Magicshine Evo 1700 Underneath Mounted Bike Light

The Magicshine Evo 1700 Underneath Mounted Bike Light is impressively specced and very well built, especially considering the price. The beam shape is quite odd, though, and if you're using full power the run-time is nowhere near the headline claim. It's specifically aimed at commuting, but frankly it's overkill for that – and certain aspects limit its usefulness for more adventurous riding.

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> Buy now: Magicshine Evo 1700 Underneath Mounted Bike Light for £59.99 from Magicshine

As a physical product this is very impressive. You get a very well-detailed light in a mostly aluminium case (the rear third is plastic), a strong out-front mount for it to dangle from, and a wireless remote button that will strap to almost anywhere on your bar – even around your shifter hood.

The mount is plastic, so can vibrate on rough ground with the unit's considerable heft (216g) hanging from its tip, but not by enough to affect vision or make you worry for its integrity. Also, there's zero movement from either part of the clamp.

The lamp end uses a threadlocked stainless steel bolt in a captive nut, and once snugged down, the unit is rigid; the beam never wanders. Meanwhile, the handlebar end features grooves that capture the shim (there for grip and to tune bar sizing), which neatly avoids the three-handed faff that loose shims entail. It's the sort of detail that can be missing on even expensive devices. So you push in the appropriate shim from the selection provided (28mm, 32mm and 35mm), bolt down the clamp and this end, too, is entirely secure.

On top of the mount is a Garmin-style dock for GPS devices; with the lamp hidden below, there's a pleasing lack of clutter on your bar, and the centralised weight is less noticeable than if it were clamped up high on one side.

The remote button straps securely with a long, thin bit of Velcro-style tape, and has a silicone-type foot that sits really well on tubes and shifters.

Pull out this foot and you get access to the tightly sealed lid of the battery compartment; it runs on a CR2032 coin cell. No, it's not rechargeable, but they're very light, cheap, and easy to replace, and it saves on the bulk and expense of another port.

The two buttons are rubber coated and well sealed against rain, and though it's not entirely clear if the IPX6 rating extends to this unit as well as the main lamp, I had no issues or concerns with the design. It's crisply formed plastic with a feeling of quality, and the colour-shifting LEDs in the buttons indicate the lamp's battery level – a nice touch.

The lamp itself sits pretty much out of sight (especially if you're running a computer), so you've no real chance of seeing its own indicators. Unfortunately the colour changes on the buttons aren't actually very useful, but more on that in a moment.

Either remote button will turn the light on or off with a long press, while one switches between high and low beam and the other switches the low beam between output levels. Though the lowest is really just a 'be seen' light, the brighter option is good enough for (slow) pitch black riding.

The lamp has a chunkily sealed USB-C charging port on one side, a big button to release the unit from the mount on the front, and a single button on the other side. This button also has an LED in it, but it's too tiny to be seen easily. That aside, the design and build quality of the whole system is impressive, and only more so given the low price.

Performance

Where it's not so good is in the performance. Sure, it's bright – 1,700 lumens is enough even for 30mph on forest tracks in the dead of night – but the beam shape is odd because of its specific urban intents. It's kind of bucket shaped, with a strongly defined edge that only spreads out to flood the sides a long way up the road. Its narrowness closer in makes tight corners and unlit junctions tricky, despite the overall brightness.

There's an obvious bright patch and a dark border running across the beam too, which is apparently the 'cut-off line', where it's angled down so as not to dazzle oncoming cars. Given the easy-to-use dip/main beam switch, I'd prefer a full beam that took proper advantage of all that illumination, instead of one that's compromised enough to make you wonder why there's a dip as well.

There are two flash options – a day one that drops to zero and a night one that stays illuminated at 400 lumens – with both banging out 1,700 lumen flashes. That should certainly get you seen, if not necessarily admired.

> Buyer’s Guide: Best bike lights

In regular mode, you may want to favour the dip on climbs and slow sections just to eke out the run-time, as on full power this doesn't last long. Magicshine prominently states an 11-hour run-time, but that's on the lowest setting at 200 lumens; at full power the company says it'll run for just two hours. I actually got slightly better than that with around 30 minutes on dip as well as two hours on full power, but that's not great, especially as once depleted this just shuts down, switching off completely rather than dropping to a more frugal 'limp home' mode.

While pressing a button momentarily lights the LEDs to show the battery status, as I said earlier the colour coding isn't very useful. After an hour of high and low beam running it shows red, and stays that way for another 90 minutes until dying. Unless you're doing short commutes on a lower power mode, this will probably need charging every day for safety... and if you are doing that, the big, bulky Evo 1700 is overkill.

Battery & charging

Charging takes around 2hrs 30mins from flat at 2A, which fits with Magicshine's claimed 5hrs at a 'standard' 1A. If you do use a 1A current and want the full 1,700-lumen experience, it'll take much longer to charge than it will run for.

Sure, you can adjust the output of the various modes via the Magicshine app, but that won't change the fact that this is a big, powerful light that's going to chew through the 4,000mAh battery pretty fast if you use its power. And again, if you don't use it, why carry the extra weight and bulk?

Value

For £89.99 the quality and features here are extremely impressive. Only other Far Eastern, direct-to-consumer brands can really offer these kinds of specs and quality for that sort of money. What's more, Magicshine is also not afraid of offering significant discounts – this was going for £59.99 at the time of writing – which may further sway you.

Gaciron is another Chinese brand doing good things, and its Kiwi 1200 Anti-Glare Bike Front Light is excellent. Yes, it's a traditional bar mount and less powerful, but it's still plenty for pitch black riding, has a great beam shape and is built extremely well. It's now £63.85, though was (again at the time of writing) discounted to £49.66, which puts it at basically the same price as when we reviewed it. Gaciron also does a wireless remote for it, for around £6. I'd personally favour something smaller, lighter and longer-running like this for commuting, as it's still plenty bright enough for completely unlit roads.

If you want this much light from a more known brand, it's going to cost you. The Lezyne Super Drive 1800 Smart LED is £150, for instance, and unfortunately it's far less impressive, with a rather ancient-feeling design. It's bulky, and at 240g its presence is noticeable on top of your handlebar.

Meanwhile, our reviewer Mike said the Exposure Joystick Mk17 was 'still the best in class' when he reviewed it recently, and that's less powerful at 1,150 lumens and £190. It's extremely well made and only 108g, however, so it's fantastic on handlebars or even your helmet.

Overall

The Evo 1700 is really well made with some impressive attention to detail in the design, and the spec is fantastic for the money. The odd beam shape and short run-time at full power are a bit restrictive for more adventurous riding, however, while the sheer brightness (and its effects on the battery) seem excessive for urban riding. There are plenty of more compact, efficient yet still very bright lights out there... There comes a point, especially in towns and cities, where bigger is not necessarily better.

> Buy now: Magicshine EVO 1700 Underneath Mounted Bike Light for £59.99 from Magicshine

Verdict

Great design, spec and build, but not the best beam shape or run-times at full power