I bought the product and tested it. Here's my review:

Did the product work as described: Yes
Was it well constructed: Yes
Were there problems: Yes
Problem: Battery gave out after 2 weeks.
Fix: Opened the control unit up and replaced the poor battery with a dependable one.
Fix Requires: Basic knowledge of electronics, soldering iron.

If you purchase these lights (and many of the other solar powered devices), be prepared to swap out the battery. By swapping, I mean removing the soldered battery and replacing it with a decent one.

One of the most annoying things about solar powered lights and other items is the batteries are either frequently underpowered or gradually fail after relatively little use. Such is the case with these lights which failed after only 2-3 weeks of use. However, the fix is easy if you are handy with tools:replace the bad battery with a new rechargeable dependable battery. I did this and immediately was thrilled with how nice the lights operated and have operated ever since. I've had the lights for over 2 months now and, after the fix, they are working well and I am completely satisfied with them. There is ample wire to string the lights almost anywhere, and the solar panel means you don;t need to worry about an electrical hookup. Lights have a nice warm, not cool, glow to them. -- Ryan Best

Tips:
- Solar powered devices require the solar panel to be aimed directly at the sun for as long as possible in order to get the maximum charge possible.
- Do not put the solar panel in the shade. Make sure you check the angle of the solar panel for optimum sun charging.
- Wipe the solar panel off every week or two. A little dirt on it can significantly reduce the solar charge capacity.
- In all likelihood, you will need to replace the battery every year as the battery will wear out eventually. After replacing the battery, your lights will be
as strong as before.

Purchased this lights in March 2017 to add a bit of "ambiance" to my apartment balcony.

First off, with the generalities. This string of lights has 30 bulbs, spread out ~5" apart, with ~4.5' of cable from the main unit to the first bulb. By my math that's not quite 20', but I found this length of lights to be perfectly suited for my small ~4x8' balcony railing when hung/draped with zip ties. The main body (with the solar panel/controls) was also pretty easy to attach to railing with zip ties, too.

The lights are white, with a warm hue similar to your "standard" incandescent light bulb. (Not quite the yellow in the seller-provided photos). They have various settings including blinking, alternating, glowing modes to suit your mood--I prefer the regular 'all on' mode myself.

The lights can be left to turn on automatically when it gets dark, or you can choose to leave them off. Just know you can't turn them on if there's too much light out. Going to a dark closet works fine for testing these out of the box. The battery lasts a surprisingly long time, in my experience always staying on until the wee hours of of the night (3-4 am, though they are dim by that time.)

But here's the money for y'all still on the fence--these things are durable! From the day I have recieved these, they have been up--and have stayed up--on my balcony. They have been up through sweltering heat of a Houston summer, and the pounding rain and humidity of Hurricane Harvey--and still turn on faithfully every night.

As far as issues and problems are concerned, there are two.

1) Sometimes, I find that the lighting mode will have changed on its own from the 'solid' mode. It's easily fixed by just hitting the 'mode select' switch, and may just be related to my railing bumping against the buttons on the main unit. It's a little annoying to keep fixing, since there's no remote controls.

2) Through time, and after the aforementioned Texas Summer/Hurricane season, the solar panel on the main unit has developed a hazy appearance. It doesn't seem to affect the functionality of the lights (as they still turn on automatically and last through the night,) but it's not as pretty as before. It doesn't bother me since the panel faces away from me and I never see it.

Overall, this is a cute little string of waterproof lights that turns on automatically at night, that are prefect for adding a bit of ambiance to any balcony or outdoor setting. Yeah, the panel will get kind of hazy after being outside, and yeah, you'll need to change it back to your preferred setting every once in a while. But compared to the fact that these things lived through a HURRICANE... For 8 bucks, what more could you want?

5/5

I had purchased solar globe string lights before and enjoyed them, so I was thrilled to get this set from Icicle. They are very well made, came nicely wrapped (so easy to unwind) in a cardboard box to keep them safe (and nice for gift giving if you'd like!). They work so easily and are a super fun touch to our outdoor decor. The solar box has a power switch to allow you to shut them off if you aren't in the mood for your lights to be on. Also included is a control for different modes of display, everything from solid-on to flashing and rotating patterns that give these beautiful glass globes their warm look. These are great during the holidays, but also perfect for warm summer nights. We have ours out on a rock wall near our hot tub and they give such a cozy ambiance. We are super pleased with the high quality of these solar lights and highly recommend them.

The light bulbs are hard plastic .They do not seems to be broken easily. The charging panel about the size of a credit card, square, about an inch thick. The two buttons are on the back. 1st one is for the power. Second button is for lighting mode. I use it indoor. The panel is put behind the glass window and charges just fine. The rechargeable battery is replaceable (AA size). You gotta replace with those rechargeable kind, otherwise the panel won't charge the regular AA battery.

I ordered two strands to string up on my back patio and they are adorable! They come with stakes that fit into the ground for mounting the solar panels but the stakes are also removable if you plan to string them up the way i have. I used some double sided tape to secure the solar panels outside and for one strand I was able to just place it on the rafter..fit perfectly and charges nicely. Light lasts all night and takes zero electricity...win win!