WUBEN I333 Flashlight Review.

WUBEN I333 Black Vulture Review.

Before we get started, let me share some brief history on WUBEN.

The company, “ShengQi Lighting Technology Co., Ltd", has been around since 1981 which is based in the city of DongGuan in China.

Their primary focus to date has always been lighting products, which they are also the first to have a factory in the city that specializes in the manufacturing of Halogen bulbs.

With fame and fortune achieved at retirement, the founder Yao Shufang  handed over the reigns of the company to his son Yao Minxin in 2008,

and in the same year, with the development of LED technology, his son opened the first branch of “ShengQi Lighting Technology Co., Ltd" in the same city,

which is now known as "DongGuan ShengQi Lighting Technology Co., Ltd".

This first branch is now devoted to manufacturing high quality LED flashlights for the USA market and parts of the EU.

Continuing with his fathers legacy, in 2016 he decided to build a second branch and factory in the city of ShenZhen, "ShenZhen ShengQi Lighting Technology Co., Ltd"

to manufacture and build quality LED flashlights under their own brand.

He decided on the name 'WUBEN' as the meaning derives from the values and beliefs his father was so famously known for and on which basis the company was operated,

HONESTY, INTEGRITY and CREATIVIY.

So there you have it. WUBEN is a little over a year old, yet, with over 35 years of lighting experience, they are manufacturing some seriously unique and high quality flashlights

which are giving the competitors a good run in the market.

So let's get cracking!

Packaging at a glance.

The I333 ships in a black hard cardboard box with white and silver print, almost like Chrome, which has a lid which stays closed magnetically. All the key features are printed on all sides of the box, so really no need to open it and go through the manual.
Definitely a box which will draw attention to itself on a retailers shelf.
I'm not sure if these units are shrink wrapped before they're shipped, but my sample arrived as is.

Unboxing

I spent about 30 second sniffing the inside of the box as there is nothing better than the fresh smell of a foam cut out insert.
So, included with your new I333, you get a braided micro USB cable (packaged in the small black box to the right and inserted into the foam insert to the left), a camo design lanyard, an
18650 Li-ion battery, two spare 'O' Rings, a greeting card and the owners manual.
Please read through the owners manual carefully as it contains valuable information on the operational features of the flashlight, as well as important warranty details.

Quality Inspection

The whole concept behind the design of the I333 is based on the movie TRON.
This is noticeable on the milling pattern around the body of the flashlight which has been left bare and free from anodizing.

Machined from high grade aerospace Aluminum, it's light, and as it's coated with some hard anodizing, you know this flashlight is going to be durable.

The milling is outstanding and performed to perfection with no burrs or rough edging. The overall feel of the flashlight while running your fingers over the entire body is really smooth.
Even the crenellated bezel which protrudes out a bit and looks sharp, is very smooth on the edges.

The overall appearance, look and feel of the flashlight, I give it two thumbs up as nothing about it looks cheap.

Taking off the end cap, I noticed the lack of sufficient lubricant on the threads and O-Ring.
I always advise this to anyone and everyone who purchases any products that make the use
of o-rings.
Get yourself some petroleum jelly (Vasaline is perfect) and coat the o-rings and threads with just enough to fully coat it, and I promise you, they will never perish.

The battery connectors are not actually springs as we've come to know them.
On the tail cap side, it's more of a cap that is mounted on and around a spring, and on the head of the flashlight, it looks more like a raised contact, as seen below.
Although the I333 is classed as a tactical flashlight, I doubt that it would survive the recoil of being mounted on a rifle or shotgun as the battery would loose contact with the connectors.
But hey, your'e welcome to try it out.

The pocket clip is made with stainless steel which is a bit of a mission to unclip and clip back onto the body, with the spring end pressing tight up against the flashlight, which is a good thing as you won't be breaking the clip or loosing your flashlight so easily while in your pocket.

The Micro USB cable is not the standard plastic coated cables you normally find with products that require them. This one is actually braided with metal end housings to offer more resistance against wear and tear.

Performance.

Lets take a look at some features of the I333 first.

• The emitter is a XPL V5 LED
• Bezel diameter is 31mm.
• The highest output is 1100 Lumens
• Max distance is 283m
• Five output levels. 1100 lumens, 330 lumens, 165 lumens and 30 lumens and 2.5 lumens. 
• Two special modes, STROBE and SOS.
• Max runtime is 325 hrs in it's lowest mode.
• Powered by one 18650 battery.
• IPX8 Waterproof which can be submersed up to 2m in water.
• Reverse Polarity Protection.
• Rechargeable via micro USB.
• ATR Technology (Advanced Temperature Regulation)

The battery should already be charged enough for you to get familiar with the workings of the I333.
The I333 runs on a single 18650 battery or two CR123/RCR123 batteries.

Ok, so once you've lubed up the O-rings and threads, slapped the battery in, press the tail cap switch to turn on the flashlight and you'll be in TURBO mode, a whopping 1100 lumens.
Now, on the body of the flashlight, just behind the head, you'll see a rubber switch with a "W" on it, this is the 'MODE' switch which should be illuminating Blue at this stage.
Press the mode switch once to cycle through the different brightness levels.

So you start off with 1100 lumens which will last you just over an hour, click the mode switch once and you're at 330 lumens which will run for three hours, click again and you're at 165 lumens which will run for eight hours, click again and your'e at 22 lumens which will run for 70 hours and finally click one last time and you're at 2.5 lumens which will run for 325 hours.
Clicking again will take you back to 1100 lumens and so the cycle continues.

To get to your special modes which are STROBE and SOS, just double click the mode button while your'e in any of the normal brightness modes. Strobe is always first when first going into special mode. Double tap the mode switch and you'll get SOS, double click the mode switch again and you're back in Strobe. Both special modes run at 1100 lumens.
Now I've noticed that the strobe flickering rate on the I333 is significantly slower than other flashlights I have tested, which I found to be better and more effective, and trust me, the I333 BLINDS you!
To get back to the normal mode you were on, just click the mode switch once.

The I333 does have a memory recall for the normal modes only.
So if you were in 330 lumens and switch off, it will switch on in 330 lumens mode.
It also has a shortcut to quickly access 1100 lumens. No matter what mode your'e in, normal or special, just press and HOLD the mode switch and it will activate 1100 lumens.
When you let go the mode switch, it will return to the last normal mode you were on.
If you were in a special mode, it will not revert back to the special mode you were in, instead, it will revert back to the normal mode you last used.

The I333 has a battery capacity indicator built in, and how this works is as follows.
If you battery is at full capacity, the mode switch will illuminate blue and remain like that till it reaches 50% capacity, then it turns red, as seen in the pic below.
When the battery is at 10%, the mode switch will flash red.
I did do a run test and the results are pretty much on par to the spec sheet.
In the pic below, you can see that the mode switch turned red at around 32mins.

During the 1hr test run, the I333 did get a bit hot, but not to the extent that it could not be handled.
This is thanks to a feature called ATR (Advanced Temperature Regulation).
It automatically detects the temperature of the casing and regulates the power output to the LED to avoid causing internal damage.

Charging is pretty simple.
The instant you connect the micro USB, you'll notice the mode switch flashing red.
Just press the power switch on the rear and you'll see the mode switch light up solid red, then you know it's charging. Charging time is about 3.5hrs.
It also has reverse polarity protection which prevents damage to the flashlight should you insert the battery incorrectly, which I did test.

It's also IPX8 waterproof, which means it can be submerged underwater up to 2m.
Below you can see I was having a bit of fun with it in the pool.

Below are some pics of the beam throw and spill.
It really has an impressive focus point, even at a distance, with a spill wide enough so that a moving  object won't escape you while tracking.
 You will also notice how the mode switch has changed from blue to red

Summary.

I'm being honest when I say that the I333 is a very strong competitor to some flashlights out there
which cost way more than what you would pay for the I333, which is around R1 200.
It only has a 31mm head, and I put it up against a very well known brand with a 40mm head, and the focus of the beam and the spill is much of a muchness.

There are one or two things I would like to see in the MKII version, like a tail switch which goes directly to strobe, as well as a shortcut to inspect battery capacity any time I wish to do so.
I could pick up the I333 to go out, only to find that I'm 5mins away from seeing a red mode switch.

As the I333 is more of a tactical flashlight than one for search and rescue, I'd like to see a much improved dual spring system on the MKII version so that it can be weapon mounted.

Other than that, I would seriously recommend the I333 to anyone who wants to purchase their first flashlight, or even upgrade to a much better one than they currently have.

For further details on WUBEN products, you can visit their website, http://www.wubenlight.com/product/1017
or visit their South African Distributor on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/wubenflashlightssouthafrica/

Check out my video review on the I333 on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4heL-jTcyE&t=5s

Thanks for reading.