Weise Ion textile heated gloves | Warm but bulky batteries

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I’m going to start this review by saying I hate the cold. If I’m not warm enough on a bike, the experience is totally ruined for me, and it’s my hands that often feel the freeze the fastest.

Even with the impressive heated grips installed to my 2023 Suzuki GSX-8S long term test bike, there was more than one occasion this winter where I was riding in agony – losing all feeling in the ends of my fingers during my 50-mile-each-way commute to MCN Towers.

That was until I started using the £199.99 Weise Ion heated gloves, which quite simply transformed my commute from something I’d try and avoid, to something I could enjoy again. I’ve also used them on my own Royal Enfield Classic 350 (which doesn’t have heated grips) as the weather has got a little warmer, and again they have been excellent.

Much like most of the winter gloves I’ve sampled during my riding career – heated or otherwise – hard external protection is quite lacking. You get TPU armour on the knuckles and that’s it, so they’re CE rated to Level 1. However, their ability to keep me focussed on the ride in front of me by reducing the distractions of the cold weather have provided an arguably far more important safety aid.

They haven’t been perfect, and they do take an age to recharge, but I’d happily recommend them to any year-round rider, who doesn’t need to ride for more than four hours at a time.

How comfortable are the Weise Ion Heated Gloves?

The comfort of the Weise Ion gloves can be split into two halves. On the one hand, you could award it five stars for its soft Thinsulate interior that cushions your digits on the handlebars. There’s also no breaking in required, and I’ve happily worn them for hours in the saddle without any need or want to remove them.

On the flipside though, the 2200mAh batteries that power the gloves can feel quite bulky – living in a small pouch on the cuffs on both hands. You’ll often stop noticing them when you’re up to speed, but their positioning can make tucking in a jacket sleeve quite awkward – particularly frustrating if you’re already running late for the office.  

Being a bulky winter glove, you don’t get the feel you would from a thinner three season or summer garment, however I wouldn’t change this as it means my hands remain warm and comfortable over distance.

In terms of warmth, the batteries offer up to four hours of run time on three heat settings. Combined with heated grips, I’d often only run them on their lowest setting before venturing to the middle on colder days. I have very rarely had to switch to the hottest ‘red’ setting, but it’s comforting to know it’s there should I need it.

How do the Weise Ion Heated Gloves look?

Nobody buys winter gloves for how they look. They want the warmest hands possible at an affordable price. The Weise Ions do this nicely, keeping me warm with a price that bang in line with much of the established competition.

Although the styling is very conservative, I do like the combination of hard armour and a leather outer construction, as it gives the air of a more premium product, without breaking the bank.

The simplistic one-button control is useful too – displaying a blue light on its coldest setting, orange in the middle, and red for the hottest. You can’t see much of the colour in the day, but at night the blue can sometimes give the impression you’re being followed by an emergency vehicle when you catch it in your peripheral vision.

The only thing I don’t like is just how bulky they are with the batteries attached – protruding from your wrist area like some kind of mysterious growth. However, I still prefer this to faffing around with wiring stuff into the bike – even if it does mean a finite heating time.

Are the Weise Ion Heating Gloves good quality?

After 2000 miles of mostly frosty and rainy English winter testing, the Weise Ions look largely the same as they did when they came out of the packet. There are no frayed edges, rips, or marking – with the only real sign of use coming on the additional padding on the palm which is now starting to discolour.

Besides that, they look brand new, and I will likely continue to use them into next year’s colder riding weather (not that I want to think too much about that at the moment). The buttons to control the heating also feel sturdy, and I’ve had no issues with irritation or burning of the skin from the heating elements within the gloves.

The only issue I have had was a one-off incident where I had charged the batteries all evening ahead of my ride to work the following morning. However, just two minutes into my 1.5 hour ride one of the gloves died for no real reason – leaving me with one cold and one warm hand all the way. I’m pleased to say it’s not happened again.

How protective are they?

The Weise Ions get a 1KP rating for protection, and if I’m being completely honest, I’m not sure I’d feel confident in crashing in them. However, I have thought that for pretty much any pair of winter gloves I’ve ever tested during my time at MCN.

There seems to be a trade-off between warmth and protection at that time of the year – lacking much of the hard armour found on products designed for hotter seasons. The Weise gloves are not alone in this criticism, and you do get hard TPU knuckle armour, plus additional padding in certain impact zones.

There is also the point of passive safety too, as they do such a good job of keeping my hands warm that I am no longer distracted by pain in my fingers on cold days – reducing the likelihood of an accident before it’s had chance to happen.

Are the Weise Ion heated gloves good value for money?

These Weise gloves sit slap bang in the middle of the established competition, with battery operated options ranging from around £350 to sub-£100 depending on your budget.

Without the heated elements, there’s no question that the Ions would be overpriced at an RRP of £199.99, but the fact that they do such a good job of keeping your hands warm mean that they more than justify their price tag in my opinion.

Rivals include the RST Pro Series Paragon 6 gloves, an MCN favourite which offers CE Level 1 protection, a visor wipe, touchscreen compatibility, waterproofing and more. You could also consider the Macna Azra RTX, which also features removable batteries, hard knuckle armour, waterproofing and more.

Cheaper (and less bulky) alternatives to bespoke heated gloves also include Keis’ G102 Heated Inner Gloves, which can be found online for around £80. Wired rather than battery powered, they slip within your standard winter gloves for an extra injection of warmth when you need it.

So what’s the verdict?

As stated in the introduction of this review, I would recommend the Weise Ion heated gloves to others who need a reliable option for the winter months, genuinely capable of keeping your hands warm. Not only this, but they stood up to an English winter and give the impression that they really will last the test of time.

Although retailing for £199.99, you’re likely to find cheaper prices than this online, and the battery power system means you can jump between bikes (if you’re in that fortunate position) without having to mess around with routing wires.

The reason they fall down to a three-star rating is mainly for the bulky feel of the batteries themselves – which will no doubt get smaller and more efficient as technology progresses. If you are planning to ride longer than the four hour battery life, then these may not be the choice for you either.

I also don’t feel there’s enough hard protection to be fully confident in the event of a spill, but this is a long-standing criticism I have of many winter glove options.

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How MCN tests heated gloves

At MCN, our team of expert journalists have decades of experience gained over hundreds of thousands of miles. We don’t test our jackets to destruction; we use it exactly how you do, in the real world and in all conditions. That means we can deliver impartial buying advice you can rely on.

Each of our writers has an in-depth understanding of the needs of today’s biker… because they are one.

To find out if a pair of heated gloves are worth spending your money on, our testers go out in seriously cold and wintry conditions and find out if they work. There is no ‘riding season’ at MCN and we all commute year-round so we’ll discover quickly whether heated gloves are up to the job.

If you can’t see a review against an item on this page, it’s because we haven’t tested it yet. These items will only be included if we think they’re important and relevant in the market, and rest assured, we will be working on bringing you a review as soon as we’ve done the miles.

To find out more, head to our dedicated page explaining how we test motorcycle products.

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What our star ratings mean

When we review a product, we award it a score out of five. In the ratings tab of a given product, you may also find more specific scores for the different aspects of a product’s performance to help you make an informed decision. Here’s a guide to what each number score means:

• 1 star – Poor performance in this category or overall. A product with a single star rating has fallen below the expected standard and should be avoided.
• 2 stars – Basic performance in this area or overall. A product with a two-star rating has managed to perform to a barely acceptable level and there is room for improvement.
• 3 stars – An average performance in this area or overall. A product with a three-star rating has achieved a basic level of performance and is deemed adequate.
• 4 stars – A product has performed over and above the accepted averaged in this category or overall. A product with a four-star rating has surpassed expectation and delivered in a particularly impressive way.
• 5 stars – A product has performed at the highest possible level in a particular category or overall. A product with a five-star rating has delivered to the highest possible level, impressing the tester with its performance. We would happily spend our own money on it.