Vont Solar Spotlight 2-Pack: Buy on Amazon
**Use discount code “DIY10APP” at checkout for an additional 10% off your purchase.**
Hey, everyone. I’m out here in the garage, and what we’re going to be doing today is reviewing this solar spotlight by Vont.
So, I was contacted a while back by Vont to review their solar spotlight product…and full disclosure, I actually did not purchase this product myself – it was shipped to me for free for the purposes of this review. Regardless of that fact, I’m still going to do as impartial review of their product as possible. So, let’s get into it.
Who is Vont?
I like to start off these reviews by providing a little background on the companies behind their products to verify their credibility. In researching Vont, I checked out their online presence starting with their website at vont.com. I was surprised to find that Vont has 35 products listed with the majority being focused on lighting.
Vont also has decent-sized followings on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and their latest posts on those platforms are fairly recent. On their Facebook page, it’s mentioned that they’ve been in business since 2014.
Many of Vont’s products are available on Amazon, where they’ve received thousands of reviews. From what I can tell, their average user rating is above 4.5 stars. In general, they seem to have established a very professional web presence.
Unboxing
Alright, so let’s start off by looking at the packaging of this product. Now, this is the two-pack of the solar spotlights…they come in a single, a two-pack or a four-pack.
So, it comes in a very simple compact cardboard box for this two-pack. So, we’re just gonna go around the box and take a look at the various labeling that’s on here. Right on the front, it says “Solar Spotlight 2-pack”. VNT-SS2X – that’s the model number. Right there is their url or their web address – vont.com. Logo right there…little depiction of the spotlights right there.
Come around to this side…pretty much the same information…solar spotlight 2-pack and their web address.
Back here are the product specifications and the dimensions are spelled out here. So, we’ll talk a little bit about that as we get more into reviewing this product.
On this side, you’ve got their url again or their web address vont.com. Right here, all their socials are listed. We’ve got their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and then also their support contact information.
So, you see right here on the top, we’ve got “solar-powered”, “ambient light sensor”, and then “Waterproof IPX7”…these spotlights will only come on when it’s dark out. Waterproof IPX7…we’ll talk a little bit more about that and what that means as we get into review of this product.
On the bottom, it says down here “Designed in USA Made in China”. Ok, so let’s go ahead and open the box. I’m going to set this aside for a second and take a look at these two cards that are included in here.
This first card includes some instructions for how to turn it on, how to the change light mode, how to mount it…it also talks a little bit about the waterproof capabilities of this light. Also, it mentions here to place the device in a spot with no shade or eve, so very important to do that…and then it automatically turns on when it detects enough darkness then the support information down there.
So, it says here “flip me”, so it talks about becoming an insider get free stuff exclusive deals and there’s also a lifetime warranty on this product so there’s our information down there if you want to become an insider.
The second card talks about their lifetime warranty…they want you to register the product within 72 hours of opening the package…there’s their warranty address right there…you can do that on their website…and then if you want to become a vip club member, you can do that.
We’ve got a few items in here…we’ll go through these one-by-one. So, here is one of their spotlights…now, the ones that I have are the cool white version. They also have a warm white version.
You get one of these stakes and then you get some screws and wall anchors right there…you get three of those.
Closer Look
Alright, let’s take a closer look at the spotlight and all the components that come with it. Right here is a spotlight head…you can see on the side we’ve got the Vont logo…got a solar panel on top.
In the front, you can see we’ve got a spotlight effect created by this cluster of lights and there’s just a bunch of individual lights surrounding it. It’s also got a cover on the front to keep the water out.
Ok, we’ve got a stand with a plastic thumb screw here, and you can hear that noise…it’s got some ribbing in there so that it will stay in place once you lock this down. Even though the thumb screw itself here is plastic, there is metal on the inside.
This stand comes with two mounting holes, and the package of screws…there are three in here plus the three anchors, so you get one extra of each…that’s pretty nice.
On the back, we’ve got a power button that controls the power…turning it on and off and then also switching between your modes. There are two modes: One for less brightness and the other one obviously for more brightness.
Here’s the stake that comes with it…very simple plastic stake that doesn’t seem to twist all that much. You see right here to install it on the bottom of the stand there’s only one way that it mounts…so it won’t mount this way…it won’t go all the way in. Once it’s on there, it’s on there it’s pretty tight.
Now, since they come in a two-pack, I consider these one product. So, I’m going to open this second one up to see if it works the same as the other one.
It pretty much looks the same…nothing different about the two products…there’s consistency in the design and the build. Same ribs in there.
I got this turned on to the first light mode…go to the second light mode…and i’ll turn it off. I’ll do the same thing with this one…first light mode…second light mode…and off.
Here’s a brief look at the internals of the spotlight which can be accessed by removing the five screws on the front with the 5/64” hex key. One of the reasons I opened the case is that the power button went out of alignment and stopped clicking after dropping one of the spotlights on the floor. I simply opened the case to realign the button, closed the spotlight back up and it proceeded to function normally.
To mount the spotlights without the stake it’s best to first remove the stand from the spotlight head by undoing the thumb screw. Be careful to not lose the nut, though.
Specifications
Let’s dig a little bit deeper and talk about the specs:
– Height w/ stake: 12.2”
– Spotlight head: 4.2” x 5.5”
– Weight: 9.3 oz.
– Light output: 50 lumens in low mode, 100 lumens in high mode
– Lighting angle: 120°
– Power source: 2000 mAH rechargeable battery (Duration: 6 hrs in low mode, 12 hrs in high mode)
– IPX7 waterproof
– Weather resistant: -20°C to 60°C (-4°F to 140°F)ive
Under a Spotlight…
Alright, so since we have all the technical details out of the way, we’ll run some tests now to wrap this up.
I staked the two spotlights in the ground about six to eight feet apart and about two feet from the wall, pointing them at an angle to the wall. The closest light was turned on the lowest light output setting and the farthest light was turned on the highest light output setting.
The lights turned on automatically around 8 pm. I checked the output using a lux, or luminous flux, meter app installed on my phone, reading light output about 1 foot away. The closest light read 195 lux and the farthest read 420 lux. I’m not quite sure of the accuracy of these readings, regardless the difference between the two light outputs was noticeable
10:00 PM
Closest light: 149 lux
Farthest light: 273 lux
Midnight
Closest light: 111 lux
Farthest light: 204 lux
1:00 AM
Closest light: 103 lux
Farthest light: 141 lux
6:25 AM
I got up about 6:25 AM and stumbled downstairs to check on the lights…both had turned off automatically around 6:15 AM
Closest light: 62 lux
Farthest light: 4 lux (barely lit)
I mounted one of the lights about six feet up and pointed it at the ground. Here’s how it looked on the two settings.
I centered one of the lights about a foot and a half in front of a maple tree in my backyard. Here’s how it looked on the two settings. The light had been turned on for about two hours.
I place both the lights in front of the maple tree, about a foot and a half away and off-center to the left and the right. Here’s how they looked on the two settings. The lights have been turned on for about two hours.
For the last test, I submerged one of the lights in a bucket of water for an hour to verify IPX7 standard compliance.
After the hour passed, I removed it from the bucket and tested its function…it showed no signs of having been compromised.
Final Thoughts
On the DIY Apprentice wrench rating scale, I’m going to give these solar spotlights a 4.5 out of 5.
Pros
- I like the design of these lights…it seems like they would look good in just about any landscape.
- The light sensor was very responsive…the lights turned off and on as expected, and the pair turned on within a minute of each other at sunset.
- I also like that it can be mounted off the ground or staked in the ground…and it didn’t seem to be affected by water.
Cons
- One negative is that I thought the light output could be a bit brighter on the lowest setting, especially since the lights run for significantly less time on the highest setting. Pairing the lights is an alternative, though. I could see this possibly being an issue in the fall and winter months when the sun sets several hours earlier in North America, for example.
A disclaimer I’ll add is that I only used these lights for two weeks, so there are still some question marks around durability, longevity, and whether the plastic housing will maintain its color and sheen when left to the elements. Overall, this looks like a good product that worked exactly as specified.
Vont Solar Spotlight 2-Pack: Buy on Amazon
**Use discount code “DIY10APP” at checkout for an additional 10% off your purchase.**
