Cateye AMPP 800 front light review

Cateye’s latest AMPP range of lights has upped the build quality and power of its existing range considerably. The Cateye AMPP 800 front light offers, unsurprisingly,  up to 800 lumens of visibility in a fairly streamlined package.

Bike light operating

The single LED has five operating modes, including a daytime hyper-constant and a flashing mode which recruits all 800 Lumen for a claimed four hours of burn time, and a standard flashing option, which drops the light to the lowest 200 lumen setting for up to 30 hours.

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Operating the Cateye AMPP 800 front light is via a simple push button on top of the light, with a double tap instantly setting the highest mode without the need to cycle through all the lighting options.  It's a shame it doesn't link up with the CatEye Sync system, which is a great one touch wireless lighting solution, which at present only goes up to around the 500Lumen mark.

I personally found the Cateye AMPP 800 front light operating button the most tactile of any lights I've tested of late, and, unlike the Knog Blinder Road 600 buttons, easy to activate even when wearing gloves. 

Much like the NiteRider Micro 650, the push button on the Cateye AMPP 800 front light also displays the battery level via a three colour system, a handy at a glance warning system.  

Mounting wise, the Cateye AMPP 800 front light comes with the brand's own Flextight bracket system, which fits bars up to 35mm, including flatter aero ones, as well as providing less obtrusion into valuable bar space. Cateye also produce a helmet mount for the AMPP 800 which extends its versatility, however at over 150 grams it would be a noticeable weight to add to your head. 

Rechargeable bike lights

Charging is via a USB-B port, like most lights these days, and is situated at the bottom of the light. 

The five modes of the Cateye AMPP 800 front light are pretty much ideal for mixed urban/rural steady commuting, and it has a similar daytime constant/flash as the Exposure Sirius Mk9 Daybright bike light, although I did find the light can be slow to react to button pushes.

Bright bike light

The beam pattern is also similar to the Exposure Sirius but just has a less focussed bright spot in the centre. This results in a more even spread of light, but at the slight expense of depth perception at speed meaning that you can't quite travel as fast as when using the afore mentioned light. Although sharing a similar green hue as the Lezyne Micro Drive Pro 800XL means bounce back glare is minimal.

The lens also extends further down the sides of the body bringing a little extra side visibility to be seen by other road users, a notable extra over it's lighting peers. 

Value

It’s not quite on par with the Exposure Sirius or the Lezyne Micro Drive Pro 800XL, which are both rated with similar Lumens, but the Cateye AMPP 800 front light output is noticeably better than similarly priced lights with lower Lumen numbers on offer, which makes it a great option for riders with a set budget.