Why The Kinetics Might Be the Perfect Fit for You



The Kinetic Review | Zachary Young

From its humble beginnings as a Kickstarter, the Kinetic was the microlight that put Futuristic Lights into the spotlight and turned them into what many argue the most innovative company in the gloving industry to date. The Kinetic was the first microlight ever to have an accelerometer on board.

The original Kinetic has six programmable modes, four of which utilize the accelerometer. They are Kinetic mode, Geo mode, Multi mode, Spectrum mode, and two (non accelerometer) sandbox modes. You can now purchase Kinetics in two versions. Original and Meta Mode, the second of which comes with of course, Meta Mode.

Description from Futuristic Lights

Kinetic Mode - 3 slots (Blends through the colors chosen based on speed)
Geo Mode - 3 slots (Blends through chosen colors based on angle)
Multi Mode - 3 slots (Adds chosen colors based on speed)
Spectrum Mode - 3 slots (Fades through the colors of the spectrum, increase speed for the chosen three color strobe)
Meta Mode - 3 slots (Starts off as a hyperstrobe, then morphs into a strobie pattern and then goes into a full dops effect leaving clean crisp trails)
2x Sandbox Mode - 12 slots (Create almost any strobe or ribbon pattern)

(Futuristic Lights)

There are 19 colors to choose from, including a blank. Each accelerometer mode can be programed with up to three colors while the two sandbox modes can be programmed with up to 12. With the sandbox modes, you can create nearly any strobe, ribbon, or tracer combination by utilizing blanks and tint control. While in programming mode, you can see what your color set looks like as you are programming it thanks to the Demo View.

You also have several other standard functions built into the Kinetic. You can move modes to the front to reorder them, lock in modes so you only see certain ones, and conjure.

The Kinetic is compatible with several types of casings and housings. You can use MiniMax, MiniSkinz, ErgoCasings, and Arclite 1 / 2.0 housings. MiniMax and Arclite 1/ 2.0 casings are a two piece housing consisting of a soft silicon top and a harder rubberized plastic bottom. The MiniSkinz and EroCasings are one piece soft casings. Without going into a whole new review, I found the Arclite 2.0 casings to be the most comfortable as well as having the best button click. The Arclite 2.0 casings can be found at Orbitlightshow. (link at the end of the article)

I recommend the Kinetics for people of all skill levels, especially for glovers who have already got the basics down, but want something that can really emphasize and enhance the more advanced aspects of gloving. If you’re just starting out, having an accelerometer is a great way to work on your speed control, as well as helping keeping your angles in check. Having to input only three colors makes setting up your set much simpler. Even advanced glovers can appreciate the accel modes. They all look great and function smooth and flawlessly.

The various accelerometer modes work great, and a few of them work especially well with blanks to create an awesome teleporting effect to give some new dynamics to your show. The accelerometer modes blend extremely well. The transition between color changes in mode is so smooth. The accelerometer thresholds are perfect and I would not change a thing.

My only major gripe with the Kinetics is that you can only use the same mode once. You can rearrange them, but not copy them. I would love to have two or three Meta modes with varying color sets. Having three colors per accelerometer mode is also a little bit of a letdown, but considering how well the accelerometer works with the colors it has more than makes up for it.

So what do I think of the Kinetics? I love them. I’ve tried the other accelerometer using lights and I have to say the simplicity of the modes, and how well they work keep me very satisfied. My favorite mode has to be Meta Mode. It’s an all-around great mode since its slowest speed setting is a hyper strobe, medium is a strobie, and fast is a tight dops. It’s perfect for those people who love doing tech, but also throwing clean whips and flails!

That’s about all I have to say about these wonderful lights! Hope you found this review helpful!

#ALOHANATION [EXP] [MOON] [HI] Schwifty