Casper Glow Light is billed as a “magical sleep light” that comes with a not-so magical price tag of $130. I wanted to see for myself if it was worth the price, so today I offer my review.
Where to Purchase & About
Casper Glow Light is available direct from the Casper website or from Amazon at a price of $130.
Claims & Features
- Self-dimming feature lulls you into sleep
- Wake feature simulates sunrise
- Wiggle for a gentle light on the go
- Smartphone app
- Wireless charging
- Multiple lights can be synced up
- Twist to dim or brighten
Casper Glow Light Review
I first caught wind of the Casper Glow Light while perusing Amazon and was immediately curious about its $130 price tag. There are numerous other lights on the market with similar features at a fraction of the cost, so surely there must be something that stands out about this product, right? I had to find out for myself, so I ordered one from the Casper website and it arrived only a couple days later.
Upon opening it up, I found it to be about the size and shape I expected. The material is a sturdy yet slightly pliable (diffused polycarbonate), and there is a large button on each end. The only other item in the packaging was the wireless charging base. After charging it up, it was finally time to check it out and figure out what my $130 bought.
There are three primary functions of the Glow Light: sleep, wake, and for use as a dim, portable light. The feature that is most touted is that of a self-dimming light for bedtime. To use this feature, you rotate the Glow Light 180 degrees (end over end) to turn it on and it will immediately begin to dim over a 45-minute period. Ideally, you’ll flip it over 45 minutes before you want to fall asleep. After 45 minutes the light shuts off completely.
On paper, this doesn’t sound like a particularly impressive feature, although I can say that there is something about the ever-dimming 2700K light that does seem to induce sleepiness. The first time I used it, I flipped it over around 9pm and was dozing off by the 45-minute mark. I wasn’t actually ready to go to bed, so it the Glow Light seemed to work better than I expected in that regard.
The wake feature is a mirror image of the sleep feature, with the unit beginning at the lowest brightness setting and slowly increasing in brightness over a 45-minute period. This feature can only be set up within the smartphone app, and it can set to any schedule you’d like. This setting mimics a sunrise, which is a much better way to wake up than a blaring alarm. The few times I used this feature, I found myself waking up about 15 minutes into the cycle. Although I wake up to the rising sun, some people have no problem sleeping through it. “Sun risers” like myself can benefit from this feature, but those who sleep through the sunrise may not.
Perhaps the least useful feature is the shake-to-wake function that turns on the Glow Light at its lowest setting for use as a portable light at night. This is apparently designed for late-night excursions to the kitchen or the bathroom. Although the instructions state that it can be shaken back and forth to activate this feature, I found that it doesn’t always work. I’ve tried left to right, front to back, and even up and down – and it just won’t consistently work for me. I’ve had better luck shaking it up and down, but that is still not 100%. There is something particularly frustrating trying to shake a light that won’t wake up when it’s the middle of the night and you just want to go use the bathroom. It’s not a bad feature – when it works.
In the end, it’s hard for me to see the justification for a $130 price tag of the Glow Light. It’s a nice product and provides more value than I expected, but there are other lights out there which do nearly the same thing for a fraction of the cost. I will keep using it, but I can’t fathom this being a hot seller based on the price.
If you’ve used the Casper Glow Light, tell me what you think in the comments below.
I find this intriguing. My sister has a clock/radio that has a feature like this. What I like about it is the gradually getting brighter in the mornings. While it’s usually not a problem to rise with the sun most of the year, when the days get shorter and the sun doesn’t rise before I have to get up, this would be great. I really dislike the harsh insta-bright get when I turn on the bedside light — and I have it set on the dimmest setting. Having this mimic the sunrise could ease or remove that jolt. However, I’m… Read more »
Great points! I prefer a smartphone app to a remote control, as remotes tend to die and leave the device useless. Even better than a smartphone app would be featuring the controls on the unit itself. I do like it, but I just don’t see $130 worth of materials and tech inside!
These lights are very badly made. I had to return two sets back to Casper because they just stopped working within a week or so. Expensive and if they were functionable i wouldn’t mind the cost but I’d skip these and get a more reputable brand
That’s interesting. Mine seems to still be working, and I’m trying to use it regularly to see how it holds up over time. I appreciate the heads up and I’ll update this space if I start having similar issues.
(I still say it’s way overpriced!)