The iGPSport SR30 Smart Radar Taillight is the first radar-cum-rear light from a company that specialises in bike computers, front lights and fitness wearables. It’s aimed at the road riders among us who want more information about vehicles approaching from behind, and it adds a light with six modes to the mix too. But while this unit was very effective as a light, I don’t feel the radar was efficient enough for me to recommend it.
> Buy now: iGPSport SR30 Smart Radar Taillight for £119.90 from iGPSport
Rear radar light units are becoming more and more popular, and with very good reason. The ability to give you early notice of vehicles approaching from behind is increasingly needed with the volume of traffic we have to cope with these days, often along with poor road surfaces. This makes keeping your eyes on the road more important than ever.
The radar is designed to give you audible and visual information about what’s going on around you, displaying information on your bike computer or smartphone.
A lot of us find that once we’ve used radar on the bike it feels strange to ride without it – and I include me in that number. I’ve been riding with a rear radar since 2022 and always include it in my essential kit, feeling rather lost if I ride without it now.
The rear light is charged via a USB-C port and it has six modes: Solid, Peloton, Pulse, Day Flash, Night Flash, and radar only. It uses a Garmin standard quarter-turn bracket, and is supplied with a clamp that works with both round and aero seatposts.
It has an 11-25 hour battery life depending on the mode selected and recharges in around 1hr 45 minutes using a standard 5V-1Amp power supply. Its impressive IXP7 rating means it’s genuinely waterproof, even able to survive being submerged in water.
My testing showed it to be well constructed and the light was very effective – but its overall performance is let down by the radar. I found the alerts not only inconsistent, but the alerts to announce the presence of a vehicle approaching from behind also came quite late, sometimes missive a car completely.
If you look at the three pictures of a car approaching from about 140 metres back, the Garmin detects the earliest, as soon as it appears from behind a brick wall at the top of the hill.
The Bryton’s radar detects a car about five to 10 metres later, but it is still a good early detection.
The SR30 only detected the car when it was halfway down the hill, some 70-80 metres away. All of these results were repeated with other vehicles, and each system’s results were consistent.
I also used a Wahoo Elemnt Roam computer as well as the IGPSport App to view the results in case the Wahoo was skewing the results. It wasn’t.
The SR30’s behaviour differed from that of its Garmin Varia and Bryton Gardia rivals in other ways, too. These weren’t necessarily wrong, but were quite different to what I’m familiar with.
For example, I’m used to being shown four cars if there are four cars behind me, but if they’re all travelling closely and at the same speed, the SR30 will show only one or two.
I found it disconcerting when more than one car overtook me when I’d only seen a single car icon on my display. IGPSport confirmed that this is how it is expected to behave, and it’s possible I’ve just become used to the way that Garmin and Bryton alert me. But I was frustrated by the feeling I couldn’t trust the SR30 enough, which isn’t something I’ve experienced using the other two companies’ radar.
I found it easy and straightforward to pair this with the Wahoo head unit. The connection was strong and the two units connected each time regardless of the order they were powered up. And the same was also true with an iPhone running iOS 18 using the IGPSport App.
The additional information you can see using the App was the percentage of battery life left, the radar output on screen, and it also allows you to change the light’s mode.
I also rode using the Wahoo and did some roadside observations with the App to compare the two, and they displayed the same situations identically.
The outstanding aspect of the SR30 is its battery life. The light managed 11 hours in Solid mode, 20 hours in Day Flash and 25 hours in the radar-only mode, which was true to iGPSport’s claims.
It charged from flat to full from a standard computer USB to the USB-C port in an excellent one hour and 45 minutes.
The IXP7 rating is also absolutely first rate, meaning it’s totally waterproof and even capable of being submerged in water. There was very little rain during testing, but it shrugged off being tested in the shower, the rubber bung protecting the port from any ingress of water.
The illumination the light provides is very good and broadly similar to that offered by both the Garmin Varia and Bryton Gardia, with the side lighting particularly good.
It is easy to click through the modes on the unit or to select it in the app, if you ride with a smart phone on your bars, though I wasn’t able to change the mode using the Wahoo.
Value
The main two rivals I have ridden with since 2022 and 2023 are the Garmin Varia RCT715, which is the same as the RTL515 but without the camera, and the Bryton Gardia R300L.
The Bryton is the same price as the SR30, the same weight and it has the same functionality – yet the Bryton’s radar is just that much better. Okay, there were initial issues that had to be sorted by a firmware update, but its performance is 90-95% that of the Garmin. And if you’re happy with most of the performance of the Garmin but at a lower cost, the Bryton’s worth considering.
The Garmin Varia is £50 dearer than the Bryton and the iGPSport lights – but the light is slightly better and the radar is absolutely top-notch. In fact, just about the only thing letting it down is that it’s not charged via USB-C.
Conclusion
As it stands it’s hard to recommend because the information from the radar is just too inconsistent, which is a shame as the light and battery life are good. The rival Bryton Gardia R300L is the same price but its radar is substantially better, while the Garmin Varia is dearer and has the best radar of the lot. And while the waterproof and well-made IGPSport SR30 has much to commend it, its radar just can’t compete.
Verdict
Good light to be seen by but the inconsistent radar lets it down and makes it hard to recommend
> Buy now: iGPSport SR30 Smart Radar Taillight for £119.90 from iGPSport
All the deals displayed on our review pages are pulled from a constantly updating database feed of the best affiliate deals available. The criteria for deciding on what are the best deals is who is offering the lowest, delivered price. In most cases we will be showing the very best deal available online, but sometimes you may be able to find an item cheaper. If you can please feel free to post a link in the comments box below. To find out more about affiliate links on road.cc click here.
road.cc test report
Make and model: iGPSPORT SR30 Smart Radar Taillight
Size tested: n/a
Tell us what the light is for, and who it’s aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
The iGPSport SR30 is a rear light with a built-in radar unit, aimed at road riders. It can link to either an ANT+ bike computer or Bluetooth to a smartphone to display when a vehicle is approaching from behind. The radar is able to detect from about 150 metres, tell you how many vehicles there are, and their relative closing speed. It will also tell you when the ‘threat’ has cleared as well.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the light?
There are five light modes: Solid is 20 lumens for 11 hours, Peloton/group six lumens for 20 hours, Pulse 20lm, Day flash 65lm for 20 hours and Night flash 20lm. You can also run it in a radar-only mode, which gives a battery life of around 25 hours.
Charging from empty takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes using a standard 5V 1amp USB plug; it has a USB-C port.
The light weighs 69 grams on its own, and with the seatpost bracket set up for a round 27.2mm seatpost it weighs in at 110 grams.
Product Size: 99 x 39.7 x 20.3mm
Wireless Protocol: ANT+Bluetooth5.0
Lighting Modes: Always-on/fleet/breathing/daytime flash/night flash/single radar mode
Rear Light Lumens: Up to 65
Radar Detection Angle: Horizontal angle: -20~20°; Vertical angle: -10~10°
Radar Detection Distance: 150m
Radar Detection Speed: 10-120km/h
Light Visibility Angle: 220°
Supported Mounting Base: Round, D-shape
Using Temperature Range: -10℃ ~ 50℃
The construction quality is good and it has a high-quality USB-C port cover. The seatpost bracket, which uses the Garmin quarter-turn standard, feels equally well made.
A single button controls powering up as well as the mode selection, and I found it very easy and intuitive to use. Pairing it to a head unit or app was also straightforward and, finishing things off just as well, it’s easy to fit the bracket.
I like the fact the SR30 uses the standard Garmin-type quarter-turn bracket. It was easy to fit to my seatpost, held the light securely and the bracket feels sturdy. The inserts provided allow you to it to a round or aero seatpost.
The SR30 is IXP7 rated, which means it can withstand water immersion to a depth of one metre for up to 30 mins. It didn’t rain during the review period, so I tested it under a shower without issues, and that rating suggests it’ll keep out even the worst British weather.
The SR30 could fully recharge in 1hr 45mins using a standard 5v 1amp USB socket. While you could only see a flashing green light on the unit itself, with a solid green denoting that it was fully charged, the iGPSport App lets you see the percentage of charge.
The website and instruction manual are a little thin on the battery life in varying situations. To test it I left the light running in high/solid mode and achieved an impressive 11 hours, and the claimed 25 hours was met for the radar-only mode. While I didn’t test the 6-lumen Peloton or the Day Flash modes for battery life, given the accuracy of the other claims, I think these are likely to be accurate.
The Auto Sleep function you can select using the app allows the unit to go into a sleep mode after two minutes of inactivity, in order to extend battery life. It’s revived when moved or the power button is clicked. While it did work as designed, I actually preferred to switch it off.
As a light I’d give it a very good 8/10. It’s clearly visible from a distance and offers very good visibility from the side too. It is broadly similar in illumination to its close rival, the Bryton Gardia R300L, though it gives a little away to Garmin’s class-leading Varia RCT715.
But as a radar it’s more in 5/10 territory. I didn’t find it accurate enough or timely in its information, which overall made it rather disappointing and frustrating to use.
There were no issues during testing, it feels well made and it’s impressively waterproof, which all bode well for the long term.
At 69g for the light or 110g with its seatpost bracket, it’s a decently light light! If you then consider that you’ll get between 11 and 25 hours of usage from the SR30 it really is rather impressive.
Although the light is good and the battery life excellent, the radar just isn’t consistent enough to be fully relied upon. This is the key feature that you’d buy it for.
Tell us how the light performed overall when used for its designed purpose
As a light it is good, however the radar isn’t good enough.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the light
Decent weight, Garmin quarter-turn interface, USB-C charging, Long battery life and it’s well made.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the light
The radar just wasn’t effective enough for me. Too many late alerts, some missed vehicles and some false alerts. I couldn’t trust it to be accurate enough.
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
The main two rivals that I have ridden with since 2022 and 2023 are the Garmin Varia RCT715 (same as the RTL515 but has a camera) and the Bryton Gardia R300L.
The Bryton is a similar price to the SR30 and has similar functionality, but Bryton’s radar is better. The Garmin is around £50 dearer but the light is slightly better than either of the other two and the radar is the best of the three.
Did you enjoy using the light? Yes for the light, no for the radar.
Would you consider buying the light? No
Would you recommend the light to a friend? Not as it stands.
Use this box to explain your overall score
This is a very good light to be seen with, with an excellent battery life and a fast charging time. Unfortunately the radar is left wanting. It can be inconsistent in its output and this makes it hard to rely upon. If there are two things I’ve found riding with a radar it is that accuracy and consistency are key. And while I think as it stands it’s still above average, if the radar was working better it would be 8/10.
About the tester
Age: 56 Height: 180cm Weight: 66kg
I usually ride: Condor Fratello 55cm My best bike is: Gios Evolution 55cm
I’ve been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Every week I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, General road riding is most common
1 thought on “iGPSPORT SR30 Smart Radar Taillight”
I’ve always been rather
I’ve always been rather sceptical of items such as this ’till last weekend when an old friend and I went for a spin together. He’s now rather hard of hearing and explained how his Garmin Varia means he finds roads far less worrisome than they were. I must confess that as I only suffer from selective spousal deafness his revelation was something I’d never had to consider. Which makes me think that a safety product such as this which doesn’t consistently perform all of its core functions should be getting one star not three.