My first impression: this is no cheepo solar light. It is very well made. The case of the light is made of cast aluminum that is powder coated in very nice blue gray. It's actually 2 seperate lights, with 2 opposing solar panels that charge a very substantial battery. In the description it says it has a Lithium Ion battery, it's actually a LiFePHO4, which is better (it what Tesla is now using in their vehicles), a Lithium Iron phosphate battery which can be recharged 1.5 times more than a Lithium Ion battery. The manual says it's a 6000mah battery. The battery holder is labeled 26650, which is a battery size, typically 3.2v so there are 2x26650 in the battery container (matching the 6.4v output). They claim the light should last +3 years. I would say this is very conservative, it should be more than double that. Each side of the light has a motion detector, it is VERY sensitive, it detects motion from over 20 feet away. When it detects motion it brightens the light (doubles the output) while motion is still detected. Based on the push buttons selected, it will light up one or both sides. About 30 seconds after motion stops it lowers the light output to conserve the battery life. The motion detector works very well. Based on the 6000mah battery size, I'd expect the light could run 3 days without recharging. The large solar panels should be able to fast charge the battery with only a few hours of full sunlight. On the first day of fall, I know it lasted overnight (6:30pm-5:30am).
The Solar Pillar is 32" tall. Each side of the light has a button to set the light output: high (500/250), low (250/120) and off. After 4 hours, the light will dim to either 250 or 120 and go back to full brightness 500 or 250 for 30 seconds when motion is detected. The pillar light weighs a little over 10 lbs. It comes with several methods to mount it: cement, wood or in the ground. The light output is 3000k (soft white). So if you prefer daylight or a whiter light so sorry. Given that there are many color changing LED's, I think they should have made the color output user selectable (given the price). I was going to use this at the front of my house where I already had some path lights that were bright white. This soft white didn't look right (but I loved the look of this pillar in that location. Anyway I ended up putting the light next to my pool pump. I've always wanted an automatic light in this dark corner of my back yard. With the included, large ground mounting stakes, it was easy to put there. And there the soft white will be fine (still wish there was a choice). If you choose to mount it to concrete or wood it also includes concrete anchors of the appropriate size. The mounting plate itself is a pretty thick powder coated steel (that should not rust). In the photo you can see how the base mounts to the anchor. There are 4 stainless steel 'allen' screws to mount to pillar to the base once it secured.
This is a very well made, modern looking light. It is one of the highest quality solar lights I've found. It's made of metal, it has a large lithium iron battery pack, which should last a long time and it has a very large set of solar cells to charge the battery. And because it's solar there's no wiring, which makes it very easy to install. I certainly recommend it (I just wish the light color could be changed, it would make it much more flexible).
