Weltool W5 Pro

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Weltool W5 Pro specifications

Brand/model	Weltool W5 Pro
Flashlight category	LEP / long-range / searchlight
LEP	Class 1 (Shine through)
Max. output	990 Lumens
Max. beam distance	2,842 meters
Max. beam intensity	2,020,000 cd
Battery config.	2*22500
Onboard charging	N/A (battery has USB-C)
Modes	2
Blinkies	N/A
Waterproof	IP67
Review date	October 2023

For LEP flashlight enthusiasts, Weltool is a well-known name. They were one of the first (if not the first) flashlight brands to incorporate White Laser modules into their lights. And that was 2018… And many great flashlights have followed. The Weltool W4 Pro, for example, is one of the farthest shining single-cell LEP flashlights on the planet. And the one we are reviewing now is a dual cell LEP flashlight, the successor of the Weltool W5.

And there is a new shift in the industry because instead of focusing on just the farthest (and usually tightest) beam, Weltool is trying something new.

They’ve already done it with the Weltool W3 Pro Tac we reviewed earlier. They increased the lumen output, and sacrificed a bit of beam distance. Meaning: a wider, brighter beam, but not reaching as far.

Not everybody wants a pencil-shaped beam, making these types of LEP flashlights a more 1 to 1 comparison with LED flashlights, but still with a blue laser at its core.

So, shall we dive right in?

Package quality.

The W5 Pro is sent in a pretty standard-looking package, without mentioning the word Laser. I guess that’s in line with the Weltool W3 Pro Tac packaging. This is what’s inside:

• Weltool W5 Pro
• 2*22430 batteries (1900mAh)
• USB-C charging cable
• Spare o-ring
• Manual

Note: remove the plastic battery insulator disc by unscrewing the tailcap before your first use.

If you already own the Weltool W3 or W4, you will notice a change in design. Weltool decided to remove the mechanical rear switch for the W5 Pro and use an e-switch instead. It’s basically the same design as the W5, but with a different LEP module.

Something I didn’t particularly like about the original W5 was its electronic side switch. It felt a bit ‘mushy’ when pressed, and the W5 Pro seems to have the same switch.

Weltool delivered the W5 Pro again with 2*22500 batteries but with a different capacity. The design is still the same, but instead of 2200mAh, they now have 1900mAh capacity. Fortunately, the extension tube for 2*21700 is still the same, so if you already have the W5 with the extension tube, you can also use it on the W5 Pro. That would easily double the runtimes.

But with the extension tube screwed down, it does look a bit weird. Generally speaking, I have never been a fan of separate extension tubes. That includes the extension tubes on the Sunwayman V10R Ti and the Lumintop Thor 2. I prefer dedicated battery tubes, which look much better, and make it 1 less point of failure.

The W5 Pro still doesn’t have a lanyard attachment point, and that’s a pity since some people love using a lanyard. There is also no tripod mount either. So, you basically have to carry it in a holster or whatever.

For me, this is not a dealbreaker, but for some, it could be.

The machining of the battery is the same as on the W5, but it is different from the W3 or W4, which have much more aggressive knurling. The tailcap still has the aggressive knurling that they are well known for.

The threads on the battery tubes are still really loooooongggggg, but lubricated. I counted 10 pitches, and it took 7 full turns to unscrew the tailcap. To increase waterproofing, the tailcap threads have two o-rings.

The anodization on the W5 Pro is beautiful, with a really nice matte finish. The threads near the tailcap are also anodized, so a quarter turn will make the battery lose connection, which is basically a lockout mode.

Weltool’s warranty, according to their website:

From the date of sale (the serial number on the Lights body can show the date), the limited warranty for LED products is 5 years, and the warranty for LEP products is 2 years.

The above free warranty does not cover any damages or failure caused by:

• Problems caused by alteration, misuse, abuse, or unreasonable
• Battery leakage , improper operation or using poor quality battery
• The products do not purchase from Weltool directly or its authorized dealers or other illegal way
• Broken lens caused by external force
• Lamp, switch runs out of its lifespan
• rubber cap, O ring’s naturally aging
• normal wear and tea, imprinting, or color finishes
• Other problems caused by improper operation
• Discontinued products

There are currently two types of LEP modules; the classic mirror-type module, and the backlit (or shine-through) module. The W5 Pro has one of the latter.

The original W5 also had a shine-through module, but this one looks different. The module’s center used to be about 2mm phosphor, but the new module seems very different. Its phosphor diameter is much larger than the previous model.

Weltool decided to change the LEP module in order to get more lumens and a wider beam. And that is working because the new W5 Pro can achieve over 1,000 lumens and still shine a few kilometers.

And because this is an LEP flashlight, it doesn’t have a reflector but uses a convex lens instead. To protect the convex lens, they decided to add a protective lens in front. If you damage the front lens, you can find a replacement quickly. But the convex lens would be hard to come by, especially in a few years, because it needs to be made with the right angle and size.

The bezel has a grey/silver color and could be stainless steel, but it can’t be unscrewed by hand.

Then we had to talk about the beam.

The beam is its most vital, and weakest point.

First things first: the beam is intense and large at the same time, including a bit of spill that is not present on the original W5.

However, the beam is pretty green. It’s probably too green for most people to appreciate it. However, this is mainly in the spill, a little less in the hotspot. If Weltool could fix this with a more white-ish beam, it could be a best seller.

I know very well that LEP flashlights are not built for tint snobs, but this beam need some adjustments for more people to like it.

The beams show the difference between the original W5 on the left and the W5 Pro on the right. You notice that the hotspot is much larger, and the spill of the beam is green!

Dimensions: 

Weltool W5 Pro	Millimeters	Inches
Length	212 mm	8.3 in
Head diameter	60 mm	2.4 in
Tailcap diameter	32 mm	1.3 in

Dimensions are rounded to the nearest millimeter and to the nearest tenth of an Inch.

Weight: 

Weltool W5 Pro	Weight in grams	Weight in oz.
Without battery:	376 g	13.3 oz
With battery	470 g	16.6 oz

Weight is rounded to the nearest gram and to the nearest tenth of an Oz.

Weltool W5 Pro flashlight comparison

Size compared to other LEP flashlights

Group 1, from left to right: Weltool W5 Pro, Weltool W5, Weltool W4 Pro, Weltool W4, Weltool W3 Pro Tac, Weltool W3 Pro.

Group 2, from left to right, dual cell LEPs: Weltool W5 Pro, Weltool W5, Maxtoch L2K, Maxtoch L3K, Maxtoch LA60, Maxtoch L2Kd

Group 3, too many to name. The W5 Pro is in the rear row, third from the left.

The W5 Pro uses a different UI compared to the original W5. Right now, a click will turn on instead of a long press. And a click will turn it off, instead of long press.

Available modes:

• Low, High

Special modes, including blinkies:

• None

From OFF:

• Single-click: turns on in High (no mode memory)
• Double click: nothing, it will turn on and off again.
• Triple-click: nothing
• 4 clicks: lockout mode (will indicate this by blinking)
• Press and hold: nothing

From ON:

• Single-click: turns off
• Double click: nothing
• Triple-click: nothing
• Press and hold: change between Low and High

Shortcuts:

• There are no shortcuts. A single click will always go to High

Mode memory:

• No, the light will always turn on in High mode.

Blinky modes menu:

• None

Low Voltage protection / warning

• The flashlight will blink when the battery runs low.
• Weltool uses the battery level indicator LED inside the switch to show the battery status. It will start flashling red when the battery is really low.

Lock-out mode:

• Yes, by doing 4 clicks from on and off.

PWM:

• Not visible by eye

Addition info:

This is a very easy to use UI, but perhaps 1 thing could have made it perfect; A long press from off going to low mode. That way, you have direct access to High and Low.. This doesn’t mean that the current UI is no good.. It’s pretty easy and nice. Just since it has an e-switch, this could have been added to make it even more ‘perfect’.

The Weltool W5 pro is built for 2 batteries, and my package included 2 INR22430 batteries, which 1900mAh capacity each. This is a rather unusual size, and according to the battery wrapper, they have a capacity of 1900mAh each and are labeled as Weltool UB22-19. The specifications on their website tell you you can also use 2*22500 batteries if you have those around. (Basically, the same size, but without USB-C charging ports).

Weltool can include those in your order, and while the 22430s have a USB-C charging port, the 22500s don’t. And the 22500 also has a higher capacity. So it’s up to you if you would instead buy the 22500 with higher capacity and a separate charger to charge them. Or get the 22430 batteries with the USB-C ports.

I tested mine, and it took 1h 32min to charge the batteries. During the charge, the highest charge current I saw was 1.35A, and the end Voltage was between 4.18 and 4.19V.

If you don’t have 22500 or 22430’s, you can still use 2* long 21700 batteries with the optional extension tube. Remember that you can’t use flat-top batteries, or button top unprotected batteries. But you need long 21700 batteries with button tops. Otherwise, they don’t make good contact!!! This means you need protected 21700’s or ones with a USB port built-in.

For the tests I performed, I used Weltool’s, the newly provided 22430’s, and some used Weltool’s 21700 batteries with USB-C ports and button tops!

Charge type	Fits	No fit	Charge time
Batteries with onboard USB-C	2*22430/22500 (or 2*21700 with optional adapter)	flat tops	1h 32min

Lumen measurements:

How Lumens are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards How Lumens are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards: The ANSI FL1 standards specify that output in lumens should be measured 30 seconds after turning on, as this is the standardized time for measuring brightness according to the industry standard. This is why we focus on this part in our measurements. The ANSI FL1 standards require an ambient temperature of 22 ± 3°C. We record the ambient the ambient temperature to identify potential reasons for any observed discrepancies.

The output measurements in this review are based on my homemade integrating spheres, each equipped with an Extech SDL400 Lux Meter. For consistency and accuracy, a calibration light (Convoy S2+ with 249lm and a Convoy S2+ with 261lm) is measured before each set of lumen measurements.
One of the lux meters uses an ND camera filter for high-output lights to prevent the lux meter from maxing out. This is either the Kenko PRO1D ND16 for up till about 80,000 lumens or the Gobe ND32 for anything above.

All of my readings were taken from fully-charged Weltool UB22-19 , 2*22430 batteries.

The measurements were taken manually at turn on and 30 seconds. The 10-minute numbers are taken from the runtime graph.

Mode	Specified	Lumens at turn on:	30 sec.	10 min.
Low	280 lm	289 lm	284 lm	272 lm
High	990 lm	1050 lm	981 lm	671 lm

My measurements were pretty close to Weltool’s numbers.

I also tested the output with 2*21700 using the optional battery adapter. Remember that these batteries are not new and probably have 20+ cycles on them. This gives at least a good indication of how the W5 Pro performs with used cells.

I know from testing that Weltool flashlights love new and fresh cells that can provide the highest output and max performance. If you test Weltool with used cells, the output isn’t close to what is claimed. But that also means you can’t reach the claimed output after using the flashlight for about 20 times.

Mode	Specified	at turn on	30 sec.	10 min.
Low	280 lm	285 lm	281 lm	271 lm
High	990 lm	1037 lm	968 lm	667 lm

These numbers were also pretty close, but as you can see, they were a bit lower than the fresh and new 22430 batteries provided.

Parasitic drain:

• 0.18 µA? I’m not sure, but this is what my Owen XDM1241 meter showed.

Weltool W5 Pro battery life and runtime

How Runtimes are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards About ANSI FL1 runtime standards: The runtime is measured until the light drops to 10% of its initial output (30 seconds after turning on). This does not mean that the flashlight is not usable anymore. The last column shows how long the light actually works till it shuts off. If there is a + symbol, it means that the test was stopped at that particular point, but the light was actually still running. This happens on certain occasions, with certain drivers, firmware, or batteries.

Runtime tests were conducted in my 50cm homemade integrating sphere, paired with the Extech SDL400 data logging Lux Meter. The specified runtime was with 22500 batteries, so the 22430 batteries would have a shorter runtime.

Mode	Specified runtime	Measured runtime (ANSI FL1)	Time till shut off
Low 2*22430	3h 40min	3h 30min	3h 30min
High 2*22430	1h 47min	1h 19min	1h 19min
Low 2*21700	8h	8h 24min	8h 24min
High 2/21700	3h 12min	3h 22min	3h 22min

This means the measured runtime with 2*22430 was slightly shorter than the specs, as expected, with the lower capacity of 1900mAh vs 2400mAh.

Here are the runtime graphs with 2*22430 as well as compared to the 2*21700

You’ll notice a second spike near the end of the runtime, that is basically the flashlight blinking. But since the interval is 5 seconds for every measurement, the blinks usually don’t show up each time, on the graph.

Weltool W5 Pro peak beam intensity and beam distance measurements

About Peak beam intensity: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards About peak beam intensity The calculated value of distance in meters at which the flashlight produces a light intensity of 0.25 lux. (0.25 lux is about the brightness of a full moon shining on an object). This means that the intensity has decreased so much, it becomes difficult to see darker objects, or objects that don’t reflect light. The columns ‘Meters’ and ‘Yards’ use rounded numbers.

Measurements were taken indoors and outdoors with a Hagner E4-X Lux Meter. The measurements were taken 30 seconds after turn on. The outdoor shots were done at 20 meters distance, and indoor at 5 meters.

It’s interesting to note that the W5 Pro measured slightly lower indoors at 5 meters than outdoors at 20 meters, while it was the opposite when measuring the Acebeam M1, and the 2 FireFlyLite LEP flashlights.

Here are the 20-meter distance measurements:

Mode	Specified	I measured	Meters	Yards	Miles
Low	640,000 cd	704,000 cd	1678 m	1835 yd	1.04 mi
High	2,020,000 cd	2,284,000 cd	3023 m	3306 yd	1.88 mi

This means that my measurements were higher than specified.

Weltool W5 Pro compared to other LEP flashlights

Weltool W5 vs Weltool W5 Pro

Here’s some comparison in terms of lumens… notice the big differences…

But the difference in throw (beam distance) isn’t that big after the initial drop in output.

See the comparison here:

It would be impossible to notice the difference in beam distance after the drop in output.

BEST LEP Flashlights comparison

A list of all the best LEP flashlights we reviewed, including multiple cell setups: These numbers are NOT from the specifications but measured by our reviewers. They include all types of LEP flashlights reaching 2,000,000 cd or more. The numbers include the measurement in lumens (lm), measured candela (cd), and calculated distance in meters and yards. These numbers are all measured 30 seconds after turning on.

Discontinued flashlights will be removed from this list.

Flashlight	Battery	@30sec (lm)	Candela (cd)	Meters	Yards
Astrolux WP3	21700	445	2,412,000	3106	3397
Maxtoch Owleyes W PRO v2	3*21700	1028	4,000,000	4000	4374
Maxtoch LA60	2*21700	456	2,272,000	3015	3297
Maxtoch L2K	2*21700	445	2,508,000	3167	3464
Maxtoch L2KD	2*21700	548	3,051,000	3493	3820
Maxtoch L2KS	21700	442	2,308,000	3038	3323
Weltool W4	21700	450	2,184,000	2956	3232
Weltool W4 Pro	21700	550	2,808,000	3351	3665
Weltool W5 pro	2*22430	981	2,284,000	3023	3306

Interactive graphs (hover your mouse over these graphs for more data)

Hover your mouse over the interactive graph below to see the details of each specific light. (tip: hold your mobile phone horizontally to see the whole graph). Or visit this link to open a new window for the interactive graph.

The same graph, but then zoomed in. Or check this link to open this interactive graph in a new window.

And here’s an overview with another comparison graph to show the distances and candelas measured at 30 seconds.

For the following beamshots, I used a Canon EOS 5D Mk2 and a 100mm lens. manual settings: ISO1600, 0.5sec , F4, 5000K

The tower is about 450 meters / 492 yards away.

The following flashlights are compared:

• Weltool W5 Pro
• Weltool W5
• Weltool W4 (1*21700)
• Astrolux WP3 / Mateminco FW1 (1*21700)
• Maxtoch L2K (2*21700)
• Maxtoch L2Kd (2*21700)

Disclaimer: This flashlight was sent to us for review at no cost by Nealsgadgets. We have not been paid to review, nor have we been holding back on problems or defects.