Wuben H4 Headlamp Review

What’s in the box

The H4 lamp, a Wuben 1700 mAh rechargeable battery pack in a hinged case behind the lamp, a USB-C cable and a black and blue headband. The lid of the battery case says it also takes three AAA batteries, so you’re not stuck if the pack runs flat. Two buttons work the two lights, and the red light, beacon and SOS modes sit on top of that.

Quick Specs

Spot, flood and red light

The two white lights are the point of the H4: a cooler 6500K spot for reaching down a track, and a warmer 4000K flood for around camp. Turbo gives 800 lumens for about a minute before it settles at 350. Wuben’s figures, to the FL1 standard (the spot and the flood have the same levels):

Turbo throws 66 m and steps down to 350 lm after about a minute. On beacon the red light runs 90 h, on SOS 26 h.

Motion sensor and buttons

Each white light has its own button: a textured one for the spot and a round one for the flood. Hold both buttons for 1.5 seconds and the H4 switches to sensor mode: wave a hand in front of it, within about 30 cm, to turn it on or off, which is handy with dirty or full hands. A blue light on the lamp shows when it’s in that mode. The buttons, one by one:

Battery and build

The 1700 mAh pack sits in a hinged case behind the lamp. To charge it, you take the pack out and plug the USB-C cable straight into it, which is just annoying compared with a port on the lamp. Wuben rates the H4 IP68: fully dustproof and good for 2 m underwater for an hour, and impact-rated to 1.2 m. The latch and housing don’t feel fragile, but they don’t feel premium either, and there’s no lockout mode, so it can switch on by accident in a bag.

Headband and tilt

The headband threads through a clip on the back of the lamp, and the lamp tilts down a full 90°, with notches to hold the angle in between, so you can aim the light at your feet or at what you’re working on.

Size and weight

The lamp itself is quite large and bulky for a head torch. The box gives 80 g with the battery; with the headband it weighed 99 g on our scale.

Vs our Black Diamonds

Next to the three Black Diamond head torches we’ve tested, the Wuben has the most output and the only separate spot and flood, but it’s the fiddliest to use and charge. The Spot 400 is our everyday go-to, the Storm 500-R our pick for long trips, and the Astro 300 the simplest.

	This reviewWuben H4	Astro 300→	Spot 400→	Storm 500-R→
Lock	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Throw	66 m	55 m	100 m	120 m
Light	White spot, White flood, Red	White	White, Red	White, Red, Green, Blue
Charging	USB-C, pack out	With the BD 1500	With the BD 1500	Micro-USB
Water rating	IP68	IPX4	IPX8	IP67
Brightness	800 lm	300 lm	400 lm	500 lm
Power	1700 mAh pack or 3 × AAA	3 × AAA or BD 1500	3 × AAA or BD 1500	2400 mAh built in
Weight	99 g	82 g	78 g	101 g
Our score	8.5	9.0	9.4	9.1

Conclusion: Wuben H4 Headlamp

The Wuben H4 gives you a spotlight and a floodlight in one head torch, each with its own button, plus a red light, a wave-on motion sensor and IP68. It runs on a 1700 mAh rechargeable pack or three AAA batteries and weighs 99 g with the headband. Turbo only lasts a minute before it steps down, it’s a bit more complicated to operate and feels a bit flimsier than our Black Diamonds, and charging is annoying. At $45 it’s a lot of light for the money, but the Spot 400 and Storm 500-R are the ones we’re keeping.