Held Inuit review | Powerful heated motorcycle gloves tested

Date reviewed: February 2025 | Tested by: John Milbank | Price: £229.95 | Sportsbikeshop

The Held Inuit heated gloves on review here, which are currently being sold exclusively by Sportsbikeshop in the UK, have a unique feature in that they can heat the palm (not the top of the hand like most others) AND the tops of the fingers and thumb OR just one or the other. Rather than having the wind draw the heat away, these have the potential to keep your hands much warmer than many others on the market. And they do.

I’ve been wearing the Held Inuits over some very cold rides on the Zontes ZT350-T and my 2019 BMW R1250GS and can tell you that, while not perfect, they are very good…

Pros & Cons

Construction

The Held Inuit heated gloves have a goatskin palm and fingers with a polyamide / polyurethane upper and a soft polyester lining. Held has a well-earned reputation for quality gloves and, like my favourite winter wear (the sadly discontinued Held Twin II 2in1 gloves), the build quality here is very good, with additional panels offering increased protection, and premium materials like the very effective Primaloft and Thinsulate insulation.

Heating performance is outstanding, and each glove has a twin switch unit with five battery level LEDs on the cuff that we’ll talk about later, but it’s the position of these that is the only real disappointment with the Helds. Due to being on the cuff, these gloves can’t be worn under the sleeve of your jacket when heating, even if it’s big enough.

My benchmark of motorcycle sleeve design has to be the Rukka Kingsley, and despite the fairly chunky battery the Helds will fit under the Rukka’s sleeve. This is great news as it’s the best way to keep dry in wet weather as water doesn’t run down your arms and into your gloves.

Unfortunately though, the switches get lost under the cuff, so if you want to have the heating on (and not have it switch modes without you knowing) then the only option is to wear these over your jacket.

Fit and feel

As has always been the case with Held – for my hands at least – the fit of these Inuits is excellent, being my usual size Large and the finger length spot-on. There’s a small amount of excess material above my thumbs, but nothing that bothers me.

Control feel is of course limited on any winter glove, but the good fit and premium materials means the Inuit’s aren’t too bulky, so I’ve had no problems with either of the bikes I’ve used these on.

Temperature

The Thinsulate lining and Primaloft packing really works very well. On a recent one-hour, 7°C ride I only remembered when I got home that I hadn’t turned the Held Inuit’s on – they really do trap the warmth in your hands well.

That was on my GS that has effective handguards to keep a lot of the wind off your gloves, which really does help in winter (bar muffs would be the ultimate winter solution), but the Held’s great insulation also means the heat from the elements embedded in the palms (rather than the top of the hands as usual) and tops of fingers and thumb doesn’t get lost too quickly.

Palm heating might seem pointless if your bike has heated grips, but the warmth is more effective as it’s not having to get through the grip material and palm leather. Plus of course it’s less influenced by moving your hands, and by the wind getting under. If you do have good heated grips you might want to consider gloves that heat the back of the hand, but also remember that having the heat coming from the outside can affect the waterproofing…

And don't worry about the backs of your hands getting cold – the excellent insulation and large heating element coverage means your whole hand gets warm. Remember – heat rises, and these warm your hands through, rather than losing a lot of that energy out of the top.

On another ride that hovered around 0°C on the Zontes, I ran the Helds at full power for lovely, snug hands. There are three power modes on the Inuits:

Those might seem high numbers, but when you’re riding they don’t tend to feel too hot unless you grip the bars tightly to press down on the palm element, or make a fist and have the finger / thumb elements push closer to your skin. Even then, I’ve not been concerned that I could get burned while riding, despite superficial damage being possible from 44°C over time, and rapidly at 70°C – some of that heat is pulled away by the wind.

During battery testing in the house at 17°C ambient, I did measure temperatures up to 73°C in Turbo, but I’d rather have gloves that are capable of putting out the heat needed to keep my hands warm when on the bike, with the ability to turn them down if needs be.

I tend to use the Held Inuits in the highest Turbo mode on deep winter rides with no problems, sometimes dropping them down to High but rarely Low. Remember, wind chill has the potential to reduce a 0°C ambient temperature to -11°C at 70mph, so any gloves are going to have to work hard to keep your hands warm.

Ultimately, the power output you choose will be down to you. Some people feel the cold more than others, and of course it’s our own responsibility to ensure we don’t have our heated kit set too hot!

Power

The Held Inuits are powered by 7.4V 3,000mAh lithium battery packs that have a hard outer case (there’s no hard-wired option). These tough shells are potentially good for safety to reduce the chances of them being damaged in a crash, but it does affect the ability to get a good seal at the cuff.

A charger with two output leads is supplied, and while it’s a two-pin Euro unit, a three-pin UK converter is supplied, with a full charge from flat taking about four to five hours.

Tested battery life is impressive, exceeding Held’s own claims:

In my bench testing, running the palms and fingers in turbo mode delivered full heat for a surprising 2 hours and 55 minutes. At 2hrs 45mins the battery level LEDs were flashing, but the heat output was maintained right until the end.

On the bike during a 5°C motorway ride they lasted a little over two hours at full power with both elements running, so a bit down on the indoor testing, but still very impressive, and more than claimed.

Bench testing of Turbo mode on the fingers alone delivered almost three and a quarter hours, and the palm exceeded seven hours. Clearly they have to work harder to maintain heat when out on the road, but Held’s claims of battery life appear admirably conservative.

I did have one battery that had a much lower capacity than the other, but this was replaced under warranty with no problems at all.

Control

To turn on the Held Inuits, first press and hold the power button on each glove for about two seconds. This will illuminate in red, indicating Turbo mode, but just tap it again to cycle through green for High and blue for Low.

The gloves aren’t heating up at this stage though – you then need to hold the mode button on each glove for about one second for it to light up green for A Mode, which is across the tops of the fingers and thumb. Hold it for a second again to get B Mode (palm) and a second again for C Mode (fingers, thumb and palm).

This is a bit fiddly, with the ideal solution being linked controllers like on the Furygan Heat X Kevlar or Five HG3 / HG Prime gloves, but that would of course have added more expense.

The controls are well thought out though, as when you’re riding you’re more likely to want to change the power level than the heating mode, so just tapping the power button makes this a lot easier. If you want to change mode, you need to press and hold that button for a second, but it is a little awkward as the buttons are close together, making them fiddly to distinguish with the gloves on.

Ultimately, the controls work, but they’d be much better if they were placed on the backs of the hands.

Protection and certification

The Held Inuit gloves are certified to Level 1 KP, meaning they’ve been independently tested and certified to meet the minimum requirements of abrasion resistance, seam strength and tear-resistance, and also benefit from knuckle protection, thanks to the D3O inserts.

It’s great to see additional material on the outside edge of the palm running up the little finger for improved abrasion resistance in this key impact area, as well as a Held ‘Superfabric’ insert over the hypothenar (the lower palm, opposite the thumb). This polyester and epoxy resin material offers additional abrasion resistance, and also helps the hand slide, reducing the chance of injury to the scaphoid caused by the wrist over-extending against a palm that grabs at the tarmac.

From April 21 2018, all new motorcycle clothing is deemed to be Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). To meet this legislation, it must be tested to a recognised standard. For more information on the new laws, click here.

Fastening

The Held Inuit’s wrist strap is cleverly designed to draw in from two points, and is extremely secure without pinching the underside of the wrist: I want to see this on more gloves as it doesn’t need to be overly tight to prevent them pulling off. The end of the strap is also flared, to prevent it pulling out of the metal ring, which has a roller on it for smoother fastening. It’s well-thought-out details like this that add to the cost but are easily missed when buying.

The cuff can be cinched down, with plenty of Velcro, but this is also where the batteries cause an issue.

Because the packs are square-edged and hard, even with the cuffs pulled tight there are sometimes small gaps around the packs. As the gloves need to be worn over your jacket’s sleeves to access the controls, depending on your riding position water can get into the gloves here, as well as wind. If my wrists get into the wind flow when riding, I can feel a draft inside the gloves due to this gap as the wind pulls air out / whips back into them. Fiddling with the cuff strap can help, and it’ll depend on how much give there is in your jacket’s sleeve material too, but it’s a sometimes frustrating quirk.

Wet weather use

The problem with heated grips is that having heat on the outside of a waterproof membrane can reverse it, allowing water to go through (they work on the basis that the inside is warmer than the outside). Having heated gloves beats that as the heat is generated on the inside of the membrane – a distinct advantage for wet-weather use.

The membrane in the Held Inuits works well, preventing any water getting into the gloves, and they dry out reasonably quickly when soaked.

However, the fact that they have to be worn outside the jacket sleeve limits their performance in severe wet weather, especially given the potential for water to get in around the gaps caused by the battery packs.

Fortunately the first section of material inside the cuffs doesn’t wick up water readily, so these won’t get wet inside as quickly as they could.

It’d be great to see a drawstring cinch on the back of the Inuits to better seal them from the rain when worn over sleeves.

Of course, given how effective the insulation is in these gloves, they can be worn without the power on and even with the batteries removed, making them a very versatile winter glove that then can go under your jacket sleeves, or seal better at the cuff when over.

The Held Inuits have a visor wiper on the left forefinger – it’s set a bit far back so the material wipes the visor too, but with a bit of twisting of the hand it’s still a welcome addition.

Lining

Inside the Held Inuits the fleecy lining is wonderfully comfortable and soft, adding to the warm feel. It’s not overly grabby when your hands are damp, and I’ve not noticed any tendency for it to want to pull out with your hand (though always grip the fingers of any winter gloves when taking them off).

Touchscreen compatibility

The Held Inuits feature a ‘Nudud’ nubbin on the thumb and forefinger, which can give more accurate control of your phone’s touchscreen. It’s on the pad, not the end of the finger, which I think would be more useful, but it’s more usefully placed on the thumb, and both have additional conductive material around these areas, making them surprisingly effective for winter gloves.

Unfortunately it’s only on the right hand, so if you’re left-handed you’re out of luck, and more annoyingly it means you have to take your hand off the throttle if you’re using your phone to navigate.

Three alternatives to the Held Inuit heated gloves

Heated gloves can make a huge difference to your riding happiness, and there are plenty to choose from. Here are just a handful…

• RST Paragon 6, £199.99 |  Tested for BikeSocial by a riding instructor, he found these to be a perfect solution and would recommend them to his students. He prefers the battery power that these offer (with no option for hard-wiring), but says that those doing long-distance winter rides might want to look at other options. Read the full review of the RST Paragon 6 gloves here.

• Furygan Heat X Kevlar, £299.99 | Thanks to their linked controls these gloves are really easy to operate, though our reviewer was disappointed with the wet-weather performance, and also had a problem with the heat controller. Read the full review of the Furygan Heat X Kevlar here.

• Five HG Prime GTX, £359.99 | With a Gore-Tex membrane, Primaloft insulation and single button control these are a top-of the range glove from one of the leading brands. Five also offers the HG 3 Evo for £250 that has the company's own waterproof membrane and a synthetic material palm instead of leather, but still offers the one-button control. We hope to test these heated gloves very soon.

These are just three of many alternatives – you can find all the heated gloves we’ve tested here  and be sure to regularly check for the discounts available through Bikesocial membership.

Held Inuit gloves review: Verdict

The Held Inuit heated gloves offer outstanding heating performance with a surprisingly good battery life; even on full ‘Turbo’ power, heating both the palms and the fingers/thumbs, they can last more than two hours, and for most journeys the lower ‘High’ mode will be more than enough.

The position of the controls limits how you can wear these gloves, and in very heavy rain that can be an issue; a drawstring back would certainly help that, and reduce any drafts too.

Overall the Held Inuits are very effective, and even without power they offer good warmth, which means that if you’re riding in heavy rain (when it’s less likely to be as cold), you can wear these under your jacket’s sleeves, taking the batteries out for a better fit or to cinch them tighter over the top. In that respect, while not cheap, they can outperform unheated gloves in freezing temperatures when powered up, while also being great winter wear when it’s not as cold, but it’s soaking wet.

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