AlcoSense Pro Fuel Cell Breathalyzer

Look, I love a good nights drinking sesh. But I also love keeping my license, my dignity, and my car insurance premiums. Enter the AlcoSense Pro, basically a tiny, judgmental robot that lives on my desk and tells me if I'm safe enough to drive the next morning. This thing is legit. No more “I think I’m fine” guesswork or asking your equally tipsy friend to assess your sobriety with a squint and a shrug. The AlcoSense Pro gives you actual, reliable numbers like you’re in a CSI episode, and it does it with the cold, clinical honesty I never knew I needed. The screen is clear, the menus are easy to use, and it even warns you based on your local drink-driving laws—because apparently, not all countries agree on how tipsy is too tipsy (who knew?). Is it overkill? Maybe. But so is ordering pudding and still eating someone else’s. This is about peace of mind, smart choices, and not making the “should I drive?” question a group debate. The machine developed a slight bug where it wouldn't turn on but leaving the batteries out all night and inserting them in the morning rectified this. Still I wasn't going to risk it and so I contacted the manufacturer who swiftly arranged for me to send it back to them for testing. They upgraded the firmware and sent it back with new batteries, what great customer service this was! It’s not cheap, but neither is losing your license. 10/10 would recommend, especially if you enjoy being alive and not in court.

The AlcoSense Pro Breathalyser is a great piece of kit to have. We bought this for our family to use the morning after a night out, and it gives a good indication of whether it’s safe to drive or not. We’ve used it quite a few times and it definitely gives peace of mind. It’s easy to use and, from what I found when looking into it, it seems to be pretty reliable. That said, it’s not a police-grade machine, so you shouldn’t expect it to be that accurate. But as a guide to help you make a safer decision, it’s very useful. Overall, I’d say it’s well worth buying one of these. Just ask yourself how much your driving licence is worth — the consequences of drink driving are unthinkable, so it’s not worth the risk. Make the right decision and keep everyone safe.

Did my research and opted for this version as it seemed to give a high level of accuracy and I liked some of the features like being able to set the county of use (I'm in Scotland which has a lower limit). So easy to setup, didn't really need the instructions and I guess amusingly along with most people used it as an excuse to test it out and have a few drinks. I had always left 12 hours after drinking and always stopped at 8 - 10 units (measured 50ml spirits - 2 units) as my version of being safe. On my way to work 3 days ago I had had a few drinks the night before and passed a traffic car and in turn it pulled over a van behind me with blue lights which freaked me out a bit (hence buying this). Tested it this morning at 7.30am after drinking 8 units stopping at 8pm and it showed green which was reassuring. Well made and gives an extra piece of mind to the morning after, if it was amber or red I would of got a taxi as work is only 3 miles away. 10/10

I've had this for over a year and have had it recalibrated once. Good quality device and gives quick reading. It allows one to test the morning after and is simple to use. Good battery life and light weight. You do need to have this calibrated for ongoing accuracy and it is on the expensive side to have this done annually, when compared to the unit cost and it takes about 2 weeks to send off and have it returned.

Firstly let me explain that I am in no way connected to AlcoSense and have not received any “reward” for providing this review, it is a genuine unbiased and truthful review. I have updated this review after now having used the AlcoSense for a while now, and after having received the most helpful clarifications from the AlcoSense Laboratory. My previous “Cons” (“Zero Reading” and see below for explanation) was unfounded as what I perceived as a limitation was in fact a result of complying with BS-EN16280 which has now also been taken as a European wide standard. Pros:- - Very useful in that it covers many countries automatically setting limit according to that country. - Uses similar fuel cell technology as the UK police, so is comparable with theirs with regards to accuracy. See the Top Gear YouTube video as evidence of this. - Nice Display that predicts you what time you will be below limit. - Remarkably easy to use. - The tubes re-usable. This is not made clear in the description so I've wasted money on buying two packs of 25 tubes - silly me. Caution: Wait at least 30 minutes between last alcohol intake and use, as described the sensor is sensitive and can be damaged by too high an alcohol concentration. Cons: None whatsoever. It would have been nice if the unit was “French NF” compliant, though since 2014 the French authorities have scrapped the fine for not carrying an NF certified breathalyser for an indefinite period. So no great shakes! Zero Readings: Do be aware, and it is stated in the instructions, the unit will not display a reading other than zero below 0.10‰BAC (0.05mg/L) because that AlcoSense have designed the unit to comply with the new British Standard (BSI) for breathalysers, BS-EN16280. The standard is actually technically a very high standard and mandates a very high level of accuracy from the product, however one quirk of this standard dictates that an reading below 0.10‰BAC (0.05mg/L) must be rounded down to ZERO and AlcoSense cannot display any other message – for example on the Elite it displays “LOW”. As this is a standard unfortunately AlcoSense cannot pick and choose which parts to comply with. Other notes provided to me by AlcoSense: “With regard to giving you an estimate of what alcohol consumption will show what reading on a breathalyser the following is a rule of thumb but does vary between different people. Roughly one unit of alcohol IN THE BLOOD will produce a reading of 0.10-0.15‰BAC on a breathalyser, depending on body weight and a number of other factors. So, for example, to be at the legal limit in England, you would need to have between 5.3 and 8 units of alcohol in the blood AT THE SAME TIME. Alcohol which is still in the stomach is not in the blood and therefore is not impairing you or measurable until it is processed into the blood stream. It must be remembered that the body is constantly processing alcohol into the blood stream from the digestive system and out of the blood stream at the same time. With no food in the stomach the alcohol gets into the blood stream in 15-30 minutes after drinking, with food this can extend up to 90 minutes. Without food more alcohol enters the blood stream more quickly and you have a higher peak reading, but the time from drinking to the alcohol leaving the body is shorter. With food in the stomach the rate of absorption into the blood stream is much slower and the peak alcohol reading will be significantly lower, but from the time to drinking to the alcohol leaving the system is longer as a result of the delay in entering the blood stream. Applying the above to the situation you describe below, each can of Stella contains 2.1 units of alcohol = total of 4.2 units. If this was all in your blood stream at the same time you would register around 0.40-0.60‰BAC. However, as you drank this over 2 hours, after eating, the body will have absorbed some of the alcohol into the blood stream but not all when you measured yourself. The body will also be processing out one unit per hour so even though you drank 4.2 units I would normally estimate you would only ever see 1-2 units in the blood at any one time. As a result this corresponds with the readings you have seen.”

Having received this product, I'm more than happy with it. It's compact, easy to use, and accurate...... I hope ! I did a fair bit of research on this product before purchasing, and was impressed by the reviews and results of accuracy which were provided. I purchased this piece of kit to provide piece of mind after a night out, and having to drive the next day, now that the limit is lower in Scotland. It is a British product, having to comply to bs standards, so I have more confidence in it than I would in a product from China or the Far East. But I can't tell you how accurate it is because I don't know. The only way I could tell you that is if I was in a police car, comparing readings. There lies the problem. If it is accurate, which I think and hope it is, it's a great product, but it does require a certain leap of faith.

Purchased this small breathalyser kit as wanted to be sure that I was driving responsibly after a night out. The advise is to only use the morning after a drink or two, but I have also purchased it to make sure I am not over the limit after an evening out with freinds and I am intending to drive home. In this instance the advice is to stop drinking 90 mins before departure and taking a reading. I choose the pro unit as it has a similar sensor to that used by the police and so should be more accurate than the cheaper models. I also choose this model as it has the ‘sober in xxxx ‘ with alarm function that ads to the usefulness of the unit. I like the clear colour screen, green for clear, yellow/orange for alcohol level below limit and red for limit and above. The slide out tray for the blow tube is a nice touch and has a light for night time use. It would have been nice if the unit had a storage area for the blow tube, but it doesn’t. Instead you would need to buy the additional storage case to keep everything safe and contained. At £150 I feel this should be included with the AlcosSense unit. That said I do feel this is a well made and accurate machine with simple blow instructions and should provide peace of mind as well as ensuring personal responsibility to others when and if I choose to drive after a drink.

A well-constructed device which is physically very easy to use. It comes supplied with batteries and 5 'professional mouthpieces' to get you started and these are all individually wrapped, in short everything you need to start using the device is in the box. There's a good selection of different country limits which are very easy to configure and its compact size would be perfect for leaving in a vehicle glovebox if that's your use. It would be useful to add specific limits for safety-critical industries as a sub-menu instead of just countries, but in any case there are countries whose limits happen to align with some of the very low safety-critical limits for UK industries. The device needs to be returned to Alcosense for an annual calibration - when you set the date and time at point of opening the device the first anniversary of the device is set as 12 months from the date/time you initially set so ensure this is done carefully! The calibration including postage into Alcosense is approximately £34 at time of writing, which isn't too bad provided the device functions correctly on this basis. It's also possible to obtain a calibration certificate for this model for anyone looking to use this in the workplace.