YONGNUO YN360 Pro Portable Handheld LED Video Light 3200k 5500k RGB

I purchased 4 of these to solve a difficult mounting/control situation, hoping to use the phone app. Yongnuo's photos in the iTunes store clearly show the ability to control 8 lights. In fact, however, the app pairs with only one light (you can't pick which one, it just chooses) - even if you select any of the 8 control "channels" your inputs will only affect the same light. Not only does the app fail at controlling multiple lights, it has a poor user interface design, is poorly documented, and to add insult to injury its icon is for a different Yongnuo product, not the YN360.When I wrote to Yongnuo support, I was erroneously told to buy a physical remote control for the lights -- in fact, they do not manufacture such a light and my request as to where/how to purchase such a remote was ignored.Now I'll have to use a step ladder to adjust the four lights manually, rather than having a breezy experience controlling them with an app. Not a recipe for a fun shoot.

Note: I purchased 4 of the YN360 lights (new) directly from Yongnuo. The lights were all functional and the review is based on that. I'll highlight any Pro and Cons in each area wherever possible. Feel free to reply if you have any specific questions!* In the box:The YN360 includes the light itself and a nylon carrying case with a zipper and a shoulder strap-There are NO BATTERIES and NO POWER ADAPTER included with this item. The item is unusable without buying these separately. The batteries needed are SONY NP-F750 batteries (and you'll need a charger)The nylon case is big enough to hold 2 YN360 lights (tight fit, no batteries) or 1 YN360 light + 1 battery (also a tight fit)Expect to spend another 30 bucks or so on a NP-750 Battery + Charger* YN360 LED itelfThe light is advertised as a 360LED video light. A similar product is sold by Westcott (look up the Ice Light) for about 5x the price. The yongnuo was meant to be a lower-priced version of this and also includes some extra features. That was how it was supposed to be, at least.The YN360 is about 2 feet tall (with about 18" being LED's, 6" being the control part)The bottom of the YN360 has a metal, 1/4" 20 standard mount. If using this on a tripod you should be fine, on a lightstand you may need a 3/8" to 1/4" adapter or a swivel mount/ballhead. While the mount itself is metal, the frame around it is plastic. I've seen (similar products) that have fallen or been twisted which will keep the lightstand attached to the metal mount but tear through the plastic housing surrounding it. Be careful!* The buttonsThe unit has 5 face buttons:POWER: This is self-explanatory. Press to turn on, press to turn off. This button also rotates to raise/lower power to the light.RGB: Enables RGB/Color Select mode. Want blue? red? pink? green? orange? Click this buttonBAT: Battery remainingFine/Coarse: Adjusts between Fine Tuning (1% at a time.. raise the power from 1%, 2%, 3% up to 99%) and Coarse Tuning (10% at a time.. 10%, 20%, up to 99%)3200k/5500k: Switches between the 3200k temp LEDs and the 5500k temp LEDs(More on all of these below)* Is it really 360 LEDs?Yes. But you can't use them all at once.There are 160 LEDs (3200k temp), 160 LEDs (5500k temp) and 40 RGB LEDs. If you want a pure WHITE light, you can use up to 160 LEDs, if you want a warmer white, you can use 160 LEDs. You can combine these for a total of 320 LEDs but it is a mix of WHITE and WARM WHITE color.The remaining 40 LEDs are RGB (Red/Green/Blue) and can create a very large range of color (IE: 30% Red, 20% blue, 92% green to create a sea green color.. or 100% red, 100% blue and 0% green to make a bright pink).You can use 160 WHITE LED or 160 WARM WHITE LED or 320 LED( white + warm white) or 40 RGB LED. You cannot mix the RGB and White/Warm White LEDs.* Battery lifeBattery life is rated at 2 hours on full power (320 LED) or 4 hours on RGB mode. I've found this to be fairly accurate.You can check the battery by pressing the BAT button which will display P0 - P9 (P0 = 01-09% battery, P1 = 10-19%, P9 = 90-99%)* iPhone App (and Android)This is where I found a lot of disappointment. Yongnuo uses the app as a selling point, allowing you to control power/color wirelessly from your phone. The app is available on iPhone (ios7+ or Android). I used the iPhone version on an iPhone SE and can say that is very unfinished and unusable with more than 1 light.The app is advertised to let you control up to 8 channel of lights and adjust the color and power of each remotely from up to 15 meters away.I was able to control it from 20 feet away without issue and did not have a need to test it from further.The LED does not appear as a bluetooth device, it automatically pairs with the app open, though. This is where part of the problem is.Pairing takes roughly 5 seconds but it only pairs to 1 YN360 (not 8 as stated by Yongnuo). If you have 4 YN360s, you can only use the app to control 1.The app lets you pick a color from a color wheel and changes on the YN360 almost instantly, which is great. However, it does not allow you to adjust the intensity of the RGB colors, it's always at a fixed level. To lower or raise brightness you must adjust it on the device itself (this goes against what Yongnuo has said)The main menu of the App has an Up, Down, Left, Right button which lets you adjust the 3200k and 5500k temperatures (one is adjusted using the Up/Down keys, the other with the Left/Right keys). I found the app to be too time consuming to adjust the power (it only allows fine-tuning at 1% at a time and will take time to raise from 0% to 99%, especially if adjusting both the 3200 and 5500k temps.In looking at the Yongnuo apps for other lights, I found this to be pretty consistent -- all are poorly rated and some are simply a static image that looks like a button but is unusable.NOTE: If you use the App + YN360, the YN360 will continue to drain its battery even after the light is turned off and the app is closed. You will need to remove the battery (and can re-insert it after) to turn off the bluetooth transmitter/battery drain.* RGB ModeRGB mode uses only 40 of the 360 total LEDs but each one of those 40 allow you complete control of the color. You can adjust this using the app (above) or by pressing the RGB button on the YN360 itself. Each time you press the RGB button it will change color (red/green/blue) to indicate which color you're adjusting. You can adjust each from 00% to 99% to create specific colors.Since this mode only uses 40 LEDs the light output is much lower than that of the main light.* AccessoriesIncluded on the backside of the YN360 is an orange panel for adjusting the color temperature. This is held to the YN360 by magnets, removes easily and can be attached to the front panel of the YN360 to change the light color to a warmer one. There is only an orange panel, no other colors or diffusion available, no barndoors available.* Build QualityI found the build quality to be "OK". I say that as while it feels somewhat sturdy, I know it will become damaged or even unusable after a single drop. With a plastic shell, it will likely crack very easily and the battery sticks out of the unit (with pins connecting it to the flash) and will break the pins if involved in a drop. Once these are gone, you'll only have an AC Power option (and still need to purchase a cord separately)* PriceThis is a mixed bag. The Ice Light is 500 bucks. This was advertised to be a light at 60 bucks. Problem is, actual price upon release is 100 bucks, add another 30 for the battery and another 30 for an AC adapter and you've gone from something at 1/8th the price to now 1/3rd the price.. and it's got issues.* So how is the light itself?Very bright! The light color was consistent across all 4 units. I found the built in clear diffuser to not be too great. It doesn't diffuse the light much and works more as an "LED Protector". The IceLight and other alternatives have a frosted diffuser to help spread and soften the light.I found the light to be a bit too hard for my taste and purchased/made a diffuser for it.With that said, it does work.* Does it flicker?One problem with LEDs is flickering.. in video mode you'll sometimes see the light flickering off and on. I did not experience any of that with the YN360.So would I recommend it?I'd recommend 1. I wanted to have 4 that I could control remotely from the app and if that worked, I would have kept all 4. I sent 2 back and kept 2.They work nice as a video light or a focus assist light but the need for an odd battery can be a dealbreaker (you'll need to buy spares if you plan to use it for more than a couple hours).The RGB mode is nice but with only 40 LEDs it's not as bright as I would have liked.The price is 2-3 times what it was "supposed to be" when it was announced. The build quality isn't great and with 1 drop it's probably done for.For the times it does work though.. it's nice.