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We here at GamingShogun.com don’t get to report on charitable causes too often, especially ones out of the tech field. We can report about organizations that donate money to a non-profit organization and hope that next week we won’t be reporting how that group then misused or stole the funds. That is why when we got the chance we love to bring MPOWERD some attention because not only do they do the right thing, the impact is immediate and fundamental: They bring light to the dark places of the world.

Luci Lux Description:
Luci Lux is a brilliant blend of high style and high-tech. With her sleek frosted design and reliable, maintenance-free technology, Luci Lux creates her magical warm glow to light up your home, patio, pool or garden. Feather-light, waterproof and oh, so elegant, she’s a safe, sustainable alternative to candles, kerosene or batteries. Invite her to your next fiesta or tuck her into camping gear. Wherever she goes, Luci Lux can wow the crowds!

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Features:
– Lightweight & Elegant
– Frosted Finish
– Waterproof & Floats
– Shatterproof
– Rechargeable Battery Included
– 1 Year Warranty

Luci Aura Description:
Indoors or out, for home décor or celebrations, Luci Aura turns on the charm with playful solar-powered style. With seven luminous hues plus classic white, inflatable, waterproof Luci Aura runs the gamut of moods from romantic magenta to high-energy aqua. Set her up to cycle like a rainbow or bathe in the glow of your favorite shade.

Features:
– Seven Colors Plus Classic White
– Frosted Finish
– Lightweight
– Waterproof & Floats
– Shatterproof
– Rechargeable Battery Included
– 1 Year Warranty

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Luci’s Role In The World:
At their simplest, they are solar powered lights. Later I’ll list some suggested uses, and others I came up with on my own, but at the end of the day it is a solar light. What makes it different from the ones that line your lawn is the durability, versatility and most importantly the impact they have made on the world.  As of this writing 819,025 Luci’s have been delivered to places all over of the world that are struggling to maintain electrical power.  The results from this lack of electricity are staggering statistics, most of these homes had to use kerosene lanterns if they wanted to see after dark which costs as much as 30% of their household income.  “Dirty fuels” kill 4 million people each year when used indoors and 90 million primary school students in the Sub-Saharan sections of Africa have no electricity.

The full effect that the Luci’s will have on these conditions are still being studied but they already know that kids in a household with a Luci study on average 3 more hours a night, hundreds of thousands of homes have cleaner air to breath and are generating less air pollution.  A study has already been done of the impact of the devastated country of Haiti that the Luci has had and it may sound a bit corny but it really gives hope for the future.  It also feels good to know that you can go to the MPOWERD website and donate a Luci as well as pick up your own and know that you aren’t helping in some vague way. You are literally giving a Luci to a family in need.

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Hands On:
This isn’t my first time reporting on the Luci and it probably won’t be my last. I still have my original ones from a few years back and they still work perfectly well with no noticeable diminish in light provided or performance. I use one of them as a pool light, I have kept them in a window this whole times to use for emergency purposes but after a recent move I began to use it each night when swimming. It sits out every day in the summer Las Vegas sun charging up then floats in the pool all night. You would think this would cause some sun damage, maybe even cracking or leakage on the plastic but it looks as good as new. Here is a picture of the new one I got and the three year old one that has been weather beaten:
There is no noticeable difference in the section that has been exposed to the sunlight the whole time and when it comes to the side…

There isn’t any difference there either.  The only way to tell them apart is that the lettering on the two models have changed over the years and the new one has some slightly different color hues.  Otherwise they perform the same, which means in a hut in a rural part of the world or at a house and pool party they will keep working for years and years to come.  The lights continue to work, they tough plastic keeps them inflating, the only thing I found to be an issue is sometimes cats think they look like a fun plaything and poke a hole in them. It doesn’t stop them from working in any way but you might have to get a patch kit to fix the frisky feline’s fun time.

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Suggested uses besides being pool lights, party lights and lawn decorations are also camping lights – one more place where you might use dirty fuels or non-rechargeable batteries to get your light.  You can even choose a color that will allow your nighttime vision to not be as heavily impacted.  The Lux comes in white color only but has two levels of brightness, great for reading while your partner sleeps or getting a little extra light when looking for something.  As I mentioned before I keep them on a windowsill as emergency lights and the Lux has a flashing feature that would work great in trying to signal help or note an obstacle for people at night.  Toss one in the back of of your car and it will sit inflated and unnoticed as it charges. If you break down you will have an emergency light to look around the car or to flag down other motorists or at least, hopefully, keep them from hitting you.  The floating aspect also makes it a great light for use at night on a boat – either as an emergency signal beacon or to note where you left something floating.  I used to work of a fishing boat where we had to put a battery powered light on one end of the net to see it for retrieval each night, that would have been so much easier and cheaper with one of these.

The uses are really only limited by your imagination.  Being the Halloween holiday season I chose to put them in pumpkins I had carved with my two Auras in color changing mode in two of them and my Lux on bright sometimes and flashing other times.  I take them out and charge them during the day then just leave them during the night to light them up.  I don’t have to worry about going out and turning them off to save batteries and I don’t have to worry about keeping extra batteries on hand.  Just charge, turn them on, put them in and enjoy beautifully lit jack-o’-lanterns!

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Last Call… For Now:
I have no doubt I will be visiting the Luci line again. Hopefully by that time they will have crossed the one million Luci’s donated mark as that would truly warm our hearts here at GamingShogun.com. This is an incredible product with near limitless possibilities of use and it has already begun to better our world. Who knows, maybe the 95% of Sub-Saharan Africa and developing Asia that has no electricity will at least be illuminated completely someday and children who now struggle to see their studies will flourish and produce the next great minds of the future, all beginning with a little light-up ball.

[easyreview title=”Luci Aura And Luci Lux Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”5″ ]

                                             

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Ripper71

Dustin "Ripper71" Thomas has been a staff writer with GamingShogun.com for over 10 years and has taken on the role of Editor with a brief stint as Editor-In-Chief. He is also a co-founder of @IsItOctoberYet where he covers haunt nightmares, amusement park fun and Golden Knights hockey.