Verdict
A neat idea, the Nanoleaf Solar Garden Lights look great, and each set has eight individual storks of colour. With solar charging, if you get enough sunlight, then there’s no power to be run or fiddly cables to hide.
Static light colours look great, adding ambience to the garden, but the dynamic effects are often a bit too much and feel intrusive. I found that my set would occasionally forget their settings, too, reverting from static colours to dynamic effects.
Control via the remote is simple, but without a smart app you lose some more advanced features that rivals have.
-
Easy to install
-
Bendable design gives flexibility
-
Basic colours look good
-
Not very customisable
-
Dynamic effects are a bit too much
-
Lights would occasionally reset their settings
Key Features
Introduction
Outdoor lights are a brilliant way of changing the way your garden looks at night, but if you don’t have outdoor power sockets or any way of running neat cabling, the Nanoleaf Solar Garden Lights could well be of interest.
Charging via solar (or USB-C), these lights have a wide-range of effects and are quick and easy to set up. A few niggles got in the way of my enjoyment, but read on to find out if these lights are a good match for your garden.
Design and Installation
- Separate solar panel
- USB-C charging
- Multiple pack sizes are available
You can buy the Nanoleaf Solar Garden Lights in a pack of two or a pack of six, depending on how many you want to install in your garden. Each set comes with the lights and a remote control.
Each light consists of eight wands with an individual colour-changing LED on top. These wands are bendable, so you can tilt the lights the way that you want.
Lights need to be staked into the ground, and there’s a choice to use the extension tube for more height, or just to have the Nanoleaf Solar Garden Lights closer to the ground. It all depends on where you want the lights to go and what’s around them.
Battery and charging are provided by the solar unit, which connects to the lights via a cable. This unit can be staked into the ground or you can use the wall mount. If you’re relying on solar energy, then you do need to place the solar panel so that it can soak up as much sun as possible.
Alternatively, the lights can be charged via USB-C if you need to get them going. It’s an option in an emergency, but as you’ll likely run the battery down each night, charging via USB-C isn’t a practical solution for everyday use.
Features and performance
- Remote control
- Variable colours
- Dynamic effects can be a bit much
Although a Nanoleaf product, the Solar Garden Lights aren’t compatible with the app for remote control. I get that having Wi-Fi or Thread built in would probably put too much strain on the battery, but Bluetooth control would have been a nice option.
With the Linkind Smart Solar Spotlight SL5C, Bluetooth control makes it much easier to configure your lights to work the way that you want.
With the Nanoleaf Solar Garden Lights, the basic way they operate is via a light sensor, turning on when it’s dark and off when it’s light (or when there’s strong ambient lighting, such as me turning on my main outdoor lights). You can also use the button on the solar panel to cycle through the available effects.
To control how they operate in more detail, there’s a bundled remote control that can control up to 20 lights simultaneously.
Via the remote, you can turn the lights on or off, although they’ll only stay on if it’s dark enough. The default behaviour is to stay on until morning (or the battery runs out), but there’s an option for four-, six- or eight-hour timers. With these options, the lights turn on when it’s dark and then turn off when the timer runs out.
That, of course, means that the lights turn on at different times during the year. With the Linkind lights, I could set them to come on when it’s dark and at a specific time, for uniform operation through the year.
Colour control is available. For basic lighting, I could change the colour temperature, moving between warm and cold whites. This is nice to have for ambient lighting, although I noticed that one of my sets had one LED that was a different shade to the others.
For solid colours, there’s an RGB button to cycle through the options. Colour intensity is good through the range, and there’s enough choice to find something that will suit your garden.
There’s also a range of dynamic effects, although a lot of these are a bit too in your face, and would suit a Christmas tree more than the garden. I switched away from these options, preferring the static colours.
All modes also have brightness controls, so you can get the right level to suit your garden.
Once an option has been set, a light should remember its mode and options, but I immediately had an issue. I set both of my lights to a warm white, but a couple of hours later, one set had moved to dynamic lighting and was flashing different colours; not what I wanted.
I used the remote button to resync the lights and the reset option. While the lights generally keep the same setting, I’ve found that one will occasionally change modes on its own.
Battery life really depends on how much charge you can get into them. Writing now in the middle of Spring, even on a cloudy day, the lights have enough charge that they’re still going as I go to bed. As the nights draw in, depending on sunlight and where you’ve put them, battery life could vary.
Should you buy it?
Buy if you want very simple installation
Stake the lights in the ground, use the remote to select a scene and then leave them alone.
If you want to choose when the lights turn on and off, then look for solar lights with Bluetooth and an app.
Final Thoughts
Simple outdoor lighting, the Nanoleaf Solar Garden Lights look nice and don’t need any permanent cabling. I did find that the controls were very basic and, in my case, a light would sometimes forget its settings. I also found the dynamic lighting too much and a lot of the options are too distracting. For smart solar utility lighting, the Linkind Smart Solar Spotlight SL5C gives more options; otherwise, I’d buy proper outdoor lighting, such as Philips Hue Outdoor.
How We Test
We test every smart light we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
- Used as our main smart light for the review period
- Tested for at least a week
- We measure the light output from bulbs at different colour temperatures and colours so we can compare light output
- We test compatibility with the main smart systems (HomeKit, Alexa, Google Assistant, SmartThings, IFTTT and more) to see how easy each light is to automate
FAQs
Full Specs
| Nanoleaf Solar Garden Lights Review | |
|---|---|
| UK RRP | £59.99 |
| Manufacturer | – |
| Size (Dimensions) | 950 MM |
| Release Date | 2026 |
| First Reviewed Date | 18/06/2026 |
| Model Number | Nanoleaf Solar Garden Light |
