Magicshine RN3000 light review
Magicshine has been building top value lights for years and it’s really ramped up the tech in recent versions. Is the latest RN3000 as good on the trail as it looks in theory?
OUR VERDICT
Not quite as bright as expected and there’s some upward lens flare, but otherwise it’s a really user friendly, simple-to-mount self-contained MTB or road light with plenty of power and useful power bank facility at an awesome price
FOR
- - Powerful, broad, weirdness free beam
- - Top value pricing
- - Mid mode is still enough for fast and fearless riding
- - Simple - if extensive - menu format
- - Excellent ‘Garmin’ mount for all bar sizes
- - Generous run times
- - Self-contained simplicity
- - Power bank function
- - IPX6 waterproofing
AGAINST
- - Minimal battery life feedback
- - Upper lens ribs waste power and can dazzle out of the saddle
- - Pure spot LED would boost reach
- - No menu tuning or shortcuts
- - Too heavy for comfortable helmet use
Magicshine has been taking the ‘top value’ awards in the best mountain bike lights tests we’ve been doing for well over a decade but, in recent years, it’s also been outshining much pricier units in terms of power and tech, too.
The RN3000 packs excellent ‘Garmin mount’ versatility and other practical features into a compact, self-contained format with more than enough power and run time for most after-dark adventures.
Performance
While a lot of lights - especially far eastern direct-sell ones - use a theoretical lumen count, the Magicshine lights are tested to full ANSI standards, so you should be getting a genuine 3,000-lumens from the two LEDs. Each one sits in a slightly different medium-width beam optic rather than using the more common one flood/one spot setup, and there’s a ribbed horizontal diffuser across the top third of the lens. Unsurprisingly, that puts most light down the centre of the beam at a medium distance from the bike, rather than giving dramatic reach. That means it doesn’t look as dramatically ‘night into day’ on the trail as the lumen numbers suggest, but it still puts out enough light to push the pace on all but the most complex and challenging trails.
While it’s not as broad in spread as the L&M Seca Race we tested at the same time, you still won’t be wishing you had a helmet lamp as well for twisty trails and roads. In common with a lot of lights we’ve tested recently, the theoretically 50 per cent dimmer ‘mid’ output actually seems a lot more than that on the trail. It is certainly ample for uncompromised speed on the road or simple tracks, and you don’t have to rein it in much even on more radical terrain. Apart from a ring on the lower edge of the peripheral rim caused by the traffic friendly cut-outs, the beam is impressively even, with no edges or obvious burn spots to interfere with your trail translation or prematurely tire your eyes. As well as the side cut-outs, the upper ribs are designed to stop you blinding oncoming motorists. However not only does that dilute the potential distance reach of the RN3000, it also means you get a real eyeful if you lean slightly forward over the light on an out-of-the saddle climb.
The multi-mode menu consists of four (Eco, Low, Mid, High) power settings for each LED, but you can double click the top mounted backlit switch to shift between the separate wide and mid width, or run both together for maximum power. Another double click will put you into a flash mode for traffic safety. Thankfully that isn’t actually the maze to work through as it sounds, but we generally just left it in double LED mode at mid-power, as that worked for pretty much everything without worrying about battery life. That’s a good job, too, as the RN3000 doesn’t give you any indication of how much life is remaining until it starts pulsing the beam slightly, and the mode light flashes red with about 15 minutes of fading light left. That’s our only major gripe, but being able to streamline or ‘custom tune’ the output would definitely be a bonus, too. On the plus side, the 10,000 mAh battery gives plenty of run time even if you insist on running the light at full power, but as we spent most of our riding in ‘Med’ we never saw the blinking low battery alert even on extended night raids. The USB-C connector also lets you use the RN3000 as a power bank for other devices, which is always handy. Past experience with Magicshine kit means we’re not worried about reliability either, especially as the self-contained design means no external connections and cables to worry about.
Verdict
Tech Specs: Magicshine RN3000
- Price: $249
- Weight: 296g (including mount)
- Max output: 3,000-lumens (ANSI tested)
- Battery: 10,000 mAh
- Max power run time: 2:19 (average of 3 runs)
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