Unit 1 FARO Smart Helmet Review: World’s Safest Helmet?

Helmets aren’t what they used to be.

In yesteryear, their sole purpose was to protect your head in the event of a crash or fall.

But the times, they are a-changin’.

First the helmets got lighter and prettier – making them more appealing to wear. Which is great.

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But over the past few years, we’ve seen a new wave of smart bike helmets – which aim to prevent accidents from happening in the first place.

The primary way this is achieved is by adding built-in lights (such as indicators and brake lights) so that cyclists can be better seen and their movements understood.

And those are just some of the things that the Unit 1 FARO Smart Helmet can do.

Unit 1 FARO Smart Bike Helmet

The one thing you can’t ignore about the Unit 1’s FARO is that this is a truly beautiful bicycle helmet. I mean, just look at it…

In terms of sleek urban design, it doesn’t get any better than this.

And the technology inside it makes it look even cooler when in use – with futuristic LED light strips on the front and back, as well as dynamic indicator and brake lights on the rear (which you can see in use below).

But it’s not just aesthetically-pleasing – it’s also very comfortable too. The helmet is easy to adjust to your head size with a rotating toggle at the back of the helmet, while the magnetic clasp makes it possible to secure the helmet with just one hand.

The Unit 1 Faro helmet weighs a reasonable 580 grams and has five vents that help prevent your head from getting all sweaty.

The helmet pairs with a very easy-to-use smartphone app from which you can make use of all of its safety feature, which we’ll come to shortly.

But this helmet is feature packed, as you can see below:

Unit 1 FARO Features

• Front and rear lights (500 lumens)
• Indicator lights (optional extra – turn signals from handlebars)
• Automatic brake lights
• Fall detection
• Magnetic buckle
• Easily size adjustable with rear toggle
• IPX-6 waterproofing
• 3 to 10 hours of battery (USB Type-C charger)

The Safest Smart Bike Helmet?

Safety is at the forefront of Unit’s 1 smart helmet features.

Lighting – both in terms of visibility and indication – plays a big part in preventing accidents from happening, but in the worst-case scenario, this helmet could also act as a first responder.

If your helmet detects a hard fall, followed by you being unresponsive for a 60-second period of time, a text message with your location can be sent to your pre-determined emergency contact.

This feature is managed by pairing your phone with the sleek Unit 1 app – on which you can customise all of your preferences, such as how long the unresponsive period is and who you’d like to message.

The helmet also has an ABS hardshell and an internal EPS liner to absorb any impacts, while for an extra €30, you can get MIPS protection – which is the gold standard of helmet protection.

Naturally, it’s got the pre-requisite CPSC and EN1078 helmet safety accreditation which means it meets the safety requirements for the UK, US and Europe.

Unit 1 Faro Helmet Price

Now, that brings me to the elephant in the room… price. I’m pretty sure the Unit 1 FARO helmet is the most expensive commuter helmet I’ve ever seen. The “basic” helmet costs £179.90 (~$209.90/€219.90), with optional add-ons for Mips (£25 / $30 / €30) and turn signals (£34.90 / $39.90 / €39.90). Basically, if you want the full functionality and protection of this helmet, you’ll have to spend a whopping £239.90 / $279.80 / €289.80. Free shipping is available in the US and mainland Europe, but you’ll have to stump up a further tenner or so if you’re in the UK.

It is expensive. No bones about it.

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That said, this is an award-winning (reddot design award) premium product and no-one is forcing you to buy it.

If you’re fortunate enough to be comfortable with spending this amount of money and you really want the best safety features in a beautiful helmet, then the FARO 1 is a certainly a worthy candidate.