Magicshine Seemee 200 V2.0 rear light review

The Magicshine Seemee 200 V2.0 rear light has good output figures for a compact light with a range of useful functions.

Its highest 200-lumen day flash mode is very bright, but still has a claimed 26-hour run time. There’s also a built-in brake light function and a downward-facing dome light that gives 360-degree visibility at night.

It adds up to a strong, small bike light package.

Magicshine Seemee 200 V2.0 specifications and details

The Magicshine Seemee 200 V2.0 is a compact cube-shaped rear light that’s 43x32x28mm in size. It weighs 38g, although it feels more substantial than that suggests when you hold it in your hand.

The rearward-facing light consists of a larger central LED behind a lens and an array of smaller COB LEDs around its circumference.

This takes up a good proportion of the rear face of the light, while the sides of the light’s body are translucent, providing a strip around 8mm deep that’s visible from the side.

Magicshine augments this with a 60-lumen dome-shaped light on the bottom of the unit.

An ambient light sensor auto-adjusts the main light brightness. It also turns on the dome light at night and in low-light conditions.

This provides a pool of light that shines downwards onto the road and illuminates the rear of your bike, with the intention of upping your side-on visibility without dazzling other road users.

If you have the main rear-facing light in a flashing mode, the dome light stays on constantly; conversely, with a constant mode, the dome light flashes, which is a neat way to provide both a flashing and constant rear light in one package.

There’s an accelerometer built into the Seemee 200 for the brake light function, where it switches modes if it detects deceleration.

Switch the light on and it remembers its last setting of the six options available and whether the brake light function is active.

Magicshine Seemee 200 V2.0 performance

The Seemee 200 has impressive output and run-time numbers. On its highest 200-lumen day flash setting, there’s little excuse for anyone not to see you.

That said, this mode has a steady on/off flash rate rather than a more disruptive pattern. Even at this output, Magicshine quotes a 26-hour run time.

The shortest run time is a claimed 3 hours 40 minutes for the highest constant mode, when used at night with the dome light working.

Other options include a group ride mode, which outputs 10 lumens so you don’t dazzle fellow riders. During the day, Magicshine quotes a 50-hour runtime in group ride mode, or 6 hours 30 minutes at night with the dome light active.

Use of the brake light function will reduce these run times, but they’re still impressive. When the battery reaches 10 per cent remaining charge, the light automatically switches to the lowest 10-lumen economy mode.

Recharging uses a micro-USB port rather than a USB-C. Magicshine claims a 1.5-hour charge time, which is also good for a light with the Seemee 200’s run time.

Magicshine Seemee 200 V2.0 mounting options

Magicshine provides two mounting options, with the light attaching to both via a quarter-turn.

The seatpost mount weighs 12 grams, angles the light more-or-less horizontally backwards and includes a built-in sturdy rubber ladder mount.

There’s also a lighter-weight saddle rail mount, designed to clip to your saddle rails. Two zip ties ensure it stays put. This seems like a clever, tidy mounting solution, but in practice it may not be that useful, depending on your saddle and seatpost setup.

Of three bikes I tried it on, it didn’t fit two. In one case, the supports for the plastic seat upper extended too far along the rails; in another, the seatpost head extended too far back.

Other considerations that might prevent it fitting include oval rails; it’s only if you have your saddle quite far back on its rails that there may be enough space to mount the light.

Magicshine claims an IPX6 waterproofing rating for the light. Although it coped well with minor road spray, there are two small grooves around the rear-facing lights that collect dirt.

The sides of the downward-facing dome light are recessed and also accumulate dirt.

How does the Magicshine Seemee 200 V2.0 compare to other lights?

The format and functionality of the Magicshine Seemee 200 closely matches the Bontrager Flare rear light we reviewed recently.

However, although the Seemee 200 puts out more light, it doesn’t have the Bontrager’s disruptive flash or its ANT connectivity, so you can’t control it via a bike computer.

The compact cube shape of both the Magicshine and Bontrager lights is arguably neater-looking than the strip format of lights such as the Guee Cob X and the Blackburn Dayblazer 65.

The Seemee 200 V2.0 also has higher output and more functionality than either of these lights, although it doesn’t have quite the rugged feel of the metal Exposure TraceR or the raw power of the Lezyne Strip Drive Pro Alert 300.

Magicshine Seemee 200 bottom line

The Magicshine Seemee 200 V2.0 offers a lot of functionality in a compact tail light that’s relatively inexpensive.

Run time is good, even using the highest 200-lumen flashing output. The bottom dome light increases your visibility when cycling at night and the in-built brake light adds a little more safety.

The saddle rail attachment isn’t universal, though, and you will need to scrub the light frequently to keep the dirt traps clean.