The media could not be loaded. This is an updated review after earlier leaving a 1-star view. More on that in a moment. I bought these lights last May. Initially I bought 3 boxes. One box from Amazon contained two boxes of lights. The other box had one set of lights in it. When that box arrived, the XMCOSY+ manufacture's box was damaged, including a heavy bent corner where it appeared it had been dropped, and a tear at the top of the box near the opening. The box arriving damaged was my first issue. The other two boxes I ordered were not damaged. All the pieces are well-packed inside a heavy-duty Styrofoam encasing. Each lampshade and solar panel unit, and each stake, comes with plastic around it. This plastic is easily removed. Although the outward box of the one set was damaged, the contents from the damaged box were fine because they were so well-packed. For this reason I did not return them. I was very impressed with the workmanship of the lampshade and solar panel unit. The glass lampshade is thick, and the crackling design, even in the daylight, is stunning. The light is well-made and well worth the price. Remove the solar panel unit from the lampshade by turning it counter-clockwise. Flip the solar panel unit over. The rechargeable battery comes pre-installed. Remove the insulating strip present on the bottom of the solar panel unit. This strip is to prevent the battery from having a connection during storage and shipping. You need to remove it or else your light won't work. Next, comes one of the best features! One of the top features I like about these lights is that you can pick from cool or warm light. It is nice to have a choice without having to buy one type or the other. To pick whether you want to cool light or warm light, simply adjust the slide bar on the bottom of the solar panel unit. When the lights arrive, the slide bar should be in the OFF position. You will have the choice of warm (W) light, which has more yellow elements in it, or cool (C) light, which has more blue elements in it. I love having this feature because I can adjust the light color depending on the season. It gives my yard a whole new look, too. As I was installing these lights in late Spring/early Summer, I picked the cool setting. I feel that looks best on warmer, humid nights, and the light looks stunning amongst my flowers. To secure the solar panel unit back into the lampshade, simply gently screw it clockwise. You do not need to turn it tight. As for assembling the rest of the pieces, it is truly a breeze. The stake comes in two pieces, with the bottom piece that goes into the ground nested inside the top piece. It takes only a few seconds to assemble the stakes and put them into the light element. I refer you to the video I've attached to this review for a demonstration. Before placing your lights into the ground, it is best to remove the lampshade from the stake to avoid the temptation of pressing the stake into the ground by pressing down on the solar panel unit. This is especially important if you have clay soil or if the ground is dry. Plus, you do not want to damage the actual solar panel. You can use a rubber mallet to gently tap the stake into the ground or just use your hands. You'll want to press the stake several inches into the ground so that it is secure and won't easily tip to the side. Afterward, place the lampshade back onto the top of the stake. The rechargeable battery may have some charge to it, so it is possible you will have some lights to come on the first night. Depending on where you live, the time of year you install these, and the weather conditions, it may take 3 or 4 days to fully charge the batteries via the sun. Most people will probably place them into the ground during the Spring or Summer, when the sun is at a higher angle and there are more hours of daylights. By the 2nd night my batteries were fully charged, and the lights shined bright for well over 9 hours, until the sun came up and they turned off. During the summer months, even if I experienced a cloudy day when the lights would not get as much of a charge, the lights still shined all night. The lights do not appear to use a tremendous amount of energy, so the battery is able to retain some charge for a few days, even in poor weather. I was very pleased after installing the lights. They look nice during the day, and at night, they put off a tremendous amount of light. They are definitely brighter than any other lights I've had. The crackled glass lampshade makes a stunning, large pattern on the ground when the lights turn on. You can easily see where you are walking. I was even able to use one to find the key to my house after I returned home at night without the porch light on. As you can see from one of the photos, the pattern that is produced measures over 3 feet in diameter. I was so pleased, I bought a 4th box of lights for my backyard garden. While the quality of the stakes is better than quality of the stakes that come with the individual lights you can buy at the big box hardware stores, the quality does not match the lampshade and solar panel unit which I discussed earlier. Although my lights were properly secured, I had two stakes break over the summer. The first broke after a family member opened their car door and mistakenly hit one of the lights that was anchored near the driveway. The stake snapped about 2" below from where the top portion goes into the lampshade. The second stake broke a right at the spot where the stake goes into the lampshade. I had mistakenly knocked the light with my weed eater. Notably, the lampshade and solar unit were fine on both stakes that broke. This speaks to their quality. Once the stakes break, you can't use them. This brings me to the second issue I had. After having two stakes to break, I decided to reach out to the company to see if they sold replacement stakes. I was happy to pay for them. First, I came to Amazon to try to contact the company. I was provided with an e-mail address. I sent an e-mail and, after two weeks heard nothing. I sent a second e-mail. Still, I did not get a response. Frustrated, I came here and left a 1-star review, briefly explaining my problem. I hoped it would get the company's attention and it did. They reached out to me on Amazon to confirm they had sent me a new set of lights. I was impressed, and I really appreciate it. The lights came quickly, and I simply replaced the two stakes that were broken. I still have two perfectly good light and solar panel elements that I wish I had stakes to go with. I am unclear whether the company offers additional stakes to purchase, but it would be nice if they did. This way I could keep some on hand should any more break. When October rolled around the days started getting shorter, I changed my light setting to warm. The yellow light shines bright, too, and looks good in the fall and winter, when plant life is dead. As the days are shorter and the weather is frequently inclement, the lights do not fully charge during the day. At the peak of the shortest days at the end of December, I noted that the lights were dimmer and lasted for about 5 to 6 hours, on average. Again, there is some variation to this from day to day, and you may have better or worse results. This does not have anything to do with the quality of the lights. They easily surpass the competition, even in terms of winter-time light quality. Also, keep in mind that if you install the lights in a shady area, this will impact how bright your lights shine and for how long - even during seasons of longer days. In conclusion, I highly recommend these lights if you want a pretty landscape, the ability to easily change from cool to warm light, bright light, and beautiful pattern. I believe the price point, even at full price, is worth it. I have brought my review up from 1-star to 4-stars. I want to continue to monitor the lights over the coming months to see how the light quality is once summer comes back around. I plan to come back here in June and provide an update. If everything is great, I will raise my review to 5-stars. Finally, after receiving the replacement light set several months ago, my intention was to come back here and update my review. I was not prompt about doing that and, regrettably, the 1-star review remained on here much longer than it should have. I apologize to the XMCOSY+ company for that. Read more
