Moon X-Power 300 front light

The Moon X-Power 300 is a compact, easy-to-use light that cranks out a good amount of light for the price.

The X-Power 300 uses a rechargeable lithium ion battery (3.7V 2300mAh) and a single Cree XP-G high brightness LED. The lamp body looks aluminium but it's actually plastic, although the light cap – the front end – is aluminium.

It mounts to your bars via a plastic quick release mount (with shims if necessary, depending on bar diameter) that's proved secure on every bike I've tried it on. Undoing the quick release to alter the beam angle is simple, as is removing the light from the mount for security or recharging. A helmet mount is included in the kit, although we wouldn't use it on the road for fear of dazzling other road users.

You get five different light settings here: overdrive, high, standard, low and flashing. Unfortunately, if you're using the low setting in town and hit an unlit section of road, you have to cycle through the flashing mode and then the off position to get to overdrive. That moment of darkness is far from ideal, so I just didn't swap between settings during a ride.

You change between the modes via a button on the back of the lamp. Illuminated in use, it's simple to see, although it sits flush with the casing so it can be awkward to press in cold, gloved fingers – another reason not to alter the setting as you're riding.

Sling the X-Power 300 in 'overdrive' and you get a strong central beam with a lot of punch – there's a good intensity of light reaching ahead. The beam pattern is very round; there are certainly cleverer lens designs out there that put the light more precisely where it's needed, but this does work well, giving you enough light to ride on unlit roads.

I took this light out last night and used it on the worst bit of road I know - full of potholes with gravel patches all over the place. I could see enough to feel perfectly safe while riding fast. There are brighter lights out there, and ones that offer more peripheral lighting, but the Moon X-Power 300 certainly does the job. I like something like an Exposure Strada for the ultimate in vision, but for the money you really can't complain here.

The beam is actually very similar to that of the Moon Meteor which we've also reviewed, although that light is £40 cheaper.

The downside to that intensity of light is quite a short runtime. You're looking at about 2.5hrs in the overdrive setting, although it's closer to 3.5hrs if you shift to high and 6hrs in standard mode. A red light glows to warn you when the battery is running low – you have about 30mins of use remaining. You can recharge from either the mains or a USB port. Plug it into the mains and charging takes about 3hrs from empty.

Verdict

Solid performance with an impressive output for the cash.