What the numbers mean
17 sockets over 51 ft, so a bulb every three feet. Wider than the addlon at two. Three feet is still a bistro string; it is a slightly airier one, and over a long fence line or a big pergola it costs less to cover the same distance. Eighteen bulbs come in the box because one is a spare.
S14 shatterproof at 1 W, 2700K. Plastic, not glass. They will not break if a branch comes down on them and they do not look quite like glass up close. At three feet over a table nobody has ever noticed.
No radio of any kind. Plug and socket. This is a feature and it is the specific reason to buy this SKU rather than another Banord.
Who it is for
- The cheapest way to light a patio properly. It is the least expensive string here, and the one we had fewest reservations about.
- Long runs — fence lines, a deep garden, a pergola you want to circle twice.
- Anyone who wants the lights to be lights.
Who should buy something else
- You want bulbs closer together: the addlon is at two feet and reads denser overhead.
- You want the heavy cord: the Brightech is built for weather this is not built for. Side by side.
What we could not check
We have not hung this string, and there is a gap in our reading of it that we would rather name than paper over.
For the other strings on this page we read the individual reviews. For this one we read the listing summary instead — a large, strongly positive record and nothing more granular than that — and we did not work through the review text itself. So we can tell you a great many people are happy and we cannot tell you, from the reviews, exactly how it fails.
What we can tell you comes from looking at the brand more broadly, and it is the reason this specific SKU is the one listed. Banord’s smart strings — the app-controlled ones — carry a recurring pattern of units dying at one to three months, and scattered reports of blown fuses in multi-strand setups. None of that applies to a plain dimmable Edison string with no electronics in it beyond the socket, which is exactly why we point at this one. If you go shopping in this brand’s catalogue and come back with the app-controlled version because it was on offer, you have bought a different product with a different record.
The renders place seventeen points along a 51 ft line. That is the spacing. It is not a weather test.
The rest of outdoor string lights
| Product | Cost tier | Size | Lights | Pitch | Per light | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S14 48 | Budget | 48 ft | 15 | — | 65 lm | IP66 |
| H7015 48 | Budget | 48 ft | 15 | — | 65 lm | IP65 |
| S14 96 | Budget | 96 ft | 30 | — | 65 lm | IP66 |
| addlon 48 | Budget | 48 ft | 24 | 24 in | — | ETL, weatherproof |
| Banord 51 | Budget | 51 ft | 17 | 36 in | — | UL, waterproof |
| Ambience Pro | Budget | 48 ft | 15 | 38 in | 2 W | UL, weatherproof |
Price tiers are our own rough budget bands, not live prices. Check the listing for today’s price. The price itself stays on the listing, where it is current, rather than here, where it would go stale. The same catalogue drives the calculator, so a number here and a number there are the same number.