Selfies continue to be a huge part of our daily life, but with the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic affecting the world, video calls have increasingly become just as important if not more to keep in touch. The Moon UltraLight is meant to take your selfie pictures to another level, which it can do, but it also is very useful for video calls; best of all it can literally work on any device!
Normally, I wouldn’t spend any time talking about unboxing or packaging, but I feel like I need to make an exception for the Moon Ultra. It has some very nice and innovative packaging. As you can see from the pictures, when you pull on one end of the box to slide it open, the top has a nice slide out of the brightness levels, etc. This is obviously minor, but it feels like fewer and fewer companies are spending time thinking about the unboxing experience so it’s a nice touch. Also, it comes with a very nice case, stylish micro-USB cable and a keychain (although honestly not sure how or why I’d use that).
I started by plugging the Moon UltraLight in to charge; there is a very small pinhole LED on the back that shows the status and will show red, amber, or green for charging level which is nice. Once it was fully charged, I turned it on. Well, I tried to. See this is probably my only complaint about the Moon UltraLight which is that it relies on touch-sensitive controls for operation. On paper this sounds great and allows it to be a completely button-free device – it sort of reminds me of something Apple would have produced under Steve Jobs – but the downside is the controls can be finicky.
Sometimes I could turn it on and adjust brightness or color the first time fine. Other times, no matter what I tried I couldn’t get it to do what I wanted. This could honestly just be user error, but it is something to be aware of and while it may have taken away from the aesthetics two buttons (instead of two touch-sensitive areas) would have made it much more functional in my opinion.
Once you do figure out the controls though, the device is simple to use, and you can control brightness as well as color temperature directly on it. In the end, it’s an LED light so there’s not a whole lot more to say about it, but the best part for me is that the design lends itself to be used on basically any device with a front-facing camera.
I tried it on my Pixel 4XL, iPad Pro, and Pixelbook. I was able to use it on all devices, but keep in mind for Pixelbook (and likely many other Macbooks or laptop PCs) it may be more tricky to install because the screen you are putting it on is extremely thin (relatively to a mobile device), so it sort of may just hang there rather than securely be clipped on. It should be easier to clip onto a mobile device, especially one with a case.
In terms of performance, the Moon UltraLight can get pretty bright. To illustrate, I took a selfie using a 2020 iPad Pro in Portrait mode in a pitch-black closet. The only ambient light was from the Moon Ultra, and as you can see it does a good job of providing an even light – this was on the warm/yellow temperature setting.
Selfies are important, but with everyone being confined to their homes, the Moon UltraLight is coming at a time where people can really benefit from something like this. This can totally take your Facetime, Zoom Video, HouseParty (or whatever video calls) to the next level wherever you have them. The handy carrying case means you can keep it in your bag or purse, so it’s ready whenever you may have to get on a video call. I think this is a killer device for the world we are sadly living in today — especially for the price. It’s a great addition to our arsenal to make it through this tough time.
The Moon UltraLight retails for $49.99 and is currently only available on the Moon Ultra Shop site.
Source: Manufacturer supplied review sample
What I Like: Innovative and delightful packaging; nice carrying case; sleek and clean design with no buttons; LED gets very bright and can adjust the temperature as well as brightness; Works on basically any device you can get it to clip or balance on; Perfect for the video calls we’re all participating in lately
What Needs Improvement: The touch-sensitive controls are not consistent and may get frustrating unless you perfect them
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