The Fit

I really liked the fit on this jacket. It’s not big and bulky on my frame. I’m 5’6 and 145lbs or so. I didn’t think it was too long or baggy, and was a good version of body hugging without being tight. I’ll mention this later but this actually is very important for the function and it’s something you should think about when considering sizing.

Overall, I’d give it a standard look and fit - which is a good thing. You’re not going to stand out like a weirdo with this brand. It’s good for minimal looks and therefore travel. Black and Gray will help you to look like a normal city-goer vs a hiker. But, they have colors if that’s more your thing too.

The Performance of the Venustas Heated Jacket

Let’s go through the performance a bit and I’ll give you my thoughts on my experience.

While I know this is targeted at outdoors folks, let’s be honest, it’s for folks that live in cold places. I live in NYC, and it’s pretty cold in the winter. I’m also a commuter with no car. So, I have to walk to the subway, wait on outdoor subway platforms, etc. This is how I used it. I wore it to work a lot. I also traveled with it to DC, which means plane travel, and I had no issues with Security or anything. Not that I expected to, but wasn’t sure if the heating elements would get noticed and make them curious! All good there.

I pretty much used this without heavy layering. As I wanted to test the pure jacket performance. Normally, as temps drop, you need to be layering no matter what. Remember that. For my tests though, I went no additional layering down to -6C and just used the heating elements in the jacket. It kept my upper body quite comfortable and made me not notice the cold so much. That’s kind of what you want. While above 0C, I’d put it mostly on Medium. When I’d get into the train, I’d pop it back down to Low. Anything below that and I popped it into High when outside.

And towards the end of my testing, NYC was in the middle of the lovely Arctic chill weather. So, I was wearing this at around -4C, -6C around the neighborhood in some cases. Truthfully I wasn’t much adventuring out into the city parks or markets then, but it still kept my core comfortable even if the rest of me wasn’t! You can see one shot in Chinatown after my wife and I’s weekly dim sum trip. I was still rocking this while heading to the subway, waiting for the train (again, sometimes on elevated and outdoor platforms) and around Manhattan. 

The zones are well placed. I particularly liked the neck zone as it’s pretty relaxing to have it there.

One thing to note from a commuting perspective - I felt carrying a backpack actually improved the “feel” of the heating. The bag puts the jacket more onto your back. The straps hold the shoulder areas and chest areas tighter. This means more contact with you and the heaters. That brings me to my next point.

Don’t expect this jacket to be creating a “climate” inside the jacket. That’s not how this works. This is a fancy version of contact heating. It WILL of course increase the general heat inside, but it’s a much better and multipoint version of putting hand warmers in your pockets. In this case I would say get a jacket that fits you on the slimmer side because it will work better. The heating elements will be in contact more with your body and will be much more effective in both how it heats you, but also how much you feel the additional comfort.

The Good

We already mentioned the fit was solid and what you want in an everyday insulated coat. Check. But I’d like to note the materials are pretty solid too. Now, don’t go into this expecting Arc’Teryx. That’s silly. I would put this between Uniqlo and Columbia. It’s better quality than the first, but maybe not squeezing as much upper tier features into the value category that Colombia is. That said, I thought it was solid and I’m satisfied with it.

I also really liked the implementation of the removable hood. Not so much for the hood, but for the collar. The collar is independent from the hood and I LOVE when jacket brands do this. It means it’s not attached and moves separately and stays put on your neck better. Very comfy.

Next, the big question - is it a gimmick? Maybe, but not really a bad one. It is in the sense that it’s pretty novel - it’s not something you’re used to so you’re skeptical at first. That said, once I tried it, it was pretty great. I mean, it worked. It did. I described my typical use in the Performance section but yeah - it worked as advertised. I was comfortable, warm, and the parts of me that were in the jacket were warm enough that I was not shivering or getting bitten by the cold while walking around. So, thumbs up there from me. It was quite comfy!

I like that there are different levels. Each person feels the cold differently. So, the adjustability is great. Keep in mind the higher the power, the less time the battery will last. But you knew that already.

The hand pockets are fantastic. They really are. Many jackets have fleece lined ones, but these are a little heavier weight fleece. Not too heavy, but more than usual, and it’s wicked comfy in there.

Finally, I like that this jacket is just a decent carry even without the battery pack in use. If it’s not cold enough for you to use it, it’s a solid regular jacket for midlevel cold days. Who doesn’t want that?