The Best Thing I Bought This Year: A Zippo-sized Rechargeable Flashlight

The Wuben G5 is arsenic easy to pouch arsenic a Zippo and a overmuch amended ray source. | Photo: Andrew Liszewski / The Verge

I was ne'er a Boy Scout, but I person ever embraced their “be prepared” motto. When I time off nan location it’s ne'er without my mundane transportation kit that, among different things, includes wireless earbuds, a mini battery, other glasses — and a flashlight. In fact, I’ve agelong been connected nan hunt for what I see to beryllium nan cleanable flashlight, and arsenic a consequence I now person much of them than immoderate 1 personification could ever need. But nan $25 Wuben G5 could beryllium my last, acknowledgment to a compact creation that pairs clever functionality pinch tons of illumination that’s easy to adjust.

I bought nan G5 arsenic a replacement for nan Nitecore TINI 2 keychain flashlight I utilized to carry. Nitecore’s is amazingly agleam fixed really mini it is, but nan fastener action that prevents nan flashlight from turning connected accidentally is acold from foolproof. In reality, nan TINI 2 would regularly move connected by itself while bouncing astir wrong my sling bag, draining its artillery without maine realizing it. You can’t efficaciously “be prepared” pinch a dormant flashlight.

The G5 besides includes a locking mechanism, but successful nan shape of a sliding move connected 1 broadside that doubles arsenic a screen for nan flashlight’s USB-C charging port. After a mates of months of carrying it around, nan G5 hasn’t turned connected by itself, and astatine this constituent I don’t expect it to. It’s not rather arsenic mini arsenic my aged Nitecore, but it’s conscionable somewhat taller than a Zippo lighter, and still very pocketable.

What I for illustration moreover much astir nan G5 is that it’s very bully astatine conscionable being a flashlight. Instead of stepping done brightness presets, nan flashlight has a instrumentality for quickly dialing successful precisely really overmuch illumination you need, from conscionable 2 lumens to up to 400. I find its lowest mounting much than agleam capable to find thing dropped successful a acheronian car, aliases for searching for thing that rolls nether nan sofa, and keeping it dim boosts nan flashlight’s artillery life to up to 65 hours.

The G5 is not constricted to conscionable achromatic light. It has a 2nd LED whose colour tin beryllium adjusted by turning nan brightness dial which cycles done nan spectrum. Using a operation of double taps and agelong presses connected nan powerfulness button, nan G5 tin besides flash individual colors aliases multicolor patterns which could, successful immoderate situations, beryllium a useful measurement to awesome you’re having an emergency.

Other functionality I’ve travel to admit includes a clip whose position tin beryllium adjusted to nan front, side, aliases backmost of nan G5, and that its LEDs are located connected a caput that tin rotate 180 degrees. The guidelines of nan flashlight moreover has a built-in magnet truthful you tin equine nan G5 and usage it hands-free. In short, it feels for illustration Wuben put a batch of thought into nan G5’s creation to maximize its functionality. 

I’m not going to dress that everyone would beryllium thrilled to find a flashlight successful their stocking connected Christmas morning, but I’m betting there’s 1 aliases 2 group connected your shopping database who would admit a very useful summation to their ain mundane transportation kits.