Man Goes And Perishes - inside some cheap motion sensitive LEDs
By @edent
· gadget hardware led review · 3 comments · 350 words
I was recently asked to review some motion sensitive LEDs. Not usually my thing, but they charge via USB - so why not!
It has the most bizarre product description I've seen:
Always nice to review a gadget which comes with a reminder of your own mortality… pic.x.com/wGJYcWCVyJ
I think it is trying to say that if you leave the room the light will extinguish.
Anyway, this is what it looks like:
Four columns of LEDs - two are cool white, two are warm white. Tapping the button toggles between cool, warm, and mixed. They are dimmable.
Speaking of buttons...
The lights can be set to always on, motion sensitive, or motion sensitive only when it is dark. There's an RGB LED hidden in the sensor which lights up to tell you which is which.
You'll notice there's a grille near the sensor. Is it for a speaker?
Wanna look inside? Warning - this is a boring teardown!
Pop the end off and this circuit slips out. 
There's an unpopulated part of the board which, I guess, was for a buzzer? Or maybe a microphone.
The back doesn't reveal anything interesting.
With the plastic diffuser slid off, we can see the "rustic" layout of the LEDs.
The board is JHCH-6001B.
Almost certainly an anonymous Shenzen manufacturer.
There's a weird bridge in the middle.
Slide out the LEDs and you'll see the battery and a disc magnet. 
There's a magnet at each end - and they're strong enough to hold the lightweight unit upside down.
You get two of these for about £30. They're bright, and the PIR motion sensor works well. Each one comes with a metal bar with a sticky pad, so you can shove them in cupboards or under cabinets. They recharge quickly via USB. Keep the instructions handy - because you'll never remember which button does what.
| Verdict |
|---|
how long does the battery last?
It says two months for motion sensitive mode. But that will depend on how often it is triggered. Only had them a week - and they're still going strong.
I bought something very similar a couple of years ago, and have kept on buying them:
https://amzn.to/319PqwW
I must have half a dozen now, in dark wardrobes and airing cupboards, over a poorly lit sink in the utility room, in the shed (which doesn't have any power of its own), and I used a couple for a while to augment the lighting in my campervan. Very useful.