Magicshine Allty 1000 DRL review
Great value light that really delivers
GBP £70.00 RRP | USD $85.00 Skip to view deals
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The Magicshine Allty 1000 DRL has the accolade of being a Red Dot Design Award winner (a celebrated international design competition) and that is apparent in its sleek profile, light weight and ease of operation.
It is definitely not a case of style over substance though. The beam pattern, while not having the greatest reach, manages to still combine depth with a good spread of peripheral vision with lack of glare from the top of the light.
The beam spread is consistent with a gradual taper to the edge and it’s very easy on the eye to ride by. Despite the fact that, on paper, this isn’t the most powerful light for road or off-road, it turns in a good performance on both.
Cut-away edges on the housing allow for light visibility to the side.
There are five modes: High, Medium, Low, flashing and DRL (daylight running). The daylight running option is the strip that is visible across the top of the light. Cycling between them is simple enough and is operated via the single button on the top of the light, which is chunky enough to hit first time even with gloved or cold hands.
A double press switches from solid beam to flashing mode where there is then a further strobe option. The same button glows green, red or flashes red to signal roughly the amount of battery life remaining.
Attaching the light to the mount is a 90-degree twist and once done it is a solid setup that doesn’t move. A familiar issue that I’ve experienced with other lights that use the same twist-and-attach operation is that it can be hard to fit this close to the stem for a more central position.
There are more powerful lights than this on the market and there are models with more features, modes or programmable complication. However, the Magicshine Allty 1000 DRL simply throws out a good quality beam that has a nice balance of depth and spread wherever you take it to ride, be that road, gravel or off road.
You can of course pay more for additional lumens (and you might need them depending on your riding), but the Allty 1000’s balanced performance will suit most riding, and at £70 / $85 it is good value.
How we tested
With winter on its way, now is the time to review your bike lights setup and invest in a new set if your lights are weak or you’re in need of an update.
So we’ve put nine sets of the best front lights for around £100 to the test.
Other lights on test:
- Blackburn Dayblazer 1100
- Bontrager Ion Pro RT
- Cateye AMPP 1100
- Exposure Sirius MK9
- Knog PWR Road
- Lezyne Macro Drive 1300XXL
- Niterider Lumina 1200 Boost
- Ravemen PR1200
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Product Specifications
Product
| Price | br_price, 5, 3, Price, GBP £70.00USD $85.00 |
| Weight | br_weight, 5, 6, Weight, 145g – including mount, Array, g |
| Brand | br_brand, 5, 10, Brand, Magicshine |
Features
| Features | br_Features, 11, 0, Features, Lumens: 1000 Lux (5m at full beam) 180 Run time (full beam): 108 minutes IP rating: 7 Battery capacity: 4000 Li-Ion Modes: Five including two flash |
| Integrated battery | br_integratedBattery, 11, 0, Integrated battery, Yes |
| Light type | br_lightType, 11, 0, Light type, Front |
Authors
Russell Burton is a photographer and tester for BikeRadar, Cycling Plus and Mountain Biking UK. As an experienced snapper with decades behind the lens, Russell has shot thousands of bike tests and features, but is an experienced rider and tester, too, putting gravel and MTB gear through its paces around Salisbury Plain and the Scottish Highlands. Big days outdoors mean that Russell needs equipment that lasts.
