Hit or shit? LED toilet light review

Martin Jud

7/7/2021

Translation: Veronica Bielawski

Is your bathroom’s fluorescent lighting robbing your eyes of sight time and again? Or perhaps you keep missing the toilet bowl? If so, there’s a solution: an LED toilet light with a light and motion sensor.

Finally, both of my bathrooms are equipped with smart toilet bowls. They’re actually the only rooms in the apartment that I haven’t yet hooked up to my Philips Hue smart lighting setup. I just haven’t found a simple way of making the classic built-in fluorescent cabinet lighting smart. Until now: this little gadget is set to revolutionise my nightly bathroom visits. And light up my butt in 16 colours. Me on an illuminated, golden throne – now that’s something.

The toilet disco in a nutshell

The LED toilet light is a small, smart gadget that you hang on the toilet bowl. Sounds like more cleaning at first. Or perhaps the light will draw attention to any skid marks and motivate me to remove them immediately?

Thanks to the light sensor, the gadget is only activated when it’s dark. And thanks to the motion sensor, the LED only switches on when you come within two metres of it. The LED not only illuminates the toilet bowl, but also shows you the way to it. So you should be less likely to trip over the laundry basket or whatever else.

When the LED is on, it changes colour every few seconds. The toilet bowl glows in 16 colours that gently flow into one another. Alternatively, you can press the one button there is. The toilet light will pause on the current colour and save it for your next visit. You can reactivate the colour transitions by pressing the button again. After two minutes, the LED light turns off automatically. This helps conserve power. The toilet light runs on three AAA batteries, which are not included.

By the way, if you research toilet LEDs on the net, you’ll quickly notice it's one of those gadgets that costs about ten times as much if purchased in Europe. You can buy it for peanuts if you order from Asia. On the other hand, shipping will probably take a bit longer and any warranty claims may be a hassle to deal with. Still, this annoys me as a customer. I just can’t understand why import costs and a barely existing marketing (the offer here is from PEARL Schweiz AG) likely account for about 90% of the price.

The LED throne: if you take too long, will you be left in the dark?

Insterting the three AAA batteries into the plastic housing is quick and easy. You don’t need a screwdriver – it’s like on a Game Boy. Taking a closer look at the little box that houses the batteries, sensors and control button, I notice it isn’t waterproof. Because it hangs against the outside of the toilet bowl, it’s not a problem. The bendable arm, on the other hand, is waterproof. But unfortunately, it’s not resistant to «dirt» (or lime). So, I make sure not to mount it to the front of the toilet bowl. Instead, I mount it off to the side so the sensor picks up movement when I walk in.

The toilet light is ready for use in under a minute. I drowsily roll out of bed at an ungodly hour. In the dark, I stick closely to the wall as I head toward the bathroom. The song of the nightingale accompanies me on my brave walk. As I reach the doorway, a red ring of light appears before my eyes.

Unlike my fluorescent bathroom lighting, the LED light is indirect, subtle and easy on my eyes. I’m pleased.

So far, so good. Everything works as it should. And two minutes is usually enough time. The sensor picks up movement when you go wash your hands, and the timer resets so you can find the soap or toilet brush.

In just a few nights’ time, I’ve become an experienced LED toilet light user. I’ve identified my favourite colours, and I’ve also spent some time on the toilet in the dark. Unfortunately, if you happen to take a bit longer, there’s no option to increase the timer from two minutes to ten or twenty. But the motion sensor is extremely sensitive, so you can easily restart the disco just by moving your leg. However, you can’t turn off the light manually. The gadget is straightforward, but limited in its functions.

All in all, I have to admit the LED light has little impact on my toilet trips, but at least it brightens my mood. As a night owl, I can find my way around in the dark quite well and instinctively know where the soap is. I’m only really grateful for it and find it useful when I have to offload some freight, if you know what I mean. It allows me to assess the situation without harsh fluorescent lighting and start scrubbing.

Martin Jud

Senior Editor

martin.jud@digitecgalaxus.ch

I find my muse in everything. When I don’t, I draw inspiration from daydreaming. After all, if you dream, you don’t sleep through life.

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