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Listed here you’ll find the five best color-changing solar spotlights based on hours of personal testing and analysis.
You can use these to uplight trees, highlight your garden flowers at night, make sure your business sign is visible in the dark, or mix them into your holiday or party decorating.
I’ve even used them to light up our pool in place of the built-in lighting since the solar ones don’t add to our electric bill.
Side by Side Comparison
| #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best All Around | Best Adjustable | Best Warranty | Most Unique Shape | Best Remote Controlled | |
| Brand | |||||
| Price | $ | $$$ | $$$ | $ | $$ |
| # of Lights in a Set | Available in packs of 2 | Available in packs of 2 & 4 | Available in packs of 2 & 4 | Available in packs of 2, 4, & 6 | Available in pack of 2 |
| # of Colors | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Color List | Cool White Red Green Blue Yellow Purple Cyan Dim Cool White | Red Green Blue Purple Yellow Cyan White | Red Green Blue Purple Yellow Cyan White | Red Green Blue Purple Lemon Yellow Cyan Cool White Rainbow | Red Light Green Dark Green Blue Purple Yellow Cyan Warm White Pink |
| Set to One Color | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rotate Color Modes | Rotate through 7 colors (rainbow mode) | Rotate through Red, Green, & Blue Rotate through all 7 colors | Rotate through Red, Green, & Blue Rotate through all 7 colors | Rotate through all 8 colors at full brightness Rotate through all 8 colors at low brightness for longer run time | Rotate through all 7 colors every 3 seconds Rotate through all 7 colors at medium speed Rotate through all 7 colors every 30 minutes |
| Adjustable Lamp Heads | Yes but solar panel and light heads are one unit so you can only adjust them together | Yes | Yes | Yes but solar panel and light heads are one unit so you can only adjust them together | Yes |
| Adjustable Solar Panel | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Waterproof Rating | IP65 | IP65 | IP65 | IP67 | IP65 |
| Lumens | 1000LM | 600LM-700LM | 600LM | 600LM+ | 60LM |
| Solar Panel Type | 5.5V 2.5W | 5.5V 2.5W | 5.5V 2.5W | 5.5V 2.5W | |
| Solar Panel Size | 5.7" x 3.95" | 6.51" x3.2" | 7.3" x 4" | 6.26" x 3.94" | 4.5" x 4.5" |
| Battery | 18650 Li-Ion 3.7V, 2200Mah | 18650 Li-Ion 3.7V, 2200Mah | 18650 Li-Ion 3.7V, 2200Mah | 18650 Li-Ion 3.7V, 2200Mah | Rechargeable AAA batteries |
| Shape | Rectangular | Square | Round | Binocular | Round |
| LED Beads per Light | 40 | 22 | 18 | 16 | 4 |
| Remote Control | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Charging Time | 6-8 hours | 6-8 hours | 6-8 hours | 6-8 hours | 7 hours |
| Run Time | 6-8 hours | 8-10 hours | 6-8 hours | 6-12 hours (longer run time based on using low light option) | 16 hours |
| Read More | Read More | Read More | Read More | Read More |
Review Process
My first step was to identify an initial list of the top 20 that were the most popular and met two main requirements.
Requirement One: the solar panels should be attached to the spotlight so there would be no wires at all.
Requirement Two: they must have white as one of the available colors.
These two features would allow for the most flexibility and ease of use. You wouldn’t have to worry about running any cords and you could choose to switch between white light or a bright color as needed.
I then gathered sixteen separate specifications for each of the initial twenty spotlights on my list and used that information to compare them against each other.
I developed a scoring model to come up with the final set of five that should provide the strongest performance, best solar charge conversion, longest run times, and most value for the price.
The final step was to physically test how each one performed in different parts of my yard, around my pool, and as an uplight for trees and shrubs to identify those that were the brightest and easiest to use.
While the number of available colors is important, I placed more weight on features that had to do with power conversion, power storage, and light intensity.
I looked at the size and capacity of the solar panel, the size of the included battery, and the number of LED beads included in each lamp.
Together, these determine how much sun exposure is needed to get a full charge, how long the lights will run at night, and the lumen output.
All of the ones that made the cut also have the ability to fix the light at ANY of the available colors.
What I didn’t understand until tackling this project was that different colors consume different amounts of power.
This could explain why some consumers mentioned that the lights ran for a long time while others were less than pleased with the run time when talking about the very same product.
It also underscores why having a larger solar panel and storage capacity can make a big difference in the results.
Interestingly, those that produced 600 lumens had average consumer ratings that were 3% higher than those that had fewer lumens. I interpreted that as the consumers noticing a difference in performance for those with higher lumens.
Of course, the ones that were brighter and had the best features also cost a bit more than those that didn’t – 14% per lamp or a difference of $2.18.
Another piece of data that stood out was the different waterproof ratings. Not all available products were as resistant to rain and nearby sprinkler systems as others. All of the ones in this list have a rating of IP65 or higher.
1 Lerekam 8 Color Solar Spotlights – Best All Around
These are the newest in my collection and while they didn’t even come up in my research a year ago, they’re now sitting on Amazon with over 10,000 reviews so they’ve certainly gained a lot of attention.
They have a couple of things the others don’t have.
First, each lamp has 40 LED beads. None of the others come close to that number.
Second, they can be charged by USB and the box included one charging cord for each light. You’d just need a block or a device with a USB port to plug them into.
At first, I wasn’t sure that would be useful if you’re using these outside but I realized this meant you could use these stronger, more powerful lights indoors whether for a party, a teen’s bedroom, a game room, or a basement.
If you want to use these to spotlight a sign in front of a business and you want to use solar lights but you know some days you won’t have enough sun, then having the ability to charge them by USB could be handy.
Another positive of this solar spotlight is that the cool white is a true white. Some of the others create white by combining blue and green LEDs and you can see a hint of blue in the light (especially in photos).
Instead, these include white LEDs so you get a very strong, very bright, and very white cool white.
The one drawback with the Lerekam solar spotlights (or any that have this same design) is that the solar panel and lamp head are one unit.
While the head can swivel around the stake and can be tilted up or down to 120 degrees, you can’t tilt the lamp one way and the solar panel the other.
2 JSOT Rectangular Spotlights – Best Value
With 22 LED beads per lamp for 600 lumens and the highest overall consumer rating, these spotlights by JSOT offer bright, broad beams of light. It easily made the #1 spot on my list.
These also happen to be the cheapest of the five sets when you compare the price per spotlight. How unusual that the top performer would also be the most budget-friendly!
There are seven colors: red, green, blue, purple, yellow, cyan, and white.
You get a total of 9 modes:
Each spotlight has a 5.5V 2.5W solar panel that adjusts 180 degrees up or down and a 18650 Li-Ion 3.7V, 2200Mah battery.
This is a powerful setup for a solar light. It means the solar panel can generate 5.5 volts which is more than enough throughput for the 3.7-volt rechargeable battery.
While most basic solar pathway lights have a battery rated at 300Mah, this one uses a battery that has a capacity of 2200Mah, and since that equates to run time we can see that these spotlights have the potential to run through the night.
True run time, though, will come down to how much sun the solar panels get and they do need full sunlight for a good 8 hours to fully charge.
I found this out when I had them sitting in a spot that was shady for part of the day and that night only one of them was running after 1 am when the night before – on a full charge – they had run well past 3 am.
While JSOT says their spotlight has a larger solar panel than their competitors most of the lights on my list have the same solar panel and battery combination.
That’s not to say they can’t make this claim as there are brands that have smaller solar panels and lower voltage – it’s just that there are also brands that have the same strength, too.
This could mean that any spotlight with a similar voltage capacity stands a good chance of performing as well.
The heads on the JSOT spotlights can be adjusted at a vertical range of 90 degrees and the shape is rectangular.
The waterproof rating is IP65.
They come with black, plastic stakes for use in the ground as well as base plates and screws so they can be wall-mounted instead.
While they come as a set of two or four, check the price per lamp for either option as you might find it’s cheaper to buy four by getting two of the 2-packs instead of one 4-pack depending on the retailer. (Why do they do things like that?! That’s so counterintuitive.)
I’ve just bought my first set of four to test in our backyard. They were very well packaged with each spotlight and solar panel tucked into a bubble-wrap baggie.
The stakes come in two pieces that are thick and sturdy. The pieces screw together with a large, plastic nut that is attached to one of them. (The short pieces of stake in the middle along with the packages of screws are for those who want to mount them to a wall.)
They were very easy to assemble and the length of the stakes seems appropriate for the weight of the lights.
Both the solar panel and the spotlight have really large, black knobs used to adjust the up-and-down angle of each. The size of these knobs makes them easy to turn no matter what size hands you have.
The only trouble I had was when I had the spotlight tilted too close to the knob of the solar panel. That made it difficult to reach the other knob but not frustratingly so and I did manage to unscrew it with just my thumb and forefinger.
They’re some of the brightest spotlights I’ve ever seen – even brighter than the wired set we had installed in our front yard about 15 years ago. This is pretty amazing for solar and I’m sure it has to do with the size of the solar panel.
The red, green, blue, and purple are extremely vivid and look incredible.
The yellow is more of a warm white and I’d describe the cyan as a cool white with a tiny, tiny hint of blue unless it’s really close to an object and then the light blue color is more obvious.
It doesn’t matter, though, because the other colors make up for that one.
This image shows each of the colors pointed directly at a shrub in my backyard. You can see the stake sitting in front of the shrub. PLEASE NOTE: The colors are more vivid in photos than in real life. They still look great but they really stand out in pictures (which will make your party photos look stunning, by the way).
The color-changing modes rotate through each color but not with a fade effect. It’s more of a jarring transition from one to the next. I’m not sure I’d use those two modes very often.
I have three shrubs along my back wall and tested putting one spotlight on each shrub but with each set to a different color.
The green spotlight on the shrubs made them REALLY green. I loved this setup. It was like looking at a forest wonderland at night.
I then pointed the lights towards the bare wall between each of the shrubs with one set to purple, one to blue, and the last one to green. That created a really colorful backdrop behind my pool – perfect for a party! (Note: I had the 4th spotlight at the left end of the pool pointed across the water – that’s why the pool looks lit up.)
The lamp head itself is 4 inches wide by 3.5 inches tall and 1.5 inches thick in the middle. The LED beads are set into the lamp and measure 3.125 x 2.5 inches. They’re protected by a thick, transparent piece of plastic that feels very durable.
I took one of the spotlights into a large, dark room to measure the size of the beam.
When the spotlight is pointing straight at an object that is 4 feet away, the beam is 11-12 feet wide. It’s brighter in the center and weaker in intensity at the edges. The beam reaches a height of about 5 feet at that distance.
Moving the spotlight further away from an object enlarges the beam while moving it closer shrinks it.
This is important to understand in case you intend to use it in a place where the light might spill over onto a neighbor’s house or towards a street where it could impact oncoming traffic.
I’d laid mine down on their sides on my pool deck the other night to make sure they got as much sun as possible during the day. I wasn’t paying attention and when I came out to the patio after sunset I found I was bathing the house behind me in green light from the portion visible over our back wall up to their roof – a height of maybe 30 feet.
Fortunately, they weren’t home at the time as I think this would have been visible from their living room. Oops.
If you live in a rural area where you have more space between your neighbors or you have lots of tall trees bordering your property then this spillover probably isn’t an issue. I live in a subdivision with shared concrete walls with our neighbors so it’s something I need to keep in mind at all times.
This would definitely work for highlighting signs at night sufficiently enough that they could be read from a nearby road.
For now, I’ve put these in thin, galvanized metal vases I can move around the yard because I’m having too much fun changing up the location each night but, eventually, I’ll find their permanent home and put them in the ground.
3 DBF Color-Changing Solar Lights – Best Warranty
These DBF round, color-changing, solar stake lights came in at #3 in the list because they put out 600 lumens and have 18 LED beads per lamp for good intensity.
They’re a little more expensive than the first two or they’d have ranked higher but they do come with an outstanding warranty per the sales page.
The solar panel is 5.5V 2.5W and they come with 18650 3.7V 2200mAh batteries.
This traditional spotlight shape gives you a more focused beam so you can use them to light up a sign or uplight trees and bushes.
The heads move up and down so you can point them where needed and the solar panel also adjusts.
The colors include red, green, blue, yellow, cyan (aqua), purple and cool white.
You can set them to hold steady on any one of the colors, rotate through all of the colors, or rotate through just red/blue/green.
I also bought the JSOT round spotlights because the picture of them online made the lamp itself appear different from the DBFs but I’ve since been able to compare the two and have confirmed they are IDENTICAL.
4 Linkind 8 Solar Spotlights – Most Unique Shape
Not only do these Linkind 8 color, solar, spotlight stakes have a unique shape (they look like binoculars, don’t they?) but they have a feature none of the others has – a fixed mode that shows red, green, and blue all at the same time.
Others have an RGB setting that rotates through those three colors but not this all-at-once option.
It’s perfect for a holiday display where you want to highlight your inflatables, your house exterior, or any other decorations in a swath of mixed light without any sort of strobe effect.
They call this option “rainbow” in their color lineup which also includes red, green, blue, yellow, purple, cyan, and cool white.
You can also set it on any one of the colors or set it to rotate through all of them.
Each spotlight puts out 600+ lumens despite there being only 16 LED beads on each.
This is the result of the overall design.
Each spotlight is really two-in-one with half of the beads set into each side. The beads sit at the bottom of cone-shaped wells with steep sides which allows the emitted beams to be more concentrated.
Another nifty feature is the option to set it to low or high light. You’ll get double the run time going with the low setting (up to 12 hours) or half the run time but much more intensity on high. Very few models give you this level of control.
The total height from the tip of the black stake to the top of the solar panel is 11.4 inches.
The lamp heads rotate up and down in a range of 90 degrees and side-to-side 180 degrees. One drawback is that the lamps and solar panels are one piece so you can’t tilt them individually.
This means that if you want to position the spotlight at the base of a tree pointing up, the solar panel will be tilted towards the ground which is not the best position for collecting the most UV rays. These are best used for pointing straight ahead or down – like on a roofline.
The panel is 6.26″ x 3.94″ which is one of the largest available for a stake light.
It uses a Lithium 18650 3.7V battery and has a waterproof rating of IP67.
One drawback: the body of the light is “seamless” so you can’t access the battery to replace it once it dies.
It’s that seamless body, though, that likely adds to the stronger waterproof rating.
5 Remote Controlled Solar Spotlights
These remote-controlled solar spotlights are not the brightest in the bunch but they have a number of features the others don’t:
I would not use these for lighting up the front of your house but they’d be great for a party atmosphere around your patio.
The remote allows you to:
There are only 4 LED beads per light but they still put out a reasonable intensity.
You could use these for weddings, birthdays, or anniversaries where you’re having an evening dinner outside and want to light up a water fountain or ice sculpture.
The solar panels are 4.5″ square and they have a water resistance rating of IP65.
Final Thoughts
There’s something for everyone on this list. If you’re looking for all-year landscape lighting that you can also use for parties and holidays I’d definitely go with one of the first two on the list.
If you’re looking for a set you only pull out every now and then for a pool party you might go with the last one because of the remote and speed settings.
While consumers are likely to have different experiences with these based on where they live and how they use them, they’re the best ones I could find at prices I considered to be affordable.
Others that I looked at were either a duplicate of the ones above but sold under another brand name or did not meet my minimum requirements.
I hope you found this information helpful and are able to find one that fits your needs.