Godox LiteWafer Review: Overwhelming Power, Slim Profile

Lighting technology often forces a choice between portability and raw output, leaving creators to struggle with bulky fixtures or underpowered panels. The Godox LiteWafer UP150R challenges this trade-off by packing 20,400 lux into a housing less than one inch thick. We sit down with Ashton York and Lainee Hoskins-Stiver to determine if this ultra-slim RGBWW panel is a revolutionary studio tool or simply too much power for the average creator.

We get into the tactical substance of the UP150R, comparing its massive output to standard 5,000-lux studio lights and testing its performance in a real-world podcast environment. The conversation covers specific highlights like the dedicated quick-release mounting system that replaces frustrating softbox setups, the "tap to pair" NFC control via the Godox Light App, and the integration of realistic RGB effects like campfire and lightning. A major "aha" moment for the team was the discovery that while the light is remarkably thin, its reinforced metal housing and separate control box signal a shift toward permanent studio reliability over "run-and-gun" portability.

The unglamorous truth is that the UP150R is heavy enough to bend cheap light stands and produces enough intensity to overwhelm a small room if not managed correctly. It is a professional-grade workhorse that demands high-quality grip equipment to match its full-metal build. Viewers will walk away with a clear understanding of whether they need this level of cinematic flexibility or if their current bi-color setup is sufficient for their specific workflow.

If you care about high-end cinematography, efficient set design, and the latest in LED innovation, you’ll get a lot from this review. Subscribe and share to stay updated on the tools shaping the future of digital media. What is the most frustrating part of your current lighting setup—the brightness, the color accuracy, or the softbox assembly? Let us know in the comments

Transcript

Welcome And Meet The Team

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Hello and welcome to Auto Focus. We are here today with some of my amazing coworkers. We're here with Lainey and Ashton. Why don't you guys tell us a little bit about you? Because you guys both said this is your first time on a podcast. Yes? Yes.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

I've been with podcast videos for however long since November is. I don't do math very quickly in my head. That went out of my head a long time ago. Yeah, I know. That's why we're creatives. Yes. I have a film background and specifically love lighting. So this is fun for me. Okay, cool. Ashton, what do you do here?

SPEAKER_02 0:42

I'm Ashton. I'm the AI media editor. I've been here like a year and a half now, I think.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

Uh yeah. Yeah, you started as an intern.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:52

Yes, I was an intern. And then I was. What was I next? Front desk? Front desk. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Front desk person. And then and then you got a fancy title.

SPEAKER_02 1:01

Yeah. What is it again? AI AI Media Editor.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

I didn't. I think I knew that, but I didn't know that. So that's cool. That does sound fancy. What are you? And you didn't say we didn't say my title.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Um I'm a customer success specialist. So if you're in contact with PV as a client, uh, it's probably with me or someone on my team. Got it.

Why We Are Testing Godox

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Yeah. So when you get those emails from customer success, um, yeah, that's that's that's most likely Laney. All right. But why we're here today? We're here today to talk about this light. This is a Godox light. Um, and it's kind of interesting like how they got set up with us. And so a little bit about Godox is okay, so I found we found this um, like they they've been making lights since 1993. But it looks like they started off in like photography lights, like flashes and things like that. And then they slowly went into like panels and videos and stuff like that. Um, and so then I'll read a little bit from their website. And so, according to their marketing team, they were founded in 1993 as a high-tech manufacturing facility specializing in lighting and audio equipment. GoDocs has now become a lighting equipment expert and innovator of gears for photographers, videographers, filmmakers, and and more. It's driven by the mission of offering great lighting and audio solutions. GoDocs has been pushing the boundaries of technology and constantly bringing professional products to the industries. Um, I didn't I had never heard of this. Have you ever have you guys heard of Go Godox before they reached out to us?

SPEAKER_00 2:35

I'd heard of them more in the context of photography lighting, like strobes and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 2:41

I'd heard about them just from like my research for articles, but I've never used any of their stuff.

Specs And First Impressions

SPEAKER_01 2:48

So Yeah, I had never heard and like my background is photography. Like, I've been I've been taking I've been in photography since 1993. So like it's so crazy. So like it's it's it was it's it's really fun that like you know, no matter how long you've been in there, there's always something else out there, and there's always more to learn. So um, and so I wanted to talk to you, Ashton. So GoDocs actually reached out to us and they wanted, they asked us to kind of to to go through and review some of their some of their lights. Um, and how did they find us?

SPEAKER_02 3:16

So they found us through one of the articles I wrote. Uh I can't remember which one it was, but I'm pretty sure it was just about lighting in general. And I mentioned one of their products that I had been reading about, and so they emailed us and they were like, hey, you want to test out one of our our products?

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Yeah, and we said yes. We were like, Yeah, we're like, Yeah, sure, that sounds amazing. So they did, they sent over a light. Um, this is okay, I'll read you guys the stats, and I'm gonna get your first reaction just based on like what the stats of this light is. Okay. This is the GoDox light wafer. Yes, light wafer. And it has a bunch of numbers. I'm not gonna read that because nobody will remember that. Um, but this light is a let's see, what is it? It is a uh full color LED light panel. And so the ones that we have right now are bicolor, so they don't have like all the colors of the rainbow in there, they have just, you know, um, just the K scale. So it's like they can go from like tungsten light all the way to like blue light, um, and then the white light in the middle. Um, and this one can do like all the colors, so it's like really cool. And so just to back up a little bit with the go go docs, when when we sent them like the the lights that we would love to test, we did send them the bicolor lights, and they were like, no, no, no, you need to test this one. This one's really cool. And so we're like, okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:41

It's cool because it'll like combine what we do with the LEDs into like an actual studio light.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

Yeah, this is this is a this is a this is a really nice light. So thank you, Godox. We love it. Um, but this light, this light is very bright. Um, and so this one has um it's it's 20,400 lux. And so um the and just to give you context, this one's 20,000. That's the brightness that it that it that it can do. The lights that we have in our studio are 5,000. Oh wow. And so this is 20,000. And so when we turn this baby on, like we're gonna be blown out and it's gonna be fine. And it's gonna be, you know, it's gonna be a great video podcast. But it the the lighting will look cool. So yeah, but this is a really, really just super nice light. And it's it's really thin, it's flexible, and um, I they said it's lightweight, but I would not call this light lightweight. Have you picked it up? I don't know if I've picked it up. Go pick it up. Go ahead. Tell us, tell us how you feel about it.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

It's not it's not bad. It's not terrible. It's obviously not as lightweight as these.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Yeah, yeah. And so like we um when you put it on the tripod and you put it all the way up, like it it bends the tripod. Again, we have a really cheap tripod. I was gonna say that's not a tripod, really. Light, light, light stance. When you put it on a really cheap light stance, it just kind of like bends. So you would you you definitely need like this? Is definitely like a a a high class, like light for a you know, pretty big studio um setup. Um and so, okay, based on that, what was your first reaction? Just kind of just reading just what the stats are.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

I mean, that's four times as bright as our studio lights. That's kind of crazy.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

I would like to know how many foot candles that is. I don't know, that's just my running joke.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

I was like, I don't know. Let me see. Is it in here? Yeah. No. I don't have it. Um, but yes, so this is this is just a really this is a cool light. Um and I just kind of wanted to do a quick light demo for you guys.

SPEAKER_02 6:44

I should not look at it.

Brightness Demo And Controls

SPEAKER_01 6:46

Don't look directly at it. All right, here we go. Turning a light on. There it is. And this is at so right now I have the light at 10%. I think it's brighter than those It's brighter than the other lights in here. I mean, it is closer to us, but still. Um, but this is like, yeah. Okay, really don't look at it. I'll put it up a little bit. Let's see, let's see what how it blows out, how fast we can blow out. It's only at 25. I shouldn't have worn white today. Yeah, you were really want to. Oh my gosh, we were like on the surface of the sun. It is 50%. All right. That's only 50%. That's 50%. I wasn't even like, I'll put it back down to 10 so we can uh look at each other and kind of see what's going on. Um yeah, this little dial. I wish you could like it was I I wish it could be faster to put it at the desktop. Are you able to click it in and rotate faster?

SPEAKER_00 7:35

Sometimes I do. Or like just click it once. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

No.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

No, no, putting them in here.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

Okay, let me put it back all the way down.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

I do like that the like modem box, the power and the controls is separate from the light. That's I wouldn't say it's uncommon in lighting, but it's not something you see every day. But it's nice like when you do start wanting to fly lights pretty high, because then you don't have to take the light down every time you want to adjust the settings. So it's nice having that be lower to the ground.

Effects Modes Like Fire And Police

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Yes, I do like this. Yeah, it's like having the box with it. The box is nice, and and the box has like it's got its own fans. Like, I guess the box gets hot too, you know. And so, um, but this is just a really cool, this is a really cool like box. It's got so many features. And so, all right, I'm gonna show you guys some of the cool features it's got. Um, and so it's got the gel features, so you can go in and you can actually just like if you have a certain gel, you can just set it directly to what gel you have. And so it's already has number. Yeah, so it's got like a lot of really good pre pre presets. Um, but my favorite part is the um effects. And so, like here. Now the stuff in R Studio does stuff like that. No, because the ones in R Studio are by color, so that they don't have they they they don't have enough color to even do effects, and they don't have enough smarts to do effects. So this light is like super, super smart. Um, and so this one, this one's fire. See, doesn't it feel like you're like sitting in front of a fire? Yeah. That one is cool. Um, and then this one's my favorite. This one's fireworks. I love this one. And it goes through like all the colors. You can really see the different colors that they have.

SPEAKER_02 9:26

Oh, that does like fireworks.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

I think there's a magenta, like there's this really cool orange, like certain colors that you don't normally you don't normally see. Are there any controls on this once you turn the effect on? Yeah, you can turn it down. Um, you can make it 10%, you know, you can do you can speed it up. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Oh, you can change the embers. Is that like how long it trails off, maybe? Yeah, let's see. Uh see what do you notice that's.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Oh, it seems like it's lower.

SPEAKER_00 9:56

Oh, yeah, it is. That's interesting. Yeah, everyone wouldn't even thought that that's different on the side.

SPEAKER_01 10:00

Yeah, so there's a lot of settings on here that you can really like dial it into what exactly you want it to do. Um, this one also favorite. It's pretty funny. Here's the police light. Your guys are in trouble. You can change the colors too. So, like if you wanted to um yeah, if you wanted to change, I don't know how how you would change why you would change the colors, but you could change the colors so it can be like not police lights, it can be whatever colors you want. Oh, and there's different modes. I don't know what this is. Oh god, sorry. Yeah, forgive everybody. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:36

So you can change it based on the intensity of the crime.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Yes, yeah, I know. This will like they are like in a lot of trouble. Uh there's lightning. Isn't that crazy? It's very fitting today. It's clear. It's cloudy and rainy. Yeah. So that's kind of fun. Um, there's just this is oh, here we go. Here's how many candles right here. This candle.

SPEAKER_00 11:00

That one's interesting because I don't know where you would get a candle that big.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

Yeah, it's a really big one.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

You'd have to really turn the light, the intensity down, and like back it away. But I know.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

And this is like 10%.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

Yeah. I can't even imagine.

Film School Comparisons And Build Notes

SPEAKER_01 11:14

And I wonder what the uh the speed you can is it just like how much it flickers? Oh yeah. It's a very big flickering that is like a house fire. That is not that is not a candle, but still it's really cool. Um, you know, this has just been it's been it's been fun to play with. All right, so now that we did the demo, I'll turn it off so you guys can see now. Um but all right. So how what what is your what's your post reaction to the light?

SPEAKER_00 11:48

I think it's really cool. And as someone who went to film school, this like I was telling you earlier, kind of brings me back to some of the lights we had there that I just don't get to play with anymore because I don't have access to them. But um it reminds me a lot of some of the kilos that I don't think I think they're discontinued now, but they have a lot of control over them. But this one I would say is probably more powerful and um a little bit more versatile than some of those older ones. I'm I'm curious about the like uh the frame. This part, yeah. Because it is it permanently connected, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

You I you can take it off, but it comes with it on.

SPEAKER_02 12:30

It like pops open.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

And it pops open. The pop open is fun.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

That is nice. You don't have to manually look at it.

SPEAKER_01 12:35

Uh-uh. And so yeah, and you just close it up and you can tape it to the back. Um, but yeah, you can take it off if you want to. Yeah, it comes off. But it is really, it's really nice. And it has two um different um like d the diffusers. There's like a this is the thicker one, and then they have like a thinner one. Because so you can get more light. It's like we don't need all this light. We're also sitting in the dark, you know, on the black walls and everything. So you can really this light would just, it's it's very, it's a very powerful light. What about you, Ashen?

SPEAKER_02 13:06

Uh I mean, I've played with a few lights that have features like the police lights and stuff like that, but I don't feel like they were as realistic as those. Like, I don't know if it's because it's brighter or something.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

It's in your face.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

Yeah. But I think those are really cool. Like if you're just doing a short film or something like that, it could be really useful.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Especially like a music video or something.

SPEAKER_02 13:29

Yeah. Yeah. Thinking especially if you're outside or something.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

That's cool. So when you were working with lights like this in film school, how much were they like way bigger than this?

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Um, the kilos were a little bit smaller, not too much, but their like doors, their um shaping doors were like they had like these built-in wire frames that were just made it very like rigid and hard to like actually have a lot of flexibility with. And it was like you either were it was open or like it was closed. There wasn't a like there just wasn't much flexibility. Um, so I feel like in terms of just functionality, this is probably a little bit nicer. Because also I imagine you could like if you really needed to, you could take this frame off and put like foil wrap on it, and like there's just like the way it's built, it's not permanent. The attachments aren't permanent, like they were on some of the ones we had in school.

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Yeah, yeah, you can probably yeah, you can take it and like really make it focused.

SPEAKER_00 14:27

I mean, I don't know how often you would really realistically do that, but you could if you needed to.

SPEAKER_01 14:32

Yeah, if you wanted to, if you really wanted to have like a focused candle, yeah, you know, instead of like, you know, yeah, that is true. Structure wire. This is really cool. So yeah, this is I again, I yeah, I I totally agree. I think this light is super cool. I've never used anything like this. I've never, I've never, you know, I did when I did film, it was like documentary films. And so I was filming what was actually there. And so I've never really met got into the whole special effects and like really messed with a lot of lighting. So it was really, it was really fun to get to play with this. Um, do I think that this belongs in our studios here at Podcast Videos? Probably not. This is like way above what we're doing.

Portability Pricing And Who It Fits

SPEAKER_00 15:08

But I I had a lot of this be nice for like an event kit if someone wants you know, like the LEDs kind of brought into the background. That would be an easy way for us to do that. But yeah, it's it's very encompassing of things that were were very niche on. So, like, yeah, in here it's kind of yeah, it's cool, but it doesn't fit in here.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Yeah, it's definitely overkill for like and and and in here. It's like, oh god. But it is.

SPEAKER_02 15:34

I could see how it's easy to transport around though, because it just flattens down. You can just put it in your should we get the case out?

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Yeah, the case is really nice. Yeah, yeah, oh yeah. Do you want to go grab it? It's very compact and like it seems like it collapses easily and goes together easily. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:51

Yeah, there's the case. It's really yeah, it's a lovely case. It's very easy to use. We like it.

SPEAKER_00 16:02

Very organized. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:04

I just like how compact it is.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Like you could stack that on anything and throw it in your trunk really easily.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

Yeah, yeah. So we can take it to events. That would be cool, taking it to like a Mercy event or something. You can have like have some color in the background. Because you can also set the colors, you can uh set like any color that you want. Um, is in in one of the modes, and so you can you can it doesn't have to be like a special effect or moving all the time.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

So do we know how much this costs? I have no idea. Are we allowed to talk about that? I have no idea how much it costs. Let me see. I personally don't know lighting prices, so I wouldn't know how it compares to things, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

No, I don't think that's that, yeah. Six or seven hundred dollars. That's that's actually pretty, and that's really affordable because like um, you know, I think a three-pack of these lights was like, you know, three hundred dollars or something. And so, and this is way more. You get way more for your butt for that. So that would be, yeah. It actually doesn't say on the website.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

So if you're end, you know, it's four, it's like essentially four of these. So yeah, like you are save. I mean, if you want to look at it that way, yeah, saving money in terms of brightness.

SPEAKER_01 17:08

Uh like if we were gonna put this in our studio, we would tone it way down and then just you just need one, you know, and so one and maybe some like fill fill lights. But this is just, you know, there's um that's yeah, but if it is six or seven hundred dollars, that's really good. So we'll have to check that out and put it in the article that Ash will write that goes along with these podcast podcasts. So is there any other takeaways? What would you recommend? Who would you recommend this for?

SPEAKER_00 17:35

My immediate thought would probably be like smaller end film or commercial work. Like you're probably not gonna use it on like a Hollywood level set because they've just got massive lights that most people in this area don't even use. Like it's just overkill. Um, but yeah, a lot of probably like short films, um, like commercial agencies that are doing, you know, cinematic level quality commercial work would probably benefit from it. I imagine a lot of the people I worked with on films around here would have this in their gear kit. How about you, Ashton?