One of the brightest taillights on the market - Moon Sport Helix Sense 300 and Sense 450 Bike Review

One common question when it comes to bike taillights is “how bright of a taillight do you need.” Moon Sport’s answer to that question is the new Helix Sense taillights which are offered in two versions: Helix Sense 300 and Helix Sense 450. Not only are these taillights absurdly bright, but they also incorporate motion sensors to detect braking and warn others behind you. Retail prices are $69.99 and $80.99 for the Helix Sense 300 and Helix Sense 450 respectively. As the product names imply, the taillights are capable of 300 lumen and 450 lumen output. The lights also offer Moon Sport’s Variable Lumen System (VLS) feature which allows you to customize the intensity of each mode independently. With their transparent red lens and rectangular profiles, both Helix Sense taillights also have 300 degree side visibility to help you be seen at any angle.
Visually, the Helix Sense 300 and 450 have nearly identical designs with rectangular profiles and COB LED strips. The Helix Sense 300 is slightly shorter than the Helix Sense 450 but has the same depth and width. There are four COB LED strips, two on the sides and a center section with most modes operating the LEDs together or the sides / center separately. The red transparent lens has a protruding design which helps the light achieve 300 degree visibility. On the sides of the light you’ll find Moon Sport’s reflective zig-zag graphics that are also found on their other products like the Rigel 700. Branding is limited to Moon debossed onto the lens and Helix Sense on the other side. On the rear of the light you’ll find a rubber cover for the USB-C charging port, a feature we’re happy to see and the Garmin style mount molded directly in.
There is a single black rubber button on the face of the lens that controls all the operations of the taillight. As with other Moon Sport products there are quite a few features baked into the light. Holding the button for a few seconds powers the light on and off while a short press will cycle through the constant or flash modes. There is a two-level menu which separates the flash and constant modes which can be toggled by doing a quick double press. The user interface becomes complicated when you want to access the Variable Lumen System (VLS) and enabling the lockout mode. With VLS you can hold the power button in any mode to have it ramp between the minimum and maximum lumen for the mode, while releasing the button selects the current lumen amount. It’s a unique feature that allows you to customize the output modes of the taillight without the need of secondary apps.
... Read the full review @ thesweetcyclists.com/moon-spo...
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00:00 Intro
00:11 Unboxing + Specs
03:05 Fit + Finish
07:55 Light Output
09:16 Comparison (Moon Cerberus, Magicshine Seemee 200 / 150, Bontrager Flare RT)
12:04 The Final Score
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Moon Sport - moon-sport.com/
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[@Mapantz1]

Another rear light to add to my collection! I have a 'thing' about quality rear lights, and I like to have them on display on a shelf at home. I grab whichever one I fancy when I go out for rip. Nice review!

[@ilovephotography1254]

Thanks for another fine review. Your often review products that may not be well known, therefore providing a service to the biking community as well as the manufactures.👍

[@84imreplica]

A very thorough review. Well done. Out of all the lights you showed at the end of your video I'd still go with the Cygolite Hypershot 350 lumen bike light.

[@2100BLF]

Been a flashaholic for many years. I figured that this light would be more useful if you were to cross pedestrian crossings or cross traffic junctions due to it's wider angle beam spread. From the stats and youtube videos on the local accident channel i have seen, this is where accidents happen the vast majority of the time, vehicles don't really rear end cyclists the majority of time vs the sides, as vehciles approaching straight from the rear in the same lane has much more time to ID the cyclists vs at cross traffic junctions or zebra crossings. I was torn between the Cygolite 350 but i think it is way more important to have visibility by vehicles that are much closer to you + at angle of say 45 to 60 deg off-axis to your side vs vehicles 200-300m away that are 5 deg off to the side. Vehicles that are closest to you are really what matters, unless if you cycle on the freeway/highway, which is of course illegal in the vast majority of countries . So that much high lux (not high lumens) narrow beamwidth of the Cygolite Hypershot 350 is not going to matter in most cases except maybe if the driver is right behind you and both cyclist and driver are staring right into the rising or setting sun. Heck, just get 2 of this if you want even more visibility in such scenarios. 2pcs of the Cygolite angled a bit to the sides for each one still would not give enough side coverage from what i see from the hotspots in other videos. I'm really talking about serious side coverage with sufficient output even during daytime or under those especially powerful LED streetlamps in my city centre, if not just a 2pcs of $5 tailights mounted sideways would do the job, which i have plenty of those but they do not really cut it from what i see on the lux meter.

[@Ni1zz]

thanks for the review. just ordered sence 300. these lights deserve more customers

[@TheSweetCyclists]

Hope you enjoy it. Moon Sport isn't quite as popular as other brands, but as you said they compare well with other lights on the market.

[@HEBI.RAIDEN]

Really nice features and thanks for reviews

[@adriangeorge6783]

Great review, cheers

[@isabellam1936]

I’m a long time bike messenger in nyc and I’ve tested out every flash pattern there is and cars give you the most distance and slow the most down with fast irregular flash patterns like with the Super flash Turbo by Planet Bike. They have the perfect flash pattern and brightness. The worst flash patterns where cars go fast by you and extremely close to you are constant on and also slow pulse. Fast slash is good but not to fast where it just looks like it’s constant on basically, the best is irregular flash pattern though.

[@johnr5545]

I need to buy four tail lights, and four headlights. What would you recommend a halfway decent price but a great light not sure what to get. The ridding we do is road and some gravel family stuff very concerned for our safety though i’ve been watching your videos for sometime like your contact thanks god bless

[@scotthorvath6779]

Sweet review thanks! Is the Garmin "mini twist" compatible with the Magicshine Seemee? I.e., has there been some standardisation in Garmin mini mount specifications?

[@Minwary]

I have the same question!

[@TheSweetCyclists]

I'm not aware of a mini Garmin standard. Interestingly, the Moon Helix taillights are compatible with Magicshine Seemee mounts so it's a fair bet that companies are using a similar supplier.

[@jamiecox2506]

I just bought one of these lights and I'm here to tell you that it is so complicated but also unbelievably bright. It is so bright that I cannot look at it to see what power mode it is in. Brightness - great, complications - poor!

[@gnooy13mdfk]

I really enjoy the snake/pulse cycle, iike knight rider car. Not sure which lamps have this mode though

[@TheSweetCyclists]

It's funny you should mention the "side-to-side" KITT mode. We actually have a Knight Rider replica car and the new Knog Frog lights which have the same KITT mode. Stay tuned for that in the next few weeks.

[@senseyguru7900]

Hello, do you know whether the Moon Helix Lite version has an automatic switch-off function? And a brake light function.? Thanks

[@TheSweetCyclists]

I don't believe the Helix Lite has the brake sensing or auto-off feature that comes with it. You would have to purchase one of the Helix Sense variations instead.

[@squiresuzuki]

Does the quarter turn work well with the elastic mount? Looks like it required some force to remove, which is good, but seems like it would flex the elastic part around the seatpost and make it annoying to remove with one hand

[@TheSweetCyclists]

We haven't had any issues with the seatpost mount. As with other rubber designs, they may flex slightly as you rotate the light off but it isn't cumbersome.

[@2100BLF]

It's gonna move slightly with just one hand operation on the light, but still, no issues at all.

[@elracso5503]

great review, do you have any opinions on the cygo lite hypershot pro? i've hard really good comments about it

[@TheSweetCyclists]

Thanks! We haven't used the Cygolite taillights but based on the specs it is similar. The design is a bit more dated though compared to the Moon Sport taillights which have USB-C / Brake Sensor / Variable Lumen System.

[@gosman949]

my bike shop highly recommends the cygo lites!

[@ghostpepperrides4805]

How many hours will battery last?

[@gabrieltemmy4074]

Nice review, Thank You. May I know if the quarter turn mount is interchangeable with Magicshine Seemee 200?

[@TheSweetCyclists]

Yes. Great timing, I have the both lights here and the mounts are interchangeable. It seems like Magicshine and Moon Sports both use the same diameter miniaturized Garmin mounts.

[@gabrieltemmy4074]

@@TheSweetCyclists Thank You so much, really appreciate Your information.

[@twosix_00]

I see that it has a Garmin type support but obviously smaller. My question is, can the support that comes with the Magicshine lights be used? I mean the one that goes on the saddle rails🤔 I hope you can help me with this question

[@TheSweetCyclists]

Yes, surprisingly the Moon Helix taillights are compatible with the Magicshine mounts. The Helix taillights come with saddle rail mounts right out of the box though, you don't need to buy them separately.

[@twosix_00]

@@TheSweetCyclists I tried to buy the 450 lumens model, but it doesn't appear on the official Moon page😐 What is this about?

[@TheSweetCyclists]

@@twosix_00 The Helix Sense taillights aren't officially listed yet - I'd recommend checking again in a few days.

[@felixreln9382]

How did you order these? They seem to not have shipping available to US.

[@TheSweetCyclists]

Its currently showing "out of stock" on their US site, but they have quite a few dealers in the US. See www.moonsportusa.com/find-a-dealer to find one near you.

[@64o]

Lumen output on solid is 20 lumens less than that of the Moon Nebula 🤔 Try some lights like the Exposure Blaze or Cygolite Hypershot. They have insect lenses that make them visible from a kilometre away.

[@TheSweetCyclists]

We're trying to get our hands on some Exposure and Cygolite lights they both have some bright and interesting taillights.

[@jasinter9251]

are these remodeled to helix lite and pro currently selling? i'm interested in braking motion sensor actually lol

[@TheSweetCyclists]

No, I believe the "Helix Pro" uses the same body as the Sense 450 but has lower output and no brake sensor. The Helix Lite seems to be even smaller than the Sense 300, and again lacks the brake sensor and has lower output. They still haven't updated the moon sport USA website, but the Sense 450 / 300 are listed on their main website (moon-sport.com).

[@jasinter9251]

@@TheSweetCyclists thanks, mate. Sense 450 hasn't entered Malaysian market it seems. I'm still on Nebula at 200 Day Flash.

[@TheSweetCyclists]

@@jasinter9251 No problem. Moon Sport seems to be pretty slow at product releases, but hopefully it'll get released soon. It's an amazingly bright taillight you can see from miles away.

[@flolou8496]

I wonder if you can have it work in the lower output light mode, until you start to slow down or stop, than it automatically switch to the highest light output automatically, (than of course when you ride have it go back to the lower light output mode?) in other words, wanting to extend the battery life, should not mean also having to sacrifice maximum safety on a sudden stop if called for,

[@TheSweetCyclists]

That is how the light is setup - the "brake alert" mode always has the same high power output regardless of your current mode. The light always switches between current and alert mode if you enable the brake sensor mode.

[@youyu521]

Moon Helix line is interesting, currently using 2 pairs of Helix Lite so far only Lite and Max Version available here in Singapore Quality stuff and all my lights charging to USB-C with magic shine RN400's Really like the Steady Flash Mode on Helix Lite and daytime which gets complaints easily for being too bright 🤣

[@TheSweetCyclists]

You should see the Helix Sense 450 in person - the daytime flash is visible from what seems like miles away.

[@youyu521]

@@TheSweetCyclists if the pricing matches lezyne alert series will be great, another moon light that has brake sensor is Sirius Pro that a real bright one in the shop Helix feels like replacement for Nebula with the larger versions

[@twosix_00]

What material is the casing made of?

[@TheSweetCyclists]

I don't know the specifics but it does feel like some sort of plastic construction. The taillight itself is pretty lightweight but feels durable with no exposed hardware.

[@freeforester1717]

Soon gonna be seeing rear lights break the $100 ceiling…. 🤔

[@taklayagelensermest]

Hello does that function while charging?

[@TheSweetCyclists]

Yes, you can access all the modes even while charging the taillight.

[@taklayagelensermest]

@@TheSweetCyclists thanks for the answer, in my country i could find helix max 250. Do you thonk that charging on the go applies on that model too? Any idea?

[@TheSweetCyclists]

@@taklayagelensermest I don't have a Helix Max to confirm, but I would assume it would also support charging-on-the-go. You could email Moon Sport customer support to confirm.

[@JedediahSmith342]

Not bad 😎🇺🇸✌🏽

[@lupus7194]

I had a Magicshine Seemee 200 until it died due to water ingress.

[@TheSweetCyclists]

Sorry to hear that. Perhaps the rubber cover on the USB port wasn't fully seated? I'd recommend reaching out to Magicshine, they are pretty good about replacing products or could offer a discounted replacement.

[@FirstLast-jm4dx]

These tail lights are way too bright for night-time use, maybe even for day-time use. Probably will get blinded riding behind other cyclists with such bright tail lights. I'm still using my 0.5W Planet Bike Superflash and Portland Design Works Danger Zone tail lights. I think they're pretty noticeable from their flash patterns w/o blinding other road users.

[@davidklement2201]

You can set the brightness, it is possible. But the problem is the accessibility in shops. In Europe, I am able to buy only HELIX Lite from the HELIX line. I would like to buy a HELIX MAX or SENSE 300/450, but shipping will cost more than the light.

[@DamianChirek]

🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌 9:14 9:15

[@winston6498]

Too bad it's not in stock online for the US....

[@TheSweetCyclists]

We actually asked them about this, apparently they are having issues with US site. You can buy it from their main website ($4 shipping to US) - moon-sport.com/. It's a great taillight for cycling on busy roads.

[@winston6498]

@@TheSweetCyclists I tried that site too. They wont accept shipping to the US :(

[@TheSweetCyclists]

@@winston6498 That's a shame. Might be worth reaching out to their customer support. Moon Sport's US site always seems slow to update.

[@winston6498]

@@TheSweetCyclists it is. I really want the light! Even has USB C.

[@winston6498]

Site works now!!! 109.90 shipped! Kinda wish I would have ordered two with the $40 shipping or a front light to try.

[@DamianChirek]

🌃🌃🌃🛌🛌🛌🐌🐌🐌🐌🪰🪰🪰 0:29

[@Bread_Garlichouse]

Awful instruction manual for mounting. May as well not have it. Bring light but that's about it.

[@sunlightsafari9198]

Do you prefer this one or the lezyne strip alert 300?

[@TheSweetCyclists]

Good question. I haven't ridden with the Lezyne model (we do hope to start reviewing their products soon) but the specs look quite similar. The Lezyne appears to have too many modes (11!) and still uses micro-USB which is why I'd still go with the Helix. The Helix also has a brake sensor and the VLS system to let you customize the output per mode.

[@sunlightsafari9198]

@@TheSweetCyclists The Helix seems far superior software wise and with the usb-c port, unfortunately I can't find them available in north america so I'm still trying to figure if the Lezyne is a better option over other lights I've found available such as the Seemee 200V2 or the Bullet 200