Ulanzi VIJIM VL81 – Portable Budget Video Light

Hello there! This is the review of the most portable video light I’ve tested so far. The Vijim VL81 with Bi-Colour is bright enough for most tasks. And for GHc 105, let’s find out if this is the one for you.

So, this is the LED Video Light, and the 1^st thing you’ll notice is how small it is.

Holding it in my tiny hand should give you a fair idea.

Designwise, you get all your controls at the back of the light. The switch for colours on the top right and the power/brightness control dial on the top left. Then finally, the charging port.

There are also 3 cold-shoe mounts for other camera-related accessories. Then, at the bottom is a ¼ inch/hot shoe mount for your camera, lightstand, or any other mounting device that uses these mounting systems.



What I love about this hotshoe mount, is the inclusion of a tightener, which better secures the light on your camera

See these 4 tiny holes here. They have tiny red LEDs that serve as battery life indicators

Turning this on is as simple as turning the power dial to the right. This dial also doubles as the brightness control dial, for increasing and decreasing the brightness of the light.

The 2^nd dial, on the other hand, controls the colour temperature of the lights. From 3200K-5500K.

I doubt you’ll notice how bright it is outdoors but if you look closely, it is noticeable.

The charging port is thankfully, a USB type C port, and with that, you can pretty much charge this with any new cables lying around at home.

This is great, given the fact that, unlike the other Ulanzi Video Light which uses the micro USB charging port, I can just carry this around and charge it up using my phone’s charger.



And similarly, unlike the older one, everything I need, battery, yellow and white filters, are all present in this compact and new design.

So, for the specs, we’re looking at a 3000mAh rechargeable battery, 3200K-5500K fill light, and triple cold shoe design for adding add other devices.

The working power supply of 3.7V with a power output of 6.5W

The brightness level of 850Lm which will travel as far as 3 to 6m

There are 81 tiny lights in total, the white lights are 41pcs whiles the yellow ones are 40pcs. Why that is so, I don’t know

Now, I did a little bit of comparison with my older Ulanzi LED video light, just to see if the brightness between these are any close, well no, they aren’t. Although you get insanely bright light from this VL81, the 96 LEDs on this older one blows it out of the water. Mind you, I’m using the exact same camera settings here.

Is this all bad, NO. in fact, this has a lot of advantages on its own.

Starting with triple cold-shoe mounts, you can’t get something like this anywhere else. I guess, Ulanzi felt if one light is not enough, why not add triple shoe mounts so you can add us more as you want.

Since this is also smaller, portability is no issue.



So, if you’re looking for a smaller LED Dimmable light live streaming or just taking selfies with your phone, this is really one to consider.

For about GHc 105 without shipping. I feel it’s a good deal.

But, before you do, the VL49 is a very light to this. Well, actually, it’s the exact same thing, but it’s completely RBG and it’s about GHc 10 more. Sacrificing on the battery though, but still worth considering

AliExpress.com Product – Ulanzi VIJIM VL81 3200k-5600K 850LM 6.5W Dimmable Mini LED Video Light Smartphone SLR Camera Rechargable Vlog Fill Light