Lezyne Zecto Drive Max 400+ LED Rear Light

The Lezyne Zecto Drive Max 400+ is an ideal rear light for just about any kind of riding. It's big but not too heavy, very bright, and offers really useable run-times. It feels seriously rugged too, and will happily take commuting, off-road use and being thrown around in bags. The physically awkward button and so-so battery indicator are the only real flies in the ointment.

Check out our guide to the best rear bike lights for more options.

The Zecto design hasn't changed much over the years, and that's no bad thing – I've previously reviewed the Lezyne Zecto Drive 250 and the Zecto Drive Max 250, plus I own one that's even older still. All three still work just the same as the day they arrived.

If you're wondering what the 'Max' part means, it denotes a thicker rear case and a larger battery than normal. The battery in this light is a fairly beefy 1,300mAh.

While the unusual square-ish shape doesn't work well in front light form – not among the cables of narrow drop bars, anyway –it's great for seatposts. It neatly hosts a big circular lens that's quite noticeable against a sea of angular lamps.

Lezyne has dropped the old separate bezel. The lens still protrudes to a similar height, but it's now just all one very nicely formed, subtly wavy-fronted thing. Side vision is much improved (previously it relied on windows behind the bezel), while the rippled rather than flat front is presumably shaped that way to focus light. It's certainly very bright and noticeable.

The overall build remains impressively tough. The plastics lack any sense of fragility and even the lens feels remarkably thick and tough. There's an integrated clip on the back for hanging the Zecto from loops, and the simple and strong ladder strap is captive at one end. There's no worry about losing it, or of rain killing the lamp – it's rated to an impressive IPX7.

You can get smaller, lighter and slimmer lights, but if it's rugged survivability and reliable performance you value, this is great.

Modes & run-times

When I reviewed the 250-lumen rear Zecto I already thought that was a little excessive, so I can't say 400 lumens seems necessarily a good idea either – at least not in the dark. For the very busiest city environments it may well be ideal, especially on a wet winter's night, but for more normal conditions it's pretty blinding.

To be clear, Lezyne calls this mode Day Flash, and it's a good idea to keep it just for that. It'll be visible on the brightest of sunny days (that's an educated guess; I haven't seen a sunny day in what feels like years), and with its 16-hour run-time you won't need to charge it every ride. Pretty convenient. To be yet more clear still, none of the remaining five modes put out more than 80 lumens, which is far more appropriate.

The shortest claimed run-time is 3hrs 45mins, in the solidly lit and still impressively bright 80-lumen Blast mode, and I found that claim pretty accurate. Better still, at that point it automatically steps down to a lower-powered flash that lasts well over an hour, so you won't get left unlit. It's still more than useful for commuting or training runs, but I didn't find it the most eye-catching; for me the Flash 1 setting was the place to be (yeah, baby), even though it only winks at 50 lumens. The 13hr run-time is particularly useful, too.

The all-important battery indicator has improved, though only from stupidly confusing to merely weird with a potential for melting your eyes. Quite why Lezyne keeps overcomplicating these indicators, I don't know.

Instead of the old system, which involved recognising multiple numbers AND colours of lights (colours which were badly distorted by the red lens), this now uses a simpler on/off code with two LEDs... alongside colours badly distorted by the red lens. At least you can just ignore the latter – which is lucky, as what the manual says is green is red, and what's supposedly red is amber – and just note the positions: left LED only is 75% minimum battery, left and right together means 75-25%, and right only is under 25%.

The instructions say these lamps are on the sides and can be used while the Zecto is on, but if that's true I can't see them. From the side this is just red all the way around, and good luck gazing directly into a 400-lumen flash – or even an 80-lumen Blast – to make out the LEDs in the face.

The only way I can see the indicators is to turn the light off, then do a short double-press of the button (the manual says press once, but it seems to need twice).

Recharging from flat took me around three hours at 2A from a wall charger, which is considerably better than the four to six hours claim. Either those figures were measured at lower currents (Lezyne doesn't say, or recommend a limit), or the words in the manual – seemingly across much of the manual – have not been updated anything like as successfully as the pictures. The manual is accessed from the product page online, which in turn can be accessed via a QR code on the packaging.

Press 1 for discomfort

The apparent need to cram everything into the slim front section (presumably to allow different rear sections to bolt straight on) causes another issue. Both the switch and the charging port are only half on the body and half overlapping the lens, and while that's fine for the port, it seems to leave little room for a decent switch.

The switch was never that big, and now that it has an even lower profile and is flat instead of domed, it's pretty hard to press, especially in gloves. It takes an excessive amount of pressure (fully 5kg of force by my measurement), and I have to dig my thumbnail in to reliably operate it.

Now the Zecto's battery indicator is at least useable, if not very good, the recalcitrant switch is the (sole) thing I dislike about it.

Value

At £52 this is more expensive than a host of very good lights, but it does offer extra – the fantastically tough build, extremely bright Day Flash and usefully long run-times being the main benefits.

I still like (and use) the Cateye Viz 300 that I tested back in 2021, as while it's not as powerful it's still very bright at 300 lumens, all-round visibility is excellent, and it's still £39.99. If you simply crave power there's a 450-lumen version for £49.99 (also tested in 2021).

If you're not so fussed about Big Bang-level flashes, you can easily save money and match (or exceed) the Zecto's other modes. For instance, the Gaciron Loop-100 Smart Brake Bike Tail light that Emily reviewed in December is only £22.64 (and has a brake light function), and the Magicshine Seemee 100 (which we reviewed in 2020) is £29.99.

That's not to say the Zecto is overpriced for what it is; it has plenty of rivals that cost the same or more, and it feels like good value for its build quality and performance.

Overall

The latest Zecto is bright, extremely rugged and lasts well – it's a very reliable unit. Though you'll rarely need the brightest flash in reality, the other modes are great, and long run-times make it really useable. The awkward battery indicator and hard-to-press switch are irritations, but they're only fleeting ones in use and won't be deal-killers for many.

Verdict

Big, red, rugged and explosively bright, and lasts well too – shame about the awkward switch