WUBEN Lightok X3 Owl EDC flashlight review

REVIEW – Most flashlights that you’ll read about here on The Gadgeteer look alike. They are a black tube with a bright LED that shines out of one end and a button that turns the light on, off, and changes modes. There’s nothing wrong with that, and it’s been how most flashlights have been designed for decades. But the WUBEN Lightok X3 Owl EDC flashlight is different and interesting. Let’s take a look.

What is it?

The WUBEN Lightok X3 Owl EDC flashlight is a flashlight with a rotating head and other interesting features.

What’s in the box?

• WUBEN Lightok X3 Owl EDC flashlight
• Charging box
• Lanyard / USB charging cable
• User manual

Specifications

Design and features

The Wuben X3 is called the Lightok X3 Owl because… well, I think you can see why. The wide head with dual LEDs looks like the eyes of an Owl. This EDC flashlight is available in White (looks translucent to me), Blue, and Black.

I was sent the translucent version which just happens to glow in the dark when you expose it to bright light.

The back of the Wuben X3 has a large wide pocket clip. Clip it to your belt, a pocket, a cap, backpack strap, etc.

The bottom edge / tailcap of the flashlight has two magnetic feet allowing you to attach it to a steel surface like the homemade steel bulletin board in my office.

The Wuben X3 has been designed with a 180° rotating head which allows it to be a versatile light.

The head can only rotate in one direction but it’s interesting that you can turn on the light in any position.

When it’s fully rotated, the head and LEDs point upward instead of at a 90 degree angle. I prefer to use the X3 in in this position because the power button and status LCD is more convenient to see and use.

The power button is a large flat button with good tactile feedback and next to it is a small white-on-black LCD that will show the current mode/lumens and battery status.

The user interface for controlling the Wuben X3 flashlight is easy once you read the instructions and know how to do it. Pressing the power button will toggle the power on and off while holding the button down when the flashlight is powered on will cycle through the brightness levels (Low, Med, High).  To access the turbo mode, you need to double click the power button when the light is on or off. Triple clicking the power button will start strobe mode.

The X3 also has a red lantern mode that is activated when you click and hold the power button when the light is off. It starts off with just one LED but click and hold again when in this mode, it will switch to two red LEDs.

Charging the Wuben Lightok X3 Owl EDC flashlight

The X3 is available in 2 versions. One that comes with a small charging base and one that comes with a charging box. I received the version with the charging box which you see above.

The charging box has a USB-C port that you can use to charge the box which in turn charges the flashlight. There is a small button next to the USB-C port. When you press this button, it will light up the status LED to the right of it to show the status of the charger.

The flashlight easily slides into the charging box when it needs to be recharged.

The flashlight’s controls are accessible through the lid of the charging box.

This allows you to continue using the X3 as a lantern even while it’s charging.

The X3 is also supposed to have wireless charging functionality, so if you have a Qi charger, you can just place it face down and charge it that way too. At least in theory, because my review sample of the X3 would not charge on any Qi charger I own… I don’t know if I have a pre-production sample of the X3 without the feature, although it looks like the coil is there since I can see it through the flashlight’s clear case, or if my sample is defective.

Update 12/22/23 – A user comment saying that he thought he also had a defective X3 that wouldn’t charge wirelessly, but once the light’s internal battery was down to about 70%, wireless charging worked. So I gave it a try and it worked!

Unfortunately, the flashlight itself does not have its own USB-C port. That means that you’ll need to take the charging box with you or the smaller charging dock if you ever need to charge it on the go.

If it’s any consultation, I was surprised to find out that the included lanyard is also a USB-C – USB-C cable with a USB-C to Lightning adapter!

Let there be light!

Here is a picture of what I could see standing at the edge of my front porch looking into my wood line which starts about 30 or so feet away. I took this picture with my iPhone 15 Pro Max and no flash. If you look really closely, you’ll see some tiny bright specks. Those are lights through through the trees of other houses.

Here’s the X3 set to low mode which isn’t bright enough to illuminate anything.

Ok, now we’re getting somewhere at Medium mode.

High mode.

And finally, Turbo mode.

What I like

• Magnetic base
• Qi charging (doesn’t work with my review sample)
• Glow in the dark version
• Rotating head

What I’d change

• Needs a direct charging feature (USB connection) in the flashlight itself

Final thoughts

I like the innovative features of the Wuben Lightok X3 Owl EDC flashlight (magnetic base, rotating head, red lantern mode, and Qi charging), but I don’t like that you have to store or carry around the charging box or charging base for charging it. If that one caveat doesn’t bother you, this flashlight is both cute and bright for such a small flashlight.

Price: $109.99
Where to buy: WUBEN (save 20% with code gadgeteer20 ) and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by WUBEN.