Living in Japan, I had to wait a bit for the included lithium battery to clear customs, but now that it is in my hands … my thoughts on the purchase.
I would not call this an Every Day Carry light because it is just a bit too big to be constantly in your pocket, or discretely on your belt in a typical urban work situation. On the other hand, it is too small, and ‘smart’ to be a tactical light, and ‘work light’ sounds too bland and pedestrian for the advantages of this light. Like a ground-breaking musical piece doesn’t fit in the typical ‘rock’, ‘pop’, etc. category in a brick and mortar music store’s aisles, perhaps a new category needs to be made for what might be a close to perfect ‘in between’ light. What makes this light so good? In no particular order …
1 — The price is affordable. I’m a long time member of Candlepower forums, and must have bought at least 50 lights bigger than a key-chain type over the years, including a S2,000.00 Polarion HID. Looking at this relatively small light from Wuben, only a few years ago, such a configuration would have cost a few times as much, and only available from custom makers such as Vinh.
2 — For an 18650 powered light, it is small enough to be kept by the bedside or in the console beside the driver’s seat. I recommend attaching the included wrist strap because the small size of the light would make it relatively easy to fall out of your hands.
3 — It is micro USB rechargeable … which means you don’t have to buy a separate, bulky charger, therefore making the total package small. With the included cable, I just plug it into my car’s charger, or into my computer when at home.
4 — The included battery is good enough, and it is not proprietary. It can be replaced by any higher-spec 18640 battery, consequently giving even longer run-times than what is advertised.
5 — It throws out ’smart’ lumens, choosing quality of light over quantity. It is not a flashy thrower, shooting out a narrow, pale bluish tinge several blocks down the street. As a former biology lab director, I know that high CRI is more biologically friendly to how human sight has evolved. High CRI is closer to optimizing the solar spectrum than most other higher powered lights.
6 — It is ‘floody’, not a thrower. While it does have some useful throw, it is not a lensless ‘mule’ throwing out a wall of light for only a meter or two. And it is not as potentially dangerous as a blinding tactile light in the hands of a juvenile. It has just enough of a sweet spot for lighting up the entire flooring of the car or bedside to look for small, dropped items, walking the dog, or taking a late-night traipse down to the campsite’s latrine. More than enough throw to light up the few meters you actually need.
If I had to nitpick, the only things I might change on the light are:
1 — to raise the buttons a bit. They are tactile enough to feel a satisfying click when engaged, and light up to verify engagement. But with the light in my hand while in the dark, I might have to rotate it a few times before I can feel where the buttons are. And …
2 — Future-proof the charging interface with USB-C instead of Micro. This is just a guess, because I don’t even know how long USB-C will be around, but a lot of electrical peripherals seem to be converging on USB-C as a more common standard.
Those two suggestions being said, not enough to justify dropping the ranking a full point. High 5’s for this one … my new ‘ENU’ light … Every Night Use. Well done, Wuben.
