Newell Rangha Max RGB-W LED light review - more light on your camera

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Amateur Photographer verdict

With its versatile lighting modes and broad colour temperature range, the Newell Rangha Max is a handy light that’s brighter than the usual on-camera LED panels, without being too huge and unwieldy.

Pros

Decent light output
Practical, not-too-large size
Easy-to-use controls
Useful powerbank option

Cons

No additional diffuser
Supplied mounts aren’t the best

LED panels provide a handy means of adding extra light for such things as video shooting or still-life photography. Most of those designed to be used on-camera are pretty small, which naturally limits their output. In contrast, the Newell Rangha Max RGB-W LED light is a rather larger unit, similar in size to a 7in tablet, that packs more punch but is still just about manageable when perched on top of a camera.

Newell Rangha Max at a glance:

$148 / £120
RGBW LED light panel
CCT, HSI, and Effects modes
2500-9900K colour temp
1200 lumens at 5600K
10,000mAH powerbank
200 x 121 x 13.7 mm, 508g
newell.pro

With an active lighting area measuring 18 x 10cm, this device employs 90 cool-white LEDs, 90 warm-white LEDs, and 96 full-colour LEDs. These are placed behind a frosted cover which diffuses the output a little. But it’s not like a softbox, so you’ll see stepped edges to shadows and a grid of point light sources in reflections.

As usual, there are three lighting modes. Firstly, Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT) uses the white LEDs to cover an unusually wide range, from a warm 2500K to a very cool 9900K. You can adjust the light output over a scale marked from 1 to 100%: in practice, the difference between the darkest and the brightest settings is about 2.7 stops.

Newell Rangha Max in CCT mode, 5500K, 1% — In CCT mode the panel uses cool and warm white LEDs. Here it’s set to 5500K and minimum brightness. Image credit: Andy Westlake

Secondly, Hue/Saturation/Intensity (HSI) employs the RGB beads to reproduce a wide range of colours across the entire spectrum. Here you get 360 different colours that can each be adjusted in saturation and intensity from 1 to 100.

Newell Rangha Max in HSI mode, green, 1% — In HSI mode, the RGB LEDs can reproduce a wide range of colours. Newell Rangha Max Image credit: Andy Westlake

Effects mode also uses the colour LEDS, but this time to simulate such things as flickering flames or emergency vehicles. Along with some dramatic but unsubtle flashing and strobing options, there are modes that cycle continuously though the different colours. You even get ‘Club’ and ‘Romantic’ options, although the latter turns out just to mean ‘purple’. The Flame and Candle effects are genuinely nice, at least.

Newell Rangha Max key features:

Status display: A small but clear OLED screen displays the lighting mode, brightness, and battery level
Mounting points: There are 1/4in threads on three sides of the panel for fixing it onto your camera or a stand
Powerbank: You can use the internal 10,000mAH battery to top up other devices via the USB-A output port
Kit contents: Along with the light, you get a small ball head, a hot-shoe mount, a USB-C charging cable and a soft pouch

Newell Rangha Max kit contents: light, two mounts, charge cable, and pouch. Image credit: Andy Westlake

Controls are straightforward, especially if you’ve used this kind of light before. There’s a sliding on/off switch, a button to cycle though the modes, and a clickable rocker for selecting the colour temperature, hue/saturation, or lighting effect. Best of all, there’s a little wheel for adjusting the brightness, which is quicker and easier than using buttons.

Build quality feels great, with a metal shell that helps to dissipate heat while the light is running. With its hefty 10,000mAh battery, the light promises 3 hours output from a charge. That battery can also be used as a powerbank to top up your other devices, via a USB-A output port. This may not be a feature you use often, but it’s always worth having.

Newell Rangha Max controls and ports — Alongside the USB-C charger port, there’s a USB-A output for use as a powerbank. Image credit: Andy Westlake

Two mounts are supplied for fixing the light to a camera or stand, with one being a small ball head and the other a fixed-angle mount. The latter looks neat, but I found its narrow-diameter screw rings difficult to tighten up firmly. To be honest, I’d probably ditch both of them and use a more robust tilting mount instead.

In terms of light output, I found the Newell Rangha Max to be about twice as bright as typical (smaller) on-camera panels. Set to CCT mode at 5500K, and placed 1 metre from the subject, in my tests it gives about 1/30sec at f/2.8 and ISO 100. It also matched its advertised colour temperature pretty much perfectly across the entire 2500 – 9900K range.

Newell Rangha Max status screen — The small status screen shows the current settings clearly. Image credit: Andy Westlake

That kind of output means it’ll never really compete with bright sunlight, although it can fill in shadows a little when placed at close range. However, it’s still very handy for shooting indoors or outside in low light. It’s not quite as bright in RGB mode, though, with the exact output depending on the selected colour.

Newell Rangha Max: Our Verdict

The Newell Rangha Max is a useful light that’s brighter than your usual on-camera LED panel, yet still reasonably portable. It’s also very versatile due to its broad colour range and some nice effects. The powerbank feature is the icing on the cake.