Cateye AMPP1700

The Cateye AMPP1700 is a decent front light that's well built and simple to use. I don't really feel like it's a frontrunner for your cash in this part of the market, though. You can check out our favourites in our guide to the best front bike lights.

The AMPP1700 is a new light for Cateye, and unlike its previous high-output units it's a slimline torch with a single LED, rather than a squatter double-LED unit.

It's nicely made with a solid-feeling construction and a full alloy body. The single button on top acts as the control for the six modes (four solid and two flashing) and also the battery indicator, moving from blue through orange to red as the battery depletes, with sensible gaps between the changes.

The USB-C charge port (finally!) is tucked away under a rubber cover on the base of the light.

Overall impressions are of a high-quality unit, though one slight disappointment is the IPX4 rating, which I'd say is the minimum requirement for a front light in the UK. Most manufacturers do better.

Mount

Cateye uses the FlexTight mount for all its front lights, which as far as I can tell has remained entirely unchanged for over a decade. I've still got a Cateye Volt 300 in the shed that we reviewed in 2014, and it snaps into the AMPP1700's mount no problem.

The reason Cateye hasn't changed it is because it's a great mount: easy to fit, simple to swap between bikes and nice and secure in use. It's struggled in the past with some of Cateye's bigger lights but I've had no issues with this one, which isn't especially heavy. I tend to hang lights under the bar rather than sit them on top, and that also makes them less likely to shift.

Beam

The beam is round, and very evenly spread. It's less focused than some round-beam lights (the Sigma Buster I tested recently, for example) so it feels more like a flood than a spot. There's no attempt by Cateye to flatten the beam so it's less dazzling to oncoming traffic, and in higher-output modes you might feel a bit conscious of giving people an eyeful; I certainly did. There are side-visibility ports to help you get seen about town.

The wider flood means it doesn't have the penetration of some lights; compared to that Sigma mentioned above there was definitely more light in the higher modes, but I couldn't necessarily see further down the road. The wider beam would make it better for multi-surface riding where you want plenty of side visibility in twisty stuff, though.

Battery life

Battery life overall is about what you'd expect. In full-beans 1,700-lumen mode (double click the button to access that) you'll only get just over an hour, then it's an hour and three quarters at 1,300 lumens, three hours at 700 lumens and five at 400 lumens.

The modes the AMPP1700 has are well-picked, but one of the things that's most disappointing about the AMPP1700 is where they stop. The lowest available full beam mode is 400 lumens, and that gets you about five hours of run-time, which for a lot of people will be plenty. But why no lower-power mode? 400 lumens is bright enough to be antisocial on a shared-use path, and 200 lumens is plenty to ride unlit lanes after dark. This light would run all night at that kind of power, but you don't get the option here, and that's a missed opportunity.

The Ravemen LR1600, which I very much rate, has similar output and run-times, but includes a 150-lumen setting that gives you 13 hours of illumination. Oddly, Cateye has included a 12-hour, 200-lumen 'Enduro' mode on the AMPP1700's bigger brother, the AMPP2200 (full review imminent). This light is very much the worse for not having it, in my opinion.

Value

At £139.99 the AMPP1700 is a solid investment. Is it worth the outlay? Well, if it was my money and I wanted that kind of power, it's hard to look past the aforementioned Ravemen LR1600. When I reviewed it it was just over a hundred quid; these days it's £89.99 on Ravemen's UK site. The beam shape is better, you get an all-night 150-lumen mode, you can run it from an external battery, it comes with a remote control and it's IPX6 waterproof. It's been my go-to light for everything up to a 600km audax.

The Magicshine Evo 1300 doesn't have quite the output power of the AMPP1700 on full but the beam is better configured, and you can customise the modes via an app so that you have exactly the ones you want. Again, you get a remote, and at £79.99 it's not much more than half the price of the Cateye.

And if you do want the extra power – and can live with the annoying mode selection – there's the Gaciron Raptor-3000 for just over £90.

Conclusion

This light is hard to recommend, really. Its bigger brother, the AMPP2200, looks like the better buy if you really want a Cateye, but if you don't need those 2,000+ lumens of power – and let's be honest, you probably don't – then there are better lights than the AMPP1700 out there for a lot less dosh.

Verdict

Decent front light with plenty of power, but not a standout performer for the money