Customer Reviews

Kandle by Ozeri LED Book Light for the Amazon Kindle (1st and latest generation), and other eBook readers - in Black

5 star:		(121)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Just received the Kandle and it is a neat, compact design. I already own a Mighty Bright and an M-Edge light, for comparison below.

Pros:
- Very lightweight (partly because of the button batteries).
- Compact, stores nicely.
- Great for a bare Kindle - fits perfectly on the top edge and provides adequate illumination for the screen.

Cons:
- Substantial falloff of light on the bottom half of the Kindle. Sufficient for reading, but a noticeable difference in intensity and could be a strain on old or tired eyes; really noticeable when clipped to a cover.
- Won't work (very well) on a Kindle with a cover that uses straps. I have several M-Edge covers currently, and all are too thick to attach the clip with any stability over cover and Kindle together. Clipping on the folded back puts it too far away to adequately illuminate even the top half of the screen, and clipping it on the Kindle directly between the cover and Kindle stretches the straps and risks damaging the rear skin if your Kindle has one. It does work on Kindle covers with the Amazon-type covers with just the metal spine clips (and no straps), but I avoid those because of potential damage to the Kindle frame (and you should too). Have an Oberon cover coming*, so could be better suited to this design - we shall see; I expect any cover thick enough to protect the Kindle would be too thick to use this light.
- Don't have one, so this is a guess, but based on the K2 results I would think would be marginally (if that ) adequate for a DX - just too much difference in light at the bottom of the screen.

Neutral: Battery life currently unknown, but the button 2032 batteries are more expensive than AAAs and are not rechargeable

For neat, light weight, trim design and compactness, I give the Kandle a thumbs-up. For practical use and good screen illumination on covered Kindles (which I suspect is the majority), the Mighty Bright and M-Edge e-Luminator lights are superior Kindle lights, although not as cool looking!

*Addendum: The light DOES fit on the top (1/4") edge of the Oberon cover over the Kindle, so it is usable, but light falloff on the lower half of the screen is significant. Much less illumination that even the M-Edge light, which is just adequate. Great design, marginal functionality.

Length:: 2:06 Mins

Sorry audio quality of the video is not that good...forgot to use the Yetti microphone.

Anyway, great product!

I would've gone with the white Kandle, but I had a Black Kindle cover/skin so I chose this one. Overall, the Kandle is perfect! It feels sturdy enough to just throw it in my pack or put it in my pocket without worrying about it breaking. The 2 LED's provide enough illumation to light up the whole screen without bothering people around you yet at teh same time, lighting up the screen enough for you to be able to easily read. Now, I've read some people complaining about how the light isnt bright enough, or that the light isnt spread out well. In my opinion, those people probably are tryiing very hard to find something to complain about. I found the Kandle to be bright enough; when you're about to read at night, let your eyes adjust to the dark setting, and you'll find the Kandle to provide enough light for you to be able to read everything easily. I've purchased about four other booklights previous to this, and this is my favorite without a doubt.

I Love this Light! I love how it is so small and portable! I travel alot and this is the most practical light for the Kindle I've seen or used- its small, lightweight, portable, durable, and it gets the job done. I'd recommend this for anyone who loves to read at night.

I received this as a present, but after using for a few nights, I loved it! So I bought one for my wife. Now she takes it everywhere she goes. We both agree that the Kandle is a fantastic light that fixes alot of the headaches experienced from other book lights. Overall, the Kandle seems to be a A+ in terms of build quality and design. The clamp is not to tight but not to loose so it fits snugly on the Kindle. It also has nice pads so that it won't scratch. The light is sufficient enough for most situations. I did read a few reviews saying how its not bright enough but my wife and I found the lighting to be perfect. If it was any brighter, it would be like shining a flashlight at people around you while you're reading. I also love the fact that this does not glare, and even if it does it can be easily adjusted. This is a very well-thought product that does what it is supposed to do. I'd recommend this to ANYONE who has a Kindle.

The kandle is downright awesome! I've went through about 5 book lights looking for the perfect light for my kindle, but none of them seemed to be the perfect one. or at least until I bought the Kandle. Other book lights had bad qualities that really out-weighed the benefits, such as hotspots, glare, heavy, portable.... but the Kandle had all the perfect qualities i was looking for and I am glad to say that my exhaustive search is over for the best book light.

I bought this to use with my Sony Ebook reader and this absolutely the best Light I have ever used so far! Its ultra-compact and lightweight, and looks great too! There's nothing negative to say about this light at all!

Folks,
This little light is just about the best thing since sliced bread (so far as book lights go). It is not heavy, it provides plenty of light.
If you seem to have an issue with the bottom of the page/reader screen being a little shadowy, experiment--I personally clamp it to the right side of my Sony PRS-900bc (don't clamp the cover with it) and it works great. It lights to entire screen and would probably do the same for a book page.
I tried some of the "snake" lights and such, none of them work like this one does (even though some of those are quality products also).
Ozeri/Kandle (whomever)designed this very well. It has gripping pads to help it not slip, the light can be positioned just about any way that it would be usable on the page.
If you are looking for a good booklight, this is it; particularly for my eReader.
Packaging was secure and shipping was quite fast for the standard shipping selection.
I really don't think you can go wrong here folks, just remember that it is a piece of electronic equipment and they do occasionally malfunction--if you have never had this happen I would like to know your secret.

P.S. my light came with two sets of batteries, one installed and one set in a little plastic bag.

This is the BEST night light I've ever had. It works GREAT with my nook and I love the fact that you can adjust the intensity of light by simply tilting the one arm up or down a little more. Well worth it's money!

Light Function and Output:
The Kandle by Ozeri is more than adequate for my needs, but then, reading in dim light has never bothered me. IMO, the Kandle sufficiently lights up entire reading pane on the Kindle 3 without disturbing my light-sensitive sleeping husband (in our small double bed). Contrary to other reviewers (who may have been using an older, dimmer version), I have very rarely had issues reading the bottom of the screen; and these rare instances were only due to me bumping the Kandle or the Kindle affecting the light angle, an issue quickly rectified in seconds by the ease with which one can reposition this light. I definitely prefer the Kandle's easy-to-position pivoting head/arm design to the bendable "snake-like" arm found on so many other eReader lights; I move a lot when I read, and the Kandle usually stays in place and provides a consistent lighting angle in any position I choose. If/when repositioning of the Kandle is needed, it's much easier to re-position it quickly and at a consistent angle to reduce eye strain than a bendable arm with infinite possible positions/angles.

Clip Grip/Function:
The clip opens wide enough to grab onto the Kindle 3 and perhaps the back flap of a thin kindle case or cover (I have not personally tried this, but looks like it would work on some of the thinner cases I have seen in stores and online). For a naked Kindle (which is how I use it), the Kandle clip could (should) be improved to be a smidge stronger/tighter (maybe even add more rubberized padding with better friction?). Also, for some reason, the "throat" of the clip opening is "deeper" than frame of Kindle 3 (WHY?!?!), which leaves it prone to occasionally slipping off or sliding down when bumped so that it clips to the screen (covering the WORDS you are trying to READ), not just the edge. This will also inevitably happen if you leave the Kandle clipped to your Kindle and throw it in your bag or suitcase; it will either fall off (most likely, because you've got it loosely clipped to the outer edge) or slide down and end end up clipped to the screen. IMO, this is VERY POOR design oversight for a supposed Kindle-specific product, especially at this price (over thirty dollars). However, if my Kandle light still HAD a functioning clip, this would not have been a big enough issue to cause me to spend additional $$ and time to get a different light; when my Kandle was still in one piece, I was satisfied with the clip's performance while reading.

Battery Life: Excellent!!! I have used it for well over 100 hours and have yet to replace batteries (it's been left on twice overnight when I fell asleep with it on). I have NOT noticed a loss of light quality with extended use reported by other users.

Weight: The Kandle is made of a very light-weight (and unfortunately brittle and cheap-feeling) plastic housing. Throw in a light-weight button battery and two tiny LEDs and you get an almost undetectable light for the Kindle. The addition of the Kandle doesn't bother me in the slightest when hubby tells me it's time to turn out the overhead lights.

Material Quality/Durability:
My first impressions upon arrival was that the packaging was fresh and professional; I liked the little slipcase (but I've never used it) and I was SUPER-impressed to see that they threw in the extra button batteries (which I haven't yet needed). But the minute the Kandle hit my hand, I immediately felt let-down. The thin, cheap, plastic housing and pathetic switch was rather disappointing considering the eye-popping cost! It feels more like a 50-cent chip clip than an quality electronic accessory. I'm sure the thin plastic helps to save on overall weight, which is a feature I highly value. But I have been using LED headlamps (like those made by Petzl) for hard-core caving and camping for years, and I know from experience that it's possible to engineer a very sturdy, DURABLE light with minimal weight, especially for a light with only two LEDs and a button battery! To me, it seems the designers chose cheap, flimsy materials to save on weight and cost of materials, but sacrificed quality and durability in the process (and didn't pass on the $$ savings to the consumer).

Verdict:
I bought my Kandle on October 18. Two months later on Christmas Eve, the Kandle took a minor fall off the bed when I fell asleep reading my Kindle (I was trying to stay awake to help out Santa). My Kindle, luckily, did NOT fall off the bed, which means the Kandle slipped/fell off of the Kindle (due to the poor fit of the clip) and then couldn't withstand a minor fall from 2.5 feet (due to the cheap plastic materials). Thus, it is both the weakness of clip design and the cheap plastic materials that brings me back to Amazon two months after purchasing the Kandle to find a new light for my Kindle. It's no doubt this little light has potential (the light itself still works if I hold it), and if I could get it for the price of a value meal at a fast-food joint, then I'd give it 5 stars. But at the going rate, I would encourage you to look elsewhere to get the best bang for your buck. Otherwise, one "bang" and you'll be out all your bucks!!!