Keis G901 review | Battery-powered heated gloves tested

Date reviewed: December 2024 | Tested by: Steve Rose | Price: £210 | www.keisapparel.com

The Keis’ G901s on review here are the can be powered directly from your bike’s electrical system or via rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries fitted into the cuffs. Keis claims they are 10% warmer while not being too bulky to spoil feel for your bike’s controls.

I’ve focused a lot of this review on the gloves’ performance using the optional (£85) battery packs, though if I were using them on just one bike I’d wire in the harness and forget about it. As a road tester hopping from bike to bike on a regular basis, the battery option is really handy for me.

Battery power can also be great for those who don’t want to faff about connecting themselves to their bike, and could be essential in the now very rare example of someone riding something with 6V power. Otherwise, the fact that they pull just 1.5A means there should be very little impact on most bikes’ electrical systems.

Heated gloves aren’t just great in the depths of winter – being able to ride through autumn and spring without bulky kit is a lot more enjoyable too.

The G901s have replaced my previous Keis G601 touring gloves, which I’ve used for the last five winters. The G601s are still working perfectly with no signs of wear or impending problems, but I’ve been testing the G901s from October through December 2024 on a selection of bikes including my own 2002 Yamaha Fazer, and a Yamaha MT-09, Zontes ZT350-T and BMW R1300GS. So far, they’ve done around 2,000 miles…

Pros & Cons

Construction

The main body of the Keis G901 gloves is leather with a Hipora waterproof/windproof membrane and 3M insulation. The heating panels are thin carbon fibre elements emitting built into textile panels that run across the knuckles and back of the fingers. There’s a zipped pouch and connector for the battery, plus a loop in the wrist to make the gloves easier to pull on.

Protection for the knuckles is made from ‘Superfabric’, which feels like a plastic/fibre weave that’s almost solid, with a small amount of flex and is claimed to be protective while allowing dexterity.

The G901 has lost the soft armour on the cuff fastener of the G601 making the cuff a little less bulky, while the visor wipe on the left index finger of the G901 is short but rigid enough to be effective.

Finally, the power switch/level indicator button is quite a long way back on the glove and offset from centre in-line with the power connector. On the G601 it’s further forward and more central.

Fit and Feel

I am normally between a small and medium-sized glove, and the medium Keis is a really good fit; cosy, snug, but no too tight (which can lead to hot-spots around the knuckles in a heated glove).

After an hour or so on the bike they do feel a little tight around the knuckle of the left forefinger and the inside of my thumb and forefinger while gripping the handlebars, but it’s only slight and more noticeable because I do a lot of very long journeys (typically 2 hours-plus). It felt like something that would get better as the gloves wore in, but so far after around 2,000 miles I still notice it. I tried wearing my old G601 (same size as the G901) on my left hand and the G901 on the right for one journey and then swapped for the way home; the G601s (which admittedly have done around 25,000 miles) were a lot more comfortable and didn’t have the tight spots.

Temperature

The heat panels on the Keis G901s run along the back of the gloves and into the fingers, and like most (but not all!) heated gloves, there is no heating on the palms. I tend to use heated kit at a level where my hands don’t feel cold, as opposed to one where they feel actively warm. That’s an important distinction and probably not typical, but it’s how I like it.

In the relatively mild autumn and winter we’ve had so far, the middle setting has kept my hands comfortable for a couple of hours in temperatures around 5°C to 6°C. When the batteries run out (around two hours on the medium setting) and the heat disappears I notice the change immediately, although my hands have yet to get uncomfortably cold in the remaining half hour or so of my regular journey thanks to effective insulation holding enough of the heat in place.

It hasn’t been cold enough yet to need the warmest setting (although I have used it to gather data on how long the batteries last).

The big selling point of the G901 is that they offer more heat than other Keis gloves for the same power draw and wattage. In tests wearing a G601 on one hand and a G901 on the other I found it hard to tell the difference, but this was in temperatures of 6°C to 9°C, which is appropriate for heated gloves, but a long way from where they really come into their own.

Power

The G901s draw 1.5A on full power which is a little less than the 1.6A that the G901s draw. Plugged into the bike this doesn’t matter because the heat stays consistent for the whole journey. When using the battery pack on constant high settings, the 2Ah G901 battery goes flat after 1hour 20 mins. On medium setting it extends to two hours and interestingly (even the dullest geekery becomes interesting when you commute on the M11 and M25) one of the batteries lasts ten minutes longer than the other on this setting. I haven’t managed to run the battery down on the lowest setting yet – my journey is typically about two and a half hours at this time of year, and I’m assuming the batteries would be good for four hours, but I’ll report back after more testing.

The batteries take around three hours to charge from completely flat to fully charged. Wiring the gloves into a bike is easy as Keis supplies a selection of fuses and a handy chart to help you pick the right one. These could be wired straight to the bike, or via a Keis jacket, which could also be in combination with heated trousers and socks. Fortunately you’d still only need one bike connecting cable, and the fuse required depends on how many items you’re running.

The 2.6Ah batteries in the G601 are physically bigger than those in the new G901s and last for 1 hour 40 mins on the warmest setting and more than three hours on the middle setting. The bigger battery, along with the G601’s armoured cuff strap makes them bulkier for getting under jacket cuffs, but they still fit under my Halvarsson Walkyr jacket (reviewed here) easily. The G601 with batteries doesn’t fit under the cuff of my Oxford Mondial jacket, but the G901s will. Just. It’s a tight squeeze and tricky to get the second glove on unless you go over the jacket cuff though (which I wouldn’t do).

Control

The G901s have one simple button on each glove. Press and hold for two seconds to switch on the heat and then press the button again to scroll through the three settings coloured red (hottest), yellow (hot) and green (warm). Press and hold again to turn off.

The button on the G901 is a couple of centimetres further back than the G601 and offset to the side, in line with the connector plug. This means the button now sits underneath my jacket cuff making it much harder to change the setting on the move without having to pull the cuff back, switch settings and then reseal the cuff. It’s tricky enough on a bike with cruise control and almost impossible to do safely on a bike without cruise. It is also possible for pressure from the cuff to change the setting on the move and when I suspect that has happened it is much more difficult than before to glance down at the button to see what setting is selected.

All of which sounds a bit petty, but it’s an unnecessary, distracting and a step backwards from other Keis gloves in their range unless you wear the gloves outside the cuffs, which isn’t as effective for waterproofing.

Protection and certification

Rated at Level 1 KP (with knuckle protection) under EN13594:2015, this is actually a step back from the G601s, which achieved the higher Level 2 KP.

The G901s have scaphoid armour and an all-leather construction on the palm and fingers. The only exposed textile area is on the back of the hand leading-to and under the knuckle.

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 main fastener at the cuff is short and has to cover a lot of fabric before finding its mate. The wrist fastener is simple and effective but is also quite short and comes out of its holding-loop regularly requiring the user to feed it back through on a dark winter driveway, a rapidly misting visor and frustration that a £210 pair of gloves is this fiddly to use. Again, the older G601 has a longer wrist fastener that doesn’t come out of its loop. I’m aware that this is not a comparison test with the G601, but they are my benchmark and still on sale at the same price as the G901.

Touchscreen compatibility

There’s no obvious touchscreen-compatible panel on the G901 finger-ends but they work well and consistently on my iPhone XR.

Wet weather use

It’s rained heavily almost every time I’ve worn these gloves and on every occasion my hands have remained bone dry. The G901 visor wipe is shorter, but stiffer and a lot more effective than the flimsy one on the G601

Lining

The soft polyester lining in the Keis G901s is snug, comfortable and doesn’t come away when removing the gloves when wet.

Three alternatives to the Keis G901

There are a growing range of heated gloves available now, and I would recommend avoiding the uncertified and potentially dangerous ‘cheap’ models available from the likes of Amazon and eBay, but here are some others to consider…

• Keis G601 £210 | Keis’ other full length touring glove is the same price as the G901 and rated Level 2 KP for protection. Keis claims the G901s are warmer and more comfortable than the G601. Read BikeSocial’s review here

• RST Paragon £189.99 | The RSTs are battery-only heated gloves that offer a similar spec to the Keis G901s but at a lower price (including the batteries). Read BikeSocial’s review here

• Furygan Heat X £279.99 | These gloves are controlled using an app and Bluetooth connection. At £279.99 they are a similar price (inc batteries) to the Keis G901, but their wet weather performance was poor. Read the BikeSocial review here

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

Keis G901 heated gloves review – Verdict

If you ride in winter and still haven’t tried heated kit, then you really should. Being warm (or at least, not being cold) on a bike in bad weather keeps you alert, focused and able to concentrate on all the other challenges of winter riding. £210 (£295 inc the batteries) for a pair of gloves seems like a lot of money… until you start to use them and realise just how useful they are.

I’m not convinced these G901s are a significant improvement over my old G601s, but they’ll be on my hands for many more cold rides to come…

Do you own these gloves? Tell us what they’re like, or ask us questions about them at bikeclub.bennetts.co.uk.