Knog’s Frog bike lights are perhaps one of their most iconic designs and was one of the first silicone bike lights to enter the market back in 2006. In this review, we’ll be looking at the latest iteration of the Frog light which has been released as part of Knog’s 20th anniversary. The main new feature of the Frog is the brighter and more modern COB LED setup. Retail price for the Frog lights remains an affordable $24.95 and they are offered as a 40 lumen headlight or a 20 lumen taillight. The updated COB LED lens allows for a number of creative and eye catching light output modes which includes sweeping and sparkling modes. With this latest version, the Frog lights have USB-C charging ports and runtimes up to 60 hr for the headlight and 80 hr for taillight.

The Knog Frog lights are stylish and versatile be-seen lights that feature eye-catching LED flash patterns.

Retail Price$24.95
Rating 9.3 / 10
Measured Weight (in g) 18
Likes+ Flexible silicone mounts are secure and easy to use
+ Eye catching COB LED patterns
+ Intuitive multi-level battery status indicator
Dislikes– Exterior coating can be difficult to keep clean
Where to Buy (US)Knog (Headlight) / Knog (Taillight)

UNBOXING

The Knog Frog lights come in environmentally friendly cardboard backings with the lights attached via a zip tie. You can touch and interact with the light directly without the need for any additional plastic or packaging materials. Knog does not include a USB-C charging cable to recharge the lights so you’ll need to reuse one of your existing cables or purchase one if you do not own one already.

MOUNTING

What makes the Knog Frog lights so unique and popular is the silicone design. Rather than requiring separate mounts or tools, the Frog lights have a flexible silicone strap built into the front of the light that slides over a hook on the other side. It’s a highly versatile design that can work on bikes, scooters, backpacks or nearly anything that you can wrap it around. The headlight and taillight variations are identical, which means you can mount the taillight sideways on your seatpost, seatstays or even saddlebag. For the headlight we preferred to mount it on the fork as a secondary light but you can also place it on handlebars. The only downside to this design is that it’s a uni-directional mount, unlike the Topeak Headlux which offers a dual sided design so you cannot mount the Frog lights on an out-front mount like the Topeak UTF unless you have some sort of cylindrical attachment.

Knog Frog Bike Headlight Taillights Silicone Review - Headlight Closeup
The Frog lights now use a COB setup which utilizes multiple small LEDs which allows for a variety of creative output modes and uniform glow.

FIT & FINISH

True to its namesake, the Knog Frog lights have a compact frog like design with a protruding forward facing lens and narrow grippy silicone legs. Like a frog, the Knog Frog lights have a non-slip finish that can easily be mounted in nearly any orientation or surface. The exterior of the light has a silicone finish except for the transparent hook on the rear for the strap. Knog offers the Frog lights in a variety of colors from standard black and gray to more unusual colors like turquoise, red, green and blue that can match nearly any bike. With the latest version, Knog has updated the lens to a modern COB (circuit on board) design with multiple individual LEDs laid out in a two row horizontal configuration. Branding is limited to Knog de-bossed into the top of the body of the light.

Knog Frog Bike Headlight Taillights Silicone Review - Color Options
Knog offers the Frog lights in six different color options to match nearly any bike color scheme or rider preference.

Rather than traditional buttons, Knog has modified the entire top of the light into a squishy single button interface. It’s a straightforward and simple interface that uses a long hold to turn the light on and a short press to cycle through nine available modes. We weren’t able to test the feature ourselves with our early sample but Knog has integrated a five-state battery status that can be checked by pressing the button with the light off. This is similar to the Magicshine Seemee lights but is even more intuitive as it illuminates the COB LEDs to visually indicate the status instead of using colors. Additionally, low battery status is indicated by a red light illuminating the transparent rear hook.

LIGHT OUTPUT

Knog has integrated nine different output modes into the Frog light that illuminate the COB LEDs in unique patterns. The nine options are broken between two constant modes (low – high) and seven different animated / flash options (side flash – full bright – front to back – back to front – side to side – rotation – eco). Runtimes for the constant modes range from 4-20 hrs and 3-15 hrs for the headlight and taillight respectively. Flash modes offer higher runtimes of 7-80 hrs and 4-60 hrs for the headlight and taillight respectively. The headlight is brighter than the taillight with a 40 lumen maximum output compared to the 20 lumen from the taillight. Thanks to the COB LED design, the animated / flash output modes have a variety of clever and eye-catching designs.

Knog Frog Bike Headlight Taillights Silicone Review - Scooters
One of the best features of the Frog lights are the silicone mounts that allow the lights to be quickly mounted on bikes, scooters or any other surface.

Fans of Knight Rider will particularly like the side-to-side output mode which illuminates LEDs similar to the front scanner of KITT. Other modes like Side Flash flash batches of LEDs from the sides and to the center which gives it a sparkler-like effect. The front lens is also quite wide which means the Frog lights have excellent side visibility to ensure you’re seen at all angles. These are definitely “be seen” lights so we don’t recommend riding with them on with only these in low light areas but they make excellent secondary lights (i.e. use a bright headlight like the Knog Blinder Road or Magicshine RN 1500) or for city riding. We would also note that these aren’t quite daytime visible lights like the Bontrager RT or Moon Helix Sense, but in the full bright flash mode, work in shaded trails or lower visibility conditions.

THE VERDICT

Overall, we found the Knog Frog lights to be versatile and eye catching lights. With the latest version of the Frog lights, Knog has modernized the lights with USB-C and bright COB LEDs. We were particularly impressed with the variety of light output modes which leverage the individual LEDs for eye catching patterns. Modes like the side-to-side sweep and side flash are unique modes not typically seen with this style light. What hasn’t changed with the Frog lights is the iconic silicone mount which quickly attaches to bikes, scooters, or nearly anything. The only real negative we found for the Frog lights is that the textured exterior is prone to dust. That said, if you’re looking for an attractive and fun be-seen bike lights the Knog Frog lights are hard to beat.

Disclaimer: The product for this review was provided by Knog. The views expressed on this website are solely those of the authors and are here to help people make an informed choice before a purchase. The authors or the blog itself does not get any monetary compensation from the product manufacturer or third-party websites/vendor links that are posted here.

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