on 5V input voltage as the included charger is designed for 2A load.
This means a powerful source is needed to get the best from the charging electronics.The voltage should be boosted from 5V to 8,4V which confirms the requirement for high current power source.
I did two tests-with a 1A wall charger and 2A wall charger. The current draw from the first charge was just 270mA.The charging time in this case will be very long.
With the second charger the flashlight was able to get up to 870mA which should allow a pretty good charging current.

Strobe frequency 8,7 Hz. Very well working-unpleasant to the eyes. I even had the need to use it against a barking wild dog,while taking the outdoor beamshots.
The constant light did not fear it at all,while the Strobe discouraged it quickly.

The driver in Wuben T101 controls the light without PWM. I can only see some kind of noise in the Moonlight signal,which I can not explain,but I don't see it in real world use,even looking at a cooling fan.


Beam profile

The Cree XHP70 LED in Wuben T101 produces cool white light,slightly warmer than the Nitecore TM03(with XHP70) and Nitecore TM16,which I used for beam comparison.
I don't see distracting greenish or bluish tint.
As you will see later in the beamshots though,the stainless steel bezel reflects some light and projects it divided in different colors at the periphery of the spill.
I did not noticed it while taking the outdoor beamshots,however we can clearly see it on the pictures.
Most of the new flashlights come with a matte bezel,which solves this kind of problems.

1 meter All modes
1/20sec

5 meters 1/6sec

Wuben T101(Cree XHP70), Nitecore TM03(Cree XHP70), Nitecore TM16(4xCree XM-L2), Nitecore EC4S(Cree XHP50), Fenix TK47(Cree XP-L Hi), ThruNite Catapult V5(Cree XM-L2)

The T101's beam is pretty well centered in the hotspot as thanks to the large LED and textured reflector,there is very useful bright spill.
This is one of my favorite beams-it just do the job properly. This is not a beam just to play with.
My only criticism regarding the beam is in the hotspot.Even the textured reflector,there is a darker zone in the center which is visible when pointing it at a building or other flat surface on a distance.
You can see it on the wall beamshots below taken at 1/50sec and 1/250sec.

5 meter 1/50sec

5 meters
1/250sec

Outdoor Beamshots

Wuben T101 all modes. Distance about 70 meters.


Wuben T101 all modes at close distance.



Beam aimed at the top of the trees.

Beam aimed at the top of the trees,animated.


As I already commented,while taking the beamshots,looking at distance I did not noticed the color rings at the outer end of the Wuben's beam.
Now on the recorded picture I see the rings very clearly. It needs more testing on various environment,but I could say that the rings were not a problem for me.
I tried the flashlight also on a large building and my impressions are mostly positive. What a little confuses me is the darker zone in the hotspot center.
All of the flashlights that I have tested with MT-G2 and XHP70,XHP50 have it,so the situation here is nothing new.
If you use the T101 outdoor as I did in these beamshots,you will not notice the beam inconsistency.
And remember that I am seeking perfect beam quality,so I comment/criticize any imperfection.

In terms of color temperature/reproduction the XHP70 in Wuben t101 is definitely better than the TM03 and TM16.
The LEDs in the Fenix and ThruNite are neutral white and their light is warmer.
Overall,I liked the T101's beam and found it very useful for real world use,even on a very long distance.

Beam aimed at the stems.

Beam aimed at the stems,animated.


At close distance.



Beam aimed at the top of the trees.



Beam aimed at the bottom of the trees.


Crop from the image above. Wuben T101- Nitecore TM16- Fenix TK47- ThruNite C



Thanks for reading and looking at the variety of pictures!

Thanks to Wuben for providing their great new models for test and review,so there will be more helpful info about them on the net!

Wuben TP10 Tactical Penlight Review

Wuben is a relatively new flashlight manufacturer to me.
I have looked at their website some time ago and there was not much to choose from.
I spotted a nice 10180 mini flashlight,from the ones that became very popular lately.
Currently Wuben is adding more flashlights to their product line and offered me two models for test and review.
I really did not know what to expect from this brand,so I agreed to test the flashlights with high interest.
In this review I am writing about the tactical penlight Wuben TP10 which features strong Tungsten tip at the one end,ball point pen at the other and integrated 10180 flashlights in the cap.
Read my review below to find out more about the TP10 and as usual enjoy the pictures!

Wuben TP10 can be easily used as a flashlight with a nice pocket clip.
It works great as a baseball cap light-the clip is in the suitable direction.
Below is a comparison with two other 10180 mini flashlights and two AAA flashlights.
Vollsion MK-S, MecArmy Illuminex1, Wuben TP10, Bronte BT01, Fenix E99Ti.
This comparison of course is mostly size comparison.I will compare the beams as well,as the reflector diameters are similar.
I don't know what are the holes at the bottom of the TP10 for,but they could be successfully used for strap attaching.

A look at the reflector side.
All lights except Fenix with a Cree XP-G2 LEDs.
All except Bronte with a TIR reflector.

Pictures from the included instruction sheet.

Wuben TP10 comes in a nice,hard cardboard box with magnetic closing cap.
The penlight is inserted in a thick rubber foam-looks great as a gift and protects the penlight perfectly.
A short micro USB cable also has a place in the box.
Instruction sheet and four spare O-rings are included,as well.

Below is the pen in my hand with slim fingers.
Even though it is a little longer than needed when writing,I found it comfortable and of course the flashlight part can be detached for better comfort.
The place where we hold the pen has rounded triangular shape which ensures very stable grip.

Here is the flashlight end.

Here is how Wuben TP10 looks like disassembled and the battery out of the tube.
You can see the micro USB port at the battery tube and the mode switching plate in the head.

Close up look at the main parts.
Wuben 10180 Li-Ion battery with capacity of 70mAh.
Triangular cut threads. Thick and very stable pocket clip.With the right form to keep the penlight in proper position.
Dark grey matte anodizing.
The anodized surface on my sample is good,with several imperfections,visible at very close look.

Schneider Gelion 39 Refill-black color ink with 0,4mm line width.

A look at the inner side of the tubes.The positive contact points need cleaning as there are some shaves,
most likely from the plastic ring covering the driver board(second element from right to left).

Operating the flashlight-
As the other popular 10180 type flashlights,Wuben TP10 has two modes,3 and 130 lumens.
Turning the light On is possible by rotating the head.Rotating further presses the contact plate (which you can see above) and activates the second 130 lumen mode.
No flashing modes.

RunTime Test
I tested Wuben TP10 on its High mode.
Light air cooling to ensure optimal testing temperature.
The light was activated and left static in the integrating sphere until the light level hit 1 lumen.
Initial lumen output of 130 lumens.
No step down. The runtime curve has very similar shape to the other 10180 flashlights I have tested,and looks like a typical direct drive output.
The max brightness depends on the battery voltage,and the tiny 10180 battery is not so powerful to keep the output constant even for a minute.
However the advantage is that we have a compact USB rechargeable battery that fit very small flashlights,in our case with a pen size.

If you use the light on short periods of time,this will give the battery some time to 'breath' which may allow a little less brightness drop compared to the constant 30 minutes discharge.

6 mm width of the pocket clip.Overall matte finish.The clip is not removable without unscrewing the tube,but I did not figure out yet how to do it.

11cm length of the pen without the flashlight cap.
13mm diameter in the widest section.
Very thick square cut threads.

Cree XP-G2 LED. Cool white light. No visible bad tint.
The LED on my sample is not well centered.I don't think this affects the beam that much,though I have no way to compare it with a properly centered sample.
Acrylic TIR reflector.

Really nice laser engraving.The silver looking like a ring part above is just a clean of anodizing section,which gives some style to the penlight.

Testing my Helios 44M6 lens for macro photos. I think it passes the test successfully(most photos in the review are taken with this lens).
Both ends of the pen. Ball point pen and Tungsten steel tip.
The tip is mostly designed for car window breaking in emergency situations.I have no way to test it,so I can comment only theoretically.

Beamshots
Even though the TIR optics in the compared flashlights appear to be very similar,the produced beams are quite different.
The light from the XP-G2 LED in the Wuben TP10 seems a little cooler white than the other flashlights in the comparison.
It is also better focused and allows longer distance of illumination.
As expected thanks to its conventional aluminum reflector,Bronte BT01 provides much better spill,while the TIR lenses focus most of the light around the central spot.

1 meter

5 meters

My impressions and thoughts of Wuben TP10 so far are good.I like the design.
It is comfortable as a pen.I can't discuss much about the tungsten tip,but it seems made as it should be and eventually may come in use for some people.
I rarely like the pocket clips on most of the flashlights I have tested.On this one though,I do not have much to criticize.
Maybe it could be a little deeper,but as a multi-tool everything is designed to fit well with the overall functionality.

Unscrewing both parts takes just 360 degree rotation(one turn),and they become separated.It is a good idea to keep everything tight and to check it from time to time,especially if you carry it on the belt/pants.
In terms of output regulation(or lack of regulation) Wuben TP10 is not better,nor worse than the competing 10180 lights.
I would like a cap for the pen,so I could keep the ball point/tungsten tip covered.
The 0,4mm ink line is a little too wide for my preferences,but the refill could be replaced with a thinner one eventually.
The flashlight part leaves only good thoughts in me.Good beam.Switching the modes is very smooth.Everything operates as it should be.
I am usually looking very precisely at the finish and the overall machine work. The anodizing could be a little better on some of the edges,
but most of the people may not notice the things I am seeing,as this is a tool to be used,not a photographic object.

Thanks for reading and looking at the pictures!

Thanks to Wuben for providing the TP10 for test and review!