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Review on Omega 300 Lumens USB Rechargeable Bike Tail Light - Powerful Daylight Visible Bicycle LED Rear Light for Road, Mountain, City Commuting, and Adventure Cycling - Easy to Install, Enhanced Safety Flash by Carl Morgan

Revainrating 2 out of 5

Incredibly bright but very short battery life

I have had several expensive ($300) lamps for NiteRider helmets and mountain bike handlebars and their quality is generally top notch . I currently use a 60 lumen Axiom taillight for road riding so I was excited to see that NiteRider released a 300 lumen taillight specifically designed for daytime road riding at a very reasonable price of £49 US dollar was developed. A 5x increase in light output for just $10 seemed like an amazing deal. And the taillight is really blindingly bright, even brighter than some suburban bar lights. When I turned it on in my office after receiving it, several passers-by complained about how blindingly bright it was, so it was a good sign motorists would see me on the road. I thought that with the declared 6-hour resource in firmware mode, this would be enough for long trips, including a century. (Note when the light first came out the ads, the NiteRider website, the product box itself, and their YouTube video in fast flash mode #1 all claimed a lifespan of at least 6 hours, but now I see that they have this time (down to 5.5 hours.) However, on a full charge I was only able to get pretty much exactly 3.5 hours of light in flash mode. I tried this 3 times while driving outdoors and then finally tried blinking indoors on a table to know the exact battery life. All four times it took pretty much exactly 3.5 hours. I alternately charged the light with an AC wall charger and a USB 3.0 port on the computer just in case there is a difference. I'm disappointed as I can't even rely on this light on my weekly 60-70 mile trips that take 4-4.5 hours. As one of the first users, there were no reviews on the web, but now I see that there are other users with similar battery life complaints. So I sent the lamp back for a refund. I haven't given up on the NiteRider yet and I'm hoping they can fix that as the high light output makes me happily buy it again or 250 in the future. But at this point I can't recommend this flashlight for trips longer than 3.5 hours, and even for commuters, charging it every night to ensure adequate battery life can become a chore.

Pros
  • POWERFUL AND LIGHT ONLY 79 GRAMS, total weight includes taillight and seatpost belt mount
Cons
  • Not as thick as other options