Five HG Prime GTX heated gloves review

Date reviewed: January 2026 | Tested by: John Milbank | Price: £359.99 (RRP) | bikerheadz.co.uk

The Five HG Prime GTX heated gloves on review here are the company’s flagship heated kit, and rightly so. Offering single-button control and a well-considered design, I’ve been wearing them through some of the worst weather the past few months have thrown at us – mainly on a 2001 Honda VFR800 – and am pleased to say that they’re warm and effective, with just a couple of gripes…

Pros & Cons

Construction

The Five HG Prime GTX gloves aren’t just premium in price; they have some of the highest-spec materials and construction, including Primaloft Gold 200g insulation on the top of the hand, which helps keep the heat inside that’s generated by the battery power. This is  important as the wind is constantly trying to drag that heat away (especially if your bike doesn’t have hand-guards).

Waterproofing is provided by a Gore-Tex ‘GoreGrip’ membrane, which is laminated inside the glove so can’t pull out. The palm’s made of goat leather, while the upper is a polyester/polyamide mix.

These are important features that go a big way to making these gloves perform so well, but it’s the controller that will standout most in use. Positioned on the back of the hand, it doesn’t get lost under your jacket’s cuff, and powering them on and off and changing modes is all done with one button on the right hand. This automatic pairing means you only need to take your left hand off the bars to make any adjustments and isn’t just a gimmick: Furygan did it with the Heat X Kevlar gloves, and it certainly makes for more convenient – and safer – riding.

Fit and feel

While fit is of course very subjective, the use of Primaloft’s ‘Grip Control’ 60g insulation at the palm is designed to resist slipping, meaning the outer leather doesn’t feel detached from the inner and you get better feel and control of the bars.

These don’t feel like bulky gloves in use to me, though keeping warm will always come with some compromise in thickness. My slightly criticism is that the ends of the thumbs are a touch long on my hands, but not excessively so. The extra size of these winter gloves can also make it a little awkward to get at the wrist strap when taking the gloves off, but apart from fumbling the indicator occasionally, I don’t have any real problems with the bike’s controls. And, most importantly, my hands are warm!

The 7.4V batteries use two cells, but are fairly flat and compact, tucking away well and not causing me any problems with the gloves under or over my jacket sleeves (though do check the fit for yourself).

Temperature

During testing I monitored the temperature in the Five HG Prime GTX gloves, and while it was in an 18°C room with no wind moving across them, they got up to some decent measured temperatures:

As you can see, the right glove’s battery lasts slightly less time than the left’s, despite me swapping them round between tests. This might be due to the additional power used by the right controller to ‘broadcast’ the settings to the left glove, and it’s certainly not a problem in use.

Bench testing is all well and good, but it’s how well the gloves keep your hands warm on the bike that really matters, and that impressive runtime from the two 7.4V, 2,200mAh batteries, which are supplied, is great on the road.

While the temperatures I recorded were down on the claims of 50-55°C and 45°C for the medium and low modes (Five states 60-65°C for high), with a 5°C air temperature on a nearly two hour ride my hands were comfortable in just the low power mode.

As the temperatures drop, pushing the gloves to high power keeps your hands lovely and snug, and that relatively long run-time means most commutes should easily be covered. If you want to ride for longer in very cold weather, Five’s optional wiring harness might be worth considering…

Power

At low power the combination of excellent insulation and long run-time means the batteries could cover your entire ride before needing to be recharged, but there is also the option to buy the £49.99 HG Connection Kit, which can be connected directly to your bike’s battery and also comes with a second connection cable for a cigarette lighter socket or – with the red end-cap removed – a DIN connector that’s compatible with the outlet on BMW bikes for instance. On my R1250GS it’s a very tight fit, which means it won’t fall out but it’s also really hard to remove.

With a maximum output of 5A before the BMW shuts down its outlet, while this socket is limited for use with some heated kit, gloves are typically fine. In my testing I measured a maximum current draw of 2.29A at 13.8V (31.55W), and the gloves reached 71°C.

Some heated motorcycle gloves can push their temperature higher when using a wired connection as they take  the full voltage of the bike, which is usually between 13.6V and 14.2V when it’s running – significantly more than the 7.4V of most battery packs – but the Five gloves use a transformer in the loom with an 8V, 2A output.

What’s particularly clever about the Five HG Prime GTX gloves is that they have two connections in each glove: one male and one female. You can plug in the batteries to the mail, then use the female connector to charge them without unplugging, and while Five warns that they’ll self-discharge if left unused and plugged in for a long time, this is really useful when the gloves are getting regular use.

You can also use the female connector to plug the optional HG Connection Kit in for direct power from the bike instead of the batteries, and finally, if you use the two short female-to-male adaptor leads supplied with the kit, you can have the batteries and the bike plugged in at the same time. This is a unique solution in that it charges the gloves’ batteries while also taking power from the bike.

But… for some reason this method doesn’t charge the batteries to full. Using a bench power supply at 13.8V with a maximum output of 8A, the gloves would show a full charge (though the right glove would occasionally flicker its third green LED when in high power mode), but even when powering the gloves for 7.5 hours, the batteries only ever seemed to reach a storage voltage. This might well be a safety feature given that power is being put into a pair of lithium packs strapped to your wrists, but it does mean that when the bike’s battery is disconnected, the gloves immediately show only two LEDs of power, rather than a full three. In my testing this gave 59 minutes of output at full power.

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.

It’s great that they hold some charge for when you’re walking around, but it’s worth being aware that the only way to fully charge them is with the mains unit supplied with the gloves.

A full mains charge takes 3hr and 57minutes using the 8.4V, 1.3A charging brick, which comes moulded with a UK three-pin plug. Input is 100-240V at 50 or 60Hz, so it’s a universal charger but you’ll need your own adaptor to use it abroad.

And this is the biggest disappointment in these gloves. Though many do still require a dedicated charger, Keis has introduced USB charging with USB-C ports on its batteries, and Furygan has an adaptor lead. Granted, you’ll benefit from a QC3.0 or Power Delivery charger to push out the voltage and current required, but with even Apple now begrudgingly accepting USB-C as a universal standard, it would make life a lot easier when travelling and at home.

I see no reason why Five couldn’t offer a USB charging adaptor that delivered the required voltage from a suitably powerful charger, so hopefully it’s something they can develop.

Replacement / additional batteries are available, though they’re quite pricey at £40 each.

One other point to note is that when the gloves’ batteries are charging, the LEDs on the back of the hands flash rapidly at times, which can be quite distracting at night.

The Five connector won’t fit into the Keis outlet

If you’re buying battery-powered heated gloves, you’re likely not interested in powering from your bike, but if you do, there’s a good chance you’ll also have other heated kit like a jacket or vest, and maybe even trousers. Brands like Keis and Gerbing make sure that their own gear is compatible with everything within their own ranges, so you can use the vest/jacket as a hub with only one power connection to the bike. I have a Keis heated vest, and unfortunately the Five loom isn’t compatible with the socket inside the Keis kit or the Keis bike cable, but only because of the water-resistant sheath on the Five connector. The connector itself seems to have the same dimensions of 5.5mm outer with 2.1mm inner.

Control

The benefit of the single-hand control featured on the Five HG Prime GTX gloves really can’t be underestimated – press and hold the button on the right glove to turn them both on and off, and press the button to cycle through the high, medium and low power modes.

The large green LEDs on both gloves indicate the power output, while five smaller red LEDs show full power, switching to two white for medium and one blue for low.

This is great in itself, but Five has also placed the panels on the backs of the hands, rather than the cuffs, meaning they can be easily accessed whether you wear your gloves over your jacket sleeves or under them.

Protection and certification

The Five HG Prime GTX gloves have achieved Level 1KP in testing. The KP means they have certified knuckle protection, but 2KP is the highest, which is reserved only for gloves that meet higher levels of abrasion resistance and seam strength and tear resistance. There aren’t many Level 2KP gloves on the market, but even some heated gloves from Keis have managed it. Five offers some summer gloves that meet Level 2KP, so it’s a slight shame that these flagship ones didn’t also get up there.

But… they are still very well made, and it’s great to see that the palms have ‘Superfabric’ next to the thumbs as this extra step will add protection to your hands, despite not actually being part of the current testing requirement. The ‘Ergo Protech’ panel on the outside of the palm should make the gloves easily surpass even the current Level 2 palm abrasion test due to the limited area tested, so it’s great to see Five going further than it needs to in order to better protect your hands.

Conversely though, the outside edge of the thumb, which could be vulnerable in a slide, is fabric rather than the full-grain goat leather of the inside of the thumb and the rest of the palm.

The HG Primes also feature reflective sections on the fingers, backs of the hands and the cuffs for extra visibility at night.

Fastening

Winter gloves can be a little harder to keep secure on the wrist due to the padding, but there’s enough Velcro on the straps to allow a good, tight fit.

The cuffs can be cinched down compactly, which is really important if you’re going to wear them under your jacket sleeves. They’re not as compact as some unheated winter gloves when you have the batteries fitted of course, but I did find they cinched in well under the Rukka Hybrid-R and Kingsley jackets, as well as the Oxford Hinterland 2.0. As with any gloves, you’ll need to try them yourself with your own kit.

The gloves also have a short zip on the top of the cuffs, which can be opened to allow them to fit more easily over thick sleeves.

Wet weather use

Most experienced all-weather riders will agree that wearing your motorcycle gloves under the sleeves of your jacket offers the best protection from rain. With them over the top the water runs down your arms and into the gloves, or in some cases wicks up in the fabric that’s inside the cuffs.

Five has included an ‘anti-drip lining’ in the HG Prime GTX’s cuffs, which should stop water being pulled inside, but it’s still very hard to cinch any glove tight enough to stop water running down and into them.

Fortunately, as these Fives tuck well under the sleeves of well-designed jackets, they seal well and offer excellent waterproofing, as you’d expect of the Gore-Tex membrane. The outer fabric gets soaked, but dries out quickly thanks to the laminated membrane.

There’s no visor blade, but the outside edge of the left finger has a suede-type material that allows you to wipe water and filth from the visor when riding. Five calls It ‘CVP’ (Clear Vision Pad)… just make sure it’s kept clean to avoid any scratches.

Lining

Inside the Five HG Prime GTX gloves is a lovely soft lining that feels comfortable and warm against the skin and – importantly – shows no signs of pulling out.

Always hold any lined gloves firmly by the fingers when taking them off, as if your hands are damp it puts a lot of strain on the limited retention points of the lining, but these seem very effective so far.

Touchscreen use

Both the left and the right gloves have conductive touch panels over the tips of the forefingers and the underside of the thumbs. These do work, but as the gloves are bulkier than summer gear they aren’t very accurate and can be a bit of a fiddle. Held’s ‘Nudud’ raised nubbin design is the best I’ve tried.

Three alternatives to the Five HG Prime GTX heated gloves

These really are impressive battery-powered heated gloves, but think about how you plan to use them. Here are some others to consider…

• Keis G601, £210 | Fantastic heated gloves with Level 2KP protection, they don’t have the one-button control of the Fives, and if you want battery power you’ll need to spend an extra £85, though they are USB-C chargeable. Read the full review of the Keis G601 heated gloves here.

• Held Inuit, £229.95 | These gloves are battery powered only (included), and they heat the palms, rather than the tops of the hands. They work very well indeed, the only annoyance being that the controller is on the cuff, so they can’t really be tucked under your jacket sleeves. Read the full review of the Held Inuit heated gloves here.

• Furygan Heat X Kevlar, £299.99 | Similar in some ways to the Five HG Prime GTX, especially the control method, these are a fair bit cheaper and can be charged with a supplied USB-C cable. The batteries look very similar to the Primes, and are the same voltage and capacity, so come on Five – let’s get a USB charger! The Furygans are good, but lack some of the premium features of the Fives. Read the full review of the Furygan Heat X Kevlar gloves here.

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

Five HG Prime GTX heated gloves review: Verdict

Complete with a two-year warranty, the Five HG Prime GTX gloves are primarily battery-powered kit, and while they’re expensive it’s worth remembering that they include the batteries and charger.

The option to power them from the bike is great, and I am considering adapting the loom to give it a Keis-compatible connection, making it possible to power them from my heated vest when that’s wired to the bike, rather than having to deal with two connections. The bike connection kit does add another £50 to the price, and while it can charge the glove batteries at the same time, the flashing LEDs are annoying and the lack of a full charge is slightly disappointing.

If you’re planning to power your gloves primarily by the bike, I’d suggest looking elsewhere, but as battery-powered gloves the Five HG Prime GTX are the best I’ve tested thanks to the brilliant control, good runtime and high quality construction, so they come highly recommended.

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