Wuben X2 Copper⌗

Specifications
Introduction
Torch in use
Build quality
LED, bezel, lens, reflector and beam
Size and comparison
User interface
Batteries and charging
Performance
Beamshots
Conclusion
Price
Product page

Specifications⌗

Brand/model	Wuben X2 Copper
LED	3x Samsung LH351D
Maximum lumens	1,800 lm
Maximum beam intensity	4,100 cd
Maximum throw	182 m
Battery	Built-in 2000mAh
Onboard charging	Yes (USB-C)
Material	Copper, Stainless steel
Modes	4
Blinkies	Strobe, SOS
Reflector	OP
Waterproof	IP68
Review date	April 2023

Introduction⌗

Wuben have been around for a while and produce many different types of torches ranging from small EDC torches to large professional torches that you might use for search and rescue purposes.

I noticed a new EDC range of torches by Wuben appear on Kickstarter. This range is particularly unique because they have moved away from the traditional cyclindrical shape and opted to build EDC torches in the shape of a rectangle.

An opportunity to review a prototype came up. While testing the prototype and providing a lot of feedback, I asked fellow enthusiasts what their thoughts are on the X0, X1 and X2. They had overwhelmingly positive feedback about the user interface and design and highly recommended this range of EDC torches.

I asked Wuben if I could review the Wuben X2 Copper and they kindly sent this torch for review. I have not been paid for this review nor have I held back my opinions of this torch.

Packaging⌗

The Wuben X2 comes in a fancy Wuben branded box. The white box with a Wuben logo looks simple but it opens up from the middle. Nice first impression!

The following was included in the box:

Wuben X2 Copper
USB-A to USB-C cable (lanyard)
Red diffuser
User manual

Torch in use⌗

Weighing in at 244g, the Wuben X2 Copper is pretty heavy for a compact EDC torch!

I affectionately refer to it as a “brick” because it could hurt if it landed on your toes.

The copper looks very shiny when taking it out of a vacuum sealed plastic bag.

I wore gloves initially but a patina started to form after a few days.

Once you see it, you can’t unsee:
•ᴗ•

The X2 can tailstand. It has a pocket clip. And it even has a lanyard hole.

The pocket clip is pretty stiff and takes a bit of care when clipping on and off a pocket.

I found myself simply putting the X2 in my pocket for quick access instead of clipping it to my pocket while using it over the past two weeks. And yes, sorry, I had it in a pocket with keys so it has been scratched. Torches are made to be used!

Build quality⌗

The Wuben X2 Copper is mostly a large chunk of copper. It has a stainless steel bezel, switch cover, pocket clip and tail.

I felt 4 sharp edges when I took my gloves off and picked up the Wuben X2 Copper. The edges need to be chamfered. I used a file from a Leatherman and a polishing sponge from ReyLight to make the edges smooth.

The switch has a unique feel and sound. It almost sounds like rattling metal. I would not say that it is unsatisfying. It is different. It is halfway between a loud “click click” switch and a completely silent e-switch.

There are multiple tritium slots for those who would like to personalise their torch.

“Do not disassemble” can be found on the bottom of the torch. Challenge accepted! But seriously, it is easy to open up and modify.

LED, bezel, lens, reflector and beam⌗

The Wuben X2 Copper has three Samsung LH351D emitters sitting behind a glass lens with an anti-reflective coating.

I unscrewed four 1.5 hex screws and lifted the bezel off the head.

The orange peel reflector lifted out to reveal three centering gaskets around each emitter.

A rubber gasket was found sitting between the head and the bezel to provide water resistance.

The MCPCB looks relatively easy to remove for performing an emitter swap.

CCT, CRI, and duv⌗

I have taken Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT) and Colour Rendering Index (CRI, RA of R1-R8) measurements with the torch positioned one metre away from an Opple Light Master Pro III (G3).

The CCT is around 4648K. The CRI is around 96.

The Delta u, v is slightly positive (green).

The floody beam looks relatively nice and warm outside. It has a rectangular shape to it.

Measurement 1⌗

Mode	CCT (K)	CRI (Ra)	x	y	Duv
Low	4586	96.2	0.3583	0.3638	0.0010
Med	4601	96.3	0.3579	0.3640	0.0013
High	4641	96.1	0.3568	0.3649	0.0021
Turbo	4765	95.5	0.3533	0.3670	0.0044

Measurement 2⌗

Mode	CCT (K)	CRI (Ra)	x	y	Duv
Low	4558	95.7	0.3587	0.3609	-0.0006
Med	4587	96.1	0.3584	0.3643	0.0012
High	4621	96.0	0.3574	0.3651	0.0020
Turbo	4740	95.4	0.3541	0.3674	0.0043

Calculate Duv from CIE 1931 xy coordinates

Dimensions and size comparison⌗

Dimensions⌗

I took the following measurements using a vernier caliper.

Measurement	Unit (mm)
Length	84.5
Height	20.0
Height with pocket clip	29.85
Head width	39.1
Body width	35.0

Weight⌗

I took the following measurements using a digital scale.

Weight	Unit (g)
Wuben X2 Copper	244.58

Size comparison with its competition⌗

From left to right: Wuben X2 Copper, ReyLight Pineapple Mini Copper, Acebeam Pokelit AA Copper, Olight Warrior Mini 2 Copper

Here are comparison photos where the Wuben X2 Copper has developed a natural patina after a few weeks.

From left to right: Wuben X2 Copper, Olight Warrior Mini 2 Copper, Acebeam Pokelit AA Copper, ReyLight Pineapple Mini Copper

User interface⌗

The Wuben X2 has an electronic side switch. It is relatively easy to use. Click on, click off. Hold to change modes.

There are three main modes: Low, Med and High. And shortcuts to: Turbo, Strobe and SOS.

State	Action	Result
Off	Hold	Low
Off	Click	On (mode memory)
Off	Two clicks	Turbo
Off	Three clicks	Strobe
Off	Four clicks	Lock-out
On	Hold	Cycle (Low, Med, High)
On	Click	Off
On	Two clicks	Turbo
On	Three clicks	Strobe
Lock-out	Click	Battery status indicator blinks three times
Lock-out	Four clicks	Low
Strobe	Click	On (mode memory)
Strobe	Three clicks	SOS
SOS	Click	On (mode memory)
SOS	Three clicks	Strobe
Turbo from off, SOS or Strobe	Two clicks	Turbo
Turbo from Low, Med or High	Two clicks	On (mode memory)

The torch will flash three times when entering lock-out mode.

Mode memory does not include Turbo, SOS or Strobe.

Strobe⌗

Strobe has an alternating frequency.

Programming mode⌗

You can adjust the brightness of each Low, Med and High modes as follows:

Mode	Default	Min (lumens)	Max (lumens)
Low	5	5	100
Med	100	100	400
High	400	400	800

To set the brightness for a particular mode:

Click to turn the torch on.
Hold and release to select Low, Med or High.
Click and hold (2H). The brightness will ramp up or down and flash when it reaches the end.
Release at the desired brightness level.
Click and hold again to ramp in the opposite direction.

Factory reset⌗

Enter lockout mode and then:

Click, (pause for less than 0.5 seconds), Double click (pause for less than 0.5 seconds), Triple click.

The torch will enter reset, exit lockout mode, and enter the lowest mode.

Battery status indication⌗

The indicator LED near the switch will display the following for 5 seconds when the torch is on:

Colour	Battery level
Blue	Capacity ≥ 90%
Blue blinking	40% ≤ Capacity < 90%
Red	15% ≥ Capacity < 40%
Red blinking	Capacity < 15%

“Red blinking” will continue while the torch is on.

Low voltage protection⌗

There is low voltage protection. The emitters turned off at 2.76V and the current dropped to 1.1 mA.

I tested low voltage protection by connecting the driver of the torch to a bench power supply and then by lowering the voltage from 4.2V to 0V.

Here is a video:
Low voltage protection! Wuben X2 Copper

PWM⌗

I did not notice any visible PWM (flickering).

What I like about the UI⌗

It is relatively easy to use. Click on, click off. Hold to change modes.

What could be improved⌗

Direct access to SOS might be nice.
It would be nice if two clicks while in Turbo always results in the torch exiting Turbo mode. I noticed that the torch remained in Turbo while peforming two clicks after coming from off, Strobe or SOS.

Batteries and charging⌗

Battery⌗

A battery pack has been soldered to the driver. I removed four 1.5 hex screws between the head and the body. And then I desoldered a wire for the battery to measure the standby drain.

There are two 14500 cells connected in parallel (1S2P) to provide a capacity of 2000mAh.

It would be nice if the 14500 cells could be replaced by the user given that they are in a parallel configuration.

As it is, you would need a soldering iron to install a new battery pack. You would need to either build a new battery pack or find one that fits after a few years of heavy use.

Charging⌗

The switch flicks up to reveal a USB-C charging port. This does not look very water resistant.

The indicator LED went red while charging and it went blue when charging was complete.

Power supply: PinePower Desktop USB-C
USB Meter: AVHzY CT-3 (recommended by LiquidRetro)
Room temperature: 18 C

Charging completed after 2 hours 21 minutes. The charging rate was approximately 5V 1A.

Power supply compatibility⌗

I tried the following power supplies with the built-in USB-C charger:

Power supply	USB Type	Protocol	Does it charge?
Apple 61W Power Adapter	USB-C	PD	Yes
Google Pixel Power Adapter	USB-C	PD	Yes
PinePower Desktop	USB-C	PD	Yes
PinePower Desktop	USB-A	QC	Yes
PinePower Desktop	USB-A		Yes

USB-C to USB-C charging works.

Performance⌗

Specifications from the manual:

FL1 STANDARD	Turbo	High	Med	Low	Strobe	SOS
Output (lumens)	1,800 + 800	400	100	5	1,000	200
Runtime	1min + 1h	2.5h	10h	80h
Beam Distance (metres)	128
Beam Intensity (cd)	4,100

Lumen measurements⌗

I used a bench power supply to measure the current at turn on.

Mode	Amps at start	Specs	Lumens @turn on	Lumens @30 sec	Lumens @10 min
Low	0.01 A	5	6	6	6
Med	0.16 A	100	89	88	88
High	0.67 A	400	354	350	346
Turbo	5+ A	1,800	1,800	1,758	669

My bench power supply is limited to 4.2V 5A. Turbo may exceed 5A.

Standby drain⌗

29.1 µA

Runtime graphs⌗

I used my own DIY lumen tube with a TSL2591 sensor and forked bmengineer’s project RuTiTe to record runtimes.

Note: Lumen measurements may be off by 10% with my DIY lumen tube.

The room temperature was approximately 21 C.

Runtime⌗

Here is a summary of the runtime results:

Mode	User manual	Runtime result
Turbo	1min + 1h	1h 16min 1s
High	2h 30min	2h 47min 52s
Med	10h	11h 17min 13s
Low	80h	10min+

The runtime result is the time until my lumen tube no longer detects more than 1 lumen.

I stopped recording after 10 minutes for the Low mode.

I was able to turn the torch back on after the Turbo runtime finished. The battery was not completely drained.

Overall, the Wuben X2 Copper performed slightly better than expected.

Throw⌗

I took lux measurements with a UNI-T UT383BT at 30 seconds. Low was measured at one metre. Med, High and Turbo were measured at five metres.

Mode	Specs (cd)	Specs (m)	Candela measured (cd)	Distance (m)
Low			12	6
Med			200	28
High			1,150	67
Turbo	4,100	128	6,150	156

Beamshots⌗

I went to a local park and aimed the Wuben X2 Copper at a tree 70 metres away while using Turbo.

Beamshots were taken using a Sony RX100M2 using 3.2", f3.2, ISO 100, 5000K WB.

Wuben X2 Copper (Turbo)⌗

Cyansky P25 V2.0⌗

Olight Warrior Mini 2⌗

Conclusion⌗

The Wuben X2 Copper performed better than I expected. My expectations were influenced by other enthusiasts and by specifications published by Wuben.

Runtime results and the beam distance results were better than the official specifications.

The choice of emitters, three Samsung LH351Ds, is okay… They produce a very floody beam. But I would love to see Wuben use Nichia 519A emitters so that there is no hint of green in the beam. I am going to be fussy because this torch is aimed at enthusiasts.

That said, the use of screws and rubber gaskets makes it extremely easy to open up and modify the Wuben X2! I am going to swap Nichia 519A emitters into mine.

It would have been nice if Wuben designed the X2 so that two user replaceable 14500 cells could be inserted in parallel. The battery pack can be swapped but you need to know what you are doing.

Copper torches are a bit of a lifestyle choice. They are heavy and stinky but some enthusiasts love them!

If you are not a fan of copper, that is okay! Wuben have the X2 available in aluminium and different titanium variants.

I will probably continue to use the X2 Copper as a work horse to knock around and take an aluminium version while travelling.

Pros:⌗

Good build quality.
Floody beam.
High CRI.
Beam looks nice.
Built-in USB-C charging.
Low voltage protection.

Cons:⌗

Copper has sharp edges.
Battery pack is soldered to the driver.
UI bug where I can’t exit Turbo with two clicks from off, Strobe or SOS.

Price⌗

The Wuben X2 Copper is AU$234.86 after a 20% discount at the time of writing.

Wuben are definitely aiming for enthusiasts with this price.

With a higher price tag come higher expectations. I would expect the copper version to be chamfered at this price but it has a few sharp edges. The aluminium version does not have sharp edges.

The aluminium version is AU$145.68 after a 20% discount at the time of writing.

Product page⌗

Promo code: SG9IP8YKT5PI

liteshop.com.au affiliate link

Promo code: TIM20

wubenlight.com affiliate link

https://www.wubenlight.com/collections/everyday-carry?ref=Tim

I may earn a commission if you use an affiliate link or a promo code. This will help fund future torch reviews and tutorials.

For example:
Low voltage protection! Wuben X2 Copper

Wuben X2 Copper Torch Review