Elgato Avea Flare Review: A Bright Idea

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Steve Anderson
The Video Store Guy
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Elgato Avea Flare Review: A Bright Idea

Ever been through a power outage? It's not pleasant. A lot of gaming infrastructure tends to go with it, and that which remains requires batteries to carry on. The light issue can be a problem too; staring into an LCD screen in the dark can be murder on the eyes. That's a point that can be fixed by the Elgato Avea Flare, a rechargeable lamp that delivers light where it's needed, and in an array of colors too. Our friends out at the Max Borges Agency sent one out for us to review, and this surprisingly sharp lamp delivers a lot of value.

The Avea Flare is a highly portable, rechargeable lamp that rests on a charging plate. It connects to an app which allows the device to display a variety of colors, ranging from a slate of solid colors to a specific blend of colors in various presets. If left on the charge plate, it functions like a regular lamp. Disconnected from the charge plate, it operates more like a lantern, complete with an underside-mounted hanging hook. It's water resistant, and runs for eight hours on a single charge. When it's charging, it even displays its charge with a red light, switching to green when it's properly charged. Those interested can pick one up for $94.95 on Amazon.

When trying this one out, I noted that the change between solid colors went quite quickly, with the lamp going from white to purple to green and orange without incident. The mixed colors came with a bit of a delay, though, which was odd. Despite that, the app was easy to use, and certainly worked well to change the color schemes, allowing users to put on the color that was most desired at the time. The plain white light was sufficient to light up a 14 x 13 foot room, and was even enough to read by, ensuring that it will work well for most any purpose, including portable gaming. It even works surprisingly well as a flashlight thanks to the detachable lamp with hanging hook, which readily doubles as a carrying hook. Just to top it off, it even has an alarm function which allows it to act as a kind of artificial sunrise, offering wake-up light.

I'm impressed by this, mainly because it's offering so much for just being a lamp. It's light, it's different colored light, it's an impressive source of power-outage backup light, and it's a kind of flashlight that can be activated remotely. Part Internet of Things tool, part mood lighting, and all versatile, the Elgato Avea Flare delivers on several fronts.

This is an impressive little device; whether you want to put a little mood lighting into your bathroom, bedroom or wherever, or have a handy backup light source for power outages, the Elgato Avea Flare should be everything you could ask for. From a lamp, anyway.



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