[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] The Luci Explore is a neat little gadget and just was I was hoping for to charge my gear during hikes and camping. It’s super light, easy to stash in your pack for a quick speaker and light, easy to plug your gear into, easy to look at, and PERFECT for super sunny Arizona adventures. I love that you can change the colors on it for “mood” settings, and the wave/natural sounds as a soothing wake up alarm are a great addition, and one of my favorite parts. I also enjoyed the different color options, from bright red, to standard “light” colored, to a turquoise-ish to green. Added bonus – for a horse person – it fits in a saddle bag, in case you just can’t live without background music to your ride ;) I had really been looking for a solar powered charger for years before coming across the Luci, it was generally price that kept me from investing in one for so long. My most recent solo camp trip with no service was a particularly great opportunity to test it out. For charging, it’s great. But I had a few struggles that keep me from giving it a higher review. First, I downloaded the Mpowered App necessary to control the Luci. There are a few options in App – Brightness, Color, Mood, Schedule, Wake-up, and Speaker. The two things I really had trouble with was connecting my iPhone to the speaker, and getting it to actualy charge from the light. It didn’t always register that the phone was plugged into it. Both of which took some troubleshooting and I reached out to the MPowered team for assistance who was super helpful and responsive to my struggles. I will second other reviews though in the speaker sound is kind of grainy, but since my main goal for this is light and a charger while camping, it isn’t much of a deal breaker. The Luci is completely controlled from your phone, which means you have to find your phone and navigate to the app when you want to change anything. Somehow it seems like it is upside down when you flip it over to charge it, since the plastic bottom seems like a top, but you have to flip it to get the solar plate in the sun. It almost seems like it could have some little legs to prop it up off the ground/table. The real question, would I buy it again, or recommend from a friend? Yes, it’s a great charger and nightlight. But I think I’d like to see a few modifications before giving a 5-star, YES AWESOME -everything-I-ever-wanted review.
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