UltrAspire Lumen 600 3.0 Waist Light Review
UltrAspire sent us a fantastic product called the UltrAspire Lumen 600 3.0 Waist Light. Version 3.0 is the third iteration of UltrAspire’s waist racing belts and by far the most advanced.
For those that love to night run or run in the early mornings before the sun is up, light is key to seeing what’s ahead of you. Before waist light’s your options were headlamps, chest lights or handhelds (flashlight) or a combination of them.
Waist lights change the dynamic of running at night by providing light closer to the ground, making it much easier to see potential hazards.
UltrAspire Lumen 600 3.0 Unboxing
I reach out to Joe over at UltrAspire to get my hands on their new waist light called the Lumen 600 3.0. It’s a beauty of a waist light and I knew I wanted to review it.
The waist light matches up perfectly with another UltrAspire product Joe sent called the UltrAspire Bryce XT Race Vest.
UltrAspire caters to the Ultrarunning crowed making amazing products for racing and training. That said many of their products also can be used for adventure racing, mountain biking,
Package Arrives
When the package arrived it came wrapped in bubble wrap. This isn’t the official packaging that one might expect to get once the light becomes available for retail. Ours was a pre-retail model and it was very cool to get it before it hit the retail market.
The Lumen 600 comes with the following
- Waist-belt and light combo
- Removable Zippered Pouch
- Rechargeable Battery
- USB Charging Cord
Here is a closer look at the rechargeable battery (18650 3.7V rechargeable battery) and power cord. Replacement 18650 3.7V batteries are readily available from UltrAspire or from Amazon, which is really convenient if you need spares.
UltrAspire Lumen 600 3.0 Review
The Lumen 600 requires little setup time. It comes with an adjustable belt and a fatigue-free performance buckle (that’s their words not mine) and a rechargeable battery.
Lumen 600 3.0 Adjustablity
I found the adjustable belt strap and buckle good, but nothing extraordinary as far as setup goes. I suppose the new buckle design helps prevent breakage over time, something I really couldn’t test.
The Lumen 600 gives you the option of wearing a removable pocket or if not needed just the main light setup. People who are weight weenies and aren’t running far may opt to remove the rear pocket. Those who plan on doing longer runs may like the convenience of having an extra pocket.
Beyond adjusting the fit of the light belt, you can also adjust the light’s beam up or down depending on preference. UltrAspire marketing gurus calls it “Perfect Angle”.
IPX7 Aluminum Casing
The battery is housed in an IPX7 aluminum casing. For those that don’t know about IPX ratings, check out my IPX rating article. Needless to say a rating of IPX7 is very high up on the scale. Most consumer electronic fitness products only have a rating of IPX5 or less, so to have an IPX7 is outstanding. It means the light unit should hold up to anything mother nature throws at it. In fact, I can only think of a meteor strike or maybe a tornado that could cause issues. Joking aside, the light is pretty bomb proof.
Charging Your Lumen 600
As stated earlier, the Lumen 600 comes with a USB to
A red indicator light displays when the unit is charging and a green when the unit is full charged.
Note: UltrAspire doesn’t include a USB charger with the Lumen. That said, most people have the ability to charge via USB. For those that don’t, you will need to get a USB compatible charging unit. I picked up a pretty cool 10 USB charging device (seen above – Sabrent 60 Watt (12 Amp) 10-Port [UL Certified] Family-Sized Desktop USB Rapid Charger.) from Amazon. It’s very handy.
UltrAspire 3D Lighting
The light output UltrAspire uses what they refer to 3D Lighting. With most lights say a headlamp, shadows from objects on the ground get washed out. Some of this has to do with the height of the light source, but also because the light is roughly on the same level as your eye’s line of sight.
By moving the light source from your head to your waist and away from your line of site, this will naturally cast shadows across whatever subject is laying on the ground creating a 3D effect during nighttime and low light conditions.
Photographers will often employ a similar technique to increase depth in a photo by using
Why 3D Lighting? The things that trip you up when you are trail running at night typically aren’t large rocks or stumps; those are easily seen with a headlamp, but more often little uneven dimples in the ground that aren’t as visible. With UltrAspire 3D Lighting you will see more shadows cast across those uneven surfaces allowing you to have a better understanding of your terrain.
Battery Life and Output
The Lumen 600 with it’s 18650 3.7V rechargeable battery gets roughly 8 hours of battery life and takes about 4 hours to recharge.
When cycling at night I like to use lights that are around 1000 to 1200 lumen. For running you don’t need as powerful of a light simply because you’re not moving as fast. Also the higher the lumen value, the faster the burn time is on your battery. 600 Lumens seems to be a good balance for light output vs battery consumption.
For those who plan on really long runs, say ultras, will want to have multiple rechargeable batteries handy. Most other people can probably get away with just the supplied battery.
Lumen 600 2.0 Vs Lumen 600 3.0
UltrAspire really hit it out of the park with the new Lumen 3.0. The big changes were a reduction in both package size and weight. They also upped the IPX value from XP6 to XPX7, making extremely weather
- The light itself is 30% smaller and lighter than the 2.0 version.
- There is no alignment pin in the 3.0 as was in the 2.0 making battery swaps on the go significantly faster and more intuitive.
- The power/adjustment button is much larger than the 2.0 version.
- Removable pocket allows you to carry essentials or strip it down to a race version if you so choose.
- The output is still 600 lumens however the “Steady Beam” feature helps to keep the light as close to 600 lumens as possible until the battery is very low. This is considered a regulated power output.
- It is compatible with UltrAspire’s current battery lineup. They will be launching a new UltrAspire 18650 battery which is 3400 mah and is a low amperage output which is sufficient for our lumen strength but doesn’t overuse energy thus making the battery last longer and be more efficient.
- A new buckle system was added called Race Fit.
- Reduction in retail price ($159.99 Lumen 600 3.0 vs $179.99 Lumen 600 2.0)
UltrAspire Lumen 600 3.0 Technical Highlights
UltrAspire packed a ton of cool features into the Lumen 600 3.0 including
- The Lumen’s light has a focused center with wide-angle peripheral light for a natural running experience
- 180° directional rotation with a range of motion adjusting 90° up and 90° down and anywhere in between for the best depth of field over the road or trail ahead
- Dual-sided adjustability with the body of belt comprised of comfortable and breathable large-holed micro-fiber polyester mesh
- The Lumen 600 is an MBS belt and the front is compatible and interchangeable with a Synaptic back for a hydration and illumination combo
- Rear zippered pocket large enough for a cell phone or other essentials
- Water, dust, and impact resistant aircraft grade aluminum housing. Tempered glass lens for clarity
- Easy operation of light: Push the button once for On which is also the High setting. Press again sequentially for Medium, Low, S.O.S., and Off. Button pressed after 4 seconds will go straight to œOff
- The light as a unit is rechargeable and comes with a USB charging cord
- Bright elastic binding for comfort and reflective hits for added visibility
- 600 Lumens. Uses a single 18650 3.7V rechargeable battery (Included)
- Adjustable sizing from 26 to 42
If you plan on running, walking or doing any nighttime adventure, you will absolutely love the UltrAspire Lumen 600 3.0. It provides a ton of light and allows you to run as fast as you want without worrying about not being able to see what’s ahead.
Overall I was super impressed with the light system and all the cool updates that UltrAspire implemented with the version 3.0. The engineers got everything right.
If you run on trails with tight corners or like to look off to your left or right, you may want to team up the Lumen with a headlamp.
Check out UltrAspire (https://ultraspire.com) and the rest of there very cool products. You will not be disappointed.
