MPOWERD, a brand based out of the U.S. has been known to offer solar-based solutions to the users, by launching solar-powered lights. The entire family of Luci lights include Luci original, Luci EMRG, Luci Lux, Luci Americana, Luci Color, Luci Color Essence, Luci Base Light, Luci Outdoor 2.0, Luci Candle, Luci Solar String Lights, and Luci Connect. The last one is what we got from the company to review.
The Luci Connect, as the name suggests, is a connected light. While the core functionality is the same, i.e. taking advantage of the solar light and charging itself, Luci Connect can be connected with a smartphone and controlled from there, and it would show the remaining charge percentage and the number of hours left for the light to work on its battery for a particular number of lights activated.
The Luci lights have an array of LED lights arranged in a pattern and in the Luci Connect, these are a total of 36 lights that are all facing inwards to keep the glow in one direction, and while one side of the disk has the solar panels to charge the included battery, the other side is inflatable – you need to blow air into it and there isa cylindrical shape created to light up from the LED lights. The entire thing looks amazing, and bright enough with 250 lumens of brightness, which is great enough to light up even a dark room.
A single press of button would turn the light on, and you can switch between a few solid colours with the same button, and even turn off the Luci Connect with the same button. But, that’s not how the smart functionality of the light. Let’s talk about the MPOWERD app and what it offers.
Once the light is turned on, it’s Bluetooth is activated and the phone would be easily connecting with the light through the MPOWERD app. Once that happens, you have the options to control the light fully with the brightness control, color control, scheduling, checking the battery life, and turning the light on/off.
Scheduling can be done so that you don’t have to manually turn the light on or off, and timers can be set as well. The app also comes with the mood setting where you can set the light colors based on your mood, and to get you started, the app already has two mood settings preset and you can create your own customized moods.
While you can always see the approximate amount of battery left with the number of lights on the top of the panel, the app gives you a better estimation. When you have the lights on the strongest, or the lightest, the app calculates the number of hours or minutes the lights would be on before the battery gets discharged. While it mostly relies on solar power, you can still charge the Luci Connect from a regular power source with the USB port given on it. The same USB port would be helpful in sending out power to a smartphone or accessory around and use the Luci Connect as a power bank in case of emergencies.
Overall, this is a rather useful accessory than a good looking one. These things are meant to be perfect for campers, for travellers, and for someone who likes geeky yet unique products. The price of $64.95 won’t seem really much when you look at what the light offers, with the smart functionality and also the loads of colors it can change itself into based on the mood. The Luci Connect is one of the big number of unique lights offered by MPOWERD and so far, looks like the best one too.
