REVIEW – It’s time to fire up that holiday spirit, and the Baung Christmas Outdoor String Sphere Lights are here to do just that! These lightweight LED lights are meant to bring a touch of class (and fun) to your holiday lightscape, but they could work just as well year-round in any outdoor space. Let’s learn more. To the review!
What is it?
The Baung Christmas Outdoor String Sphere Lights is a set of LED Christmas string lights, wrapped around spherical frames.
What’s in the box?
You’ll get four connected sphere lights in the package, which can be connected to additional sets. Warm white, cool white, and colored light styles are available.
Hardware specs
- LED lights with 8 selectable light patterns: wave, sequential, slow glow, chasing/flash, slow fade, twinkle/flash, steady on, and a combination mode that cycles through all the patterns.
- Spheres are each 20 cm in diameter.
- 50 cm drop length for each lighted line from the ball to the connecting cable.
- 1 m cable length between spheres.
- 5 m cord length.
- IP65 waterproofing (does not include plug)
Design and features
Your lighting journey begins with a tightly-packed stack of plastic and wires as shown below.
Your instructions are about as simple as it gets. No mystery to solve here.
Each Baung Christmas Outdoor String Sphere Light is delivered in two halves, all of which are connected with one set of wires and lights. Here’s a pic of the first globe separated from the pack. Note the main cable running back to the stack (first pic below), and the light string connecting the two hemispheres (second pic below). You’re going to want to carefully (and gently!) separate the pieces from the stack as you go to make sure you don’t break anything!
Once the parts are loose, they snap together via sets of plastic teeth and slots around the equator of both halves.
I noticed that sometimes those connectors can be difficult to snap into place because they’re not precisely aligned, so I employed a pair of pliers to help with the job. I did have a tab snap more than once in this process, however. Fortunately there are a number of contact points on each sphere!
Each sphere is connected to its mates by a plug, and the terminating light has an additional open plug on the end. This means that you can string multiple sets of lights together if you want. The packaging states that three sets if lights in total can be connected together.
The power source is connected to the string by another one of those plugs so that you can unplug it if you’re chaining together multiple sets. That little button to the right of the plug is a toggle between lighting modes. Eight selectable light patterns include wave patterns, chasing lights, slow fades, and the like, as well as a “steady on state.” Push the button to change the mode; the last selected mode will be retained when you turn it off and on again later.
Behold as they come alive on my workbench!
Here’s a closeup of the sphere. While I had some broken tabs during assembly, the finished pieces feel pretty solid despite their super light weight. The wound cables also feel solid.
Performance
Once you get past the unpacking and assembly of the spheres, installation is smooth sailing. The main power cord is 5 meters from outlet to the first drop light, with a meter if spacing between each drop light. This made for quick work when I hung it from the tree in my front yard. That slim power cord disappears down the tree trunk! Note that the package includes a few clear zip ties if you need them.
The main cable is not lit. Your lights begin at the drop point for each sphere connects to the main cable. The drop itself is 50 cm to the globe.
This design creates a “standalone” look for each sphere when they’re lit up in the dark since you can’t see the connecting cables. The effect is further highlighted when you experiment with the different light modes.
The lighting itself is lovely. Each drop point & sphere has about 40 LED lights that give a clean, bright glow. The different light patterns are interesting and give you options based on your personal tastes. I did find the blink mode to be super fast & aggressive, but there are plenty of options to find something that works for you.
The IP65 waterproofing has worked as advertised so far. We had a nasty weekend-long rainstorm last weekend along with a cold steady wind, and I had no issues to report with the functionality of the lights. I do have a makeshift hood I made from a bucket at the base of my tree to protect all the plugs (you can just see it in the pic below). No snow yet, but the lights themselves look like they’ll handle that just fine.
I can also see these lights being used for other year-round outdoor lighting in my backyard for parties and whatnot, but I want to see how they hold up through the holiday season first.
As a final note, the product promotion states that the Baung Christmas Outdoor String Sphere Lights also contain a built-in timer. I honestly don’t know how it works or if it is available on this model, because I have not been able to trigger it and there is nothing in the instructions regarding how you deploy it. I use timers for my external lights anyway.
What I like
- They look great, with a nice variety of light patterns to choose from
- Lightweight and easy to hang/install
What I’d change
- Requires some care in assembly to prevent breakage and/or damaging cables
Final thoughts
The Baung Christmas Outdoor String Sphere Lights are a great looking addition to your holiday lightscaping. The quality issues I experienced during assembly were unfortunate, but they don’t seem to be impacting overall performance. I initially thoght the price point was a little high, but I am having a tough time finding a similar product in this price range. We’ll see how they hold up over the extended holiday season!
Price: $52.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Baung.
