Wuben T1

1lumen selects and reviews products personally. We may earn affiliate commissions through our links, which help support our testing.

Wuben T1 specifications

Brand/model	Wuben T1
LED	Luminus SST40
Max. Lumens	2,000 lm
Max. Beam intensity / distance	60,000 cd
Battery config.	1*18650 / 2*CR123
Onboard charging	USB-C
Modes	4
Blinkies	Strobe / SOS
Reflector	Smooth
Waterproof	IP68
Review date	May 2022

Wuben recently came out with a new tactical light, the Wuben T1. I may not be a big tactical guy, but I do appreciate nearly any well-made light. And you might say I’m a bit of a Wuben fan. I can’t say I’ve always liked everything about every Wuben I’ve owned, but they have always been well made – solid build quality and great electronics.

As mentioned, the T1 is a medium-sized tactical flashlight. That should mean it’s dependable and provide easy and instant access to High (/Turbo) and Strobe functions. The T1 is bright enough and throwy enough to light up medium to medium-long distances.

Package quality.

The Wuben T1 arrived in a nice white display box that would be at home on store shelves / racks, complete with an embedded hanger. Its clean design features a picture of the T1 on the front and description / specs on the back. The box uses a magnetic closure and has a pictogram of UI on the inner part of the cover. Inside is white dense foam with cutouts for the T1 and its accessories. The packaging contained:

• Wuben T1
• Battery (inside the light)
• Spare o-rings
• Lanyard
• Charging cable
• Manual

Some lights can just slip out of your hand, but the Wuben T1 isn’t one of them. This thing is quite gripping with all of the machining that went into it. And there’s the rubber “cigar” grip that provides traction when gripped in your palm as well as when used in the cigar-grip orientation for activating the switch.

Speaking of the switch, the T1’s switch setup is pretty unique. I’ve had other flashlights with dual tail switches (namely, the Nitecore P-series lineup), but this is something entirely new – it’s kinda like a momentary rocker switch. It can be pushed straight down towards the light or pushed towards either side. The “push straight down” switch appears to be a foward-clicky.

There’s a two-way pocket clip that is attached by the heads with two Torx screws. It’s nice that it’s two-way, allowing you to carry it head-up or tail-up, whichever you see fit. Neither direction is deep-carry in the slightest, and in the head-up orientation, the gap between the clip and the body is too close to be of much use.

The lanyard is made of paracord and is a bit interesting. It has lobster-claw clips at both ends. One end has a small split-ring attached to it which can be threaded into a hole near the tail switch. It doesn’t look very elegant with the split-ring attached to the light, but is functional and doesn’t seem to get in the way of the switch.

Being a tactical light of moderate size, I would say this is fitting for many duty applications, security patrol, etc. There is also an “Outdoor Mode” that makes this light more fitting for home use as well – perhaps things like walking the dog or taking a hike as long as you’re not overly concerned with CRI.

The Wuben T1 is made from black anodized aluminum. I don’t see where Wuben mentioned the HA rating, but I wouldn’t doubt that it’s HA III. The coating is smooth and even, with a bit of a satin sheen to it. There’s no knurling, but there are an awful lot of ridges and grooves machined into the T1 to provide plenty of grip. All edges are smooth or chamfered, nothing sharp to the touch.

Warranty:

• 15 days free replacement
• 1 year warranty with free repair
• 5 year warranty with free repair for registered customers (accessories excluded)
• Battery warranty: 1 year
• Lifetime maintenance: after 5 years, paid repairs for registered customers

The Wuben T1 uses a reflector that is just a little smaller (both width and depth) than that of a typical C8 flashlight. The bezel has moderate crenelations, though they’re not sharp. The reflector is smooth and fairly deep and is protected by a sheet of AR-coated glass. Centered in the middle of the reflector is a lone Luminus SST40 LED which Wuben says is 6500K CCT. The beam has a distinct hotspot with a wide spill. My Opple Light Master provided these specs:

• CCT: 5984K
• CRI: 65.2 Ra
• DUV: +0.0087

Dimensions: 

Dimension	Millimeters	Inches
Length	162	6.38
Head diameter	40	1.57
Body diameter	25	1.00

Weight: 

Weight	Grams	Oz.
Without battery:	172	6.1
With battery	225	7.9

Flashlight size comparison with its competition

18650-based tactical lights, left to right: PowerTac E5R-G4, Wuben T1

With Nitecore P-Series (21700 based), left to right: Nitecore P10iX, Wuben T1, Nitecore P20iX, Nitecore P20i UV

From what we see here, it’s evident that the Wuben T1 is a bit large for a 18650 light. It’s pretty similar in width (and much longer) than the Nitecore P-series lights shown here which are all 21700-based. Those 21700 batteries are going to net you about 60% more power. But they’re able to save on space by using their proprietary i-Series batteries whereas the Wuben T1 relies on a dual-tube design but can accommodate a whole array of batteries. Worth it? I guess that’s up to you and your use case.

The UI for the Wuben T1 is a bit flexible: Wuben gives you the choice between Tactical Mode (the default) and Outdoor Mode.  Tactical Mode gives you quick, dependable access to both High and Strobe modes. When you click the main button (or use it in momentary action), you know you’re getting 2,000 lumens right away. And when you turn the light on, your only brightness levels are High and Low. Nice and simple.

Switching over to Outdoor Mode is pretty simple: five taps of the main button followed by a full click. Once you do that, you now have mode memory and access to all four brightness levels.

Available modes: Eco, Low, Med, High

Tactical Mode:

From OFF:

• Press and Hold: momentary High
• Single click: High
• Sideways press and hold: momentary Strobe
• Sideways hold > 2 sec: Strobe (constant)
• Sideways 2 click: SOS  

From ON:

• 1 click: off
• Sideways click: brightness change (High > Low only)
• Sideways hold > 2 sec: Strobe
• Sideways 2 click: SOS 

Mode memory:

• Tactical Mode: no mode memory, always turns on in High
• Outdoor Mode: has mode memory (but not for Strobe or SOS)

Outdoor Mode:

From OFF:

• Press and Hold: momentary On (memorized brightness)
• Single click: On (memorized brightness)
• Sideways press and hold: momentary Strobe
• Sideways hold > 2 sec: Strobe (constant)
• Sideways 2 click: SOS  

From ON:

• 1 click: off
• Sideways click: brightness change (Eco > Low > Med > High)
• Sideways hold > 2 sec: Strobe
• Sideways 2 click: SOS 

Mode memory:

• Tactical Mode: no mode memory, always turns on in High
• Outdoor Mode: has mode memory (but not for Strobe or SOS)

Shortcuts:

• To High: click on (if in Tactical Mode) 
• To Strobe: hold button sideways >2 seconds

Low voltage warning:

• N/A

Strobe/blinkies

• Strobe: hold the switch sideways (> 2 seconds for constant on)
• SOS: double click the switch sideways

Lock-out mode: 

• none

PWM

• none

Additional info on the UI: 

• I really like that the T1 has both Tactical and Outdoor modes. I think the Tactical Mode does a good job of serving its purpose, but the Outdoor Mode could be a little less tactical. Instead of shortcuts to Strobe and SOS, it would have been nice to have shortcuts to the High and Eco modes.

A protected, button-top 3100 mAh 18650 battery ships with the Wuben T1. Having springs at both ends of the light, the T1 is flexible with what batteries you can use. I tried a flat-top Samsung 35E 18650 and it worked just fine. So protected or unprotected, button-top or flat-top… you should be good.

The Wuben T1 has built-in USB-C charging that does handle USB PD. The port is accessible by unscrewing a ring at the base of the flashlight head. There are o-rings around the threads to provide water ingress protection. An indicator LED above the charging port shows the charging status: red for charging, blue for charging finished. The silkscreen indicates that the T1 is capable of 2-amp charging. I noticed a 1.75 amp charge rate (at 5 volts), but that could be delivering 2 amps to the battery. A full charge took only 2 hours and 3 minutes, finishing at 4.15 volts.

This same LED used for charging indication is also used as a battery status read-out:

• Solid blue: >= 90% (on for 5 seconds)
• Flashing blue: between 90% and 40% (on for 5 seconds)
• Solid red: between 40% and 15% (on for 5 seconds)
• Flashing red: 15% or less (stays on)

Lux was measured by a UNI-T UT383 BT at 10 meters. Lumens were measured in a homemade lumen tube using a TSL2591 sensor, calibrated with a Maukka calibration light. The temperature was monitored with a MLX90614 IR temperature sensor. The included Wuben 18650 battery was used.

Lumen measurements:

Extra info: Peak beam distance according to ANSI FL1 standards: The calculated value of distance in meters at which the flashlight produce a light intensity of 0.25 lux. (0.25 lux is about the brightness of a full moon shining on an object).

Mode	Specified	turn on	30 sec	10 minutes
Eco	5 lm	6.4	6.4	–
Low	130 lm	142	141	139
Med	550 lm	553	541	528
High	2000 > 700 lm	2178	2098 lm	710

Parasitic drain:

• 73 µA

Runtime graph

Overall, my measurements very closely match what Wuben has in the specs. The temperatures in High mode were good, topping out at 53°C.  Very good regulation.

Mode	Specified	Measured runtime (ANSI)	Time till shut off
Eco	100 hours	–	–
Low	10 hours	10 hr 44 min	10 hr 44 min
Med	2.5 hours	2 hr 44 min	2 hr 44 min
High	1 min + 1.5 hours	1 hr 49 min	1 hr 54 min

Throw numbers: 

Measured at 10 meters, reading taken at 30 seconds

Mode	Specified	Candela measured	Meters	Yards
Med	–	18,800 cd	274	300
High	60,000 cd	76,500 cd	553	605

Beam shots of the building are taken at 15 m (16 yd) using a Pixel 6 set to ISO 200 with 1/10 second exposure time.

Beam shots of the playset are taken at 30 m (33 yd) using a Pixel 6 set to ISO 200 with 1/2 second exposure time. The trees in the background are around 65 m away.

• Wuben T1
• Nitecore P20i UV
• Nitecore P20ix
• Olight Warrior Mini 2 Cu

Disclaimer: This flashlight was sent to me for review at no cost by Wuben. I have not been paid to review, nor have I been holding back on problems or defects.