A powerful headlight that won’t blind oncoming traffic

The new Magicshine EVO 1700 combines a powerful 1700 lumen output with an aspherical anti-glare lens design. It’s part of an exciting trend in the bike light market with the move toward high power bike lights with beam cutoffs. Although the Magicshine EVO 1700 isn’t an StVZO certified light, it lets you enjoy the same optimized optics and ensures cyclists or other oncoming traffic won’t be blinded by your light. Despite the 1700 lumen output and beam cutoff design, the EVO 1700 has an affordable $89.99 retail price. Magicshine has also incorporated a unique top-mounted GoPro mount to allow the light to be mounted on the underside of out-front-mounts. Additionally, the EVO 1700 features a wireless remote and the ability to customize modes via the Magicshine app.

The Magicshine EVO 1700 combines a powerful 1700 lumen output with a beam cutoff to light up the road without blinding oncoming traffic.

Rating	9.3 / 10
Retail Price	$89.99
Measured Weight (in g)	151 (light), 49 (out-front mount)
Likes	+ Sharp beam cutoff + Specifically designed to mount on out-front mounts + Large battery offers long runtimes
Dislikes	– Lacks side visibility – Magicshine app has a confusing user interface
Where to Buy (US)	Magicshine 15% OFF coupon code: “TheSweetCyclists”

UNBOXING

We received an early look at the Magicshine EVO 1700 so we didn’t receive it with the retail packaging. If we had to make a guess we would assume the headlight comes in black cardboard boxes with Magicshine branding and a glossy illustration of the headlight. Inside the box you should expect to find:

• EVO 1700 headlight
• Wireless remote + velcro strap
• USB-C charging cable
• Plastic dual-sided out-front mount w/ rubber pad
• Allen key
• Instruction manual

We were happy to see that Magicshine includes an out-front mount with the light which allows you to use the light right out of the box.

MOUNTING

Magicshine has specifically designed the EVO 1700 to be mounted underneath out-front mounts. The GoPro adapter has been incorporated into the housing of the light and allows the angle of the light to easily be adjusted. Given the larger size of the light, this mount design makes a lot of sense and keeps your handlebars clear of clutter. One of the clever features of this mounting design is that the light can easily be removed from the GoPro adapter. Rather than removing a bolt or thumbscrew from the GoPro adapter you can push down the textured release button on the top of the light to release the GoPro attachment piece. This leaves the GoPro adapter attached to the out-front mount and lets you easily install or remove the light within seconds.

FIT & FINISH

Visually, the EVO 1700 has an unusual square shape that is reminiscent of retro CRT TV’s particularly when you flip it upside down. This is a big light as the aspherical lens takes up significantly more room than simple TIR (total internal reflection) style lenses. Instead of the typical black housing, Magicshine has used a white and gray color scheme that looks pretty slick. There are some angled graphics on the sides with EVO 1700 printed on it with Magicshine on the other side. The rear of the light has a rounded gray shape that helps disguise the size of the light. There is a large 4000 mAh battery integrated inside the housing with a USB-C charging port on the right side of the light. A chrome ring around the lens adds some additional character to the light and adds to the retro-tv appearance.

What makes the EVO 1700 so unique is the aspherical lens design. This is a curved lens with an optimized shape that is designed to focus the light on the ground. It’s impressive to see this style lens at this price point as it’s typically only seen in more expensive lights like Lupine or other European brands. If you stare straight into the lens you can see how the lens distorts the LEDs behind it to focus the light downward. The large size of the light is primarily due to this lens design as it requires significantly more space.

There is a single button interface on the left side of the light. It has a nice raised rubber texture and includes a small LED light battery status indicator. It’s either green (21-100%), red (11-20%) or flashing red (under 11%) which gives you a rough estimate of the battery state. The user interface is a simple two-level design with low beam and high beam modes. Holding the power button for 3 seconds enables or disables the lock out mode. Lock mode is perfect for transporting the light and it ensures the light won’t accidentally turn on. Otherwise, you use the standard short hold to turn the light on and off with a short press to cycle through intensities. Double pressing the button with the light on toggles between the low beam and high beam modes. The high beam mode is almost double the power for each setting and is similar to a car high beam with a wider beam. Note, there are also two flash modes but they can only be accessed via the remote or by customizing the mode through the Magicshine app.

As with many of Magicshine’s newer lights, there is also a two button remote control. This is the same remote that is available on the Monteer light and allows you to control the light from any location and has two buttons one with a square and one with a circle indicator. The main “circle” button has the same user interface as the main power button with a single press to cycle through modes and a double press to switch between low and high beam. A single press on the second square button takes you directly to the full 1700 lumen output which is convenient when you need extra output immediately. What’s interesting is that a double press on the square button also activates the two available flash modes. It’s a feature we suspect most owners won’t realize exists and is something we almost missed ourselves until we read the manual carefully.

LIGHT OUTPUT

Magicshine has programmed six constant output modes into the EVO 1700 in the factory default configuration. There is low, medium and high power mode for both a low beam and a high beam configuration. In the low beam configuration you can choose from: low (200 lm / 11 hr runtime), medium (400 lm / 5.5 hr) and high (800 lm / 3 hr). The high beam mode has a taller beam and nearly doubles the output: low (400 lm / 6 hr), medium (800 lm / 3 hr) and high (1700 lm / 2hr). It’s easy to visually see the difference between the modes as the high beam extends the beam vertically like a car’s high beam to light up the road. The low beam mode is more appropriate for crowded bike trails as the high beam mode creates glare.

We found the medium modes were good for urban riding while the high low beam mode is great for riding on dark trails. Using the Magicshine app you can further customize the modes and add 0-100% output for either low or high beam configurations. Flash modes are nice for daytime visibility but the runtimes are fairly low as it utilizes the full 1700 lumen output which is why low mode seems like a better option. We were impressed with the beam shape of the light as it has a large trapezoidal shape with a bright region near the top of the beam. It’s a nice wide beam that lets you ride comfortably and lets ride at fast speeds in the higher output modes.

MAGICSHINE APP

One of the other features of the Magicshine EVO 1700 is the ability to use the Magicshine app, the same app used for the Allty 1500S and other Magicshine lights, to re-order and customize the output modes. Unfortunately, the Magicshine app has very poor ratings on both the Google and iOS app stores despite having been around for a few years. A combination of strange English translations and user interface makes using the Magicshine app cumbersome and confusing. There are four side menu options: my devices, scene, version upgrade and contact us. Within devices you can connect the EVO 1700 and some other Magicshine lights. The scenes option lets you set up different named profiles (i.e. “scenes”) with user customizable output modes (i.e. “levels”).

You can adjust the brightness from 0-100% and select between constant, SOS, slow flash and day flash to fully customize the appearance of each mode. Although it’s a cool feature we’re not sure it’s worth using with the EVO 1700 as there is only one LED. For a multi-LED light like the Monteer 8000S the customization modes could be more useful. Instead, we’d recommend just sticking with the default factory modes and avoiding the confusing app until Magicshine refines it. Note, you can customize both the low and high beam modes independently and retain the double press dual menu setup. Also, to revert back to the factory defaults you need to delete all the user created “levels” which should restore the default five modes.

THE VERDICT

Overall, we found the Magicshine EVO 1700 to be a powerful and well designed light. We are happy to see Magicshine create a powerful bike light with a sharp beam cutoff that ensures you can see the road without blinding oncoming traffic. With 1700 lumen output and a low and high beam, the EVO 1700 has more than enough illumination for urban riding or fast road cycling. The unusual square shape also works well on out-front mounts with the removable GoPro top mount to quickly install or remove it. As with their other lights, Magicshine has added modern features such as USB-C and a wireless remote with the light. The main negatives for the EVO 1700 is the lack of side visibility and the confusing Magicshine app. That said, if you’re looking for a powerful bike headlight with a sharp beam cutoff the Magicshine EVO 1700 is a great choice.

Disclaimer: The product for this review was provided by Magicshine. The views expressed on this website are solely those of the authors and are here to help people make an informed choice before a purchase. The authors or the blog itself does not get any monetary compensation from the product manufacturer or third-party websites/vendor links that are posted here.