Magicshine R300 Review: Should You Avoid It?

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After the collaborative radar with Magene, the Magicshine Seemee 508, Magicshine now has its personal radar. It’s referred to as Magicshine R300, and on this overview, you’ll study whether or not it’s price your cash.

I’ve been despatched 3 overview models (!) by Magicshine in a span of a number of months. The primary 2 have been giving me a really excessive variety of false positives. This was earlier than the radar was even launched to the market. Based mostly on my suggestions, Magicshine determined to postpone its launch till they enhance its accuracy. So, how did the third overview unit maintain up? Higher, however nonetheless not ok…

My R300 ranking at a look:Reliability 2/5 | Multi-object Detection 4/5 | Battery Life 2/5 | Brightness 5/5 | Aspect Visibility 5/5 | Mount 5/5 | App 3/5 | Value 4/5 | WEIGHTED OVERALL SCORE 3.8/5More about this biking radar scoring.

Magicshine R300 Abstract

Beneath is the abstract of the Magicshine R300 technical specs.

My Expertise with R300

I examined 3 totally different models of the Magene R300. The primary two have been too delicate and gave a really excessive variety of false positives. The final one is best however nonetheless not ok. I in contrast it primarily with Garmin Varia RTL515 as a result of I take into account Varia essentially the most dependable biking radar. I discovered the next execs and cons of the R300.

I related the R300 to Hammerhead Karoo 3 and Varia RTL515 to Garmin Edge 840 to see how rapidly and precisely they detect automobiles. Varia normally detects automobiles a few second prior to R300. This distinction might not appear to be a giant deal at first look, however each hundredth equals tens of meters for fast-approaching automobiles, providing you with much less time to react.

Nonetheless, the decrease detecting velocity is a much bigger challenge. R300 received’t detect automobiles driving quicker than 100 km/h (62 mph) relative to your velocity. For comparability, Varia can detect automobiles as much as 160 km/h (99 mph). I’ll discuss this extra beneath.

The R300 carried out fairly nicely in detecting a number of automobiles directly. I encountered a number of situations when 4 or extra automobiles have been driving behind me in a bend so R300 might detect them. I additionally double-checked this by pointing it to the freeway, however as a result of excessive speeds, R300 couldn’t detect them.

The most important challenge with R300 is the excessive variety of false positives. It gave me greater than 5 per hour. I seen that it provides extra false positives when driving via cities than when driving in nature. I suppose the sign is mirrored from site visitors indicators and parked automobiles. That is disappointing as a result of after I examined the primary two models, I confused to Magicshine that that is the primary characteristic of a radar that needs to be dialed in good.

Though the third unit they despatched me carried out higher than the primary two, it nonetheless provides extra false positives than some other radar I examined. Whether or not they are going to enhance it by pushing a firmware replace is a giant query mark, however they’d loads of time to take action already. I wouldn’t purchase the radar based mostly on this promise.

The battery life was additionally underwhelming. After deducting all stops throughout my rides after I turned it off, it lasted solely about 9.5 hours within the flash mode. It’s price including that I examined the radar in winter and spring at temperatures starting from 5 to fifteen°C (41 to 59°F).

I additionally need to spotlight the auto sleep characteristic. It ensures that the radar enters a sleep state after being nonetheless for five minutes and routinely wakes up as soon as it detects vibrations or motion. This is a wonderful characteristic as you don’t have to consider saving the battery by manually switching it off.

It’s a pity that the Magicshine app doesn’t provide the likelihood to regulate the sunshine modes just like the Magene L508. However, the preset ones are ample. It may, nevertheless, exchange a motorbike laptop with its automobile detection mode.

Not like many different radars, the mount of the R300 is fairly agency, making certain the radar stays in place even when driving on cobblestones. That is, for instance, one of the vital weaknesses of the Varia RTL515, which tends to slip to the aspect.

It’s also possible to management R300’s mild mode from the pinnacle unit. The bike laptop can even get up the radar routinely from standby mode, so that you don’t have to show it on manually.

Magicshine R300 vs. Different Biking Radars

The next desk summarizes the technical specs of the R300 and different standard biking radars, such because the Garmin Varia RTL515, Magene L508, Bryton Gardia R300, or iGPSport SR30.

Varia RTL515Magene L508Bryton Gardia R300LiGPSport SRTL SR30Trek CarBackCycplus L7

Dimensions98.6×19.7×39.6 mm 3.9×0.8×1.6 in94×38×25 mm 3.7×1.5×0.98 in97×20.9×40 mm3.82×0.82×1.57 in99×20.3×39.7 mm3.9×0.79×1.56 in70×50×30 mm2.76×1.97×1.18 in76.5×37×25 mm3×1.46×0.98 in

Weight71g65g66g68.8g70g67g

Claimed battery life6 hours solid8 hours peloton6 hours night time flash16 hours day flash4-11 hours solid10-16 hours peloton15-18 hours fast flash11-13 hours pulse, flash10-12 hours rotation19 hours radar only8 hours excessive strong (20 lumens)12 hours low strong (5 lumens)11 hours group journey (peloton)17 hours night time flash (12 lumens)17 hours day flash (73 lumens)24 hours radar only8 hours solid12 hours flash15 hours respiration 18 hours night time flash20 hours radar only7-12 hours25 h flash mode36 h radar solely mode

Actual battery life9 hours and half-hour within the day flash mode¹7 hours and 20 minutes within the flash mode11 hours and 40 minutes within the day flash mode²16 hours and 55 minutes11 hours and 21 minutesNot examined but

ChargingMicroUSBUSB-CUSB-CUSB-CUSB-CUSB-C

RadarYesYesYesYesYesYes

TaillightYesYesYesYesYesYes

Brake sensingNoYesYesYesNoYes

Auto stand-byNoYesYesYesn/aYes

LumensUp to 65Up to 40Up to 73Up to 65Up to 90Up to 40

Gentle modesSolid, peloton, night time flash, day flashSolid, peloton, flash, pulse, rotation, fast flash, no mild (radar solely)Excessive/low strong, group journey (peloton), flash, no mild (radar solely)Fixed (strong), fleet, respiration, day flash, night time flash, radar onlyDay flash, day regular, night time regular, night time flashSteady, flashing, respiration, radar solely

Customizable mild modesNoYes³NoNoNoNo

Detecting distanceUp to 140mUp to 140mUp to 190mUp to 150mUp to 230m⁴Up to 160m

Relative detecting speed10 to 160 km/h (6 to 99 mph)10 to 120 km/h (6 to 74 mph)10 to 120 km/h (6 to 74 mph)10 to 120 km/h (6 to 74 mph)n/a10 to 160 km/h (6 to 99 mph)

Water resistanceIPX7IPX7IPX7IPX7IPX7IPX6

Viewing angle220°220°220°220°n/a270°

Horizontal detection angle40°40°40°40°n/a40°

ProtocolsBluetooth, ANT+Bluetooth, ANT+Bluetooth, ANT+Bluetooth, ANT+Bluetooth, ANT+Bluetooth, ANT+

Extra infoRTL515 reviewL508 reviewR300 reviewSR30 reviewCarBack reviewn/a

BuyCheck PriceCheck Value (rei.com)Examine PriceCheck PriceCheck PriceCheck PriceCheck Value (trekbikes.com)Examine Value

This desk compares options of the chosen bicycle radars.¹About two years outdated unit. The battery depreciation most likely influenced the battery life.²Demo unit – I’m not certain if this influenced the battery life. ³Paid subscription or free for e-mail subscription.⁴Early opinions recommend the actual detecting distance is round 150m, which suggests roughly the identical as different radars.Up to date: June 28, 2024

Magicshine R300 is incompatible with Garmin or some other mounts as a result of it makes use of a proprietary mount. So, in case you take into account shopping for it, preserve this in thoughts.

When a automobile overtakes you, the sunshine modifications its flash sample for a few second after which returns to the chosen mild mode. This transformation takes place all through your complete overtaking interval.

Sadly, R300 doesn’t bear in mind the final mild mode used, so that you at all times have to vary it manually. Fortunately, you are able to do it from the pinnacle unit (if it helps this characteristic), and bike computer systems can even wake R300 from the standby mode.

Issues to Contemplate Earlier than Shopping for Magicshine R300 (or Any Different Bike Radar)

Biking radars should be extremely dependable. They could provide you with false positives, however they need to by no means provide you with false negatives, which means they by no means miss a automobile.

You must have zero tolerance for false negatives in case you purchase a tool like a biking radar. However you additionally shouldn’t 100% depend on a bicycle radar and use your different senses whereas driving.

Based mostly on my testing, the R300 proved dependable inside its technical specs. It didn’t miss any automobiles falling inside its detection limits. Sadly, it gave far more false positives than Varia (greater than 5 per hour of driving).

Abstract

In recent times, a number of producers have tried to copy the success of Garmin Varia radars. Some have finished it higher than others, and sadly, Magicshine falls into the latter class. R300 provides too many false positives, main you to disregard the alerts finally. And that may be a downside.

Total, it’s a disgrace as a result of, in different points, the R300 is kind of first rate. It has wonderful visibility even from the edges, good battery life, and a steady mount. Nonetheless, that’s of little worth when it fails in its predominant operate – to reliably inform about approaching automobiles. Because of this, I like to recommend looking these greatest bike radars available on the market and shopping for one among them.

Magicshine R300 FAQ