German brand Lupine are known for making some of the most powerful lights in the business. They are also known for being expensive, so what’s the Lupine Neo doing at a sub-$300 price point? Lupine designed the Neo first and foremost as a helmet light (although an optional alloy handlebar mount is also offered). The focus was on getting the size and weight down, and this in turn lowered the cost.
While it costs less than their other offerings, it’s not a poor quality or dumbed down light. The light head is alloy and the tiny 130g battery is safely packaged in a hard case. There’s a range of neat features like a flash sequence that tells you the charge status whenever you plug the battery in. It’s supplied with a clip-on light diffuser that’s handy for camping and there’s also a special low-powered red light that’s designed to assist with map reading.
While these features add versatility, the key with the Neo is it’s minimalist weight. The light head and helmet bracket is just 48g and the whole kit – battery and all – comes in at 187g. It’s light enough to mount everything to your helmet and the overall low profile helps to make the weight even less noticeable.
There are no remote switches, just tidy wiring and an easy to locate rubber button on the light head. The velcro mounts for both the light and battery are easy to use and secure. In stock form it offers three light levels (35/270/700 lumens) but you can also select from 10 other custom settings to suit a range of applications, both on the bike and off. While you’ll need to refer to the manual when selecting custom modes, it’s really quite easy to do.
Lupine offers a modest claimed light output of 700 lumens but this light seemed comparable to others that were in the 1,000 lumen range. It’s not the broadest beam and it does cut off a little abruptly around the outside, but it’s sufficiently wide for helmet-mounted use and makes very good use of the available lumens.
Claimed Output (Lumens) 700
Total System Weight 187g
Longest Burntime 50 hrs
PRICE 295$
