Neewer FS60B 60W Compact Pocket Bi-Color LED Light review: powerful lighting in a highly portable package

As a regular reviewer for Digital Camera World, I tend to test gadgets such as smartphone and mirrorless camera gimbals, wireless microphones, webcams, and continuous LED light sources like the Neewer FS60B. LEDs are among my favorite products to review, as they give me an excuse to leave the office, hire a model, and demonstrate the different looks that a portable continuous light can add to both stills and video. After all, a well-lit model portrait makes for a far more appealing review image than a shot of me staring into a webcam!

The FS60B is a 60W LED light from Chinese manufacturer Neewer. As well as manufacturing continuous LEDs, Neewer produces a wide range of kit including on-camera flashes, teleprompters, and V-mount batteries.

LED stands for light-emitting diode, so the light is produced by an array of small beads rather than a traditional bulb. Having grown up using old-school bulb lights during my career, I much prefer LEDs. There are no bulbs to keep replacing, and as they tend to run cooler than traditional lamps, you don’t have to wait around for the light to cool down before you can pack it away (though I did feel the heat on one occasion with this particular LED, as I’ll explain in the performance section).

The Neewer FS60B is a bi-color light, which means it contains a mix of 'warm' and 'cool LEDs that can be blended to produce color temperatures ranging from a warm 2700K to a cooler 6500K. This gives you the flexibility to mimic the glow of a sunset or add fill light that matches a cooler midday key light.

In addition to bi-color lights, Neewer also makes RGB lights, such as the flat-panel PL60C. These use a broader mix of colored LEDs to produce thousands of creative hues. Bi-color lights such as the FS60B are less versatile when it comes to producing color effects, but they tend to emit a brighter output because more of their similarly colored diodes can be illuminated at the same time.

Both the Neewer PL60C and the Neewer FS60B are 60W lights that are among the best LED lights for filmmaking and vlogging, but the latter is much lighter and smaller, so it will suit 'run and gun' photographers/videographers who need to fit a powerful yet portable light source in their kit bag.

Neewer FS60B: Specifications

Neewer FS60B: Price

The Neewer FS60B 60W Compact Pocket Bi-Color LED Light officially retails at $119.99 (around £100). Given the portability offered by its pocket-sized build and its astonishingly powerful 34,300 lux output (with supplied reflector attached), this is a small price to pay for such a portable and powerful LED.

The FS60B ships with a 20V DC power supply that you can plug into the mains. However, if, like me, you want to shoot in a location without access to a mains socket (such as a city street), then you’ll need to provide a portable power source such as the Neewer PS099E V-mount battery, which will add $179.99 to the price. You can link the battery to the FS60B via a USB-C cable, which is what I did when testing the light on location. The FS60B is also compatible with the Neewer PH99E Battery Grip, which attaches to the FS60B’s 1/4-inch threads – though that costs as much as the FS60B itself!

If you need a bi-color LED that ships with a supplied chargeable battery, then check out the Godox ML80Bi (see Alternatives section below). However, at $299, the Godox LED does cost a lot more than the Neewer FS60B, though you don’t have the inconvenience of having a separate battery attached to the LED via a USB-C cable.

Neewer FS60B: Design & Handling

My first impression on opening the Neewer FS60B’s box was, "where’s the light!?" For a second or two, I thought that someone must have pinched it while the package was in transit. Then I realized that a thin, silver-colored rectangular plastic unit inside the packaging was actually the LED itself. It was much slimmer than the usual box-shaped LEDs that I test (such as the Godox ML80Bi). The FS60B was also very light – weighing in at just under 0.66lb (300g).

Neewer describes the FS60B as a "pocket" light, and at 5.9x3.5x1.3in (15x8.9x3.3cm), it did indeed fit into the pocket of my shorts – I’m writing this during a heatwave! However, it isn’t the most comfortable pocket-dwelling gadget, as two chunky plastic control knobs protrude from the rear.

These two knobs let you adjust lighting properties such as brightness and color temperature, as we’ll explore in the Performance section. They also double as buttons. Press the brightness control on the left, for example, and you can jump through the intensity range in 20% increments from 0 to 100, rather than turning the dial manually. The right-hand knob can be pressed to cycle through settings when using the light’s animated effects, such as the frequency of a simulated lightning flash, for example.

On the opposite side of the unit is a slightly raised circular metal housing containing the LEDs. This section needs to be made from metal because the LEDs can generate a considerable amount of heat (see Performance section). Surrounding the LEDs is a circular plastic grille through which you can see the unit’s essential cooling fan.

Set into the metal housing around the LEDs are three Neewer Mini Mount slots, enabling you to attach compatible accessories, including the reflector supplied with the light. Standard Bowens-mount modifiers can also be fitted, although this requires Neewer’s optional CHB1 Mini-to-Bowens adapter.

Neewer FS60B: Performance

Because the Neewer FS60B provides a continuous light source, I decided to hire a model and film some footage of her using my iPhone 17 Pro in the atmospheric (but gloomy) corridors of London’s Barbican Centre. The LED’s powerful 34,300 lux output was more than bright enough to capture footage free from high-ISO artifacts, and it also added drama to the clips by casting a strong shadow of the model on the location’s textured concrete walls.

As I also planned to shoot portraits with my iPhone, I used the FS60B as a key light (and sometimes a fill light, depending on available light sources). By positioning the LED to one side of my model, I was able to create a more sculpted, three-dimensional illumination in much the same way as I would with a DSLR’s external flash – but with the advantage of seeing the lighting effect on the model before pressing the shutter. I found it easy to use the FS60B’s two knobs/buttons to adjust brightness and choose a color temperature that complemented the warm interior available light in the location.

Before meeting Maddy, my model, I sat down on the location’s carpeted floor to check my kit. The FS60B was resting face down on my leg while I used the Neewer Studio app on my iPhone 17 Pro to switch on the LEDs. I soon felt their heat against my bare skin, as I was wearing shorts for this heatwave test shoot! I was surprised by just how hot the LEDs felt, as I hadn’t noticed much heat from other continuous lights that I’ve tested. Then again, I’d never placed one directly against my skin before. Lesson learned.

As the shoot was taking place on location, I didn’t want to rely on the kit’s supplied mains adapter to power the light, as this would limit me to staying close to wall-mounted power sockets. Instead, I carried a Neewer PS099E V-mount battery in my backpack, along with the longest USB-C cable I could find. The cable connecting the battery to the LED was only a couple of feet long, so I decided against bringing a standard (and tall) lighting stand along for the ride. I didn’t want the chunky PS099E battery dangling by its cable from a light mounted on a tall stand.

Instead, I packed a small Joby GorillaPod, whose flexible legs can be used as a miniature tripod or wrapped around a railing. The Barbican has plenty of raised surfaces where I could position the light securely and rest the battery nearby, without putting pressure on the power cable.

The Neewer FS60B has 1/4-inch threads on both its base and side, so I was able to mount it on the GorillaPod with ease. As the LED weighs less than 0.66lb (300g), it remained stable despite the GorillaPod’s relatively short legs. Check out the supporting video to see the FS60B in action.

The FS60B ships with a small reflector that attaches to its Neewer Mini Mount slots with a push and a twist, boosting the light’s output to an impressive 34,300 lux. As this more-focused beam could cast harsh shadows on my model, I attached the supplied rubber diffuser to the front of the reflector to soften the light.

The LED’s Neewer Mini Mount slots also enabled me to attach a larger Neewer lantern softbox. This created a broad yet powerful studio-style light source that worked particularly well for some of my model portraits, as you’ll see from the portraits accompanying this review.

As well as providing continuous illumination, the Neewer FS60B can produce intermittent lighting patterns at color temperatures ranging from 2700K to 6500K. Its 12 lighting presets include effects such as flashes of lightning and a flickering broken bulb.

As I had both a model and a long, dark, suitably spooky corridor at my disposal, I used the control knobs and Mode button to select the Broken Bulb effect. The FS60B was powerful enough to illuminate my model from a distance (see video), while also revealing plenty of detail in the surrounding architecture. Each time the simulated bulb flickered out, the corridor was momentarily plunged into gloomy shadow, making this preset particularly effective for adding drama and atmosphere to my mini-thriller sequence.

On a previous test shoot with the Neewer PS099E V-mount battery as a power source, I ran out of power in one hour. This was because I was testing the much more power-hungry Godox ML150Bi, which is a 150W light compared to the FS60B's 60W. As a result, I had plenty of juice left in the battery after filming and shooting portraits for the first hour of the shoot.

I used this extra power to set up a shoot in a nearby alley adjacent to the Barbican Centre. Despite strong sun overhead, the alley was in shadow, so the FS60B became a key light. Given the GorillaPod’s short legs, I illuminated Maddy from a low angle. This added a mix of dramatic highlights and shadows to her face that suited the grungy urban alley. The low-angle light from the floor-mounted FS60B created a mean and moody look that suited my model’s dramatic location and streetwise look.

I did take the light along to a more conventional model shoot, and it was very useful when I could shoot the model with the light at head height. However, due to the short cable between the light and the battery, I often had to shoot from a low angle, and the resulting shadows didn’t flatter my other model’s face, emphasizing features such as eye bags.

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Neewer FS60B: Verdict

I thoroughly enjoyed using the Neewer FS60B on my urban model test shoot. Its compact size meant that I could travel light, while its 60W output and supplied reflector provided enough power to capture clean video footage in relatively gloomy interiors without excessive high-ISO noise. The animated effects, such as Broken Bulb, also helped me capture an atmospheric mini-thriller sequence, which made the test shoot even more enjoyable. The FS60B also worked well as a powerful, dramatic key light in shady outdoor alleys, enabling me to capture some suitably edgy street portraits.

Its main drawback is the lack of a built-in rechargeable battery. An internal battery would have made it easier to mount the light on a tall stand and position it at a more flattering side angle. Because the FS60B was connected to a V-mount battery by a relatively short USB-C cable, I often had to find a raised surface that could support both the light and its power source (or pop the light and its mini tripod on the floor).

I enjoyed shooting from lower angles, as this added drama to my portraits, but for illuminating more conventional lifestyle images, I would have preferred the flexibility to position the light higher, without being constrained by a battery attached via a cable. I appreciate that you could power the FS60B from the mains using its supplied power unit, which has a cable long enough for you to mount the light at head height on a stand. However, I like to shoot on location, so I had to use a battery-powered solution.

Alternatives

Godox ML150Bi
Like the Neewer FS60B, the Godox ML150Bi is a continuous bi-color light source. At a 150W output, it is more powerful than the 60W FS60B, but the main attraction is the rechargeable, dockable battery unit that slots straight into the body of the light, so there are no dangling power cables required.

Neewer HB80C 80W RGB
The Neewer FS60B is a bi-color light, but for a more colorful alternative, I recommend the HB80C. It can produce thousands of creative colors that enable it to produce more creative animated lighting effects, such as the red, white, and blue flashes of emergency services vehicles. Best of all, it has a rechargeable internal battery so you don’t need a mains-connected power source.