Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsHigh quality cable. Unacceptably fragile light bulbs.
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2019
I purchased four sets of the 48' string lights to put up over our deck in a zig-zag pattern. So far I have only opened one of the four sets, my review is based on my initial impressions and experience setting up the first string of lights.
Let's start the cable and light sockets. Seems to be solid for the price: two conductor wire (15 AWG), insulation rated for 200V and 105°C. Definitely feels sturdy and commercial grade, manufacturing quality is noticeably better than a similar version we recently purchased from Costco at a similar price. The attachment loops are more substantial than others I have seen, definitely not worried about them becoming unattached anytime soon.
One concern I had was that 3' spacing between bulbs would not provide enough light coverage , I found that it wasn't a problem for my particular zig-zag pattern and the included bulbs, but the lights do feel far apart when running a single string in a straight line. The sockets seem fine, in terms of weather resistance, although many of them felt as if the power contact was recessed further in the socket than it should be, requiring what felt like an excessive amount of force to turn the bulb far enough into the socket to light up. The sockets on other string lights that we have feel slightly smoother and accept the light bulbs without feeling like you're going quite so deep into the socket, but this may be due to tighter tolerances for greater weather proofing purposed. (I will update the review if the sockets on the other three strings perform any differently.)
One major disappointment I had about the cable was that the there is about 3' of of wire at both the beginning and end of the sting. (i.e. ~3' after the plug and before the first bulb, and ~3' after the last bulb and before the power socket for the next string of lights.) This means that every 50' there will be a 6' section without a bulb, this has the potential to cause some trouble if you are counting on evenly spaced lights across multiple strings. Not the end of the world, but definitely an opportunity for improvement. I would much rather see something like 2' on the front and 1' on the end, or 2.5'/0.5', or 1.5'/1.5', or literally any other combination as long as it adds up to 3'. Failure to maintain evenly spaced lights across multiple strings seems like it was the only major real "flaw" of the cable, and is made worse by the fact that the lights already feel slightly far apart at their regular spacing.
Overall, the cable and sockets seem well made and high quality, with the only complaint being the extra-unlit distance when connecting multiple cables.
Now, lets talk about the light bulbs. 11W incadecent bulbs, style/size A14 They are nice looking: interesting filament pattern, pleasant warm color. Dimmable (they're incandescent, so yep), and don't seem get too hot to touch even after running for a 3-4 hours straight. They seem great in theory, however, I feel like my particular batch was manufactured by the first of 'the three little pigs'... of the 16 total bulbs included in the package (15 + 1 spare): 3 were dead on arrival, 1 lit up for a moment and then brilliantly burnt out, and 2 bumped into each other and both the went out while moving a partial section of the string from one outlet to another... Additionally, 1 had a piece of glass (FOD) freely moving around within the bulb but otherwise functioned properly, and on another the filament was detached from three of the points securing it and would constantly be jiggling around but otherwise functioned properly. To reiterate, upon arrival ~20% of the bulbs didn't work; within the first 24 hours, ~40% of the bulbs didn't work, and ~50% of the bulbs didn't work or had obvious manufacturing defects.
I am hoping that this was some strange fluke, and not representative of typical product quality. I have three more sets of these lights that I have not opened up yet, but I will update the review once I get the other boxes opened up and see how many of the lights in those sets work. The company Brightech claims to have a 3-mo warranty on the bulbs so we will see how well that works and I'll also update with the outcome of the bulb replacement. Additionally, I'll plan to revisit the review in a few months once they're all setup and I've got some real use out of them.
*Fingers crossed* for the bulbs other boxes...