Expensive but bright enough

The Nocturne Firefly is one of the most modern and stylish outdoor solar floor lamps I have ever used. Unfortunately, even though the Firefly works flawlessly, it’s hard to recommend it to everyone due to the missing features and niceties found in much cheaper outdoor floor lamps.

Setup takes less than five minutes

When you take the Nocturne Firefly out of its box, you’ll find the lamp base, two metal rods, a solid plastic section that forms the center of the fixture’s frame, a pressure sleeve to connect the frame to the base, and the light itself. . .

Installing the lamp was a piece of cake. After filling the base with water, all you have to do is screw everything together. The only difficult step was making sure the pressure sleeve connecting the frame to the base was tight enough to ensure the two didn’t come apart.

one of 2

justin duino

justin duino

The best part of the lamp’s design is that the plastic ring in the middle of the frame makes it easy to lift, maneuver and position the Nocturne Firefly where you want it.

Then, with the lamp built and ready to go, all you need to do is turn it off in the sun. Nocturne recommends leaving it outdoors in direct sunlight for at least eight hours before first use. And if it rains while the floor lap is outside, don’t worry; the device is IP54 rated. This classification means that it is protected against dust and splashes of water. Basically, the Firefly will be fine outside, even in heavy storms.

Unfortunately, there is no way to check the Nocturne’s battery level. There is an LED notification light on the opposite side of the rope, but it only came on when the Bluetooth speaker was turned on (more on that below). It should be close to a full charge as long as the lamp has been outside for most of the day.

Controlling the lamp is incredibly easy

The Nocturne Firefly is controlled by the blue rubber cord shown above. When off, one pull turns the lamp on and sets the light to its brightest setting. A second pull turns it down to medium brightness and a third pull sets it to low. Finally, a fourth pull turns the device off.

Unfortunately, you can’t quickly switch between modes to jump from the brightest setting to the off setting. You need to pull the string down until it clicks, wait half a second, and then pull down again for the light to cycle through the modes.

While it wasn’t an inconvenience, I always kept the floor lamp on its brightest level when in use, so it would have been nice to quickly switch to the off position.

You also control Nocturne Firefly’s built-in Bluetooth speaker using the rope. Like setting up other Bluetooth speakers and accessories, pulling and holding the cord for three seconds will power on the device and start the pairing process. You’ll know everything is working because the speaker will say “power on” and “pairing.” From there, locate the device in your phone’s Bluetooth menu and connect the devices.

From an audio quality standpoint, the speaker gets the job done, but it’s not the best either. It can be loud enough for everyone in a meeting to hear the music without it sounding tinny. But if you’re looking for a speaker that sounds more than adequate, I’d recommend checking out the JBL Clip 4 or some other standalone Bluetooth speaker.

Another feature that would have been nice is the option to use two Nocturne Fireflys simultaneously to play music. I’ve been testing a couple of these solar floor lamps and while my backyard doesn’t need the help of both lights, I know some do. I could imagine the homeowner wanting to have the same song playing on both speakers in those cases.

I tried that, but even with both speakers paired to my iPhone, I could only send Spotify to one lamp at a time.

lights up the night

one of 3

justin duino

justin duino

justin duino

The Nocturne Firefly emits around 300 lumens of light at its brightest point. The second and third levels emit 150 and 50 lumens, respectively. The photos above show each lamp turned on and adjusted to the brightest level. The floor lamps didn’t light up the night, but they were more than enough to see my entire patio.

Of course, if one lamp isn’t enough, doubling up provides great light coverage.

The battery life of the Firefly depends on the brightness setting you use. At full brightness on a full charge, you can expect to get 5 hours, 10 hours at medium brightness, and 30 hours at the lowest setting.

The frame began to bend

My biggest complaint about the Nocturne Firefly is that its frame started to sag after several weeks outdoors. While the top and bottom thirds of the floor lamp are made of metal, the middle section is made of sturdy plastic. I thought this part would be sturdy enough to stand the test of time, but before I knew it, the entire product began to bend.

Fortunately, pulling the top half of the Nocturne lamp back was enough to temporarily fix the problem. I don’t think the lamp will ever be completely straight again (especially over long periods), but straightening the lamp every month will help keep it looking like new.

Should you buy the Nocturne Firefly lamp?

The Nocturne Firefly is apparently the complete package if you don’t compare it to the competition. It’s bright enough to light up my backyard, the battery life is great, it’s stylish, and the Bluetooth speaker is good enough.

But when comparing it to other outdoor solar floor lamps, you’ll find that the Nocturne Firefly is significantly more expensive, doesn’t offer a remote control, can’t be plugged in for charging (not ideal if you have multiple days of bad or cloudy weather), the light it cannot change colors and the lamp does not offer the option to turn on automatically at night.

It would be much easier to recommend the Nocturne Firefly Lamp if it was half the price. There’s nothing wrong with the floor lamp, I really enjoyed my time with the review units, but I recommend waiting to buy the Nocturne Firefly until it’s on sale or its price drops below $274.99.