Night lights are an essential part of our lives. A quality night light can be an energy saving fixture that can increase our level of security at night as well as reduce any anxiety that children may have of the dark. By illuminating the area where it’s placed, a night light can diminish the risk of injury especially for the elderly.
There is an abundance of night lights on the market today and choosing among the many options can be challenging. Most indoor night lights fall into one of just a few categories.
- Smart night lights (those requiring wifi or Bluetooth connection and usually requiring an accompanying app)
- Dusk to dawn night lights (those that turn on automatically when the surrounding ambient light becomes sufficiently dark)
- Motion sensing night lights (those that turn on when movement is detected by a motion sensor)
There are also night lights that have a combination of these and other features which we would place into a category of their own.
We decided to try one of the many motion sensing night lights on the market. We chose the two pack motion sensing night light set by oSZANQo. What stood out to us in choosing this package is the fact that oSZANQo’s night lights claim to be able to reach 200 lumens and for an indoor night light that’s atypical, so we wanted to investigate.
Description
oSZANQo’s night lights are the plug-in variety and are sold in a package of two. The night lights are white in colour with dimensions measuring 62mm X 70mm X 23mm which allow each light to be plugged into the top receptacle of any standard outlet without obstructing the bottom one. Plugging them into the bottom receptacle however will mean you cannot use the upper one. The housing is made from ABS plastic which results in an overall weight of just 40 grams per light.
Around the outer frame of each light is a rectangular shaped ring of twelve LED lights (two on each side and one in each corner). Each LED is visible at the lower brightness settings but as you increase the level of the brightness the LEDs seem to merge into a more aesthetically pleasing single ring.
Although the product specifications indicate that the light temperature reaches a high of 6000K at full brightness, we found the colour temperature to be 3000K regardless of the brightness. This level of colour temperature will likely not activate the daylight receptors in one’s eyes making these night lights well suited for any setting within your living space.
The face of the light is unremarkable, with a motion sensor that spans over a third of the the front of the night light with two buttons situated just below with some branding just below those buttons.
Brightness
oSZANQo has made these lights simple enough to set up and operate. Short pressing the left button adjusts the brightness while a long press of the same button controls the length of time the light remains on after detecting motion. I will have more to say about both of these features below. The right button turns the light on or off.
One feature that we really like is the ability to set the light’s brightness in a range between 20 and 200 lumens. This flexibility means the lights can be placed virtually anywhere. For example, you may wish to set the brightness in a child’s room, to between 40 and 80 lumens whereas placing the night light in a corridor or larger room setting may yield the necessity to raise the level of brightness to the full 200 lumen maximum.
Setting the level of brightness is just a matter of quick pressing the left button repeatedly until the desired brightness level is reached. The light changes brightness by 20 lumens at a time, thus nine quick presses would change the brightness from 20 lumens to 200. There is however a price to be paid, literally, for the maximum level of brightness as the consumption increases from 0.5 Watts to 2.4 Watts which is more than most lights in this category.
Despite the additional cost associated with such a powerful night light, we like the fact that the option is there even if you do not choose to use it. Most indoor night lights tend to have options running in the 40 to 80 lumen range and although it is possible to find some reaching as much as 150 lumens, it’s not that common. For example, GE’s Ultrabrite Dimmable Sconce LED Night Light has a maximum lumen value of just 100 while GE’s Enbrighten LED Motion Sensing Night Light has a maximum level of just 40 lumens. At 200 lumens, the oSZANQo night light is comparable to many battery operated security camera spotlights.
Duration
Establishing the duration for the light following motion detection involves long pressing left button. As you do so, the light will blink once indicating that the duration has been set to 30 seconds, continuing to hold down the button until the light blinks a second time will set the duration to 60 seconds. You can continue pressing down the left button until it has blinked four times reaching the maximum duration of two minutes. Once again, compared to many indoor night lights, this is among the lengthier durations available for a motion sensing night light.
The motion sensor
A motion sensing night light is only as reliable as the sensor it is equipped with. Our testing confirmed the advertised motion detecting ability at an angle of 150 degrees. Furthermore, the motion sensor was able to detect movement as far away as 15 feet. Additionally, we had no occurrences of false positives or negatives demonstrating the reliability of the motion sensor’s detection capabilities. Overall, the oSZANQo night lights performed very leaving us impressed.
What we like
Colour: The colour that a night light emits can play a significant role in determining where that night light should be placed and whether or not it will impact your ability to sleep after having encountered it in the middle of the night. At 3000K, these lights will likely not impact your ability to return to sleep should you wake up during the night.
Light Range: At 200 lumens, the night lights are capable of illuminating an area of up to 15 feet quite easily. Furthermore, one can always reduce the brightness if desired.
Reaction Time: Based on our timed tests, we found that these night lights are triggered immediately making us confident that the lights could be used in circumstances where one crosses the path of the light only briefly.
Motion Sensor Range: In our primary head on test, we were able to record a distance of 15 feet before being detected by the motion sensor. We also performed secondary testing which involved standing at an angle of 45 degrees from the light at six feet to see whether or not we would be detected. Here too the lights had no problem detecting motion. Finally, we confirmed that the overall angle of detection of 150 degrees is accurate.
Power Source: The oSZANQo night lights are plug in lights and thus require an outlet. As a result, one can be limited in their placement vs their battery counterparts however no battery means you won’t incur additional expenses that are associated with a battery operated light, nor will you be bothered with the inconvenience of having to recharge the light.
Type: With the light source coming from LEDs these lights are affordable and offer a long life with a rating of 50,000 hours.
Duration: We are pleased that oSZANQo’s night lights have a duration of up to two minutes after being triggered. This provides a light source for a sufficient period of time and is on the higher end when compared to industry averages. Additionally, the ability to customize the duration in increments of 30 seconds is very useful.
What we don’t like
Build Quality: While oSZANQo’s night lights are primarily made of ABS plastic, they do not have the high quality finish of others on the market. Instead, they fall into the category of lights that have chosen to forgo premium parts in order to keep costs down. The end result, is a less durable product.
Consumption: Although the overall brightness of up to 200 lumens is something we really like, there is a cost. At their maximum brightness levels these night lights have a consumption rate of 2.4 Watts while at their lowest setting of 20 lumens the consumption is only 0.5 Watts.
Final thoughts
oSZANQo’s night lights have impressed us in both how they have performed as well as what they have to offer. The uniqueness of the 200 lumen output is rarely matched by even the largest names in the space. Although the overall build quality could be improved, its not something that would make us hesitate in recommending these night lights.
Whether you are considering a night light for yourself or perhaps for an elderly loved one, we think these night lights are a terrific option to consider.
Tell us your thoughts. Do you prefer more traditional motion sensing lights or do you prefer the expanded capabilities of a smart night light.
For information regarding pricing and availability of oSZANQo’s two-pack night light set, please click on the button below.