My new battery powered gloves.
First ride impression, WOW!! Started off this morning with them set on hi, remember, it was 30 degrees this morning. That lasted about a mile, they were too hot, kept turning down and actually low was just right. One thing about the fit, they run small. I used the suggested sizing chart and bought a large. I wear either a small or medium in everything I own, so for a large to fit, they are small. They have goat leather palms which feel nice. There are touches of plether and textile on rest of glove. The cuff is large enough to fit over jacket sleeve and has draw string to seal wind out. The heating is on back of hand, all the way down every finger and thumb. When you turn them on the heat actually starts in seconds, has four heat settings. Heating is definitely impressive. They use slightly different heating process than most gloves, it's the same technology used in car seats.
Battery life is yet to determined. But today, turned on at 4am. High for about 5 minutes, middle two temps for about 5 minutes each and rest of 30 minute ride on low. I wanted to test the battery some and left them turned on low after I took them off. I checked them every hour and they stayed at a constant temp till I turned them off at 10am. That's six hours, pretty good to me. I put them on the charger when I got home a little after 4pm, just looked, it's now 7:30pm and they are totally charged, so about 3 hours. Here's the battery run time and recharge info.
The gloves do have a natural curve built in to grip handle bar. Sometimes on new gloves there's a seam or two on the fingers that will rub my hand when gripping bars, these had none. These are not top grade construction like my winter Tour master gloves, but pretty nice overall. Now for something that bugged me a little. The on/off switch is bright. When I was riding this morning, in the dark, I would catch the light out of the corner of my eye. I'm sure after a few rides I'll get used to it.
There's a florescent seam on back of hand, nice touch. Used flash so they would show.
Gloves come with a two into one cable you plug into a "phone charger" or any other usb that has charging capacity. I too had looked hard at wired set of gloves. I went with the battery ones for convenience getting on and off bike. Yes, still have to charge mine, but no big deal to me. Was a little worried about battery use time, but if I can get 6 hours on low like I've experienced, I'll be happy.
The batteries are in a soft pliable pouch. When the batteries are in glove wrist pouch they bend to your wrist curve. I was concerned about weigh of batteries making the gloves heavy. But this is not a issue, you actually don't feel the batteries. The are Pair of 7.4V 2400MAH rechargeable lithium polymer batteries.
Battery bent like they would when wearing.
Battery straighten out.
Bottom line after use in 30 degree weather. I would buy them again, for only $55, in a heartbeat. I was concerned about the low price and only time will tell if they hold up. I'm not rough on gear, but do use all my gear a lot and can normally find defects pretty quick. I'll update review after a few more uses.