Introduction

Welcome to my hands-on Godox V100 review. As a long-time Godox user, from the TT685 to the V1 and beyond. I’ve photographed literally hundreds of weddings using their flashes. For the past couple of years, the V1 has been my go-to, with the compact V350 occasionally coming out of the bag when I either need a second flash but it is also a backup flash in case the V1 dies.

The Godox V1 has been brilliant in most respects. I often used it as my main on camera flash and often as a master controller. Whilst I prefer using my flashes off camera. I also appreciated the security of having a flash on the camera. So if anything unexpected happened, I can quickly switch over and start bouncing my flash to get the shot.

My main frustration has always been the hotshoe. Every few months, one would fail, and I’d find myself swapping it out at a wedding with a spare. I even started taking a screwdriver with me just in case. These days, I just bulk order replacements from AliExpress although you can get them quickly from Amazon (at a higher price) if needed. Annoying, yes, but aside from that, the V1 has proven itself to be a reliable workhorse that handles the demands of real weddings, even surviving a couple of falls.

So when Godox asked if I’d like to try their new V100, I agreed. Part of me was curious, part of me slightly sceptical. A flash with a touchscreen? Maybe I’m getting old, but there’s nothing wrong with physical buttons. And I say that as a Tesla owner. I love the touchscreen. But sometimes an actual button is just quicker. And at weddings, often speed is essential.

Still, I gave it a fair shot. Here’s my full hands-on review of the Godox V100. Full disclosure, whilst the flash was provided by Godox for me to review. They did not ask me to say anything specific and they haven’t seen this review before publishing. Here we go…

Godox V100 Flash Specifications

Feature	Specification
Power Output	100Ws
Zoom Range	28mm-105mm
Weight	619g (inc. battery)
Dimensions	7.6cm x 9.6cm x 20.3cm
Battery	Li-On battery with USB-C charging capability 2980mAh capacity
Colour Temp	Approximately 5600K ±200K

First Impressions and Build Quality

The Godox V100 looks and feels premium. It’s heavier than the V1 — coming in at 619g vs 530g and has a new updated design. The glass LCD touchscreen is a lot bigger than I thought it would be and the unit looks very sleek! Build quality feels solid, and I think it is tough enough to survive the rigours of wedding days.

The hotshoe has been slightly redesigned too. It now has a flatter base which I hope will make it more durable. So far, it’s held up, but I’m reserving judgement until I’ve put it through more weddings. After the TT685, V860, and V1, I’ve learned to be cautiously optimistic. The downside of the redesign is that the hotshoes from the V1/V860iii will not fit and at the time of writing, I haven’t found any suppliers selling replacement hotshoes for the V100, so fingers crossed it holds up. Otherwise it could be rough trying to get a replacement part.

The touchscreen is overall responsive and it certainly looks great. If this flash was in a beauty contest, I think it would do well! That said, will the glass scratch easily? Will it survive a drop? I’ve actually ordered a tempered glass screen protector, like I use on my cameras and phone. Hoping that will give me better protection.

One feature I’ve been really excited to have, is the USB-C battery charging. The reason being is that I use the AD100’s as my off camera flash at weddings. Which means I have to carry around the little charging unit. And with them being so small, I often misplace them. Now all I need is a USB-C cable. RESULT! It works well, plug it in and the little red light comes on to show it is charging. It’s a small but very welcome feature.

What’s in the Box?

The Godox V100 box is pretty much the same as all the others. Looks good and well packaged. Inside there’s of course the speedlight itself but also, I received a USB-C cable for charging and a UK plug which was a nice touch. I assume if you are in the US you will get the correct plug for your region too.

Initially I thought the sub-flash was missing but it was tucked inside the little box where the cables were which shows you how small it is.

Other than that, you get the obligatory speedlight case which in the past I’ve just cast aside. But actually this one looks decent. The velcro straps can be pulled apart to fit onto your belt if you wish. Which is how I will carry mine about to try and reduce the strain of it dangling off my camera hotshoe.

A godox V100 flash with it's original box

Power & Performance

The Godox V100’s headline feature is it’s 100Ws power. At full power, it is rated for 70 full power flashes without thermal protection kicking in. That should be more than enough and I feel for your customers eyeballs if it isn’t.

Compared to the Godox V860iii and V1 which are all rated at 76Ws, the V100 is 31.6% more powerful (Thank you ChatGPT for helping with the maths!). But the cost is obviously more with the V1 coming in at a respectable £248 and the V860iii priced at £220. So if you are primarily thinking that you want this just for the extra power, it’s a lot of money for an incremental bump in power that you may not really see in the real world.

That being said…if you do want the most powerful speedlight in Watt Seconds, then at the time of writing, the V100 is it.

Recycling Speeds

Godox claims the V100 recycles in only 1.7 seconds and that is consistent with my testing. To be clear, that’s 1.7 seconds when firing at 1/1 power! And since most of the time you won’t be doing full power dumps, I believe this is going to be enough for most use cases. At weddings, its very rare I’m firing at full power and even then if I am then I’ll only do a few pops.

I tested the V100 at a recent wedding where the ceremony took place outdoors under the harsh midday sun. There were shadows aplenty and I needed direct fill to try and make the images work. The V100 handled it impressively well, even when using High-Speed Sync (HSS). Older flashes would have struggled, but this one kept pace. Just. Sadly I couldn’t use off camera flashes due to the layout of the ceremony.

Later that same day, we had singing waiters performing indoors which for those who have ever shot one will realise it is a fast-paced, high output situation. The ceilings at the venue were high, and I used bounce flash heavily. Again, the V100 delivered. It kept up without overheating and I honestly don’t think the V1 would have coped as well. I really appreciated the improved thermal performance here. I do find on occasions when things are happening fast, I can hit the thermal limits on the V1 and AD100 flashes.

Here’s a short clip from the singing waiter’s set. This went on for 20 minutes and the V100 never gave up once. Side-Note, I accidentally left the flash on in the corner because that was my excuse for being there when the waiter ‘fell-over’. UK wedding photographers will know what I mean. Those outside the UK are probably wondering what the heck singing waiters even are! lol. Anyway, the flash in the corner does not affect the point here which is the thermal performance of the V100 flash.

Global Shutter Flash Sync

Just a quick mention that if you are the lucky owner of a global shutter camera like the A9iii then the V100 is going to be very attractive for you since it now supports shutter speeds of up to 1/80,000 of a second and still works with TTL. Sadly I don’t have one to test but if anyone has one and wants to collab on a test with me, feel free to DM me.

So that’s all I can say on this section. I can’t test it and all I can do is assume it works.

Touchscreen & Controls

At first, I was wary of the touchscreen. But the more I used it, the more I got used to it. It actually started to feel intuitive. Swiping left and right lets you control power for different groups. I discovered that if you keep your finger on the touchscreen and move down then swipe left/right, you can still change power while keeping the group information visible, which makes it easier to see what you’re adjusting.

And just like on a smartphone. Swiping down from the top brings up a settings menu and swiping from the left lets you easily change modes on the flash. I mention it because it did take me a little while to figure that out.

I do wish there was an option to view and control Groups A, B, and C on a single screen when using the flash in Master mode, just like with all the previous flashes. At this moment, you can only see M, A & B. It just seems that with a screen this size, Godox could make that change through a future firmware update. Fingers crossed, please!

Adjusting power levels is mostly accurate, although I found it tricky at times. I’ve got big hands, and it might just be that my sausage fingers are to blame. Other photographers I spoke to haven’t had the same issue. So for now I will blame me.

To toggle groups between TTL, Manual, and Off, you press and hold for a second. Initially this annoyed me and I yearned for the simplicity of buttons. But I admit, is perfectly usable once you get into the rhythm. Though I still think physical buttons are faster. I still personally prefer using the XT2, with its quick double tap buttons to turn groups on/off. You can call me boomer if you like but I do accept touchscreen’s are the future.

Flash Features and Modifiers

The sub flash is an interesting but sadly disappointing addition. I was initially excited about it, but in real-world use, I found it very frustrating due to the lack of TTL support. This means I was often at the wrong power so my subjects ended up overexposed. In a controlled environment then this could deliver a bit of light onto the subjects. But I can’t help feel weddings are too fast paced for this sub-flash to be useful to most working wedding photographers. Also, it resets to “on” every time the flash is powered up, which is frankly annoying. So I ended up just removing it and putting it into a dark recess of my camera bag.

For modifiers, I use the standard Godox AK-R11 dome modifier which sticks on just fine using the built-in magnets. For Magmod fans, you may want to consider the impact on the heavier flash unit AND the modifiers combined. And what that may do to your camera hotshoe in the long run.

I’ve come to really like the Godox modifers like the AK-R11 and the AK-R15 honeycomb grid. They take up very little room and are cheap to replace if you lose one.

Off-Camera and System Use

As an off-camera flash, the V100 does its job and without complaints. It fits smoothly into the Godox ecosystem and works great in slave/remote mode. The wireless signal is reliable, and the interface makes setup fairly straightforward — once you’re used to the touchscreen approach.

To activate master or slave mode, just swipe from the left to right on the LCD. Or more accurately now, it’s been renamed to Sender & Receiver. If you want the flash to be just plain old on camera flash then choose Wi-Off

In sender (aka master) mode, you can see three groups. M for the actual flash then A & B. I would love to see one more group C so that matches the previous flashes. I often use three groups at a wedding and on occasions four. So having to scroll up & down just slows me down and seems like a step backwards.

In receiver (aka slave) mode, there’s not a whole heap to say. The layout is logical and I love the fact the groups are displayed in different colours. Which should make it easier to see at a glance which group this flash is configured to. To change the group, just tap the group name itself and you can choose from A-E.

I have to say (again) that I still prefer physical buttons when shooting fast-paced events like weddings, but for off-camera flash setups, the V100 feels modern and highly usable.

Where I see the V100 being useful, is for photographers who only occasionally use off camera flash. So you may not want to go to the expense of getting 3-5 flashes. And if that’s you, having two speedlights, one of which is the V100 in slave mode for the awesome 100Ws of power would be a killer solution for your flash needs. Or maybe even using two speedlights off camera and pairing it with an XT2 or XT3 controller would give you more options!

Battery, Overheating, and Practicalities

The Godox V100 uses the same VB30 battery that its little brother, the V1 Pro uses. This battery can deliver around 400 full power flashes. I am not going to sit here and test that so I will take Godox’s word for it. In the field, it doesn’t matter. What’s more important is how it lasts.

In my testing, I’ve found the battery life to be solid and I’ve had no complaints. I can make it through a wedding and only lose 1 bar on the battery. So that’s great.

I’ve already mentioned that I love that the battery is USB-C chargeable. It really is such a small thing that makes a big difference. You can top it up anywhere, even in the car or at a venue. Just borrow someone’s phone charger if you’ve forgotten your own!

The V100 does have an external port for plugging in a external battery like the Godox PB960. This would improve the recycling time from already a fast 1.7 seconds to 0.8 seconds. As a wedding photographer I’ve found external batteries to be cumbersome and nowadays totally unnecessary. If you are in a studio environment where you need more flashes and maybe quicker recycling speeds then the V100 isn’t really going to suit your needs anyway and perhaps you should be looking at something more beefy like the Godox AD200 or AD400 instead.

Who is it For?

The Godox V100 is ideal for:

Wedding photographers who want a modern, all-in-one flash but need more power than a regular speedlight
Those new to flash photography who prefer a more visual, intuitive interface
Travelling photographers who appreciate USB-C charging and simplified gear
Photographers who want a unit that performs both on-camera and off-camera
Anyone regularly maxing out flash power and need a little bit more “kick”. (Though in my experience, raising the ISO will sort 90% of those situations out)

Who is it Not For?

This flash may not be for:

Photographers who love buttons and tactile control
Strobists who use a lot of off camera flash and would benefit from dedicated units like the AD100, AD200
Budget-conscious buyers, as the V100 is over £100 more than the V860III

Final Thoughts

With it’s touchscreen technology, I was tempted to say the Godox V100 feels like the Tesla of flashes, but given the current political climate around certain billionaires, calling it the king of speedlights is probably safer. It feels sleek, powerful and designed for the modern ipad era. My resistance of having touchscreens everywhere does make me feel old and I begrudgingly accept it is the way of the world nowadays. Whilst I do miss having more buttons, the more I use it, the more I’m enjoying it and the more natural it feels. I appreciate the extra power, fast recycle times, better thermal control and USB-C battery charging. Just those features alone make it a worthy upgrade for me.

I’m not entirely sure if this was an intentional design choice by Godox or just a happy accident, but one thing I’ve always disliked about the AD100 is the loud, clacky sound it makes when firing. Since I use the Sony A1 at weddings, I often shoot speeches and sometimes even ceremonies using silent shutter mode to stay as discreet as possible. In those moments, the flash becomes the loudest sound, which can draw unwanted attention. Thankfully, the Godox V100 has a much more dampened firing sound, so it feels far less intrusive during quieter parts of the day.

Yes, there are things I’d like to see improved and I’m afraid I’m not a fan of the sub-flash in its current form. If Godox could change it to support TTL and remember the last on/off state then that would make this more useable. I do appreciate them trying to innovate though.

I remain concerned about the glass LCD’s durability and time will tell if the hotshoe will finally hold up to being dangled upside down regularly from a Spider Holster or Holdfast strap. Fingers crossed this is the last time I need to replace a hotshoe!

But quibbles aside. Overall, this is one of the most polished and capable speedlights Godox has released. Chinese manufacturers like Godox used to be only known for cheap knock-off copies of Western technologies. But nowadays I think it’s safe to say that those days are gone and China has shown it can innovate and produce technology that is useful AND cost effective.

If I were Profoto, I’d be very very worried. Very worried indeed.

Where to Buy

If you’re interested in purchasing the Godox V100 then please do use the Amazon affiliate links below. It won’t cost you a penny more but will help support & encourage me to keep creating reviews in the future.

THANK YOU!

US
Godox v100 C
https://amzn.to/3RYlmy8

Godox v100 S
https://amzn.to/4cFeIGN

Godox v100 N
https://amzn.to/4cMXCa2

UK
Godox v100 C
https://amzn.to/3RuC4VL

Godox v100 S
https://amzn.to/4cGKdjH

Godox v100 N
http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DRRRVJKP