Thanks for tuning in today we're going to be reviewing the Magishine RN 1500 front headlight.
Although bike lights have continued to get brighter and offer more features
they're almost always only offered in simple black finishes.
Magicshine has decided to change that with their new RN 1500 series of lights which have anodized
aluminum finishes. We have all three colors here you have the red gray and the blue and they're
very distinct compared to what's on the market currently. We don't have the original
packaging instead we have an early look here and we have all the contents and little baggies.
In terms of what you expect for packaging i'll probably be very similar to the RN
3000 or other Magicshine lights. Simple cardboard box labeling and then specs written on the back.
So in lieu of actually taking out the box we'll just go over the specs. Retail price on these
lights is $94.99 and this is the first time the rn series has been offered through Magishine. You
could buy it through Olight as their Olight RN 1500 with the same specs but no color options. It has
1500 lumen max output and that's FL-1 tested. An anti-glare lens a very simple design that reduces
glare for pedestrians that look at the light when you're riding toward them. 5000 milliamp lithium
ion battery, it's a 21700 lithium ion cell and it's integrated into the body so it's not
replaceable but you do have a USB type-c charging port right on the back and that actually supports
USB C2C cables as well so you can charge it using a USB-C cable directly to your USB-C outlet.
You have the Garmin quarter turn style mount, nice modern compatible mount with a lot of third-party
mounts so you don't have to use what Magicshine offers you can use a lot of
aftermarket out-in-front mounts or adapters. In terms of what comes in the box we don't
have the box but we have the contents. Pretty standard affair here you get the handlebar mount
not our favorite but a simple plastic mount with an allen bolt here that'll tighten down.
You get different length straps so you can even do this on mountain bikes, aero bars
just by simply swapping this out and you can see the aero bar one is very long.
You get the little wrench to install it, a usb type-c charging cable
and what's nice is that Magicshine also gives you the
GoPro to Garmin adapter. That'll let you install this on a GoPro mount upside down or up
right side up. Note if you do upside down you do have to angle it lower due to the anti-glare lens.
Now let's take a look at the weight of this setup so just the mount is for 16 grams so quite light
and then one of the lights comes in at 164. So on the lighter side for an all-in-one style light.
Now let's go over the fit and finish of the Magicshine RN 1500. Very simple design
that matches a lot of the Magicshine lineup including the RN and Allty series. You
have an aluminum body and you can see the finish on these are really nice you have the three colors:
space gray, wine red and the deep blue and because they're anodized you can actually
see the reflective aluminum underneath. So it gives it a very glossy appearance even the gray
looks a lot better than the matte black lights they usually offer.
You have an extruded body and this is where the 21700 battery actually will sit so you pretty
much have a battery and the little small lens and led single led design with the deflector on here.
This is very simple it's a sawtooth design and i'll just move the light downward so if you
turn on the light this is what other brands call the dual beam. So instead of just having the circle
so if i were to cover up the top you can see that actually hides that bottom portion
so this bottom portion is what's being deflected downward from those deflectors. It is a very simple
solution it's not as nice some european lights which have true beam cutoffs or like your car
which would have a sharp cut off but a simple solution that reduces glare.
Simple horizontal fins in here that add a little visual interest RN 1500. Magicshine logo on top,
USB Type-C charging port here and it does support USB C2C so you can use a USB-C cable directly to your
laptop or charging port. Nice rubber gasket underneath it. You have the Garmin compatible
quarter turn mount and very nice simple design works with tons of third-party mounts so you
don't have to just use Magicshine mounts. You can see with their mount nice click and then simple removal.
The interface on these lights is also very simple you click it once and you can see the
battery status so it'll be green red or flashing red turn it on you just hold it then it turns on.
You have a two level interface so one press will cycle through low, medium and high. Double press
and you'll get the flash option one and then the second flash option. Double press to go back
so nice simple interface you don't have 21 modes like a lot of the bigger Magicshine lights have
and flash mode is separate so you don't have to constantly cycle through it. Here we have a closer
look at the mount it's a pretty simple design you have a little allen bolt that's attached to the
bottom of this plastic strap and as you tighten it'll actually pull this in and it'll give you
a nice secure mount. We don't really like this mount which is included with a lot of Magicshine lights.
Even though it works well it's a little cumbersome to install
so you actually have to put it in there loop it over and then you have to have a tool so it's
not a quick release type with like a lot of other lights. We highly recommend just going an out front
mount and then putting this directly in front of your handlebar for a cleaner installation.
Here we have the rn 1500 installed on the bike i have it on my Topeak UTF mount. So i can
actually put it upside down you can see it's not necessarily designed to be mounted upside down
because the beam cut off is actually designed to work right side up
but if you do enough angle you can get around that and for daytime visibility only like a flash mode
it's not as much of an issue. For night time riding i highly recommend flipping it over and doing it
right side up so you don't have glare. The other nice thing with this is the color you can see in
the sun here nice and shiny and actually matches my Specialized pretty well which is a chameleon
color. So you can see if you put them side by side adds a nice little character especially when
most bike accessories are just black. Now in terms of output modes there are only five modes so it's
very simple. You have low medium and high with pretty good run times with the 1500 lumen mode
providing you up to one hour and 40 minutes. You also have two flash modes a standard on off and
then a very interesting pulsing mode which looks really weird on camera and even in person as it
really has a high frequency. Now as far as riding with this the low one is very low so it's pretty
dim. Better for urban riding or very well-lit roads while medium and high provide nice balance.
This is definitely a spot beam as you can see in the riding footage so it's more focused with that
single led and with the anti-glare design you get that dual beam appearance so more light below you
right in front of the bike. It has good coverage so even in night time the 1500 lumen is more
than bright enough and with the battery status indicator as the illuminated button it's very easy
to check how much battery have and if you need to recharge it easily do it before you do the ride.
Now it's a little comparison between the RN 1500 and other lights on the market. Here we have a
bunch of Magicshine lights as well as a Fenix. Now the most direct comparison is the RN 1200 you
can see it's almost the same light same size same lens. The RN 1200 is obviously 1200 lumens while
the RN 1500 is 1500. They accomplished this with the larger battery pack, 5000 milliamps versus 4000.
Here you can also see the color difference this is the matte black finish while the anodized finishes
have much more glossy appearance and obviously a lot more fun colors even in the space gray
it looks a lot shinier than the flat black version so more distinct styling, i'll definitely stand out.
Now the rn series also has some brighter lights like the RN 3000 you can see it's essentially
two lights next to each other double the battery double the output. It has two LED design but the same
deflector on here to improve the anti-glare capabilities. Same Garmin mount USB-C charging port
and again matte black versus colored. You can also buy smaller versions of this light
but they're sold as the Allty here we have the Allty 400. There's also Allty 600 800 as well
and these are just the fun size versions. Same lens same interface backlit button usb type-c
but obviously smaller with the smaller battery and lower output. So those are a good option for
your commuter and don't need the power. The Allty series also has bigger brothers like this Allty 1000
these are the DRLS which is something I wish the RN series had
because it's really useful in daytime. You can just leave in that mode and this will run for
hundreds of hours so instead of having to run flash during the day you get to leave DRL mode.
There's other lights on the market as well at this power output we have the Fenix BC26R here,
not quite yet released yet but it has similar output 1600 lumens versus 1500.
Similar form factor you can see they both have a 21700 cell.
What separates the Fenix from a lot of lights on the market is because they're flashlight company
they actually have removable battery packs so same 5000 milliamp battery but with this one
it's not integrated it's actually removable. The only downside to the Feix is that the
interface isn't quite as nice so you have the same battery stats checker, you have the mode cycling
double click to do flash. It's not quite as large and easy to grip and it has a proprietary
mount instead of the Garmin style mount which is the biggest downside. So you can't really mount
this anywhere you have to use their one mount and there's no real adapters currently available.
Now let's go over the pros and cons for the RN 1500. What I like about it is that has USB Type
C charging and even supports USB-C2C charging as well. It's also stylish and sleek with the anodized
finishes something you don't really see with bike lights which are always just flat black. Also the
two level interface separates the flash modes and also allows you to check the battery status with
one click. Some of the cons for the light is fact that no DRL unlike the Allty series you just have
a single led setup and with the anti-glare design it's actually not suited for upside down mounting.
If you do you really need to angle it downward otherwise the anti-glare adds more glare.
Finally the charging ports and the mount are not color matched it's a very minor point
but would make the light look a little more premium especially in the red color or the
blue color. Taking everything into account would give the RN 1500 a 9.5 out of 10. It's very
powerful and stylish light. Thanks for watching this review don't forget to like and subscribe.
you can see more content from us on our website at thesweetcyclists.com as well as follow us
on Instagram at @TheSweetCyclists. This is \Tthe Sweet Cyclist reminding you to enjoy the ride!