File this one under #firstworldproblems…
Shopping on Amazon has become increasingly annoying over the past couple of years thanks to a tidal wave of phony reviews that skew product ratings. I call them “phony” because they were written by people who got the item for free or at a steep discount, and all Amazon required was that people state “I received this product for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion” somewhere in their review. As a seller, you can sell a completely shitty product and still have great reviews if you provide enough freebies in exchange for “honest” reviews. And these reviews have been proven to be overwhelmingly positive, because (duh!) the reviewers want to continue to get free/discounted stuff. Here, check this out:
By Kermit “Indieviewer” Jones, Jr. on September 25, 2016
WHAT IS THIS, AND WHY MIGHT I WANT IT?: These are stick up lights with motion sensor that are convenient for closets and small spaces where you just need occasional light, but don’t want to go through the process of wiring or having a plug. They have built-in rechargeable batteries, and the LEDs last for for a surprisingly long time.
FIRST IMPRESSION: Nice, clean white appearance. Wasn’t too sure about the plastic “hanger” but it does a good job of letting you pop up anywhere temporarily, with even a thumbtack. Pretty bright, given their small size. Silver trim is a nice touch.
ASSEMBLY: Not much to it. You can hang them on a wall or mount them with the included double-sided 3M mounting tape. To recharge the battery, just twist the light off of the base (sort of like a smoke detector). Goes back on very easily.
FUNCTION: Charging is easy, and the light glows red to let you know. It goes off when charging is done. If you see the video, it shows that even after 5-6 hours of being left on, there is still enough useable light. So if you’re just using these for a few minutes at a time, expect it to last a very long time. The switch is clearly labeled with On, Off, Motion.
I have mine in a closet where we keep over the counter medication in the basket. These lights work well because they automatically come on when I open the door, allowing me to see without having to pull the basket out of the closet. However, while the motion sensor works, it’s not as consistent as I would like, which is why I’m taking off 1 star.
FIT & APPEARANCE: These lights are 3 inches in diameter. White plastic with white light and nice silver trim. There are 5 LEDs that are very bright.
FEATURES: I don’t want to duplicate the description, but a few things to note:- Rechargeable battery! (most of these type lights require AA or AAA)- Convenient to hang or mount- Easy to twist off for recharging- Glow lets you know when it’s charging- Motion sensor is a bonus
BUILD QUALITY: Really good build quality. They don’t feel “cheap” which is nice.
WHAT YOU GET: Two lights with base. Two hangers. Two mounting tape pieces. Two micro-USB charging cords (which is awesome since many manufacturers cheap out on this!). Instructions.
WHAT YOU DON’T GET: No complaints here!
PRICING & VALUE: For the price (and even with the motion sensor issues), this is a good deal. While you may find some that are cheaper, they normally require batteries. The rechargeable batteries, with the 2 included USB cables, make this a really good deal.
NEGATIVES: My only issue is that the motion sensor seems to be a bit random. About 25% of the time it doesn’t work or it is delayed. Not a huge issue for me given the other features, but it is the one thing keeping me from 5 stars.
BOTTOM LINE: Super convenient, perfect size, and rechargeable motion sensor light for those hard to reach dark places.
Don’t forget to check out the video for some other comments that may not be here.
Hey folks! Reviews are a tricky thing… I mean, who do you trust? I also realize that a review of a free product may be considered fundamentally different from that of a product for which one has paid. However, I also believe such reviews can be useful when the review process is respected. I’ve tried to do that here because I want to help others in their decision making process. This product was provided as a sample for my honest and unbiased review, but I hope the detail I have contained herein provides legitimacy in helping you decide whether or not to purchase, regardless of my rating. Please leave any comments below and I’ll get to them as soon as I can.
I can appreciate that he tries to appeal to our skeptical nature with that disclosure at the end, but holy shit…this guy’s hardcore. Still, I had to check FakeSpot.com out of curiosity and what do you know? They graded it an “F” with an estimated 56% of biased reviews. Needless to say, I didn’t end up buying one.
Suddenly, in October Amazon did what we thought was impossible: they banned incentivized reviews!
Amazon is cracking down on biased customer reviews
Amazon updated its community guidelines today to prohibit so-called “incentivized reviews,” which are customer reviews of a product that was received for free or at a discount in exchange for an online write-up. The company says these types of reviews make up a tiny fraction of overall Amazon.com reviews. Yet studies have shown that incentivized reviewers are less likely to give products negative feedback and review hundreds of products on average, potentially affecting the overall sales performance of otherwise mediocre items.
They won’t remove all previous biased reviews, but they’ll apparently do some cleaning-up in that regard. O happy day! Now I can read a review of a $3 keychain flashlight and know that the six-page review was written by a genuine crazy person, not someone who got it for free.