I had a tough couple of weeks at work over summer, so I took some of the frustration out in my garden. One section of my yard was long overdue for a rediscovery of what is under the overgrowth anyways.
Quntis was kind enough to offer up Solar Lights for the garden and I thought they would come in handy in that newly cleared section. I have previously reviewed the Quntis Solar Deck Lights and some twelve months on, they are still going strong.
First Impressions
To be fair, these are simple, almost no frills solar garden lights.
The build quality is neither exceptional or poor, just fairly middle of the road. Put it this way, I would not be taking a hammer to them to drive them into the ground. At the same time, I would not recommend that even if they are built tougher. That is just silly.
As one would expect they come with the standard metal riser with the pointy plastic ground stake inserted inside for transportation.
There is some assembly required – removing the plastic tab that disconnects the circuit and putting the light onto the riser and the ground stake. It takes ten seconds to do, fifteen if you are taking your time.
In Use
Quntis recommends charging them in full sunlight for 8 to 12 hours before first use. I just left mine in the position that I thought would get the most amount of sunlight and not really worry about it.
Firstly to set the expectations, these are strictly ambience pathway lights. If you are looking for something along the lines of security or floodlights, these are not the lights you are looking for. They are marketed for adding lighting and giving off beautiful starburst shadows on the ground.
After a good week or so of having these in different positions in the garden, making sure they are getting the sunlight to charge up during the day, how do I find these?
When they are working, they are pretty good. They cast a good ambient light and the lovely pattern as described. When they are not working, they are just a dull glow that barely casts light beyond itself.
I kept an eye on things, and it seems the issue is the battery charge. Despite the claims of 12 hours of continuous illumination, I am getting at best of about 2 hours before the brightness goes. Where the units are located are getting the most sunlight possible around my garden already so it is not really working out for me.
Also a really odd phenomenon I observed is that the Solar Lights flicker when my phone is close to it. You can see this in the video below and it stops when I move the phone away.
Other Features
The Quntis Solar Lights have a IP65 rating which will means they are dust tight and is protected from water jets from any direction.
Quntis also markets that their solar panel is bigger and has >95% monocrystalline silicon, claiming the light conversion rate is increased by 30%. The inbuilt battery is 700 mAh with a claim of up to 12 hours of continuous illumination.
Conclusions
Unfortunately despite the marketing and the aesthetics, the Quntis Solar Light is of very limited use for me. Perhaps they will be better if you have better direct sunlight for charging them.
These are available on Amazon for A$73.99 and directly from Quntis.
DRN would like to thank Quntis for providing the review unit.
