Hotwired Heated Gear Review

Heated gear is a great way to extend your riding season. Looking to be warm while winter riding, instead of “just a few degrees above death,” I decided to get heated gloves and a heated jacket liner.

After scouring internet reviews, I went with a Hotwired Heated Jacket Liner Evo and a pair of Hotwired 12V Heated Gloves. I liked that the gloves plugged into the jacket liner sleeves and that each item had its own built-in temp controller. Other brands require a separated controller, meaning more wires to deal with.

The Gloves:

The fit in the hand section is OK, and true to size. The gauntlet section leaves a lot to be desired. It’s too tight to fit over the jacket sleeve, and too bulky to fit under it. The adjustment strap at the wrist is worthless, because the glove is far too tight at the wrist. Getting the gloves on is a chore. Since the gauntlet doesn’t fit over my jacket sleeve, I have to put it under the sleeve. It takes a fair amount of time and effort, and shouldn’t be this hard – definitely a FAIL!

The heat control is great, conveniently located, and makes it easy to see what setting you’re on. There are three temp settings, green, yellow, and red, with red being the highest. The glove gets pretty warm on the top of my hand and fingers, but the section between my fingers tends to get cold. They heat unevenly, with parts being too hot and other parts being too cold. I’ve had to turn the heat down to keep from burning the back of my hand, while suffering from frozen fingers at the same time.

They are better than nothing, but I’d recommend checking out a different brand.

The Good:

Separate heat control on each glove.

Plugs into the heated jacket liner.

The Bad:

Poor fit.

Uneven heating

Recommendation:

Look for something else!

Score:

2 of 5 stars

The Jacket Liner:

There’s not much wrong with the jacket liner. It seemed a little thin and I was worried that it wouldn’t be strong enough, but I’ve had it for three years and it’s held up fine. Like the gloves, the jacket liner has a built-in temperature controller with three settings – green, yellow, and red, with red being high. The heat is evenly spread out and is quite good. The key is to wear it close to your skin and layer over the top of the liner. (I usually wear a long-sleeved t-shirt, the jacket liner, then a sweatshirt, then my winter riding jacket.)

The only issue I’ve encountered is that the heat controller will sometimes change settings on its own. I’ll start on high and after a few minutes, it will be on the medium setting. Once I switch the controller back to high, it will generally stay there.

The Good:

Built-in heat controller.

Plug on each sleeve to power heated gloves.

Proper fit.

Even heating throughout.

The Bad:

Temperature controller will sometimes change settings.

Recommendation:

Don’t hesitate, get this right away!

Score:

4 of 5 stars

5 Comments

  1. I have both this jacket and gloves and I HATE the gloves. The liner is constantly getting bunched up when I stop and take the gloves off briefly and I have the same issue with gauntlet and fit.

    Question–If you like the Hotwired vest, can you mix and match with non-Hotwire gloves? I don’t think so but still researching.

    1. The vest can be used with other gloves. It might not work with all gloves, as some have different connections, so it will take some research to figure what works. I have a few different gloves that I use with the vest, including an old pair of Widder Lectric gloves that I had to change the connection so I could use them.

  2. I have the best and the gloves for about 1 year now I’ve only used the glove about 20 rises maybe 30 rides five or take and now one of the buttons on the right hand glove broke cheap Chinese components I guess. So now I plan on finding out if there’s s kind of warranty ? if not there goes $180.00 down the drain

  3. just bought the complete set everything works, as for the writer of this review if you would have read the instructions it tells you that when turning on the temperature control will stay at the temperature you first set it at, but will automatically change to medium heat setting after 5 minutes but then you can adjust it to whatever temperature you want, I assume this function is to keep people from getting burns. I plan on using the Bluetooth app to control mine and doesn’t say if it will do the same with the temperature control settings for that, however it does mention it takes 5 mins to heat up so I guess it might do the same with the Bluetooth as well. Better having to readjust heat settings than getting a bad burn.

    1. Mark G,
      Read the manual? Next thing you’ll be telling me is to stop and ask for directions when I’m lost! ?
      I’m kidding of course. Thanks for the great information.

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