Viltrox launches new “Retro” RGBW pocket LED lights

Viltrox has announced a new pair of “retro” RGBW pocket-sized LED lights. They’re called the Viltrox 08X (buy here) and the Viltrox 12X (buy here), offering 8W and 12W output, respectively. With a white balance range from 2500-8500K, both lights offer a CRI and TLCI of over 95.

Both lights sport rugged aluminium housing with a range of buttons for adjusting settings. As well as bicolour, you also get HSL, RGBWY and COL colour modes, thanks to its RGBW LEDs. And you can control them from your smartphone.

Viltrox Retro 12X – Pocket RGBW power

There are two lights in the new lineup. There’s the Retro 08X and the Retro 12X, each offering either 8W or 12W of output. Both lights offer high CRI of 95 and TLCI of 97 with white balance from 2800-8500K. You get HSL, RGBWY and Colour Coordinates controls for non-white.

The Retro 12X puts lit 1,350 lux at 0.5 metres at full power and a white balance of 5500K. It has a built-in 7.4v 3000mAh battery, providing up to 2 hours of use at 100% power. It charges from flat to full in about three and a half hours and can also act as a power bank to charge up your phone or other devices.

It measures 140 x 80.5 x 18.5mm, making it a similar size to a smartphone and about twice as thick. It weighs 247.5g, so it’s also a similar weight to a large smartphone. For comparison, the iPhone 15 Pro Max weighs 221g.

Viltrox Retro 08X

The Viltrox Retro 08X is a little smaller and a little less powerful at 8 Watts. Despite being only 66% the power of the Retro 12X, its output – 100%, 0.5 metres and 5600K – is only 600 lux. This is a little under half the 12W version.

It has similar aluminium construction to the Retro 12X, but it’s smaller in size. It measures 115 x 68 x 21.6m, which, again, is fairly similar to a smartphone. But there are some differences when it comes to the battery.

Both units contain a 22.2Wh battery. On the 12X, it’s 7.4v at 3,000Ah. On the 08x, it’s 3.7v with a larger 6,000mAh capacity. Overall, both essentially have the same power. This means that it can run the lower power light for up to three and a half hours.

Because of the lower voltage, however, it takes about 7 hours to charge from flat to full. This is going to be a bit of a pain if you need to charge them up in a hurry. But if you have a few, just put them on charge the night before you need them and plan accordingly the next day.

26 lighting effects

Both lights come with silicone diffusers to help hide the individual LEDs and create a single light source. They also both have 26 built-in preset effects, letting you use them in a variety of creative ways – particular for video.

The housings for both lights also feature several 1/4-20″ sockets, allowing you to mount them in a number of ways. You can place it on light stands, attach it to gimbals, on your camera’s hotshoe (they come with an adapter), or anywhere you need to add a little light.

The world might be flooded with small pocket-sized LED light releases over the last couple of years, but more choice is almost always a good thing. Viltrox alone makes several other models of pocket LEDs already, but now you have a couple more options.

Viltrox Retro 08X/12X Specs

Price and Availability

The Viltrox Retro 12X is available to buy now for $89. The Viltrox Retro 08X is also available to buy now for $69.80.