Tube lights are something many creators didn’t realize we needed until they arrived. Capable of producing a ton of light across a wide range of temperatures and the RGB color, tube lights opened new creative possibilities on the go. Hundreds of models ranging from Temu cheap to studio expensive are on the market. One of the best options lies in the middle. Here’s everything you need to know about Lume Cube’s RGB Tube Light Xl.
What is the RGB Tube Light XL, and who is it for?
The Lume Cube XL is a 4ft light tube of 492 LEDs that packs a host of lighting studio features in its slender frame. With an output of 3400 Lumens, the Tube Light XL is tall and bright enough to illuminate most adults.
With the included stand, the XL makes a great standing light for run and gun shooting. Just place it in front or to the side of your subject and start filming and shooting.
Creators can quickly adjust using the Lume Cube App to tackle changing lighting situations or creative inspirations. The app can synch multiple RGB Tube Light XLs, letting you cast powerful light from multiple directions.
Photographers like metal icon Jeremy Saffer have made using multiple tube lights a vital part of their workflow. Note Saffer uses Nanliteus PavoTube II 30XR LED Tube Lights professionally.
The Tube Light XL is powerful enough to light TikTok videos, provide background fill on YouTube location shoots, or enhance your next photo session. The RGB Tube Light XL is a versatile beast, whether fast special effect strobe effects or a soft pink glow on your love-lorn confession.
At $399, often available for $299, it’s not the most inexpensive option. However, it is a versatile investment piece that can level up any video or photo creator’s tool kit.
Lume Cube RGB Tube Light XL Light Specs
Light Specs – 2700K – 7500K color temperature adjustability
LEDs: 492 LEDs
Brightness and Color Accuracy: 3400 Lumens | 96+ CRI rating | 2000 lux at .5 meters
Full-Color RGB – Over 16 million color options
Size: 4ft, LED area is 47 inches long
Weight: 3lbs 1.3oz
Rechargeable Lithium Battery – Over 288 minutes at 50% power and 96 minutes at 100% power
Mounting: Two female 1/4″-20s on each end with two additional female 1/4″- 20s and one 5/8 in the center for versatile mounting
Comes With:
Tube Light XL
Aluminum tripod legs
2 Coated steel loops + mounting bolts
AC power adapter
Padded travel bag
What is Great About the Lume Cube RGB Tube Light XL
1) Incredibly Bright Light and Accurate Color Temperature For Video and Photography
From a lighting perspective, the RGB Tube Light XL can do a little of everything. With up to 3400 lumens of brightness, it can be the light of god pouring from a trunk in a video or a simple portrait light.
Its adjustable 2700K – 7500K color temperature range helps you mold the light to any setting, whether a warm summer day or snowy night. The RGB Tube Light XL has a 96+ CRI rating, meaning it’s rated for incredibly accurate skin tones.
We also love its 47 inches of light element. Particularly when you need to illuminate a vast space or someone’s entire body, the length and light focus found here is a delight.
During testing in a forest setting for this review, the Tube Light XL performed incredibly. Placing it behind large rocks gave us incredible light, even at a distance. Using a small front-fill panel, the Tube Light XL helped us achieve pro results with just two lights.
2) Full-Color RGB Means Any Color Can Be Yours
Are you obsessed with background fills or artful colored lighting in your shoots? The RGB Tube Light XL can replicate over 16 million color options, ensuring you’ll never be stuck with almost the perfect color.
When paired with a secondary light or strobe flash, the Tube Light XL opens a world of shading during two-point lighting. The colors are bright, accurate, and crisp. Most importantly, they’re easily adjusted when paired with the Lume Cube app.
3) Light and Sturdy Enough For Remote Work
Each RGB Tube Light XL has a padded travel bag and shoulder sling. While this makes it handy to carry around during street shooting, we wanted to test the limits of its portability. We took the light on a four-mile hike into the California mountains for a nighttime creek shoot. We barely noticed the extra weight when strapped to our back at around three pounds.
However, when it came to propping the light up on rocks, we started to appreciate its durability. The RGB Tube Light XL survived a handful of falls without a scratch.
We captured colorful, moody hazes for a Boris Vallejo-inspired shoot. Then, when cleaning up, we blasted the bright white light to ensure no gear was left behind.
4) Incredible Rechargeable Battery Life, With 4.8 Hours at 50% or 96 Minutes at Full Power
The RBG Tube Light XL can run all day if you plug it into the wall. However, the real fun with a light like this is taking its place. That’s not a problem since the battery provides over 288 minutes of light at 50% power. You’ll get about 96 minutes at 100% power.
We suggest turning down your brightness during setups to get the most out of its batteries. However, even during long periods of use, we never ran out of power when it mattered.
5) Comes With Mounts and Stands For Versatile Set Ups
With a light this big, you’ll want to put it in places. Each tube light has two female 1/4″-20s sockets on each end. There are also two additional female 1/4″- 20s and one 5/8 in the center for a mounting plate if you want to use one.
The RBG Tube Light XL comes with two coated steel loops, mounting bolts, and aluminum tripod legs.
It’s quick and easy to hang the light from the steel mounting loops. We had the aluminum tripod legs the most, even when resting the light on the ground. Extending the tripod legs helped reduce rolling when setting up the light on an incline.
6) App Controls Make Exploring Ideas Faster
Lume Cube has one of the better Bluetooth control apps we’ve used with a tube light. You can turn on specific effects through the app, dial in your color tones, adjust your temperatures, and even turn your light off to save battery.
We set the light twenty-five feet away from us and behind a rock during a shoot. Using the app ensured we could explore light options without hiking back and forth to the light. It lets you stay behind the camera to make your adjustments. Best of all, the app can pair with multiple lights at once.
You can then control everything from one app if you use more than one Lume Cube product, even if it’s not the RGB Tube Light XL.
7) Special Effects For Creative Set Ups
Are you looking for a light to help you with your TikTok skits? The RGB Tube Light XL is ready to help with seven different lighting effects. Loop colors, flash blinding strobes, crack bolts of lightning, burn fire, simulate a candle, cop siren, or a flickering TV with simple button presses.
Each effect has finetuned brightness settings, ensuring they’ll never overpower the story you’re telling. We particularly loved the looping colors as background fill during portrait sessions.
8) Stepless Brightness And Color
Adjusting your brightness or color is seamless on the XL. Dialing in your adjustments is smooth and painless, especially when using the Lume Cube app. Being able to finetune shades of color or brightness without missing any of the inbetween possibilities is a joy. Even when quickly shifting through the color wheel on the app, the XL smoothly keeps up.
There is a noticeable change when you click between light levels on a stepped lighting setup. The XL lets you smoothly pinpoint precisely the shade and brightness you’re looking for.
9) Power Bank Functionality
Every creator knows what it’s like to be in the middle of a shoot and have your battery die. With the RGB Tube Light XL, all your devices can get an extra burst of power thanks to its power bank functionality.
When we say all of your devices, we mean all. The Tube Light XL has an output power of 56Wh. That means it can even keep your MacBook alive in an emergency. Yes, we tested that too.
Where Does the Lume Cube RGB Tube Light XL Need Work?
1) Can’t Control Specific Pixels of the Light
If there’s any real downside for creatives to the RBG Tube Light XL, it’s the lack of control for specific pixels. That means when you select a color for the light, that will be the color for the entire light.
Other setups, like the Nanliteus PavoTube II 30XR mentioned above, allow you to set different LED color patterns. That is a minor complaint, especially given the Lume Cube RGB Tube Light XL is $200-300 cheaper than that light. However, it’s worth noting if that’s a feature that’s important to you.
However, for mid-budget creators who want multiple colors, it makes more sense to roll that extra cost into more tube lights. You’d make up for what you lack in pixel-specific control with the added function of having two less expensive lights.
2) More Expensive Than Many Other Tube Lights (That Aren’t As Good)
At $299-399 per light, the RGB Tube Light XL is an investment. We live in a world where tons of cheap lighting options have popped up by brands worldwide.
Currently, on Amazon, you can find a two-pack of 4ft portable RGB tube lights with tripods for $99. They don’t come with an app or a remote, meaning you’ll need to set them manually. User reviews also show several people frustrated with their brightness.
You get what you pay for with lighting. However, the price quickly starts to jump if you look at more full-featured models. Shop around, and you can find these lights for $299 or even less during some sales.
For the extra cost, you get improved durability, 16 million color options, pass-through charging, and an incredible app that works at long distances.
Meanwhile, the cheap bargain light tubes we’ve bought for one-off shoots in the past usually stopped working within a year. That’s an anecdotal experience, but if you’ve ever cheaped out on equipment, it’s probably one you’ve also experienced.
3) It’s Conspicuous To Walk Around With a 4ft Lightsaber in Public
One of the realities of shooting TikToks, shorts, and photos is that limited budgets often leave us creating in public places. Keeping a low profile while shooting with a small panel, flash, or gimble is easy. Not drawing attention when you’ve got 4 feet of glowing lightsaber hiking with you is different.
Be aware people are more likely to ask if you’ve got permission to film when you’re using a bigger light like this in public. We don’t think this should deter you from getting a tube light. You may want to be more aware of your surroundings while using it.
What kind of creator is the RGB Tube Light XL best for?
Lume Cube’s RGB Tube Light XL is perfect for photographers and videographers who need a versatile, portable, powerful lighting option. Bright enough to provide background fill for a YouTube video, main light for TikToks, or portrait light in photography.
Do you need to quickly make it look like there’s a bright burning light under a door? Stick the XL behind the door and blast the brightness. Do you want to add soft purple highlights during a photography shoot? Stick on the legs and set the Tube Light XL off to the side.
The selling point of this light is its power and versatility, with a great build and tons of extra features. It’s just a cherry on top that this thing can also charge your iPhone or laptop if worse comes to worse.
Should Creators Buy The RGB Tube Light XL?
Passionfruit never wants you to break the bank. If you’re just starting as a creator, you don’t need to pour hundreds of dollars into your lighting.
Get something cheap, figure out what you like, and explore more expensive options. However, the RGB Tube Light XL is a great buy if you’ve been creating for a while and your ring light is no longer doing it.
You get almost all the functionality of a much more expensive light in a rugged package that will last a long time. Three thousand four hundred lumens is very bright, and 4ft of light will illuminate most subjects without issue. In the worst-case scenario, you’ll just need to use the included equipment to prop it up on something.
Whether using this for artistic backgrounds, as a second light with your ring light, or as a key light, the RGB Tube Light XL is a versatile tool for creators. I’ve used it for everything from portrait shoots to medieval forest cosplay. In every case, it has met my professional needs. Cost can be a factor, but this piece is well worth your investment.
