Cateye Volt 300 Review

The Volt's top competitors for the Best Buy winner are the Cygolite Metro 400 and the Light and Motion Urban 350. While they all three score the same, we handed the Best Buy Award to the Urban 350, mainly due to differences in beam quality and portably issues with the mounting system. Plus, the Volt is slightly more expensive.

Performance Comparison

Brightness

The CatEye Volt 300 proved to be above average within this category scoring 7 out of 10. Our testers measured the maximum beam distance of this light to be around 130-meters. In the picture below, we compare the differences with the Best Buy winner, the Urban 350. You can see that the Volt, pictured on the left, illuminates farther down the trail than the Urban 350, which in turn brightens the peripheral areas of the path better than the Volt.

When compared to the Metro 400, we can see that the Metro 400 seems to combine the best of both the Volt and the Urban 350. We measured the max beam distance of the Metro 400 to be just 10-meters shy of the Volt; however, when looking at this comparison below, we can see that the Metro 400, on the right, floods the sides of the bike path as well as projecting a centralized spot down the middle.

Beam Quality

In terms of beam quality, the ideal light casts an evenly lit, wide beam, and in this category the CatEye Volt once tanks, letting the Urban 350 take the lead in the tight Best Buy Award race. Though it throws a long beam, the beam is narrow and spotty. So even though the Urban 360 doesn't quite shine as far, it allows you to see better while riding.

When we compare this light to a higher performer, it is easy to see that this light has a narrow beam pattern that ineffectively illuminates obstacles that may easily pop up in your peripheral view.

Battery Life

A general rule of thumb here at OutdoorGearLab, is that we don't rely on the manufacturers' claims to be accurate, and therefore test accuracy for ourselves. During our coffin testing, the CatEye Volt once again ranks a 7 out of 10, and we measured its battery life to last around three hours, which is about twice as long as the Urban 350 and the Metro 400.

The Volt's almost three hours of battery life is the most comparable to the Light and Motion Vis 360+ with its external battery pack. However, as you can see in this battery life versus beam distance chart, the Vis 360+ is able to maintain a lower projected beam for a bit longer than the Volt 300's beam holding strong between 100 and 120-meters.

Portability

This was the only category that this light wavers away from a solid 7 in scores across the board. Here, the CatEye Volt loses a point on installation due to difficulty removing the light from the mount. It is reasonably portable because it's small and lightweight, as compared to the Metro 400 (off its mount) and the Urban 350. It's easy to carry around in your bag or slip into a pocket. Though, the light has an essentially tool-less mount that operates like an adjustable zip tie, similar to the CatEye HL-EL 135. We've found that other types of mounts are easier to adjust and can be cinched more tightly around your handlebar.

The light slides easily onto the mount, but, just like the other CatEye model we tested, removing it requires that you reach a trigger finger underneath the front of the light and push up on it in order to release the light from the mount. Other lights we tested come off much faster and allow the user to locate the release lever in a much more obvious and user friendly position, rather than hidden underneath.

Best Applications

This light is right at home during any urban application, especially on bike paths that do not require the whole path to be illuminated.

Value

This light fought a good race for our spot as the Best Buy winner; however, our reviewers found they much preferred the wider, more evenly lit beam of the Urban 350 to that of the Volt. Plus, the Urban 350 is $10 less than the more expensive Volt.

See our Price vs. Value Comparison to see how this light stacked up again the other 16 we tested.

Conclusion

Though this light out performed our Best Buy winner in beam length and battery life, the narrow beam pattern of the CatEye Volt lost out to the Urban 350 during our field testing. However, if you're looking for a beam that is more narrow and projects farther into the distance than the Urban 350, then this is a great option to consider.