The new Ravemen NT401 is a smart taillight that combines a bright grid COB LED grid with the Ravemen app for user customization. Unlike other emoji lights which typically limit you to predefined designs, the NT401 has free-form drawing modes and various display options to create light modes. The taillight retails for an affordable $34.95 and is capable of 40 lumen output. Out of the box, the taillight has six preprogrammed modes with the ability to store up to ten modes. The taillight has a 500 mAh Li-po internal battery with USB-C charging and several smart features like a brake sensor, team sync and auto-sleep.
The Ravemen NT401 is a compact smart bike taillight that allows you to program your in custom illumination patterns using the Ravemen app.
| Retail Price | $34.95 |
| Rating | 8.5 / 10 |
| Measured Weight (in g) | 25 (taillight alone), 15 (seatpost mount), 7 (saddle rail mount) |
| Likes | + Budget friendly + Grid of 96 LEDs can be fully customized with static or animated patterns using the app + The taillight has a compact form factor with a simple quarter-turn style mount |
| Dislikes | – Ravemen app has some untranslated components and little bugs like firmware updates that do not update version – Custom animations are limited to 16 frames and can be time consuming to create so plan ahead |
| Where to Buy (US) | Ravemen |
UNBOXING
The Ravemen NT401 comes in a orange and black cardboard box that matches Ravemen branding along with a front cutout that shows off the taillight. Inside the box you’ll find:
- NT401 taillight
- Seatpost mount
- Saddle rail mount w/ zip ties
- USB-C charging cable
- Instruction manual
- Warranty card
Ravemen has done a good job minimizing waste with cardboard inner holders and compact packaging.
MOUNTING
The Ravemen NT401 uses a miniaturized Garmin quarter turn style mount that is shared with many other Ravemen products. It’s a simple design that uses two raised tabs that slide into corresponding slots on the mount to securely hold the taillight in place. This is also a very light taillight so the mounts do not have an issue holding the taillight steady over rough roads. Ravemen includes two mount options, a seatpost mount with rubber strap and a plastic saddle rail mount. The seatpost mount has a thick rubber cutout with multiple slots to allow it to work with aero seatposts or standard round seatposts. It’s a fairly thick rubber strap that holds up well to repeated use and has plenty of cutout for different diameter mounts. The saddle rail mount is just a basic plastic mount with two additional zip ties for additional peace of mind.
FIT & FINISH
Visually, the Ravemen NT401 has a square shape and fairly thick black body that houses the battery and hardware components. It’s a fairly chunky taillight due to the 500 mAh Li-po internal battery and extra tech required for the customization and memory functionality. This is also a smart taillight that features a brake sensor as well as an auto-sleep functionality that utilizes an integrated motion sensor. Ravemen has designed the light with a simple design that has a grid of LEDs and a transparent outer lens. To control the light there is a single rubber power button underneath the taillight that blends into the body. The other side has a rubber cover for the USB-C charging port which despite being on the top of the light allows the NT401 to have a IPX6 wet weather rating. There is basic branding on the sides of the light with NT401 and Ravemen debossed at an angle.
One of the unique features of the taillight are the 96 individual LEDs placed in a square grid – note it is a 10×10 grid but one LED in each corner has been removed. Out of the box, the LEDs are all illuminated for constant and dayflash modes while the other flash modes use emoji designs. It’s a fairly tight grid of LEDs and a relatively small taillight so most of the emojis patterns will be hard to see from longer distances. Using the Ravemen app you can customize all the modes and even program custom modes for each LED which is a fun feature you do not often see.
The user interface of the taillight is simple with most of the features requiring the app to be customized. A single press of the button will illuminate a battery indicator using the LEDs on the taillight. It’s a nice feature that provides more detail than the traditional low-battery light indicator or having to decipher colors. A short press cycles through the modes, while a long press turns the taillight on and off. Again, you’ll need to use the Ravemen app to customize any of the smart features or adjust the light modes.
RAVEMEN APP
Ravemen has a free Android / iPhone app available that allows you to connect to the taillight using Bluetooth. It’s a fairly simple app with a device list and account section on the bottom. At least with our Android version, the app is a bit rough around the edges with untranslated text for the find device and a firmware upgrade option that never seems to update the firmware version despite a success message. To customize custom modes you select “Magic Box” which allows you to sort or delete any of the six modes. The oddly named “My Magic Box” is where you can create custom designs that are either static, scrolling or animated.
You have basic controls such as brightness, flash / frame speed controls and can draw on the available 96 LED spots. Creating custom dynamic taillight modes is probably the most interesting feature and allows you to get creative but it’s a tedious process that requires making each frame so you’ll want to plan it out. Also, the app limits you to 16 frames for each animation so the complexity of the animation is limited. The brightness and speed for the entire animation are the only adjustments available, which means you can’t create any complex multi-intensity animations. Additionally, you can enable or disable the smart features like team sync, brake sensor and the auto-sleep on idle which are all disabled by default. Although the app isn’t polished, the features are nice to see and allow you to customize the behavior of the taillight.
LIGHT OUTPUT
Ravemen programs the NT401 with six output modes out of the box: one constant mode and five flash modes. The lumen count per mode is not published but the taillight is capable of 20 lumens in constant mode and the full 40 lumen in flash mode when all the LEDs are activated. The constant mode has a four hour runtime and is likely that full 20 lumen constant mode setting. For daytime riding, the rapid flash has a nice erratic pattern that illuminates all the LEDs and is rated for 12.5 hour runtime. Then there is “slow flash” which has a dinosaur pattern and slowly flashes for 11 hour runtime. Next is “emoji 1” which is a headphone emoji that pulses from low to high and is rated for 12 hours. Our favorite is “emoji 2” which is a cat emoji that also pulses and is rated for 16 hours as it has less LEDs illuminated. Finally there is eco mode which does a little animation of individual LEDs rotating and has the maximum 40 hour runtime.
Despite being only 40 lumens, the NT401 looks bright and can be used in daytime with the rapid flash mode. The lack of a focused LED means you won’t be as visible from further distances compared to the Ravemen TR500, KNOG R150 or Trek Flare R lights so we’d classify this as more of a urban or commuter style bike taillight. It’s also smaller than than other emjoi taillights such as the iGPSPORT ET6 so the animations are less complex and not as visible from further distances. Otherwise, the taillight has fun patterns and a compact form factor that looks good installed on bikes. The slightly raised edge provides good side visibility and the taillight itself is easy to use with a single power button and mode memory.
THE VERDICT
Overall, we found the Ravemen NT401 smart bike taillight to be a fun and unique emoji taillight. Ravemen has taken the concept of a COB LED taillight and added smart features such as motion detection and full customization using the Ravemen App. Out of the box, the taillight is fairly bright at 40 lumens with constant and flash modes for both daytime or nighttime use. We liked the small size of the taillight and the quarter turn mount with makes it easy to install or remove from a bike. The Ravemen app, although a bit unpolished, lets you create fully customizable patterns as either static or animated modes by drawing each of the 96 LEDs on or off. It’s a fun process that lets you create a custom taillight mode to express your mood or creativity. The only downsides of the taillight are some untranslated parts of the app and that the custom animations are a bit tedious to make. That said, the Ravemen NT401 is a bright and fun bike taillight for commuters or urban riders looking for a unique emoji style bike taillight.
Disclaimer: The product for this review was provided by Ravemen. 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.