Mystique Flameless Candle, Ivory 10" Taper, Real Wax Candle With Realistic Flickering Wick, Battery Operated, By Boston Warehouse

LED candles have evolved rapidly over the past 5 years, from a piece of plastic with a garish yellow (and totally not realistic) flame-shaped piece of plastic at the top; to candles that had a flicker effect which from a distance kind of looked like a real candle; to these, the latest generation of make-believe candles that resemble a real flame. There is one brand name that I guess invented this newest style and of course, a lot of imitators. Mystique isn’t the inventor (and they are straightforward about that) but they do make one of the better knockoffs.THE PLUS SIDE1. These look remarkably like real tapers, they even feel like them. They have the same waxy touch as a real candle. Thankfully they are not scented, which was popular a couple of years ago with fake candles. Most of them had a scent that was too overpowering and candles that smell were generally not very well liked by the public2. They are made better than the early LED candles were made. The switch is more positive and feels like it will last longer3. And of course, the flame effect is what you buy them for and that is verging on being as good as looking at a real flameTHE MINUS SIDE1. It’s hard not to overlook how expensive they are. The lowest cost version at the time of purchase was the 8” cream colored variety at just under $17 EACH. I bought candles that had the automatic on/off timer from a discount store 5 years ago at about $2 each that looked almost as good from a distance.2. The way they are marketed. The same candle in a color other than cream can cost as much as $47 PER CANDLE. It doesn’t cost more to make the candle, the extra profit is because the market will bear it. It seems logical that plain white would cost the least but it is one of the most expensive (probably because they are used at weddings).3. Too much of the “flame” sticks up. I get that they want to show off their cool magnetic technology but that’s not how real candles look. As soon as you light a real candle the wax melts and part or all of the flame gets buried inside the top of the candle, which then glows and flickers. Having the entire “flame” exposed makes them look fake. On the plus side, at least the top of the candle glows … there are other brands where only the “flame” lights up which really doesn’t look like a candle at all.IMPORTANTAfter seeing these candles I’m convinced that 95% of any disappointment would come from not using them properly. How is that possible? I mean, how hard is it to use a candle? Well it turns out that there is absolutely a right way and a wrong way to use them. The whole magic of how they work is in the flame-shaped tip. It is a flat piece of hinged plastic that’s attached inside the top of the candle. In order to work properly you MUST follow some simple rules that are NOT explained in the instructions:1. The candle must be as vertical as possible. If it leans even a bit to the side the hinged “flame” won’t bob around properly and you will lose the whole effect2. The “flame” is flat and it reflects the hidden LED light bulb inside. To do that it has a good and a bad side. For the ideal effect put the candle in the holder with the LED light bulb at the front (toward you). That way it will reflect on to the flat plastic “flame”. If you put the bulb at the rear the entire effect changes and you will get a much more subtle glow rather than the look of a burning candle wick.3. If you have the flat “flame” turned 90° so you are looking at the edge of it you lose the effect of a flame entirely. So, ideally, these candles are meant to be placed where people will look AT them rather than gather AROUND them.4. Don’t touch the flat plastic “flame”. It is mounted to a delicate hinge and if you bend that it won’t give you any flickering effect.5. These candles look best when placed on a shelf or something where people will look slightly upward at them. They look worst when you can see down into the hole in the top and the glare of the LED bulb hits your eye and you can see the hinge thingie moving. I would think they would not be well suited to a dinner table for that reason. Also, the flat hinged “flame” makes a slight clicking noise as it flails around simulating a flame. It a totally quiet room that can be annoying, especially if you have multiple candles turned on.THE BOTTOM LINEI am a fan of any LED candle shape, whether it be tapers or pillars, that have the automatic on/off timer. Once you turn it on at a given time it turns itself on at the same time every day and turns itself off in 5 hours. The timer is surprisingly accurate and the batteries tend to last almost a month. They work very well when you place your candles in difficult to reach locations. The only thing you should be aware of is that there may be times when you don’t want the candle to go out after 5 hours, like a long dinner party or a wedding reception, etc. With these you can’t easily be sure when it is set to timer mode or not. I like them better than LED candles with remote controls though, especially if you tend to mix brands and types of candle … I’ve run into issues where pushing the button turns some candles on while it turns others off. And certain electronic signals like from a cell phone can turn the candles on/off when you don’t want them to. I’ve found that remote control candles are not as convenient as they sound.Bottom line, if you opt for the size/color that costs under $20 per candle these are a good product. I don’t think they are worth over that price. Watch for the price to come down or for them to go on seasonal sale (never buy candles around any holiday). Please check out my video to see how these look compare to the first generation LED candles and the “flicker” ones from recent years. I used careful color controls to try to give you the most accurate rendition of how they actually look, but of course everyone’s monitor screens are different so the colors may not look exactly the same to you. I like them (which Amazon defines as 4-stars). I don’t “love” them because of the high price and the finicky precautions you have to take to make them look their best.

I love how beautiful these candles are. I got the color taupe and although it isn’t really a taupe color, the color in the picture displayed is accurate in person (which is how I truly wanted it to look). Not only is the candle color beautiful, the “flame” lights beautifully and so realistic too. The only con (hate) about this is the price (hence the knockoff of 1 star) because it’s expensive. I have previous LED candles that I really liked (reasonably priced) and was going to purchasing more from, but they didn’t have this beautiful warm brownish color I was looking for. Apparently, this particular color for LED taper candles are a hard find. Found some similar at Pottery Barn, but they were like $60 each!

The media could not be loaded.  I bought these candles in 2016 and I use them over Christmas every year. They have worked perfectly for four years now. I set them up right after Thanksgiving, let them run the 5 hours the timer allows every evening (6-11 pm) until New Years day or so. Mostly I manage to do this on one set of batteries, but right around Christmas I might have to change some batteries. It depends on how much I use them in non-timer mode. I'm very happy with these candles, I actually bought another bunch the other day.They look really good but, as somebody wrote, they do not light up the room.There are two things that give them away as fake. Firstly, there is a soft tingling sound from the plastic "flames" bouncing around in the flicker simulation. Secondly, the plastic flames cast moving shadows on the wall in a way a real candle wouldn't do (see video above). You can minimize this effect by turning the candle so the LED is closest to the wall which means the "flame" is not between the LED and wall.The mechanism is very sensitive. I unpack, and pack, them very carefully every year. I never leave the batteries in the candles in between seasons.UPDATE: The new ones arrived but they look very different from the ones I already have. There has been a design change making more, too much, of the top light up. The idea is not bad since the old candles are too dark in top but the result is not good. Too much is lit and the border to the dark part is way too sharp. (I'll try to upload a photo showing the difference). I will return the candles and I also remove a star from my rating.

The media could not be loaded.  These brown flameless candles are expensive, so for a long time I resisted buying them, hoping I could find them somewhere for less. That didn't happen, so I splurged and bought 3 of them, and I'm so happy I did. I purchased the 10" tapers, and that's really the perfect height for a taper, I think. These are real wax and very realistic, and it's an added bonus that they require just 2 AA batteries; all of my other 10" tapers require 3. These have a built-in timer feature, too. I'm very happy that I finally bought these, and I highly recommend them. I've included a short video to show the flickering effect, as well as a regular photo to show the color, which is a warm brown.

I have had this candle for about 1 month. At first, it worked perfectly. I have it on the timer mode. I noticed the other night that the "flicker" has stopped...that was the whole point of buying this ONE candle for over $35.00! If I "flick" the "flame" part...it kicks in...but then dies. Most disappointed. One candle for over $35.00!!! Seriously? DO NOT BUY THIS. IT'S A SHAM.

Most realistic flame I have seen. I bought the red for Christmas and hav been very happy with them