See.Sense Icon rear light

The original See.Sense light topped our 'People's Choice' of rear lights in November, with 26 per cent of the vote. The new Icon includes a plethora of extra features linked to a free app so you can control the light on your smartphone. This nifty little blazer will also tell your loved ones if you have a crash, and alert you if someone tries to make off with your bike when it's parked up.

The Icon uses super-bright twin Cree LEDs running at 95 lumens each, which certainly count as bright enough for the old joke 'do not look at laser with remaining eye'. This is not a light to turn on while looking at it – it is ferociously bright. Amazingly there's also an Icon+ with 2 x 125 lumens to keep you safe, even during daylight hours.

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As with the original See.sense lights, the Icon features motion and light sensitive technology so it runs brighter and flashes faster when it senses you need it most.

I like the mode where you have both a fixed and a pulsating light, but there are lots of seizure-inducing flashy modes to play around with. The Fresnel lens (stepped, or ridged, like those in a lighthouse) means the Icon has good sideways visibility. It is also simple to mount using a rubber wraparound, provided.

The app, which is available for Android and iOS, paired with my light immediately. It can handle multiple lights too if you purchase a front and back set, and can program them individually.

The configuration panel was simple with clear options – turn the light on/off from the handset (if you're bored of the novelty of an actual button, I guess), brightness adjuster, flashing mode on/off, motion sensor on/off, anti-theft on/off, crash alert (not available in the beta version I tested), and a battery check.

The anti-theft mode was operational in the beta version of the software I tested. When activated, the slightest movement of the light will activate the audible alarm on your phone, which hopefully gives you enough time to run outside and check on your bike. It becomes active when you and your smartphone walk out of range (3 metres) and will not deactivate until you are back within range unless you choose to turn it off. This makes it great for bike storage outside of shops or a cafe, where you might only be using a small physical lock to protect your bike. I wonder if an audible alarm on the light itself might be useful to scare away potential thieves.

The operation of the movement and light intensity sensors via the app makes a bunch more sense than twisting and turning the light manually to achieve different settings, as you had to with the previous version. You can adjust the brightness of your light using a simple slider on the app, so it's easy to maximise your battery life if you're running low. Another battery saving feature is the automatic turn off after three minutes of inactivity, or if you and your smartphone walk more than 3m away from the light. Just in case you're too lazy to press a button.

The crash alert system promises to text your nominated friend if the motion sensors detect that you've crashed, but it was unavailable in the beta version I tested.

> Check out our buyer's guide to rear lights here

My review of See.Sense's first light concluded that it was perhaps a bit too clever for its own good, as a complex system of twists and turns was needed to set it and turn it on. See.Sense has addressed this flaw by reinventing the wheel, or in this case, the on button.

The Icon is pretty pricey at £64.99, which is £20 more than the original model. The Kickstarter campaign for the Icon exceeded even its stretch targets, so it seems that if you want the added features, enough people think it is not an unreasonable price to pay.

Verdict

Quality engineering and real innovation in the field. A useful, usable light that goes above and beyond the call of duty