Cateye AMPP 800 Review: A Wide Beam, 90 Minutes on Full, and Micro-USB
Two magazine testers who timed it and a handful of buyers agree on the shape of this light: a well-built aluminium commuter light with a usefully wide beam and a bracket that is easy to live with. They also agree it does not run long on full power. The numbers that decide whether it suits your commute are below, with whose figure each one is.
Where the reviews line up
Our three sources are a hands-on test by road.cc, which scored it 7/10 and timed the battery; a BikeRadar test of the light in a set with Cateye’s Rapid X3 rear, rated 4.5 out of 5 and also run-time tested; and the buyer ratings on Biketart’s product page, which are real but few. Cycling Weekly, MBR and BikePerfect reviewed it too, and we use their figures in the table.
Three things come up everywhere. The beam is wide rather than long — road.cc calls it “more of an ellipse than a circle”, and Cateye’s larger side lens gives you side visibility at junctions that cheap lights lack. It is solidly made and easy to mount: the FlexTight strap bracket takes bars up to 35 mm and the light clicks off in a second. And the three-colour battery indicator is genuinely useful, which matters on a light that does not run long.
The honest caveat is run time. Cateye says about 1.5 hours on full 800 lumens; road.cc measured 1.5 hours and BikeRadar got “very slightly more than the claimed 90 minutes”. That is fine for a 30-minute commute each way if you charge every day, and not enough for a long winter evening ride on full. It also charges over micro-USB, not USB-C, and takes 3 to 7 hours.
The buying decision is about how long you ride in the dark. For town and lit-road commuting, at the £48–£65 it sells for now, it is a sensible, durable choice. For unlit lanes for more than an hour, you want more battery than this.
The three reviews this summary is built from
- road.ccEditorial test by George Hill, October 2019. 7/10, measured weight and timed run times.
- BikeRadarEditorial test by Simon Withers, January 2020. 4.5/5 for the front-and-rear set; timed the full-power run.
- Biketart4.3/5 from 3 buyer reviews, 67% would recommend, 4 Oct 2026. Too few to lean on — we say so below.
Before the review: which AMPP 800 is this?
This page covers the Cateye AMPP 800 front light, model HL-EL088RC, the 800-lumen bar light sold in the UK under SKU CA460A800. The same light is also sold as a helmet-mount kit and in sets with the AMPP 1100 and Rapid X rear lights; those kits weigh more because of the extra mount, which explains several of the different weights you will see quoted. It is not the AMPP 800 with the newer Cateye Sync system, and Cycling Weekly notes it is not Sync compatible.
Specification at a glance
| Spec | Figure | Whose figure |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Cateye AMPP 800, HL-EL088RC (UK SKU CA460A800) | Cateye manual; Alf Jones Cycles listing |
| Output per mode | High 800 lm · Middle 400 lm · Low 200 lm · Daytime HyperConstant 200 + 800 lm pulse · Flashing 200 lm | Cateye figures as published by Wheelbase, Biketart, Alf Jones. Sigma Sports lists Low as 250 lm |
| Run time, maker | High 1.5 h · Middle 2 h · Low 4 h · HyperConstant 4 h · Flashing 30 h | Cateye manual v1 and UK retailers. Manual v2 says HyperConstant 5 h |
| Run time, measured | High 1.5 h, Low 4 h (road.cc) · High “very slightly more than” 90 min (BikeRadar) | Tester figures, not Cateye’s |
| Battery | Li-ion 3.7 V, 2,500 mAh | Cateye manual |
| Charging | 3–7 hours; micro-USB plug. road.cc timed about 3 h from a mains adapter, 4.5 h from a laptop | Cateye manual; road.cc. MBR’s 2022 review says USB-C — see below |
| Waterproofing | IPX4 (splash resistant, based on JIS C0920) | Cateye manual v2; Wheelbase, Biketart, Alf Jones. Manual v1 says only “water-resistant” |
| Weight | 136 g (Cateye) · 137 g (road.cc, measured) · 155 g (BikeRadar) | Helmet versions weigh more: 143 g (BikePerfect), 163 g (MBR) |
| Size | 32 × 102 × 33 mm | Cateye manual |
| Mount | FlexTight strap bracket, bars up to 35 mm; helmet mount sold separately | Wheelbase, Biketart; Cycling Weekly says it fits aero bars |
| Warranty | 2 years, light unit only — battery deterioration excluded | Cateye manual |
| BS6102/3 mark | Not found on any listing or in the manual | See the UK law note below |
| Price | £64.99 at Wheelbase · £47.95 at Biketart (out of stock), quoted RRP £59.99 | Checked 4 October 2026 |
road.cc
road.cc is the most useful of the editorial tests because it timed the battery rather than repeating Cateye’s numbers. Its results match the maker: 1.5 hours on full and 4 hours at the low setting, with charging taking about 3 hours from a mains adapter and 4.5 hours from a laptop port. It also weighed the light at 137 g, a gram over Cateye’s claim.
The tester liked the output, the strong aluminium body and how quickly the bracket clicks the light on and off, and rated the three-colour battery indicator. The beam, he wrote, “is definitely more of an ellipse than a circle, so it perhaps doesn’t stretch as far in front as others, but you get to see more.” The marks came off for run time and weight. One reader in the comments argued the AMPP 800 runs for substantially less time than the Volt 800 it replaced — an opinion, but a fair point if you are choosing between the two second-hand.
Watch: Cateye AMPP 800 Review || Should You Buy This Bicycle Light?
A general review of the same light. The best pairing for road.cc if you want to see the beam shape and the bracket before you buy.
Watch on YouTube ↗BikeRadar
BikeRadar tested the AMPP 800 as half of a front-and-rear set, so its score covers both lights, but the front light’s figures stand on their own. On full power it ran “very slightly more than the claimed 90 minutes”, which independently confirms road.cc’s result. BikeRadar weighed the front light at 155 g — notably heavier than Cateye’s 136 g and road.cc’s 137 g. We cannot tell whether that included the bracket; both figures are printed in the table.
The verdict sums up the light fairly: “all the modes you need for commuting, great quality and secure and versatile mounting systems”, against “slightly lower running times than some”. Cycling Weekly’s November 2020 review lands in the same place from a different angle — good value for town and country commuters on a budget, usable with gloves, but “not as bright as similarly classified lights”. It is also the source for the bracket fitting aero bars up to 35 mm.
Watch: CatEye Ampp 800 (Test)
A short test clip of the light in use. Useful alongside BikeRadar for judging what 800 lumens on this beam actually looks like on the road.
Watch on YouTube ↗Biketart
We looked hard for a large pool of UK buyer ratings and did not find one: Wheelbase, Alf Jones Cycles and Cotswold Outdoor show no review count, Sigma Sports has delisted it, and Halfords’ page did not load for us. Biketart’s three reviews are the only rated sample with a count. Three reviews is not evidence of anything on its own, and one of the three would not recommend it, so read this as a small signal in line with the testers rather than a verdict.
The page is more useful for its specification block, which repeats Cateye’s numbers exactly — 800/400/200 lumens, 1.5/2/4/4/30 hours, 3–7 hours to charge, 2,500 mAh, IPX4 and 136 g — and for its price: £47.95 against a quoted RRP of £59.99, though it was out of stock when we checked.
Watch: Cateye AMPP 800 and Viz 300
The front light shown with Cateye’s Viz 300 rear — a common commuter pairing, and a look at the light as an owner would use it.
Watch on YouTube ↗UK law: is the AMPP 800 road-legal?
Between sunset and sunrise a bike on a public road needs a white front light. Under the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations, as Cycling UK explains them, a steady front light should be marked as conforming to BS6102/3 or an equivalent EC standard. Since 2005, a flashing light can be your only front light if it emits at least 4 candelas and flashes between 60 and 240 times a minute. A light with both steady and flashing modes is only approved if it meets BS6102/3 in steady mode.
We found no BS6102/3 mark on the AMPP 800 in Cateye’s manual or on any UK listing. That puts it with most lights on sale: Cycling UK notes that very few lights in the UK market conform, and that the law is out of step with the products. If you want to be strictly compliant, run a BS-marked light alongside it, or use the flashing mode as your legal light — but Cateye does not publish the flash rate, so we cannot confirm it falls inside 60–240 a minute.
Strengths and weak points
What holds up
- Wide, elliptical beam with good side visibility through the larger side lens.
- Strong aluminium body; testers rate the build quality.
- FlexTight bracket fits bars up to 35 mm, including aero bars, and the light clicks off quickly.
- Three-colour battery indicator, so you know when to charge.
- Run times match Cateye’s claims in two independent tests.
- 200-lumen flashing mode runs about 30 hours; a 2-year warranty on the light unit.
What people complain about
- Only about 90 minutes on full 800 lumens.
- Charges over micro-USB, not USB-C, and takes 3 to 7 hours.
- Heavier than some rivals at 136–155 g, depending on who weighed it.
- Beam does not reach as far ahead as rounder-beam lights; Cycling Weekly found it less bright than others with the same lumen rating.
- IPX4 is splash resistance, not submersion.
- No BS6102/3 mark found, and the warranty excludes the battery wearing out.
Who it actually suits
Buy it if you commute in town or on partly lit roads for up to about 45 minutes each way, you will charge it every day or two, and you want a sturdy light with a wide beam that is easy to take off when you lock the bike. At around £48–£65 it is reasonable value for the build.
Look elsewhere if you ride unlit lanes for more than an hour on full power, if you want USB-C charging so one cable does your phone and your light, or if strict BS6102/3 compliance matters to you. MBR’s reviewer suggested the Magicshine RN1500 for helmet use, which offers about twice the lumens for a little more money.
What we could not check
- The three videos were confirmed by search listing, not by opening them. YouTube would not load through our connection. Each watch link and title appeared in at least two differently worded searches, but no listing named the channels, so we cannot tell you who made them or when.
- USB type on current stock. Cateye’s manual, road.cc, Sigma Sports and Cotswold Outdoor all say micro-USB. MBR’s 2022 review says USB-C. We found no Cateye notice of a USB-C revision, so we have used micro-USB — check the listing in front of you.
- Low-mode output. Most UK retailers list 200 lumens; Sigma Sports lists 250. We could not reach a live Cateye UK product page to settle it.
- HyperConstant run time. Cateye’s own manuals disagree: version 1 says 4 hours, version 2 says 5.
- Why BikeRadar’s weight is 155 g against 136–137 g elsewhere. It may include the bracket; the review does not say.
- Flash rate. Not published, so we cannot confirm the flashing mode meets the 60–240 per minute rule.
- Prices at Halfords, Tredz, Evans Cycles and the shops that took over Wiggle. None appeared in our searches with a live UK price. Our prices come from Wheelbase and Biketart.
- Cateye’s official UK RRP. The £59.99 is Biketart’s quoted RRP; road.cc tested it at £84.99 in 2019 and MBR at £64.99 in 2022.
- A large buyer sample. The only UK rating with a count is 3 reviews at Biketart.
- Lux or beam-distance figures. None of the tests published measured beam distance.
Sources last checked 4 October 2026. Prices and stock change — check them against the listing in front of you before ordering.