See.Sense Beam+ review

The See.Sense Beam+ is a powerful front bicycle light that is designed to adapt its brightness to the conditions as you ride.

It features four modes: high (1,000 lumens), which is bright enough for riding off-road trails, medium (650 lumens), standard eco (420 lumens) and daylight flashing. Switching between modes is straightforward – you just hit the large button on the top.

The same button acts as a battery indicator by turning from green to red. Solid red shows battery life has fallen below 20 per cent and the light has automatically switched to its ‘get me home’ mode, with at least an hour of battery life left.

The Beam weighs only 132g but its slim design has a reassuringly solid feel and it comes with its own secure and easy-to-fit bracket as well as being compatible with Garmin-style mounts.

On the road, the Beam’s actual beam quality is excellent. It has good depth with no loss of quality on the periphery and the consistency of the fade to the edge, with no ‘stepping’, is very good to ride with.

The front housing runs right to the top edge, which prevents upwards glare – but it is cut away at the sides to ensure you’re more visible at junctions.

There are lights with a greater beam distance, but I find the Beam’s balance of depth and spread make it versatile across road, gravel or off-road riding and I’d opt for depth and spread over reach every time.

However, the See.Sense Beam offers more than merely a way to light your route – it also gives you the option of downloading See.Sense’s app, which allows you to run it in an ‘adaptive’ mode.

This automatically reacts to junctions, roundabouts and traffic filtering, pulsing more strongly to make you more visible. It will also react to ambient lighting, adjusting brightness when transitioning from unlit to lit streets for example, helping to prolong battery life.

The app will alert your emergency contact if you crash or let you know if your bike is moved, assuming you left your light attached.

The Beam has an IXP67 waterproof rating, which means it can be dropped in water, and the combination of its build quality, usability and beam makes the Beam a very good light, with its Adaptive app offering additional functionality.

Though whether the app functionality justifies the Beam’s price tag when compared with similar non-smart lights is an individual call.