Lezyne Connect Smart 1000XL/KTV Pro Smart Lights

Lezyne's Connect Smart 1000XL/KTV Smart light set combines two lights that are pretty good with an app that's pretty good too. The result is a light set that's simple to use and easy to like: it's more than the sum of its parts.

• Pros: Lights are good, app is good
• Cons: Some minor app, charging and mount niggles

An app for your lights? That might sound like a chore, but it's not: Lezyne's Smart connect app is simple and very effective. If the lights are turned on then they'll show up once you fire up the app, and you can connect the front and rear light to your phone. This also pairs them together (they come set up like that anyway), so that turning the front light on will also activate the rear. It doesn't work the other way round but this makes sense: there are times you might want to be running your rear light but not your front – on a busy road in the daytime, for example – but none that spring to mind where you'd need your front but not your rear.

> Find your nearest dealer here

The app allows you to configure up to four profiles on the lights, and the button on the front light cycles through them on both lights simultaneously. You can choose any of the settings for either light, or you can choose to turn one of the two lights off on a certain profile (but not both).

I decided to set up three profiles, with two using higher front light settings and a pulsing rear for riding more quickly, and one with a lower front and rear output for riding in a group and on quieter roads at night. Once you've done that, you don't really need to touch the app unless you want to change something: you control the lights through the front unit, and they talk to each other with no issues.

One of the criticisms of some of the Lezyne lights reviewed on road.cc over the past few months is the sheer number of modes, and also the fact that you need to cycle through flashing modes to get back to high beam. Here you can have exactly what you want. Well, up to a point: if you do want a flashing mode you'll still have to cycle through it using the button. But you can choose not to have one, which is great.

There is one way to have a flashing mode and not have to cycle through it... If you habitually mount your phone on the handlebar then you can use the Lezyne LED app as a sort of remote control and pick whatever mode you want. Realistically that's a very niche use case and there's no screen in the app specifically designed for that, for example with some big buttons filling the screen that you hit to change the modes.

The app also gives you a battery readout for each light, but it would be nice if this feature was updated so the information is a little bigger, and more granular: getting useful battery information is a big plus for the app, but the current implementation could be improved.

It's worth noting that the Smart Connect lights don't have mode memory, so when you turn them on they'll always default to program 1. It's best to set that up as the mode you're likely to use most.

Front light

The front light is a fairly typical Lezyne unit. In everything but connectivity it's the same as the Lite Drive 1000XL which Stu reviewed. Stu and I are pretty much in agreement about this one: it's a really good light with a few niggles, the biggest of which is addressed by the Smart Connect set.

The beam shape isn't anything particularly special – it's basically round, and a little narrower than some – but it's throwing out plenty of light for the money, and you can deal with more or less anything in Overdrive mode.

Dropping down the modes, the 250-lumen Enduro kicks out enough light for general night riding with a five-hour run-time, and that's the mode I tend to use the most. There's a bit of side visibility designed in to help you get seen about town, and a number of flash modes that'll also be useful for that if you decide to add them into your profile.

The 150-lumen Economy mode isn't really bright enough to see much by; that's the one that Lezyne uses as the 'low' mode in the Race configuration – where you just get high and low beam – of the standard light, and because of that the Race mode isn't as practical as it could be. The joy of the smart set is that you can set up your own Race mode with whatever settings you want.

> Buyer's Guide: The best 2019/2020 front lights for cycling

Like all Lezyne lights these days the mount is a chunky rubber strap which has the benefit of being very simple, but if you're heading off-road you might find the grip on the bar isn't quite strong enough to keep it pointing where you want it over the rougher stuff, and trying to use the top button in gloves can shove the light about too. I've not had a problem on the roads, though, and hanging it below the bar helps if you do find it slipping.

The charging port is behind a substantial rubber bung and the waterproofing of the light is up to code.

Charging isn't the quickest, but it's fine overnight or if you remember to plug it in at the start of the day.

Rear light

The rear light is basically this one, which we've also reviewed on the site, so head there for a fuller review. Mike called it a 'Solid little light for all-day riding or a week's commuting, with good mounting options and visibility', and I'd broadly agree with that. The wide angle optics give good side visibility and mean it's easy to see whether it's on when you glance behind you. The main spot of the light is very bright, and the day flash mode can be seen from a long way away even in bright sunlight.

The mounting hardware makes a good job of most seatposts and seat tubes, and the run-time is good too.

This light has Bluetooth connectivity and it's never off, because you can always turn it on using the front light, but often that takes a couple of seconds so that suggests it's only searching for a signal very intermittently, which should help to preserve the battery. I found run-times more or less on a par with the standard light, meaning all-day running is easily achievable.

> Buyer's Guide: 17 of the best rear lights for cycling

It charges directly into a USB socket, which is good because you don't have to remember a lead, and bad because sometimes it won't fit where you want to charge it and you'll need a USB extension lead, which is less likely to be just lying around.

It's a bit of a slow-burner, charge-wise, considering it doesn't have that big a battery. But again, a night in the socket will sort it out.

Conclusion

The bottom line here is that the Smart Connect set takes two lights we've tested independently and reckon are very good, adds some genuinely useful and easy-to-use app functionality, and the uptick over the standard light set is only a tenner. It's money worth paying. This is the most usable connected light set I've tried: they're easy to set up how you like them, and using them could barely be simpler. There are a few niggles in there, but overall I really like them.

Verdict

Excellent connected light set that combines great lights with a simple and effective app