[Review] bike light RAVEMEN PR1200 1200LM 2*XM-L2 supplied by Banggood

The light was supplied by Banggood, no compensation other than the light itself was received for this review

The price can be lowered with PR120011TH Mad Max coupon here

This light was supplied by Banggood for a review, I am honest and will judge the light as it is with its pros and cons

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Manufactory specification:

Brand RAVEMEN
Model PR1200
Materials The front and main body is made by aluminum with Mil Type III Hard Coat Anodizing;
the rear part and the handlebar mount are made by durable plastic
LED 2*XM-L2 with a lifespan of 50000 hours
Battery 5200mAh/3.7V rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
Dimensions (Headlight) 100mm (L)*48mm (W)*27mm (H)
Weight (Headlight) 213g

Features

  1. DuaLens Optical Design for Road Biking Mode, providing broad closed range flood light with
    anti-glare low beam for commuting, no dazzle and glare for oncoming riders and pedestrians.
  2. HiLo Beam System for Mountain Biking and Emergency Modes, providing illuminating light similar to
    automotive headlight with far reaching high beam and low beam.
  3. LED real-time display to show remaining runtime in each brightness level.
  4. Micro USB charging port, compatible with most phone chargers.
  5. USB output port to charge other USB-powered digital devices.
  6. Intelligent thermal management circuit to prevent overheat of LEDs.
  7. Intelligent Memory circuit remembers the last used brightness level and mode when turned on again.
  8. Quick release design for easily slide in and out.
  9. Compatible with handlebar from 22.2mm to 31.8mm diameter.

The parcel arrived after 16 days shipping with to Germany which is good from China.

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Package and content:

The lights box came packed well with a plenty wrap around and in a plastic bag

The light comes in a package with 2 sections one for the light and a small box with accessories

In the box is a plastic inlay with the light

It comes with:

remote switch with 2 o-rings to mount it,
USB cable,
handlebars mount,
2 adhesive stripes,
manual and warranty card

The manual is in 4 languages, but the text is very small and hard to read

Photos of the light



Beam color is neutral around 5000K with two Cree XML2 LEDs, the light has 2 beams comparable to car headlights with low and high beam

Teardown:

The light is easily taken apart, only the adapter plate for the mount is glued and screwed to the light

The front bezel is screwed with 3 small screws under it is the secondary optic and a rubber seal

The back comes loose when 3 screws removed, the outer part is screwed also with 3 screws

The PCB is screwed and glued with the plastic part, probably to seal the lights internals from water that gets past the USB covers

The LEDs are very good reflowed on a solid 2mm thick copper MCPCB, there is no shelf,
but it is pressed in the tube and make contact on some spots to the outer wall and the area where it is screwed
It would have been nice if some heat paste to enhance the heat transfer even more

The light has a hole for a lanyard

The light stands on the tail if it is used ceiling bounce in a tent or so

The light has an internal battery of 2 2600mA 2C low drain cells, that can also acts as a power bank
The battery can get charged with micro USB socket, I measured about 2.9Ah per cell 3.01-4.19V

The driver has 2 separate buck converters for each LED
the LED wires are short and thick

The light has a good sealing against water, even the screws on the back have o-rings


The secondary and primary optics are plasic

Driver and Battery

The light has 2 separate buck/boost converters no visible PWM in any modes, even falling water drops are draw a smooth line

The light keeps the brightness even with lower battery voltage
The light has a soft start and fades fast from one mode in the next

The lights surface is all aluminum except the tail section with the connectors
Even running at 1200 lumens the light gets 55°C warm but not hot

the light steps down when the battery voltage drops below 3.55V

I had the battery depleeted today
The light shuts down when the cells reach 3.01V

Then did a full charge
The build in charger charges with 1.5A

The measured capacity is 5.9Ah I would say than the LED display and electronics eat up about 100mAh
so the two 2.6Ah cells are charged from 3.0V to 4.19V with 2.9Ah

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The mode spacing is good for a bike light, naturally it has no ultra low mode

relative Lux measurements:

4 static low beam modes
High 100%
High2 66.1%
Medium 38.8%
Low 15.6%

3 high beam modes
100%
52.2%
24.7%

The high beam has about 3500lux@1m measured at 10m

The light has a display which shows the remaining battery runtime and 2 symbols for low and high beam

Modding:

I added some heat paste between the tubing and the MCPCB

Beam shots

distance to wall 10m

my last bike light Klarus XT11GT with XPL HI V3-3C
narrow hotspot and useable spill

Ravemen PR1200 low beam

Ravemen PR1200 high beam

User Interface

Unfortunately the manual has absolutely no word about the user interface

I figured it out

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A 2s press on the big power button powers the light on/off

The light has 8 modes
5 are low beam modes High—>High2—>Medium—>Low—>breathe
3 are high beam modes —>High—>Medium—>Low

short press on the power switches between low and high beam, but also forces the light again in highest mode

short press on the small or external button cycles between modes

>0.5s press on small or external button does full brightness high beam momentary

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Conclusion
Solid build bike light, good functionality, but the manual has no information about the user interface.

Positive:

- mechanical good production and engineering

- solid aluminum body

- neutral white LEDs

- low and high beam

- a very useful illumination of the low beam with a sharp cut odd above the horizon

- transition between modes is faded, especially good with momentary high beam

- estimated runtime display and proper LVP and low battery warnings

- good capacity of the internal battery

  • power bank functionality

Negative:

- no heat paste between body and MCPCB

  • manual has no section for user interface

reserved for more tests

I had the battery depleeted today
The light shuts down when the cells reach 3.01V

Then did a full charge
The build in charger charges with 1.5A

The measured capacity is 5.9Ah I would say than the LED display and electronics eat up about 100mAh
so the two 2.6Ah cells are charged from 3.0V to 4.19V with 2.9Ah

Thx for the tear down lexel. Good stuff. Bike light nerd turnEd to flashaholic.

Good review and it looks like a decent light.

Pricing is a bit high so now we need to see what the competition holds

You think its possible to replace them batteries with something like 3200mah to get a longer runtime ? I know the indicator is not gonna be calibrated anymore but that doesnt bother me cause I would know I still have more juice than the display is saying I got.
Also, I find it a bit weird that it only shows 1.5 hours runtime on full mode on full charge, but everywhere else on the manual its listed as 2 hours.

Its no problem to change to different batteries

I took the pictures as the light arrived, for sure the batteries were not full, as the storage charge less

No, I meant it shows 1.5 hours on mine aswell, even on full charge. I emailed them and they said its normal, its gonna last for 2 hours even if it shows 1.5. Ok, then how come they didnt calibrate for 2 hours ? All the other modes show the runtime according to whats written in the manual.

Nice review, thanks. Yes bit pricely light, not quite budget.

Batteries are very likely welded together, aren’t they? So to change the cells you should weld them. Do you know if there is some tolerance to make it thicker (ie. soldering instead welding)?

both ends of the cells have a plastic spacer
soldering the side near the LED board should be possible if you keep it flat

Useful low beam solution.
Can you post more optics photos? And some wallshots.

I was looking at this light recently. Actually I was looking at the PR900, same light just less output on high. I don’t need megalumens where I ride.

Nice review, thanks for sharing :+1:

Hello, I stumbled on this post while looking for a solution to my PR600 problem. I bought it through Fasttech and although the light itself is stellar, it looks like I got dud batteries. After full charge, the lights would barely hold 40 mins at 600 lumens (with 2 hours given as an avarge by Ravemen). After a few recharge cycles, the charge light stopped turning to green, indicating batteries charged, and stays red no matter how long I have the light plugged.

I switched to electronic cigarettes 4 years ago and as a result have a few spare new 18650s (Sony US18650 VTC5 2600mAh to be precise). I was wondering if you could tell me how easy (and safe) it would be to replace the batteries. Would it require soldering?

I generally don’t like to deal with Fasttech returns since they have taken more than 2-3 months in the past.

I’d appreciate any insight you could provide.

Cheers