Electron F-650 front light review

A bright light that delivers good power for the price, but the Electron F-650 front light is rather large for handlebar or helmet mounting

Electron F-650 front light
(Image credit: Andrew Sydenham)
Cycling Weekly Verdict

A bright light that delivers the good power for the price, but can be fiddly to fit and is rather large for handlebar mounting

Reasons to buy
  • +

    Good power to price ratio

  • +

    Flexible beam options

  • +

    Robust bar mount

Reasons to avoid
  • -

    On the large size, may swamp your handlebars

  • -

    Fiddly to fit

  • -

    Too heavy to be comfortable on its helmet mount

  • -

    A bit dated now

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Electron’s light is a two LED design, which gives both focussed and wider beams, providing peripheral coverage as well as a more detailed view of the road directly ahead.

>> Cycling lights buyer's guide

The light can be run in three modes: both beams, wide beam only and wide beam with flashing focussed beam. The single control button is mounted on the back of the unit and is quite small, although being slightly raised it can still be operated reasonably easily in gloves.

Electron is quite bulky, although it has flexible spot and flood beam options

Electron is quite bulky, although it has flexible spot and flood beam options

>>> Best front lights for under £100

The bar mounting bracket is a sturdy aluminium affair with a hinge and a tightening screw and is compatible with GoPro cameras too. The light also comes supplied with a helmet mount with a velcro strap, although it’s difficult to get the strap tight enough to prevent wobble; at the best part of 200 grams the light with its mount is a bit heavy for this to be a comfortable option. You can feel it bobbing around on your head as you ride. The light is quite wide too, so if you mount it on your bars it takes up quite a bit of handlebar room.

>>> Rear light buyer's guide

The F-650 comes with amber side windows, so that there’s side visibility for a bit of extra safety due to increased visibility for traffic coming from the side. The battery life of 2.5 hours is quite good for the output, although the limited range of lighting options available means that there’s little flexibility to reduce lighting and extend burn time. Overall, this light looks a bit dated compared with other newer lights which are available.

 

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