Create The Perfect Haunted Halloween Glow With These Linkind Wireless Spotlights

Spooky season kicks off one of my favorite pastimes – admiring other people's outdoor holiday décor. Key word: other. Show me your 15-foot skeleton family. Stake down your inflatable jack-o-lantern – the one that's bigger than my house. Bring out the fog machines, the creepy music, and the lights – oh, the lights! I'm here for it. And by "here," I mean "there," slowly walking or driving by your place.

I am not an outdoor décor expert; I'm too frugal, too impatient, and a bit of a technological troglodyte. Sure, I'll switch out the wreath on my front door to something with a seasonal flare, but it starts and ends there. That's why when I was offered the opportunity to test out a set of the Linkind Smart Solar Spotlight SL5, I looked to my right and my left and thought, "Who? Me?"

These Linkind spotlights by AiDot are supposed to be a breeze to set up and style. They're wireless, solar-powered, and sync to a free app that includes an exclusive selection of preset Halloween light shows. That sounds frightfully fun, but could it really be that easy? I was afraid this endeavor would feel like a nightmare on my street. Come with me as I test out this exciting product ... if you dare.

Some folks love unboxing new technology. I fear it. Anything pertaining to downloading, syncing, pairing, or assembling gives me the creeps, so believe me when I tell you that learning how to use the Linkind Smart Solar Spotlight SL5 was actually enjoyable.

I ordered a set of six lights, which arrived in a package about the size of a shoebox. Each matte black light looks like an adorable little robot face, and that instantly took the edge off my technophobia. Tucked in with the lights was a short and sweet user manual and a customer service card.

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The spotlights can be staked into the ground or mounted, and the hardware is included for both options. Both configurations allow for a wide range of maneuverability, as each light can be adjusted 180 degrees vertically and a full 360 degrees horizontally. For a habitual "eyeballer" like me, that's great news because it means I won't need to pinpoint the perfect spot to get an ideal angle.

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These solar-powered lights are designed to last about 12 hours on a full charge, and AiDot recommends charging them for at least 48 hours in direct sunlight before using them for the first time. My new lights had a nearly full charge straight out of the box, so I wasted no time getting started.

Each Linkind Smart Solar Spotlight SL5 includes 16 million color options. That may sound like a lot of hocus pocus, but it's true. Each light comes preset with a warm white, a cool white, and seven additional shades of the rainbow, but when using the AiDot app, you can choose from a seemingly endless palette of hues.

And speaking of the app, I actually don't mind having this one on my phone. I appreciate that I can interact at the most basic level by simply setting up my lights the way I want them, or I can delve into a community of Halloween enthusiasts who share their boo-tiful ideas with others online.

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The AiDot app also offers an array of "Paranormal Presets," and that, my friends, is where it's at. A tap of the app allows you to assign each light a Halloween hue, such as Eerie, Spooky, Mysterious, Creepy or Playful. If you're using multiple lights, you can group them into a preset light show like Phantom's Flicker, Spectral Shimmer, Ghastly Glow, or Ghouls Glimmer. There are 48 preset options, and using them is incredibly fun and very easy – something I never thought I'd say about outdoor lighting.

The SL5's BLE Mesh technology extends the range of traditional Bluetooth, allowing you to group up to 32 light units spaced about 40 meters apart. But let's remember, I'm new to this, so I started simple.

My front patio has a cutesy pumpkin and scarecrow vibe, and until I got these wireless spotlights, I figured the front porch light was good enough to showcase my limited autumnal spirit. That all changed my first evening with the Linkind Smart Solar Spotlights SL5. I planted three of these wireless spotlights around my front door and immediately realized they were going to be both entertaining and useful.

Using the presets on the app, I could create a warm and cozy glow or add just a pinch of spooky to my scene. One of my favorite presets is called "Lightning," which creates the subtle and soothing flashes of a distant storm. I was not expecting these lights to offer so much customization. Not only could I choose custom colors or presets, but I could also adjust the brightness on each light or on a group of lights. I really liked that these spotlights didn't blind me like headlights. I live in a densely populated neighborhood that's nestled against a wooded area, so it's important that my lighting doesn't impact the wildlife around me or my human neighbors.

Speaking of neighbors, to truly see what these spotlights could do, I recruited some help from a family down the street.

The family that lives a few doors down has gone all in on Halloween yard décor. They've installed a pet cemetery in their front yard, complete with rickety fencing, animatronic spiders, meticulously staged skeletons, a 12-foot grim reaper, and even a tangle of dead branches they dragged in from the woods. I knocked on their door one night and asked if they'd like to try the Linkind Smart Solar Spotlight SL5. Pffft, does a vampire want to suck your blood? Of course they wanted to try them!

I handed these ghouls three new lights, still in the box, and watched as they read over the directions, downloaded the app, and immediately set to work choosing locations. They placed one light near their fog machine to throw a haunting beam into the mist; another near the entrance of the cemetery; and the third behind a tombstone, where it cast an eerie red glow on the rest of the cobweb-covered graves. My neighbors' yard was already creeptastic, but now it felt alive – in a very dead way, of course.

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And I haven't even talked about adding sounds to this light show. If you grant microphone permission to the AiDot app, you can synchronize your lights to the beat of your music and host a thriller night dance party right in your front yard.

The Linkind Smart Solar Spotlight SL5 by AiDot is clearly a must-have for your holiday décor and special events, but if you're kind of a square, like me, these lights can also be quite handy in a number of practical ways.

For starters, let me remind you that they're wireless and solar-powered, so if you've got some sun, these lights can be set up in all sorts of configurations without breaking a sweat. (I didn't get to test them in an overcast location.) They also have an IP65 weather-resistant rating, meaning they should hold up in rain and snow.

Another huge perk: You can use the AiDot app to control when your lights turn on and off in a number of ways. For instance, you can set a specific time for your lights to turn on and off, or adjust your lights to turn on at dusk and off at dawn. You can also set your lights to turn on when they detect motion. Lights can be adjusted individually or grouped together. When Halloween is over, I'm already planning to pack one of these devices in my camping gear and shift another to my backyard.

Last but not least, let's talk about affordability. The lights are sold in packs of two, four, or six. A set of six is regularly priced at $135.99 on AiDot.com, but they're currently marked down to just $71.99. You can snag them at a discounted price on Amazon, too. Considering the quality combination of year-round versatility and holiday pizazz, this purchase feels like all treat and no trick.