Nanoleaf Solar Garden Lights: premium atmospheric solar-powered lighting for the garden

The Solar Garden Lights are Nanoleaf’s first real step in fully autonomous solar garden lighting, without WiFi, bridge or socket nearby. Each lamp has eight flexible light stems with an LED at the end, with which you can illuminate your borders, path or terrace in colorful light. The set clearly aims at atmospheric accent lighting, not at brightly illuminating an entire garden.

What makes these garden lights especially interesting is the combination of a solar panel, built-in battery, twilight sensor and a remote control that can control multiple lights at the same time. You place them once, set the color, scene and timer and then they do their work automatically as soon as it gets dark. In this review I look at the practical experience, the operation with the remote control and the downside of the lack of Nanoleaf app support.

Nanoleaf Solar Garden Lights in short

The Solar Garden Lights from Nanoleaf are compact garden lamps with eight LEDs per fixture, which can display both solid colors and dynamic multi-colored scenes. You can choose from eight solid RGB colors, eleven animated scenes and different white tones between approximately 2850 and 3150 kelvin for warm to neutral white light. Thanks to an IP65 certification, the lamps are resistant to rain, dust and snow and are therefore suitable for permanent outdoor use.

The set is offered as standard in a two-pack, but there is also the option to purchase a 6 or 12 pack at an extra discount. Each lamp is equipped with its own solar panel and built-in rechargeable battery, so they are always supplied with power. Although this lighting is not considered ultra-smart, as the lights are controlled by a remote control, there are still some smart features that make this accent lighting attractive. You can add the Nanoleaf atmosphere to your garden in an affordable way.

Contents of the box

Nanoleaf supplies everything in the basic set to get started immediately. In the box of the two-pack you will find:

• Two Solar Garden Lights with eight LEDs each
• Two solar panels with built-in rechargeable battery
• Short and long tubes to adjust the height
• Ground stakes for both the lamps and the solar panels
• A remote control
• Two AAA batteries for the remote control
• Screws and plugs if you want to screw parts into place instead of drilling them into the ground
• A concise paper manual

Installing Nanoleaf Solar Garden Lights

Installing the Solar Garden Lights is simple and takes little time. You place the light sticks in the ground at the desired location with the supplied pins. Then you connect them to the solar panel. It goes without saying that the location of the solar panels is essential for proper functioning.

Therefore, place the solar panel in a place where there is sufficient daylight. This does not necessarily have to be full sun, but the more light, the more efficient the charging process. The cable between the panel and the lamps is long enough so that you can also place the panel at a distance where it may receive a little more sunlight.

Bend the flexible arms at the bottom into the desired shape for a playful or calmer effect. The lighting can best be compared to a bouquet of flowers, where the light rods form the flower buds. By fanning it out, a flower-like bouquet effect is created.

After that it is mainly a matter of switching on with the remote control. Your garden will be provided with mood lighting within a few minutes.

Operation without Nanoleaf app

Unlike almost all other Nanoleaf products, the Solar Garden Lights do not work with the Nanoleaf app and do not have a WiFi or Thread connection. Officially, Nanoleaf states that this device is not compatible with the mobile or desktop app, nor is there any connection with HomeKit, Matter or other smart home platforms. Instead, you control the lamps via physical buttons on the solar panel and especially with the included remote control.

Remote control for solar lighting

The included remote control can control up to 24 lights simultaneously and offers buttons for brightness, color selection, switching between solid colors and animated scenes and setting the timer. Functionally this works fine, but it makes the lighting more of a stand-alone solution than a full-fledged link in a smart home.

The remote control itself is functional, but not perfect. The choice of black is remarkable because the remote control is difficult to read in the dark. This means it takes some time to find the right button for the right function. The manual and the icons on the remote are quite concise, so in the beginning you mainly experiment to set the brightness, color, scenes and timer at the right time. Fortunately, the online manual for the Nanoleaf Solar Garden Lights more clarity.

Automatic sunset timer

The Solar Garden Lights have a built-in twilight sensor that detects when it gets dark. As soon as the light intensity drops below a certain threshold, the lamps switch on automatically, so you don’t have to worry about it. You can then use the remote control to select a timer of four, six or eight hours, after which the lighting switches off automatically.

In practice, this means, for example, that you leave the lights on for six hours from sunset. This timer function helps to save battery power and prevent the lights from burning all night long when no one is in the garden. In the summer you will undoubtedly set the time shorter and in the spring and autumn possibly longer because the sun sets earlier.

When operating the lamps with the remote control, the lighting will flash briefly to indicate that the settings on the device have been adjusted. During the day it is not possible to switch on the lights; However, you can briefly view which scenes or colors you have set, but then the lighting switches off again because it is not yet dark enough.

Solar panel and battery life

Each solar panel is equipped with an integrated lithium battery of approximately 1200 milliampere hours, which is charged as soon as the sun shines. Depending on the strength of the sunlight, charging via the panel takes approximately six to ten hours, after which the lamp can burn for a full evening and night. Our tests showed that the lights can also stay on for several days on a single charge, thanks to the short 4-hour timer.

Nanoleaf’s solar panel works efficiently and charges the battery even in cloudy weather. The quality and capacity are excellent and cannot be compared with the solar lamps available in garden centers or at Action.

USB-C as a stopgap solution

The Solar Garden Lights from Nanoleaf have a USB C connection as a backup, with which you can charge the battery in about four hours if the weather is bad for a longer period of time. This offers a solution if you also want to use this outdoor lighting in the winter, when the sun is not shining to the maximum.

Disadvantages and points of interest

A downside for current Nanoleaf users is undoubtedly the lack of app integration and smart home connections. This means you cannot use scenes in the Home app, automations based on presence or weather triggers, for example. This appears to be a conscious choice on Nanoleaf’s part to save battery life, as there is no power-hungry wireless chip to constantly listen to WiFi or Thread traffic.

Another point of interest is the way the scenes function. There are eleven animated scenes available, but the documentation doesn’t provide much clarity on whether you can freeze a scene so that it always starts the same way, or whether the system will automatically switch between different animations throughout the evening. For users who want complete control and predictability, this feels less advanced than what you’d expect from the Nanoleaf app and other smart bulbs.

Buy Solar Garden Lights from Nanoleaf

The Solar Garden Lights from Nanoleaf can be purchased at various webshops and have a recommended retail price of 69.99 for a 2-pack. There is also the option to purchase a 6 or 12 pack extra cheaply.

Nanoleaf Solar Garden Lights