Sparkr Mini Plasma Lighter

This plasma lighter works well as a rope cutter (small diameter) which is what I bought it for but it functions well as a regular lighter. Since its not a flame, you have to make some adjustments on how you use it. The fact that you just recharge it and you never have to put fuel in it, makes it really practical and low maintenance. My version had the flashlight fixed. Earlier versions if you put it in your pocket you could accidentally turn on the flashlight function by bumping the on switch just once. The newer ones require three consecutive presses to turn on the light so now its almost impossible to accidentally turn on the flashlight and drain the battery. Handy little item to have.

On first handling it, it felt light and cheap, but it is very well built and the battery lasts quite a lot longer than a no-brand arc lighter of the same size with similarly high ratings. It lights my smokes very well in almost all conditions, and that's predominantly what it's practical for. The design doesn't lend itself to use in pipes or non-tapered candles. I can see lighting an accelerant (such as fire paste or charcoal starter) or a firelog's bag with it easily but not old fashioned tinder without a bit of work. Battery life is quite surprising, I haven't had it die yet, but the arcs seem to weaken. Just a guess, but I'd say you can light at least 3 packs on one charge, possibly more if you're a quick lighter. Surprised it won't spark while charging, but I guess that's as good an excuse as any to get a back-up. The LED is extremely dim, but sometimes that's nice, its enough to see where you're walking at night or to work on something in your lap, but only just.

When I first received this and charged it, it would not work correctly. The grey button the side did nothing, but the flashlight worked with no issue. Returned it with zero issues and received a new one in the mail. I only use it to light our small porch fire pit, but it works perfectly. Plus, people are always asking me what it is when I flip the lid.

I’ve had mine for little over a year until the battery started to expand and one of the plasma contacts stopped working. But with all that said, I want to buy another one to replace it because there’s nothing else out there as lightweight with a grippy feel, conveniently pocket sized, and even has a mini light that’s rechargeable at this price point

Got this for an emergency bag since it doesn’t use fuel. Put it in my bag almost a year ago. Took it out to test it and the lid snapped completely off! It is now pretty much useless as it is unsafe to put in the bag now without a lid. The ignition button could be accidentally depressed and burn up my bag! Disappointed in the flimsy construction. Really wanted to give this 5 stars. I see others have complained about the same thing.Edit:Seller sent me a replacement at no charge and explained they improved the lid connection. I don’t really see any difference from the first one but only time will tell. Still a neat product.

The media could not be loaded. I bought this lighter because, well, I have a gadget problem. When I see something that catches my eye, I have this urge to investigate. A zippo style lighter that doesn't use gas? That you charge up with a USB? Cool. And I encourage this kind of innovation, even if practically, you know, it could buy 30+ gas lighters from the store for the price. But hey, that little 'X' plasma thing? Cool. Little LED light at the bottom? Cool. So I am writing this review not to encourage or discourage it's purchase, I am writing directly to the folks who designed this, because there is a slight flaw they should correct in the version 2.0 of this device.When I got the lighter, I charged it up, and it worked great - lights up cigarettes, cool little 'X' plasma thing, little LED flashlight, pretty cool. Surprisingly light, much lighter than a regular zippo. The next morning I threw it in my pants pocket on the way to work. Later that day, I go out to have a smoke, and the lighter is, surprisingly, dead.Oh well, maybe the battery wasn't a long lasting thing or I should have charged it overnight. So I charged it overnight, next day threw it in my pants pocket, and again, later that day it was dead. Odd.Charged it up for a few hours and again threw it in my pocket, then after walking around for a while I noticed the LED light was on. I didn't press anything, why was it on?Well, builders, you have a little design flaw. The LED light switch is slightly higher than the rest of the lighter, and you can see from the video it is susceptible to being turned on when in your pocket, draining the battery. So for the 2.0 version of this thing, keep that in mind and design the button so that it won't turn on unless you want it to.That's all - otherwise fun little lighter, fun little gadget. I'll buy it again (my gadget addiction likes this) if you fix that one little element. Oh, and note that the plastic stains against the cigarette lighting, that's to be expected I guess but another possible area of design improvement.

after 1 year usage, I realize a few things I don't like, the LED is useless lol.. I am picky about my led lights. The build quality is mostly plastic doesn't seem very durable, This is 3.0.. I am guessing there might be a premium build later on? who knows but its light weight, im not too sure about wind proof as I did seem to have problem with the wind putting it out.At least I found out today it is not water proof, accidently threw it in the washer with one of my pants. Surprisingly my SD cards and flashlights were able to survive the washer.. but this just completely died lol.so if you are buying this, be sure to have good memory on empty your clothes before throwing in the washer, its a great little lighter.