Modern eBikes are expected to do far more than simply provide electric assistance. Connectivity is fast becoming a key differentiator in modern e-bike systems. Beyond battery capacity and motor power, intelligent software features and tight integration with your smartphone, smartwatch and the cloud often separate a system that is merely competent from one that feels properly thought through.
Auch in unserem E-Bike-motor comparison test, we place particular emphasis on a cohesive ecosystem where hardware and software work together seamlessly. Just as important, however, is how consistently a manufacturer continues to develop its system after purchase. Software based features in particular can be continuously refined and expanded with new functionality through regular updates.
This is exactly the approach Aventon have taken with the Aventon Control Unit, or ACU for short, which is fitted as standard to current models such as the new Current EXP and serves as the interface between rider, motor and smartphone. The central control unit combines a high resolution touchscreen with integrated 4G connectivity, providing the foundation for a wide range of features, from custom motor tuning to theft protection via the smartphone app. But how much of this delivers real value in day to day use, and where is there still room for improvement? We took a closer look at Aventon’s digital ecosystem.
The Aventon Control Unit in Detail
The visible part of the Aventon Control Unit consists of a compact colour display and a single control button, neatly integrated into the top tube. Despite its relatively small size, the display makes an excellent impression in everyday use. Resolution is almost on par with that of a modern smartphone, delivering crisp graphics that are easy to read and feel thoroughly up to date. Most impressive, however, is responsiveness. Touch inputs are processed with virtually no delay, making it feel more like using an iPhone 16 than a conventional e-bike display. It is this smooth, intuitive user experience that makes the system genuinely enjoyable to use, turning solid technology into a feature that adds real everyday value.
The menu structure is equally well thought out and intuitive to navigate, making it easy to find your way around without ever needing to reach for the manual.
The display brightness can either be adjusted manually across five levels or left to the automatic brightness control. During this test, the system reacted very reliably to changing light conditions within around a second. It may not sound particularly exciting, but in everyday riding it makes a surprisingly big difference. When you’re constantly moving between shaded forest sections and bright open stretches, the display remains perfectly legible at all times.
The interface can be customised via the app with up to eleven individually configurable display pages. You can choose from a wide range of data fields: speed, range, cadence and gear, alongside elevation gain, a compass and more detailed metrics such as rider and motor power, torque and even left and right power balance. There is no shortage of information on offer.
We particularly like the fact that you don’t have to reach for your smartphone every time you want to make changes. Almost every display setting can be adjusted directly on the bike. It’s quick, intuitive and makes on the fly adjustments during a ride especially convenient.
The restriction to a maximum of two values per page feels a little conservative, though. In our view, there would certainly be room for at least a third parameter without compromising readability. That would further increase the information density of each page and reduce the need to scroll back and forth.
Eight Years of Worry Free Connectivity
Another key element of the ACU is the integrated 4G connectivity, which comes as standard. Mobile connectivity is included for eight years when you buy a compatible bike, a very competitive offering by current market standards. After that, the service can be extended with a paid subscription. Importantly, the bike remains fully functional even without an active mobile plan, and all core riding functions continue to work as normal. Only cloud based features such as remote locking, live location tracking, Lost Mode and remote status monitoring require an active mobile connection and will no longer be available unless the subscription is renewed.
What is the Aventon Smartphone App Capable of?
The real strength of the Aventon ACU only becomes apparent once you pair it with the smartphone app, which turns an already impressive display into something far more capable. Many settings can be adjusted directly on the bike, but the app unlocks a much wider range of features and brings virtually all of the system’s digital functions together in one place. The Aventon app is free from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
- Customising motor assistance has become a standard feature on almost every modern e-bike system. The real difference today is no longer whether the assistance levels can be adjusted, but how comprehensive and intuitive that process is. This is an area where Aventon leave a very positive impression. The four riding modes, Auto, Eco, Trail and Turbo, can not only be configured independently of one another, but also arranged in any order you like. This allows every rider to tailor the modes to their own riding style and place their preferred mode where it can be accessed most quickly.
If you enjoy fine tuning your motor settings, you’ll find plenty to explore here. A slider adjusts maximum torque between 20 and 100 Nm in 1 Nm increments, while assistance level runs from 10 to 100% in 10% steps. In addition, both pedal response and the motor’s overrun, currently translated rather awkwardly as “Overexertion” in the German version of the app, can be adjusted between 20 and 100%. This allows you to tailor the motor’s character to your personal preference, from exceptionally smooth and progressive to sharp and highly responsive.
- In addition, Aventon offer a range of extra riding features that can be enabled and customised individually for each riding mode. For example, Hill Start Assist can be switched on or off, with its level of support adjustable across five settings. Wheel Lift Control, which reduces motor torque if the front wheel lifts under hard acceleration, also offers five sensitivity levels and is designed to help prevent the bike from tipping backwards.
- Crank calibration tackles one of the most pressing issues in modern e-bike development: drivetrain wear. Rising motor outputs put chains and cassettes under ever greater loads, and Aventon claims that calibrated cranks allow automatic shifts to hit the dead spot of the pedal stroke, where the drivetrain carries less force. The promised result is reduced wear and smoother gear changes. Unglamorous, perhaps, but it signals serious thinking about long-term durability. The catch is compatibility: automatic shifting currently requires an electronic Shimano CUES or Enviolo Automatiq drivetrain, as fitted to the Trava trekking e-bike, and the Current misses out for now.
- Aventon also address a topic that’s often overlooked in day to day riding with their maintenance overview. Service intervals can be set flexibly based on elapsed time, distance ridden or total riding hours. The system then reminds you when individual components are due for maintenance, whether that’s replacing brake pads, fitting a new chain or carrying out other routine service tasks. Once the work has been completed, you simply confirm it in the app, and the relevant interval is automatically reset and starts counting again. While these reminders are based on predefined service intervals rather than the actual wear of individual components, the feature serves as a practical prompt and helps ensure that regular maintenance doesn’t slip through the cracks.
Battery Management with a Focus on Longevity
One of the most useful features hides in the battery menu: a maximum charging limit, freely adjustable between 80 and 100% in 1% increments. If everyday riding rarely demands a full charge, capping the charge level can significantly slow long-term battery ageing. It ought to be standard on every modern e-bike system, yet few manufacturers have implemented it as thoroughly as Aventon.
The app also provides a range of additional battery information. Alongside the current State of Health (SoH), it displays the total number of charge cycles as well as the current cell voltage.
Security Features of the Aventon Motor System
Security is another area where the Aventon app excels, and if you regularly park your bike in the city, this is where the system gets interesting. Alongside GPS tracking and a bike finder, there’s geofencing, which works in two ways. You can define safe zones in which the bike operates normally; leave one, and the system shuts down automatically. Or you can create restricted zones where the bike cannot be used at all. Setting up these zones proved impressively easy in our testing, with predefined shapes keeping the process quick.
The Aventon security package is rounded off with password protection, motion detection and an alarm function. If the bike detects unusual activity, the app immediately notifies the owner via a push notification and, if enabled, triggers an audible alarm. The alarm, however, undercuts the package: too quiet, and over too quickly.
The sensitivity for detecting unusual activity can be adjusted precisely across five levels. There’s also a transport mode, designed for situations such as carrying the bike on a rear mounted car rack, which temporarily disables motion detection to prevent false alarms.
Let’s Connect! The Community Side of Aventon
The Discover tab also gives Aventon a unique community element. Here, you’ll find suggested rides, inspiration from other riders and a rewards system with achievement badges, much like those found in Apple Health or Strava. Speaking of Strava and Apple Health, if you wish, you can also sync your recorded rides with both platforms.
Of course, no modern smart system arrives without a party trick. Here it’s called Airtime: the system automatically detects jumps and afterwards breaks down metrics such as jump distance, landing angle and impact force. Specialized got there first, and Bosch has recently joined in. Technically impressive, certainly, but in day-to-day riding Airtime feels more like a gimmick than a genuine addition.
Software Instead of Standing Still: A Major New Update Arrives on 30 July 2026
Software updates for the ACU arrive through the smartphone app and install wirelessly on the bike. Aventon has shown the capability is more than a box-ticking exercise by shipping a major update during our test period: it boosts motor performance, expands the customisation options, improves the display’s user experience and deepens connectivity with external devices.
The maximum assistance level across the four riding modes, Eco, Trail, Turbo and Auto, has been increased from 400% to 450%, while Boost mode now delivers up to 600% assistance, up from the previous 500%. At the same time, the maximum Boost duration has been doubled from 30 to 60 seconds.
RideTune, the system’s motor-tuning suite, has also grown. The app now displays the resulting assistance level as you adjust, making the effect of each change much easier to grasp. Better still, the tuning options are no longer confined to the smartphone: everything now configures directly on the bike’s display, a significant everyday improvement. Aventon has also revised the display’s menu structure, which now takes fewer steps to navigate.
The update also sweats the small stuff. The bike can now remember your preferred assistance mode and start in it every time, while owners of the compatible Current REC and Aventure Trava models can also now choose whether the lights come on automatically at power-up.
Finally, Aventon have further expanded connectivity with external devices. Action cameras can now be controlled directly from the handlebar remote, while the display shows the camera’s current status, including whether it is connected and actively recording. Aventon also claim to have improved compatibility with heart rate sensors.
The New Apple Watch Support for the Aventon ACU
The Aventon ACU isn’t limited to smartphone integration; it also offers a dedicated Apple Watch app. It allows you to lock and unlock the bike, switch it off, and record your rides, including ride time, distance, speed and heart rate. In our test, the Apple Watch integration worked reliably and exactly as Aventon claim.
Conclusions about the Aventon ACU
An intuitive user experience, a highly responsive touchscreen and extensive customisation form the core of the Aventon Control Unit’s appeal, with thoughtfully implemented security, GPS tracking and geofencing among it, adding real everyday value. Aventon also looks well past the standard feature set, from battery management and maintenance reminders to community functions, and the shortcomings run no deeper than translation polish and a missing data field per screen. The strongest argument arrived mid-test: a major software update that improved the system we were reviewing, proof that the ACU is bought once and refined continuously.
Tops
- Bright, sharp and responsive touchscreen display
- Extensive, well-executed security features
- Precise motor mapping
- Exemplary battery management with adjustable charge limit and SoH readout
- 8 years of 4G connectivity included as standard
- Continuous feature updates through regular software releases
Flops
- Occasional translation errors in the app
- Alarm is too quiet
- Maximum of two data fields per display page
For more information, head over to the Aventon website.
Words: Lars Engmann Photos: Kevin Homeister, Ale Di Lullo, Benedikt Schmidt
About the Author
Lars Engmann
Lars Engmann is an editor at 41 Publishing. His work is strongly influenced by his background as an engineer and technical writer, with his experience of driving resistance determination giving him sharp analytical skills. He is responsible for operative individual and comparison tests for E-MOUNTAINBIKE and ENDURO, with a focus on range analysis and efficiency measurements. As a specialist in optimisation and system weight, he brings his passion for precision to product evaluation. He combines technical documentation with applied performance analysis in the E-Performance segment.
