PRODUCT TEST: Alcosense Pro Breathalyser



Ideal for the morning after, meet the AlcoSense Pro breathalyser – official breathalyser of the BTCC no less (!) – and one of the smartest, simplest & most effective car-related gadgets we've had the pleasure of testing.

Compact, cool and clear, this device is faster and easier to use than most coffee machines, so if you enjoy an alcoholic drink or two and want to keep hold of your licence to drive a car and avoid the long arm of the law, you really need one of these in your life. It's time to stop guessing and start being legal – thanks to the power of Alcosense's good value, pocket-sized technology. 
  
Whether you use it to stay legal driving on a holiday abroad (where most blood-alcohol figures limits are different), for that early Sunday morning blast in your classic car following a Saturday night dinner party, doing the school pick-up run after a glass of wine at lunch or after the mother of all sessions the night before and with a long drive ahead, unintentional drink driving the morning after is easier than you might think and this device ends all the doubt, with cold, hard facts – helping you stay legal.  

Drink driving unintentionally should now be a thing of the past this with this nifty little gadget by AlcoSense – wither the £99.99 Excel entry model or the one we have here, the Pro for £149.99, both available via Halfords or online

The new AlcoSense Excel is the first breathalyser under £100 to use a smaller version (64mm2) of exactly the same sensor used in several UK Police-approved breathalysers (200mm2), bringing a new level of accuracy and reliability for drivers at this price. And the Pro offers a 121mm² Fuel Cell, which, in addition to giving incredibly accurate, detailed readings to two or even three decimal places in either blood (‰BAC) or breath (mg/L) alcohol concentrations, will alert you when you are close to or over your own set limit. 

Additionally, the upgraded Pro offers the superb functionality of pre-loaded data of 40+ countries alcohol limits: it will work with any limit worldwide and can be changed between limits simply and easily, using an idiot proof menu system  – making it ideal if you do a lot of foreign road trips, for use on holiday or even between Scotland and England, for example, where different limits apply. 

The Pro also offers a handy 'time to sober' estimation figure if you are recorded over the limit (blood alcohol continues to rise up to 90 minutes after you stop drinking) as well as the patent-pending "blow coach" to help make sure you are getting it right and receiving an accurate reading via the blow tubes (supplied), time after time. Oh, and it's got a 128 test result stage memory, with a time/date stamp, where the Excel offers a simpler 24 only – for a back-up or all your test results.

All these added features and functions for only £50 more mean the Pro is the one to go for in our view.  


The Alcosense range also offers the first breathalysers in this price bracket to feature a full colour screen and intuitive graphic user interface – giving on-screen prompts and tips, making it exceptionally easy to use. And both models feature a very simple green (no alcohol), orange (alcohol present, under limit) and red (alcohol present, over the limit) result graphics on the 48mm full colour screen. Very clear. Very cool.


AlcoSense’s unique slide mechanism keeps the sensor and blow tube receptacle covered when not in use, stopping dust or contaminants from entering the unit. When slid open, the blow tube receptacle lights up, making it easy to insert a fresh blow tube, even on dark winter mornings. It's simple and easy to operate. 

Hunter Abbott, MD of AlcoSense. "The only way to tell when you’re safe to drive the morning after the night before is either to abstain completely from drinking alcohol or to use an accurate personal breathalyser. The AlcoSense Excel gives detailed readings all the way up through the range so you can tell exactly when you are clear.

"The AlcoSense Excel isn’t just feature rich. It boasts an award winning functional, clean design that is shared with the AlcoSense Pro and Ultra, winners of the 2016 International Red Dot Award for Outstanding Product Design. The range is particularly aimed at drivers with families who want to stay safe, those who rely on their license for work or play, and who seek reliability and accuracy at an affordable price."

Get one of these trick tech tolls in your glovebox now! Highly recommended. 
  
Roadies be aware of a quick point about driving through France. To comply with French law, you need to keep an NF Certified Single Use breathalyser in the car. This is the only country that requires this. The Excel and Pro will work with the French limit but to comply with French law, you also need the NF single use breathalyser too. The single use breathalyser only works with the French limit and AlcoSense is one of only two manufacturers to be approved under NF regulations. They cost £4.99 for a twin pack. Of course, if you are not driving through France, you don’t need these.






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