P96L RGB Video Light by SmallRig, Portable Metal LED Camera Light, 2500-8000K, 21 Effects, CRI 96+, OLED Display, Photo and Video Lighting, Long Battery Life, Fits Phone and Camera

This is a review of the simorr Vibe P96L, with an ASIN of B09G98NRQZ.UPDATE(2022/10/04): My previous burn time value was incorrect - I think I must have accidentally changed the brightness while testing it, as I’ve now found it to be less. I’m correcting the battery section below, accordingly. I am very sorry for the mistake. END OF UPDATEI’ve been working on reviewing a similar product, and realized I kept comparing it to this, so I thought I should probably come back here and write this up to reference. Also, it’s worth noting that simorr is a sub-brand of SmallRig, and, for a bias alert, I have a bit of a corporate crush on SmallRig, but this is one of the products that’s produced that effect.In summary, if you understand the limitations of these, you’ll probably love them. I got one, used it for about a week, and promptly ordered a second one.To the best I can determine, there are a total of two negatives, but both seem due to tradeoffs on keeping these as small as they are, while doing their key functions as well as they do.* Battery - burn time is around 52 minutes at full brightness and 4700K (my usual test color temperature).* Diffuser - If your subject is within a few inches of the light, you might want a supplemental diffuser. The built in one is very decidedly biased toward output over spread.As for the positives, it’s quite the list:* Size - the listing includes the measurements (108mm x 60mm x 11mm), but, to put that in better perspective, these are smaller than any smartphone since about 2011. You will almost always be able to find a spot for one or more of these in your bag or pockets.* Build - their housing is an aluminum casting that’s then been (beautifully) precision milled in the right places. I’ve been far less kind to them than I’ve intended, and they’ve proven to be quite rugged so far.* Controls - all of the controls are quick to find with your fingers and easy to tell apart by touch. Given that simorr hasn’t buried anything important in a menu system or such, you can operate these lights rather easily without having to focus on them, if needed. Further, each control is well suited to its task. A button cycles modes. A physical slider switch (with a nice click to it) is the on-off (and settings are retained). A simple wheel adjusts the brightness. Finally, a multi-function rocker/button hybrid cycles between extra variables in each mode, if relevant, and then lets you adjust them … including hold-to-accelerate functionality. It’s all shockingly intuitive.* Firmware - it’s not only super-snappy at responding to the controls, but, *very* importantly, the system also provides battery estimates, both in terms of burn time and charge time, which err slightly on the conservative side - i.e. short for burn and long for charge, while still being close. I’ve found this to be very useful so far. Oh, it also appears to do tricks in terms of battery health maintenance, but don’t take my guess regarding that as gospel.* Display - if the light is on, so is the display (this is important, I’ve found) and you can easily read it in virtually any lighting condition. This is possibly one of the best uses of an OLED screen in an embedded context that I’ve ever seen. Also, especially with the ease of distinguishing the controls without looking, this makes it dead simple to operate in the dark.* Brightness - regrettably, I don’t have a good way to measure it, but these are the brightest lights of their general size class that I’ve gotten to play with so far, and that’s including things that’re significantly more bulky. I’ve been very positively impressed.* Price - despite all the good things I’ve listed here, these are within a small percentage of many products that don’t have even half the positives. I’m far from having comprehensively explored the product space, but, so far, these seem like the clear winner on bang for buck.Obviously, I’m calling these a solid 5-star product. I’d be really surprised if there’s anything similar that’s significantly better at an all nearby price.P.S. I’ve omitted coverage of the video effects modes - I feel I don’t know that subject well enough to comment, but I also think that’s something which is quite unlikely to be as important to most users as the points I did cover.

Love this light! I saw one of Charlotte Tilbury’s makeup artists use it and bought it the same day. It’s super bright, easy to use, and has a great range of color settings. Perfect for doing makeup on the go - highly recommend!

Es una luz muy útil como luz de relleno para tus videos, soy muy potentes para su tamaño. La batería cumple con lo esperado para estas luces de bajo costo, pero su entrada USB-C permite que se pueda complementar con cualquier powerbank

this light is more than what i needed. i can use it on a cold shoe mount as an on camera light or a solid fill light to pair with my key. it gets very bright and being able to charge it is a plus. the controls are intuitive

I like these lights a lot. I've ordered 2 and they are great, except: Mine came with an info screen that doesn't include the estimated time the battery will last. It's quite hard to figure out what setting will make it last for say a half hour interview or a 4 hour shoot. I'm going to have to experiment with timing but at 100% the light has an almost useless battery life. You can also plug in the USB and run it from hard-line power that way, but only up to 60% brightness.

Very impressed with this light. Easy to use and adjust the brightness and color temperature. Have not had a issue with battery life and will run over an hour at 50℅ and is way to bright at 50% for most of what I use it for. The USB plug on the bottom is kinda a bummer and prone to getting dirt in it when used outside.

Love the color temperature variations. My reason for only 3 stars is the battery duration. Does not last very long. I have other similar lights from different manufacturers and this one last the least amount of time.

Pros:Small, well made and returns to whatever color it was set at when you turned it off. With a little paper towel over the lens (pictures) it diffuses the light nicely. You can cast a nice warm glow with this. Charges pretty fast. Physical buttons and switches.Now the bad news, which outweighs the good:Battery is TERRIBLE.I bought this light to use as an additional fill light for Zoom meetings, which sometimes last a couple of hours. Unfortunately, the battery only lasts about 30 minutes, making it far less useful than I expected. While it works when plugged in, that defeats the purpose of choosing a battery-powered option in the first place. Disappointing overall and now I tend to forget it's even there.Would return but it's past the window so I'm reviewing it poorly because it's a paperweight.