Bike light Database

Maybe people just like to boast about how much they spent on their lights, but to me, the major brands are a waste of money. You can buy brighter lights at a fraction of the cost. They are just as reliable, and if you ever need to replace a battery or any other part, they are much cheaper too.

Below are a selection of lights from the top brands, and cheaper alternatives.
To enable direct comparison of brightness, all beam photographs on the road are taken at: 3200 iso, f2.8, 1/4 sec
All beam photos on the wall are taken at iso 1600, f2.8, 1/15 sec. Any higher exposure results in whiteout with the most powerful lights. This does not show the lower power lights off to their best. Anything above the Cateyes and Niterider Ultrafazer produces half decent illumination.


Click on the images to enlarge.

Cateye Uno - maximum lux at 1mt: 540
 

Beam pattern     

Very poor light output. Does not illuminate the road, and not bright enough for a commuter light:

At around £15, a complete waste of money.

Cateye EL530 - maximum lux at 1mt: 4,880

 

Beam pattern

Bright hot spot throws well ahead, but it's tiny and of no real use. Puts a little light ahead of the front wheel, but not enough to see anything. It would be a half decent commuter light if it had a flashing mode :

At around £25, you could buy something twice as bright with a better beam pattern for less.

Niterider Ultrafazer 5 - maximum lux at 1mt: 542

Beam pattern

Spreads the light wide. Has a flashing mode, but  would need to be a bit brighter  to use as a commuter light:

At around £20, it's probably the best value of the major brands.

Cree P4 zoom Focus - maximum lux at 1mt: 7,590

Beam pattern - wide

Beam pattern - spot

Throws a good sized, bright spot well up the road, or, on the wide setting, puts plenty of light ahead of the front wheel:

The beam can be adjusted to anything in between.

Red vision panel gives all-round visibility.

At around £12.99, it  is easily out performs the major brands costing double.

Niterider Minewt 150 Cordless - maximum lux at 1mt: 2,250

Beam pattern

 

A self contained battery and lamp update for the Minewt. Reasonably decent spot and a bit of light ahead of the front wheel.

At around £70, it offers a rechargeable alternative to the Hope Vision 1. The Fluxient Q3 zoom focus is a better light at a fraction of the price.

Hope Vision 1 - maximum lux at 1mt: 6,150

Beam pattern

A decent spot that doesn't throw very far, with peripheral light so dim you can hardly see it. Would need another wider light to illuminate ahead of the front wheel:

At around £75, I would want a light I can use on its own.

Niterider Minewt 250 Cordless - maximum lux at 1mt: 3,070

Beam pattern

A narrow beam with a decent throw and decent illumination from near to mid distance. On the road, it puts the light just where you need it. A bit narrow for off road.

At a shade over £100, it's worth considering as an alternative to the Hope Vision One. Rechargeable and compact size give it the edge.

Exposure Joystick Mk5 - maximum lux at 1mt: 3,850

Beam pattern

 

Looks good, until you turn it on. Pretty similar beam to the Hope Vision 1, but considerably more expensive:

At around £125, it's a real disappointment. It has the looks, but not the performance.

Xtar B01/ Cree R4 led - maximum lux at 1mt: 9,860

Beam pattern

 

A good size spot that throws far up the road, and plenty of light in the near to medium distance: 

At around £40, it has everything I would want in a light.

Led Lenser B7 - maximum lux at 1mt:12,660

Beam pattern - wide

 Beam pattern - spot

Peculiar lens design produces an excellent spot beam, but pretty useless wide beam, with not enough light in the centre:

At around £30, a better bet than the Hope vision One or Exposure Joystick Mk5, but there are better lights at a similar price.

Yezl XM-L T6 Zoom Focus - maximum lux at 1mt: 9,160

 Beam pattern - wide

 Beam pattern - spot

 Big bright spot and a good spread of light on the wide beam

At around £50, it's at least twice as bright as the Led Lenser B7. 

Light & Motion Urban 300 - maximum lux at 1mt: 1,799

 Beam pattern

 A nice even spread of light with quite a wide angle. Side vision panels raise visibility to other road users.

At around £110, this light is greater than the sum of the parts.
The data doesn't look too impressive on paper, but on the road this is a first class little light. The "Urban" name is misleading, it sounds like it is only good for nipping down to the shops. This light is adequate for use in any situation.

Niterider Minewt 600 Cordless - maximum lux at 1mt: 4,690

Beam pattern

Usual Niterider narrow beam gives good illumination from near to middle distance.

At around £120, you get double the lumens of the Light and Motion Urban 300 for only an extra tenner. The narrow beam is probably only going to suit use on the road.  
 

Fluxient T6 mini - maximum lux at 1mt: 3,200

Beam pattern

A wide spread of light and a decent spot. Gives good illumination from near to middle distance and beyond. Impressive output from such a small package.

At around £50, gives the best spread and level of light for this size and price of light. The kind of performance the Exposure Joystick Mk3 should be aiming for. 

Fluxient XM-L  T6 - maximum lux at 1mt: 15,160

 Beam pattern 

Ultra bright spot that throws as far as you could want, and really bright ahead of the front wheel. Good gradation from near to distance:

At around £80, one of the best value lights available. 

Xeccon XM-L T6 - maximum lux at 1mt: 14,190

  Beam pattern

Bright spot throws well up the road and wide spread of light with good illumination from edge to edge.

At less than £60, it's not much more than a basic Cateye from Halfords. Similar beam characteristics to the Magicshine MJ-808E, but much brighter.

Magicshine MJ-808E - maximum lux at 1mt: 10,160

 Beam pattern

The slightly wider beam of the Magicshine seems to spread the light a bit thin, with a noticeable dark area  around mid distance.
Noticeable that Magicshine don't state whether they use the T6 or T5 led. I would guess the lower rated T5:

For around £70 I would want more than the 180 days warranty offered by Magicshine on the battery and charger, particularly with their history of poor quality in this area.

Inton XM-L U2 - maximum lux at 1mt: 15,650

Beam pattern

 Large spot and good illumination over the rest of the beam. looks to be a warmer tone than most T6 lights

 At around £80, it's the brightest simgle led light I have seen, narrowly beating the Fluxient T6. As much light as any sensible cyclist would want. But who ever heard of a sensible cyclist?

Hope Vision 2 - maximum lux at 1mt: 5,860

Beam pattern

 

A neat little lamp head housing 2x l;eds, and a nice size bright spot. Could do with a bit more spread of light. 

At around £160, it produces a similar beam to the Lupine Wilma, only brighter, at a third of the price. Doesn't match a good single XM-L T6 light.

Exposure Diablo Mk3 - maximum lux at 1mt: 6,740

Beam pattern

The Usual Exposure beam of a large central area of illumination and not much else.

At around £180, with only 1 run time hour on high, it is a lot of money for a light that can only really be used as a backup, or as a spot to augment a wider beam light for off road. 
  
Exposure Toro Mk3 - maximum lux at 1mt: 6,921

Beam pattern

 

More or less identical beam to the Diablo Mk3.

At around £250, the Toro gives three hours run time on high.Makes more sense than the Diablo. A decent output for road use, but it will need a wide beam light with it for off road.

Fluxient 3x XP-E Q5 - maximum lux at 1mt: 13,620

Beam pattern

Produces a spot to rival a good quality XM-L T6, but also has even illumination in the near to middle distance:

At around £70, probably the best value of the lights featured (but that's only my opinion).

Starlight 3x XP-G R5 - maximum lux at 1mt: 8,140

Beam pattern

 A nice even gradation of light from near to the distance.  Wide spread of beam is ideal for off road, but still throws far enough to use on road:

At around £80, a light that should suit everyone.

Niterider Pro 1500- maximum lux at 1mt: 7,880

Beam pattern

Very bright wide angle beam. A big improvement in the Trinewt which it replaces.

 At around £300 for the Race version, it produces plenty of light for off road, and even illumination from a small compact lamp - look out Hope Vision 4.

Magicshine MJ 816E - maximum lux at 1mt: 5,920

Beam pattern

Now with a T6 centre light and 2x R2 side lights, the MJ-816E still throws a wide beam.

At around £100, the MJ-816E is a bit pricey compared to similar lights on the market. 180 days warranty on the batteries and charger doesn't inspire confidence. The diffracting lenses on the side R2s would be better replaced with clear lenses, as seen on the Xeccon below.   

Xeccon 1800 - maximum lux at 1mt: 17,610   

Beam pattern

The clear side lenses give a much further throw, and overall, the beam is much brighter than the similar Magicshine MJ-816E. Still a good spread of light.

At Around £90, with a full years warranty on the whole light, this is what Magicshine should be aspiring to with the MJ-816E.
Magicshine MJ-880 - maximum lux at 1mt: 8,510

Beam pattern

According to Magicshine, the light has one spot beam and one wide angle beam. I have to say they both look the same, as you can see above. Regardless, it produces a decent beam, but probably not wide enough for off road.

At around £120, the end product seems to be less than the sum of the parts. The output looks short of the 2000 lumens claimed (theoretically the 2.5A current will produce 1600 lumens max.), and 2 hours 20 minutes run time from a supposedly 6600mAh battery is a bit short. Also has the same heat problem as the MJ-872, steps down the power to cool down. And there is the usual gripe - 180 days warranty on the battery and charger.
Moon X Power 1500 - maximum lux at 1mt: 10,200

 Beam pattern

Wow! Take the cool looks of the Magicshine MJ-880 but add real performance and you have a pretty impressive light. Even illumination from near to distance. 1500 lumens my arse.

At  £200, it looks like a cross between the Light and Motion Seca 1400 and Magicshine MJ-880, but outperforms both by a mile . I think this is the first time a manufacturer has under stated the lumen output of a light.

 
Hope Vision 4 - maximum lux at 1mt: 3,740

Beam pattern

A wide spread of light with limited throw. The benchmark for off road lights for the last few years.

 At around £250, starting to look a bit dated compared to the opposition. Still a strong performer for off road. 
 
Starlight 1600 - maximum lux at 1mt: 4,360

 Beam pattern

The most evenly spread beam I have seen from any bike light, with no defined hot spot. Ideal for off road.

At around £90, the beam is similar to Hope Vision 4 (but brighter) at less than half the price.
    
Magicshine MJ 872 - maximum lux at 1mt: 4,340

Beam pattern

The heavily textured lens scatters the light wide, and probably prevents the leds throwing out the maximum lumens. An even spread of light in the near distance, but doesn't throw far enough:

At around £90, a further throw and brighter beam would be expected (and a longer warranty than 180 days on the battery and charger). Has a real problem with heat and keeps stepping down to a lower setting until it cools down. Even with a decent airflow the problem still persists.

Fluxient 4x XP-G R5 - maximum lux at 1mt: 6,170

Beam pattern

The polished aluminium lamp head looks fantastic, and fotunately the performance matches the looks. A bright, even spread of light with plenty of forward throw:

At around £95, the best looking light on show, and excellent performance too.

Lupine Wilma 6 - maximum lux at 1mt: 5,070

Beam pattern

A large central pool of light rather than a spot with hardly any light in the wide areas of the beam. It doesn't throw very far, and puts less light ahead of the front wheel than the Cateye EL-530:

At a shade under £500, you would need your head examined if you parted with your hard earned cash for one of these. In the States there is a company that will upgrade the leds from the out of date Cree P4 used by Lupine to the excellent Cree r5. That would be a good light, but it adds a further £200 to the price.

Light and Motion Seca 1400 - maximum lux at 1mt: 8,700

Beam pattern

A different approach from Light and Motion. 3 leds produce the throw and 3 leds produce the spread. And the result is pretty near perfect.

At around £400 for 1400 lumen, it appears a bit expensive. But either Light and Motion are being accurate while others exaggerate, or they manage to put every lumen to good use. Either way, this is a very nice light.

Exposure Maxx-D Mk3 - maximum lux at 1mt: 10,390

Beam pattern

A large bright spot combined with a wide spread of light. Even illumination from near to far.

At a shade under £300, Exposure succeed where Lupine fail.
Pros: The best performing of the big brands. 
Cons: A large, heavy unit to mount on the bars. Price? (not compared to Lupine)

Exposure Six Pack Mk2 - maximum lux at 1mt: 15,450

Beam pattern

Usual Exposure beam, large central area with good throw.

 At around £400, it is a bit brighter than the Maxx-D, but is it worth the extra? Lumen junkies will go for it, the more practical will settle for the Maxx-D. 

Inton 2x XM-L T6 - maximum lux at 1mt: 15,690

Beam pattern

 The spot throws ahead as far as you can see and the surrounding area is drenched in light. Most manufacturers exaggerate the number of lumens. The claim is 2000 lumen for this one and I believe it.

At around £120, I didn't think you could get more lumens from a bike light, until......... 


Fluxient 3x T6 - maximum lux at 1mt: 16,390

Beam pattern

There comes a point when you don't need any more light from a bike light. This is it.

At Around £150, it produces as much light as anyone could want and distributes it evenly across the beam.
 

Niterider Pro 3000 - maximum lux at 1mt: 16,300

Beam pattern

If you want the brightest light on the market, this is probably it. The beam pattern isn't all that important when you have this much output. It illuminates as far and as wide as you could wish for.

At around £500, it's better than anything Lupine has to offer, but can you justify spending that amount on a light?

Lupine Betty 12 - maximum lux at 1mt: 6,490
Beam pattern

Throws a big pool of light into the middle distance. Not really bright enough in the near or far distance.

At over £700, the money would be better spent on one of the lights around £90, or the Exposure Maxx-D if you want a brand. Think of what you could do with the money you would save.