Eve Flare 2023 review: Mood lighting; now with a handle

Mood lighting can really finish off the feeling of a room. A soft, subtle glow that can accent relaxation time, with a nice warm color. Not necessarily light to read to, but light to watch TV in the evening to, or to listen to music too. Colored, dim light can really help you relax after a long day, letting you wind down without too much glow.

The Eve Flare is a light that gives off almost the perfect amount of light for chilling. It’s big enough that the glow can permeate a room, but dim enough that it's not going to overpower you with light. If you’re looking for a cheap light or a light to read a book too then you might want to look elsewhere – but for an extra light that you can take around the house, or even outside, then the Flare is perfect.

Eve Flare: Price and availability

The Eve Flare is not a cheap light. You can pick one up for $100, or £100 in the UK. That is a lot of money for a lamp that is going to sit in the corner of the room and give off a soft, almost useless glow, although it does justify its price with some great smart features.

It does put it at the top of the price range for similar products, but it is readily available from a range of retailers. You can pick one up from Amazon, the Eve website, or from a range of different interior decoration outlets.

Eve Flare: What I like

It’s an orb. I like fun shapes in lamps, and the simplicity of a spherical light that has no buttons on the outside, to me, is a lot of fun. It’s like having a tiny, slightly fuzzy sun in the corner of the room – a sun that I can pick up from its charging cradle, and take with me around the house. I, personally, enjoy setting it to blue and staring into it while I think, a sagely nature washing over me as I bathe in its light.

That charging base charges the battery in the lamp, and once off the charger, it will last around 6 hours – or, as I like to call it, plenty of time to sit and relax for a bit. There’s no information available as to how long it takes to fully charge, but it given it will mostly live on its small charging puck, it will stay juiced up for whenever you want to port it around.

Carrying it around is also easier now, thanks to the new handle on the bottom. It's a funny little wire that makes it easy to hang from things as well, for some cool placement opportunities. It’s light enough to hang from strings as well, although thanks to its slightly unwieldy size you’ll want to make sure the string it's hanging from is a little thicker and well pegged into a wall or a fence.

It connects up to the Eve app, where you can choose colors from the traditional RGB color wheel. This also works within the Apple Home app, and you can use Siri to control the status of the light, letting you gaze further into the depths of its color, as it ebbs and flows like the universe…

Eve Flare: What I didn’t like

While the whole point of the light is that its not a main room light and an accent mood light instead, it is still very dim. The sphere doesn’t give off too much light at all, even at its brightest, which might sting if you’ve paid $100 for it. I don’t mind much, it only makes it easier to stare within, so that I too can learn the secrets of…

The charging puck is a small, lightweight thing that's a bit of a pain to get situated when you’re placing the light back on it. It’s not just a drop-and-forget thing, you have to actively look and search for the correct orientation so that it charges and works off the mains. Once on it's on, but getting it there is an awkward affair that could have been improved with a wider base and magnets.

It’s also expensive – $100 for a mood light is a lot of money, even if it is HomeKit connected. It’s an accessory rather than anything else, and paying that much could well be a sticking point for you. Especially when you, as pointed out in the Philips Hue Iris review, can just grab one of Ikea's spherical lights and stick an Eve bulb in it for much the same effect. The diffusion won’t be as good, and you won’t be able to cart it around, but it is much cheaper. 

Eve Flare: Competition

There are LOADS of companies that make HomeKit-connected lights for mood lighting. For a brighter experience, there's the more expensive Hue Go Portable Lamp, which looks like a classic bedside lamp. There's also the aforementioned Hue Iris, which is a similar price, Meross smart lights that cost a whole bunch less, and a host of smart bulbs that cost less and can be stuffed into much cheaper fittings, as above with the Ikea lamp.

That’s not to say that the Eve Flare doesn’t have its uniqueness still, not at all. After all, there aren’t many smart lights through which you can learn the innermost workings of the galaxy, twisting and turning through space and time…

Eve Flare: Should you buy this?

You should buy this if…

• You want a really nice mood light
• You use HomeKit
• You’ve always wanted a spherical light

You shouldn’t buy this if…

• You don’t want to spend $100 on a mood light
• You’re not a fan of orbs

Eve Flare: Verdict

I really, really like the Eve Flare. It's a simple light for sure, but it works well and gives off a lovely glow of different colors. It’s light and easy to carry around, and the extra handle on the bottom allows for some nice hanging options.

And, as I gaze into its depths, I come away thinking more about the orb itself. It has me.

There is only orb.