Magicshine has long been associated with affordable and bright bike lights for commuting and mountain biking with the Monteer 6500 being one of their brightest offerings with an impressive 6500 lumen output and wired battery design. In this review, we’ll be looking at the new Magicshine 6500S that utilizes upgraded LEDs, improved optics, and an updated battery pack. Although the 6500S may look similar to the previous model, the updates bring higher output in the lower modes while also extending the run-time. Unlike many cheap bike lights on the market with falsely claimed high outputs, the Monteer 6500S has a measured 6500 lumen max output and a generous 2 hour run-time at the max setting.
With a retail price of $349, the Monteer 6500S isn’t a cheap bike light, but at less than $19 per lumen it is one of the best values on the market. One of the more notable updates to the light is Magicshine’s updated MJ-6118 battery pack which consists of four 21700 Lithium ion batteries for an improved 7.2V / 10,000 mAh capacity. The 6500S is part of the updated Magicshine Monteer line that includes lower models such as the Monteer 3500S and 5000S as well as an even brighter Monteer 8000S. Note the 6500S and 8000S are actually quite similar (same housing and battery pack) although the 8000S offers the higher 8000 lumen output (and a $50 higher retail price) and a corresponding further beam reach which is why many of our takeaways are quite similar.
The Magicshine Monteer 6500S is an impressively bright light with a modern USB Type-C battery pack
| Category | Bicycle Head Light |
| Rating | 8.7/10 |
| Retail Price | $349 |
| Measured Weight (in g) | 144 (headlamp)/422 (battery)/34 (mount) |
| Likes | + Ridiculously bright + USB Type-C charging and discharging + Better wiring design |
| Dislikes | – Have to cycle through flash mode – Lack of DRL – Retail price is close to the Monteer 8000S |
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