Emax red laser pointer with five caps

One pen, five different projections

Each of the five caps supplied with this pointer sits over the emitter and breaks the beam into a projected pattern. Change the cap and you change the shape on the wall. The caps push on and off in seconds, and the whole set stores in the case that comes in the box, so nothing gets lost between uses.

Why the red version

Red is the colour we point people towards when there will be animals or small children in the room, and it is the colour we recommend for pet play. That makes the red cap set the sensible choice for a family living room rather than a lecture theatre: the patterns are still perfectly visible on a carpet or a wall once the lights are down, but the beam is far less startling than green.

The pattern caps also give a cat considerably more to chase than a plain dot, which is worth knowing if you bought a pointer for that reason and your cat has grown bored of the usual game. Keep any session with a pet short.

Somewhere to keep it all

Five small caps are five small things to lose. The supplied case holds the pointer and the full set together, which is the difference between a pointer that still has all its caps a year later and one that does not.

Ready on arrival

Two AAA batteries are included, so there is nothing to buy alongside it and nothing to charge before the first use. Replacements are available from any supermarket for pence, which suits a product that tends to come out in bursts rather than daily.

What’s in the box

• 1x Emax red laser pointer
• 5x pattern caps
• 1x case
• 2x AAA batteries