The Wurkkos TD02 flashlight/torch is a recent addition to Wurkkos' expanding TD range of budget, tail switch flashlights. The TD02 is a 18650 battery format EDC flashlight, with cool white SST-40 emitter, claimed to reach 2000 lumens.
Disclaimer
The Wurkkos TD02 was purchased with my own funds. This review does not contain any affiliate links. This flashlight is reviewed from the perspective of a light painting photographer and flashlight enthusiast.
Construction and Design
Wurkkos are one of the most well known budget flashlight manufacturers. The TD02 is one of 4 flashlights (at the time of writing) in Wurkkos's TD range of flashlights .It is an 18650 battery tube format flashlight, with a rubber tail switch, head diameter of 24.7mm, length of 122mm, and weight of 62g (excl. battery). The light uses a powerful Luminus SST-40 LED, available in cool white 6500k, and is claimed to reach 2000 lumens. The retail price at the time of writing was just US$26 without battery, and US$28 including a 18650 Li-ion battery.
The light was delivered to Australia within 10 days from order. The TD02 arrived in basic but adequate branded packaging. The light comes with a conventional side clip, lanyard, spare O-rings, USB-A to USB-C cable, and instructions. The TD02 has a claimed IPX8 rating, and 1m drop height, so it should for example survive a quick drop into water. The knurling is nice and grippy. The light also tail stands which will keep candle power forum members happy.
A high quality unprotected 3000mAh 18650 Li-ion battery is optional for only $2, and I would highly recommend purchasing this as an option. I tested using a 3500mAh Panasonic NCR18650GA battery. As usual, the +ve end of the battery is at the head end of the flashlight. The flashlight has internal USB-C charging. This is a step up from the similar sized Sofirn SP31 V2.0, Convoy S2+ and Convoy S15, which all lack this feature. Charging was measured to terminate at 4.17V which is acceptable. Charge rate was estimated at 2A.
This flashlight is compatible with Light Painting Brushes (Universal Connector), Light Painting Paradise, and T8 tube based (Light Painting Tubes, Luminosify, Light Painting King, and LightTubePro) light painting systems. It fits U-shaped or clamp tripod mounts. It isn't compatible with Convoy 24.5mm diffusers.
User Interface
The Wurkkos TD02 has a refreshingly basic tail switch user interface. A full click of the tail switch is on/off, and half press advances through the 5 brightness modes - Eco > Low > Med > High > Turbo > Eco >. These modes all have last mode memory, which means that the light turns on in the previously used mode which I prefer. I also like that Turbo mode is included in the mode cycle, instead of a double click to Turbo as on some user interfaces.
A double click from on enters strobe mode. Unfortunately, the strobe mode is an alternating frequency strobe, which isn't useful for light painting photography. Constant frequency strobe are preferred for light painting. The strobe mode is also not memorised, and is not accessible from off. The decline in flashlights with constant frequency strobes is extremely frustrating to light painting photographers. The Wurkkos TD03 and TD04 do have momentary strobe, but I expect that they also use an alternating frequency strobe.
There is no momentary mode, or remote pressure switch available for this light, so this is more of a general purpose use flashlight, rather than a "tactical" flashlight. The larger Wurkkos TD03 and TD04 have a tail momentary switch and are thus more "tactical". Eco mode is also not low enough to be considered a "moonlight" mode. The TD02 can be mechanically locked out by slightly unscrewing the tail cap.
Beam, Output, and Runtime
The Wurkkos TD02 uses a Luminus SST-40 6500k LED, with a TIR optic. The optic creates a beam with a fairly well defined hotspot relatively good throw/lumen ratio, but also with a wide 120 degree spill beam. I would call this a general purpose beam profile. Measurements in this section used an Opple Light Master Pro 3.
Claimed/Measured Brightness:
Turbo - 2000/1248 lumens (stepdown to 400 lumens from 65secs).
High - 1000/735 lumens (stepdown to 400 lumens from 180secs).
Medium - 400/297 lumens.
Low - 100/83 lumens.
Eco - 10/8 lumens.
Strobe - 2000/1248 lumens (estimated).
Turbo brightness is much lower than Wurkkos' claims. However, it is still pretty impressive for a $26 flashlight, and the stepdown in brightness is not as rapid as many 18650 lights. These brightness levels are very well spaced. Sustained brightness is fairly average, and declines during the runtime due to lack of regulation.
Claimed/Measured Runtimes:
Turbo - 2h/3h20m.
High - 2h30m/3h40m.
Medium - 4h/not tested.
Low - 18h/not tested.
Eco - 150h/not tested.
Strobe - not stated.
Measured runtimes on High and Turbo modes were better than claimed, partially due to use of a 3500mAh battery for testing (instead of the Wurkkos 3000mAh battery). The light also continues on a very dim brightness for a while after the end of ANSI/NEMA FL1 standard runtime.
Claimed/measured Peak Beam Intensity:
Turbo - claimed 16075cd (254m) / measured 17783cd (267m).
Peak beam intensity is relatively high for an 18650 tube format light, helped by the SST-40 LED and a TIR optics. The peak beam intensity is suitable for use with longer light painting tools such as T8 tubes, rods, sabers, etc. Whilst the even cheaper Convoy S15 manages 1,515 lumens and 20,520cd, it only has 4 brightness levels, and lacks USB charging.
Hotspot correlated colour temperature (CCT), colour rending index (CRI Ra), and tint/DUV:
Turbo - CCT 6072k, CRI 68.3 Ra CRI, Tint +0.0063 DUV.
High - CCT 6091k, CRI 68.3 Ra CRI, Tint +0.0063 DUV.
Medium - CCT 6093k, CRI 68.2 Ra, Tint +0.0065 DUV.
Low - CCT 6129k, CRI 68.3 Ra, Tint +0.0062 DUV.
Eco - CCT 5891k, CRI 66.3 Ra, Tint +0.0088 DUV
These results were very interesting. SST-40 emitters usually have a very slight green tint at maximum output, with tint becoming progressively more green with lower brightness (more +ve DUV). However, the SST-40 in the tested Wurkkos TD02 actually managed to maintain only a very slight green tint on all brightness levels other than 8 lumen Eco mode. The hotspot was also warmer (most likely due to TIR optics), and CRI marginally better the SST-40 in the Convoy S15.
Whilst this is a low (70ish) CRI flashlight, the vast majority of flashlight buyers are not concerned about CRI, and purchased based on lumens. It is also fine for use with light painting tools. However for night photography illumination, I prefer to use >90CRI flashlights such as the Wurkkos FC11 or Convoy S21E 519A.
No Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) was detected visually, or by my phone camera, so is likely to have a very high frequency.
Conclusion
Positives:
Good value for money - just US$28 including battery.
Good maximum brightness/size.
Easy to use UI.
Last mode memory for all brightness levels (including Turbo).
Well spaced brightness levels.
USB-C internal charging.
Side clip.
Compatible with most light painting systems.
No visible PWM.
Better tint than most cool white flashlights.
Negatives:
Overexaggerated maximum lumen rating.
Alternating frequency strobe.
No single click access to strobe from off.
No momentary and remote pressure switch.
Low CRI.
For general purpose flashlight use (as long as you are OK with a low CRI LED) the Wurkkos TD02 is a very good value for money, and easy to use, tail switch EDC flashlight.
For light painting photography (creating light trails) the Wurkkos TD02 is a good budget choice for creating continuous (non-strobe) light trails, due to having 5 well spaced brightness levels and last mode memory. It has been added to my flashlight buying guide for light painters. As with most other recent flashlight models, it is let down by having an alternating frequency strobe instead of constant frequency strobe, and that the strobe is not accessible from off.
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