An illuminating experience

ILLUMINATING EXPERIENCE

Written by Thomas Wibberley

Cyclist with world events are becoming more prevalent and are going to be an important way in which we can all help to reduce global carbon emissions, cyclists need visibility and to be visible…

We’ve think we’ve found a brilliant light combo

The Allty 2000 and Seemee 200 come in similarly smartly packaged boxes with neatly laid out parts with a bold black and orange theme. First impressions are important and it’s nice to see the packaging design not look too cheap or an afterthought.

With the lights out of their package let’s look at some of the features -

Comparing in size an average 800 lumen from another maker - The Allty 2000 ends up being all in all not too much of a size difference. It has an increased thickness towards the front of the light which houses its dual beam pattern lights with an additional light above going across. The Seemee 200 on the other hand is mostly uniform in size A fantastic feature of the Allty 2000 and Semee 200 lights are its versatility with mounting options. Almost as ubiquitous as a go pro mount Allty and semee is compatible with garmin quarter turns, it makes it really easy to have fixture options on multiple locations on your bike or helmet.

Magicshine have come on leaps and bounds in their attempts for standardisation. The quarter turn garmin mount is now a staple feature on many of their products. This is in stark contrast to some direct competitors who use proprietary mounts as default and don’t offer Garmin mounts either without paying a premium or just not offering it at all! No one like proprietary mounts, they are unfriendly to swap an unnecessary R&D cost and usually of lower built quality

Existing are two enhanced high power LEDs with a high efficiency optical lens that can output a maximum 2000 lumens of light. Dual beam angle design (left flash angle 25°; right spot angle 18°) will emit a balanced amount of light, giving broader and brighter road coverage. The daytime running lights are a fantastic profile to just leave on whilst riding during the day. Whilst they do not provide enough light to see with, it is a great low wattage addition to improve bike visibility to other drivers as well as pedestrians, cyclists and other road users. It also allows the Allty 2000 to seconds as a flashlight when parking your bike in the dark. Allty 2000 is a reliable partner when you are riding on the trail and bush. The dual LED design does a great job at lighting the road with a good blend of horizontal beam spread and throw to bring you the utmost riding experience. Due to the narrow body, the Allty 2000 doesn’t have as much spread as the wider Magicshine mountain bike lights, but it’s more than enough for road riding or commuting with. The numerous light profiles are impressive but cycling through them whilst riding and actually knowing exactly which profile you are on can become a little awkward.

Until you see it you don’t quite realise how bright 2000 lumens is - It’s a great power feature to hold especially if you are looking to light up an entire woodland area but economically speaking I would definitely recommend going at a lower power level for casual use. You’ll get much more life out of a single charge and you’ll still get plenty of ray power to illuminate your way - especially if you are traversing a semi urban area.

Run times are pretty impressive clocking in anywhere from 1.50h at 1800 Lumens 1H at 2000 Lumens - if you run it all the way down at 100 lumens you will get 10 Hours out of this light.

Holding the silicon power button down you will activate the light at its default

Allty 2000

setting.

With its handy OLED display above - you will see both your current battery level and also intermittently how much time left you have at your current intensity. Double tap the power button to cycle through all of the Altty 2000 various lighting options and single tap for lighting levels. If you don’t already have a mount, Magicshine includes a simple plastic handlebar mount with a padded rubber strap. The mount is similar to the Monteer 1400 and requires an allen key to rotate a bolt and loosen/ tighten the rubber strap. We’ve seen reports from people that the strap cracks with excess tightening, but we haven’t had any issues despite long term use with the Monteer 1400. We recommend picking up the Magicshine TTA out-front-mount of a similar style mount to avoid cluttering the handlebar. Note, you can also mount with an all front garmin style mount as aforementioned. With the caveat of an absent USB-C charging port the Allty 2000 is an all over modern and sleek all-in-one bicycle light. While some other lights on the market still use cheap plastic like clip designs Allty has an unique elongated rounded square body and the Seemee straps are nice to the touch and functional with design intent.

The top portion of the body feels like aluminium and has a frosted black texture, while the bottom portion and cartridge door feel like plastic. The cartridge door uses the same quarter turn design as the Monteer 1400 and is easy to open/close. A simple 90 degree turn metal plate to the rear of the

light unlocks the battery for easy removal or replacement. Turning it back with the use of a coin or similar will lock the battery back into place. Allty 2000 has a cartridge style 3500 mAh battery and replacements are readily available on the Magicshine website. One of the best features of the Magicshine Allty 2000 is the OLED screen on top which displays the current output mode, battery level and alternates between percent battery left and current run-time left. With this feature, you don’t have to guess how much battery is left based on one or two colors, and have realtime information on the battery level. Additionally, on power-up the

Magicshine logo splashes on the screen which is a slick touch.

Specification overview

• Allty 2000 is a multifunctional bike light with maximum 2000 lumens of light output • High efficiency optical lens, the high side visibility design can increase the warning effect

• Daytime running light will be easier for drivers and pedestrians to notice you and increase safety • Creative OLED screen can indicate lighting mode, battery level and available running time for all brightness levels • Removable battery pack with 7000mAh super capacity • Compatible mounting method, it can be installed on the computer mount or via GoPro camera mount with

Garmin mount

• Memory function allows you to turn the light on at your chosen brightness • IPX 5 waterproof rating, the product will not be affected by water sprayed from all directions

Package Includes:

1 x Allty 2000 (Battery pack included) 1 x Handlebar mount

3 x Silicone strap 1 x Micro USB charging cable 1 x 3mm Hex

Specifications:

LED: CREE XM-L2

Runs On: 2 x 3.6V 3500mAh 18650 battery pack (Included) Max beam distance: 165m

Brightness Output: Level 1: 2000 - 1 Hour

Level 2: 1000 Lumens - 2 Hours

Level 3: 500 Lumens - 3 H 30 Mins

Level 4: 200 Lumens - 8 H 30 Mins

Waterproof: IPX5

Dimensions:

Length - 99mm Width Diameter - 42mm

Height Diameter - 39mm Weight: 183g

Seemee 200

What took me by surprise most on this joint review is just how unexpectedly bright this small light is. For such a compact cube like device that fits in the palm of your hand iit really does pump out a lot of light juice. The most powerful model in the Seemee bike tail light series, the Seemee 200 has a 200 lumen main light and a secondary tracing light, providing optimal visibility for urban and road cyclists. The primary rear LED light provides the Seemee 200 with the majority of its light output and the smaller LEDs surrounding it in a halo shape provide an additional uniform glow. The product feels solid with the durable plastic finishing parallel. Plastic near the main light is slightly transparent, barely noticeable when not powered on and providing side light exposure. A very nice design feature that doesn’t compromise functionality. The Seemee 200s most impressive feature is something that sets itself apart from the competition with its smart downwards and dome-like encapsulated smart light. It is activated when the built-in ambient light sensor detects low light. Its output illuminates in a wide degree fashion for superb visibility. The downward LED is only activated at night, where it is most effective at improving the side visibility. One drawback to the downward LED is that the run-times are significantly reduced leading us to believe the LED may possibly be too bright. Circling back to the smart mode, if the sensor detects higher ambient light, the smart mode has a slower on-off flash output (better suited for daytime riding). In low-light situations, the output mode switches to a low power – high power flash setting to improve nighttime visibility.

On the top face lies a slightly proud rubberized backlit power button. This is super easy to operate and to cycle through the lighting profiles similar to the Allty 2000. Magicshine has programmed three constant modes, four flash modes and the slick ‘smart’ mode for a total of 8 settings. A single click cycles through the different levels and a double click to alternate between the main steady –

flash – smart setting groups. With the Seemee 200, the ambient light sensor also controls whether the downward LED is activated in all the modes, which means the run-times per mode also vary depending on day or night. The three steady modes are: low (30 lm), medium (70 lm) and high (140 lm) with run-times that vary from 2.5 hrs to 12 hrs. Instead of only having the typical on/off flash, Magicshine has added four different flash patterns: breathe (ramps up from 0 lm to 140 lm and back to 0 lm), comet (ramps down from 140-0 lm), flash (standard on/off at 140 lm) and finally interactive (alternatively flashes the inner and outer rings at 140 lm). The runtimes for flash modes vary from 3 to 25 hours, and we particularly like the breath and interactive modes for their uniqueness. The last mode is called ‘smart’ and as we discussed in the previous section utilizes the ambient light sensor to switch between 140 lumen flash or a 10-140 lm night mode flash.

The Seemee 200 is a breeze to fit, easily mounting to helmets, backpacks and seatposts, and with an IPX6 rating – able to resist high-pressure, heavy sprays of water – it should carry on flashing whatever the weather due to its great seal and solid construction with a IPX6 rating.

Seemee 200 us charged via plugging the included USB A > USB mini cable, the cable is a little short for easy charging. Again we’d love to see a charger option with the newer USB-C charging port but it’s definitely more convenient than replacing your own batteries all of the time.

On reflection to the Seemee 200 its focus beam with an outer 360 degree halo light is like nothing else we have tested here at bike, especially when factoring the Seemee accelerometer downlight that will indicate

to others when you are applying your brakes. Its offers a perfect pairing with the Allty 2000 With both of these lights combined you’ve got a good chance of being spotted in London probably from Timbuktu.

Specification overview

• 200 lumens max main light, 260 degrees visibility, visible from more than 2 miles away • 360 degrees visibility secondary light, forming a circle of light under the rider

• Brake sensor triggers 200 lumens brake strobe mode

• Ambient light sensor adjusts light mode for optimized visibility • Low power mode: Power saving flash mode triggered at 5% battery and lasts 20 min

• Constant and 3 flash modes, 3 brightness modes • 1.5 hours runtime on highest brightness constant mode • 40 g in weight • USB rechargeable • Various mounting options Overall, whilst reflected in their price and not without their imperfections the Magicshine Allty 2000 + Seemee 200 are one of the best bicycle lights set we’ve tested. We expect Its premium design to endure and to even outperform newer releases of competitors for a respectable time. Keep your eyes peeled on Bike-mag reviews to see if anyone knocks Magicshine off our current top recommended spot. If you have any questions on any of these products the folks over at Magicshine can be found at https:// magicshine.com they’ve been around since 1999 and have really taken steps to modernise their lighting solutions to match the market’s modern needs.