Customer Reviews

Candela Rechargeable Lamps - White

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I ordered a set of these from ThinkGeek, and had to return it because two of the four candles did not work. The replacement set, again, two out of the four candles do not work. I do not know what the deal is with the quality control at Vessel, but two tries is enough for me. I am ready to return the product for a refund.

That being said, the candles that do work are really very neat devices. They provide a subdued white/vanilla glow that provides a nice ambient light to the room. Do not expect to use them for reading or anything unless you want to hold them directly over the text in question.

Design wise, they are much better then their competitors, in that there is no removing the light unit from a diffuser encloser. The single unit design is very clean and pleasing to look at. In addition, the contactless magnetic charger design is also very well implemented (no exposed contacts, so extremely safe for everyone).

So, all in all, Product design gets a 5, but quality gets a 1.

-----EDIT-----

After I posted this review, I went to the manufacturer's website, and noticed that they sold replacement parts (lights and batteries).
From this I figured out that the candles are user openable. So, I opened my two broken candles, and sure enough, the battery pack wasn't seated properly in the holder. So, after snapping my two battery packs in place, both candles now work.

I will not return the product anymore (as I said, they are cool toys). I would up this products rating to a 4/5 if amazon would let me. (however, it still does not get a 5 - Vessel QA needs to get on the ball and find out why units are leaving the factory with badly seated batteries.)

The Candela Rechargeable Lamp system is a great find for people who enjoy soft candlelight but don't always want the associated mess of wax and risk of open flame.

This set comes with four white lamps. Contrary to some other manufacturers' rechargeable candles (Phillips Aurelle) that appear amber to the point of almost orange, these lamps provide a pure white light that's softened by a gentle vanilla tint. Each lamp is approximately the size of a popsicle and the set of four does a nice job of providing conversational fill light for a dinner table or night spent on the deck. Each lamp has an on/off button located on the bottom and you can also open up the casing to replace the bulb and/or battery down the road.

Once nested in the base, the lamps recharge via magnets as opposed to any electrical connection (the base still must be plugged into the wall, of course). Vessel touts this as a safety feature, but unfortunately, it comes with a performance price: the lamps require about 15 hours of recharging time to return five hours of use. So, you can't always just decide on the fly the use them. I would have preferred regular electrical contacts as a trade-off for increased readiness (think about it - are any of us scared of being electrocuted by our cell phone chargers?). Also, the rechargeable batteries require some specific care in the form of repeated full-charge-and-full-discharge cycles, but once you get into the habit of using them, this shouldn't be a problem.

Overall, I'm not sure that many people will get full value out of any rechargeable candle - none of them are inexpensive. However, if you entertain regularly or just enjoy being the person who gets the "Oooh - that's so cool!" comments from guests, then these Candela Rechargeable Lamps are the best of the offerings on the market.

PROS

* Attractive soft white light

* Convenient and easy to locate almost anywhere

* Safe recharging system with no exposed electrical contacts

CONS

* Lengthy recharge times mean you have to plan ahead to use them

* Candle shells are a bit too plastic looking/feeling

* Pricey - unless you burn candles all day every day, I can't imagine these ever "paying for themselves" as advertised.

I got these as a gift, and one worked, the other three did not. Finally I got around to checking the reviews here, and there it was. I had to unscrew the bottom, and then pop the battery assembly in completely. I don't know why three of the four were not properly popped together, but it literally took me five minutes to get them all working.

They're cool and fun to have.

I just wish they were popped together properly, since it is such an easy matter to fix it.

This product is really unique and amazing. I have two little children, and our Candelas work safely and very well in power-outages (the candelas automatically go on in their base when the power shuts off, instantly providing enough light to move around your home safely), or for fun on the table at dinner-time, or on your deck or in your yard for parties (no worries if someone knocks it over, it won't catch anything on fire), or even to safely light up the luminaria art-projects your kids bring home from school.

Just don't forget to use them and discharge them completely at least monthly.

We also have a set of "Candeloos" from this company for our children, which are colorful little creature-shaped versions of the Candela. Again, a great and safe product that the kids and we adore.

These lamps are great and come with a full service warranty from the manufacturer. So purchase them from a reputable source like museumofmoderndesign on Amazon. I gave many of these great Candela lamps to my friends and they all love it! The best invention since the wheel! These fantastic portable lamps are a safe alternative to regular candles. These lamps provide a warm, ambient glow that won't blow out in the wind, or set the house afire if left unattended. Equally useful on the dinner table or bedside and late-night jaunts, each Candela lamp stays lit for 5 hours, and takes 16 hours to recharge. Intelligent circuitry makes them turn on automatically when lifted from the charging platter, and start to recharge as soon as they're put back. Plus, the pattended SafeCharge system eliminates exposed electrical contacts.

I wanted so bad to like this company. Seemingly cool looking products. I like design, and Vessels products have the aesthetic I'm after. I bought the 4-set of Candelas in the Moma store in NYC, after charging them for 24 hours, 2 of the 4 did not work for longer than 3 minutes. I returned them to the store. 3 weeks later, 2 of the new Candelas started diminishing 10x faster than the other 2. I then contacted Vessel, who was surprisingly unfriendly and not very helpful. After a vigorous letter, I received 2 replacement Candelas (i marked them on the bottom) which lasted- get this- 2 weeks before fading out after 10 minutes. I sent the whole thing back to Vessel - who told me without the original receipt, could not refund me. I promptly told them to keep them. Terrible business practices, and useless product. How can a company like this stay in business>?

I bought two sets of this product about 18 months ago and not ONE of the EIGHT lamps still works. I only used them about 5 times: I left them in the base the rest of the time.

TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY

We purchased two of these a while back, and used them occasionally. Great idea, and very stylish. Unfortunately after a few months the charger in one base died. We bought a replacement, but after a few months both the replacement and the other original base died as well. That's three dead bases in a matter of months. We wrote to Vessel to complain and ask for replacements, but they never bothered to respond. Neat idea, but bad engineering and bad customer support results in one star for this product.

I saw these in a swanky hotel and loved them! I got a set for my home, and used them regularly. I considered them "expensive", but I figured that if they stood up to regular use in a hotel, they must be durable and safe.
I still consider them beautiful - they offer a candle ambiance without the soot and fire risk.
I was dismayed that their light soon started to last a shorter and shorter time. I considered replacing the batteries, but considering how much I paid, I wasn't interested in spending even more money on them when they seemed to "wear out" in a matter of a few months.
I would rate them a "5" if:
... they were far less expensive, or
... the manufacturer would provide the first set of replacement batteries free, or
... they used some sort of standard rechargeable battery (I'm a big fan of rechargeables - I used them in all my battery-powered devices.)

I got the Candella and was thrilled. It was the perfect reading light - soft glow and I would rest it on my chest while I laid in bed. A bedtime reader's essential tool. After about six months, all four "candles" instead of charging at the base, they would turn on and when I removed them, they would turn off. This was completely the reverse of what it should do. After a couple weeks, I just tossed them. Now that I read the helpful advice about reattaching the battery, I'd like to give it another shot, but I'm not thrilled that this little gadget seems to have a pesty design flaw.