LEDs have reached the point where they’re cheap enough to appear in just about anything. Case in point are these LED Light Up Balloons. While easily the most frivolous of the LED-driven products I’ve reviewed, it’s still nice to see this technology implemented in an imaginative manner.

The two packages of balloons I received.

Setup is simple. Pull the tab to activate the LED light, then inflate and tie off the balloon like usual. While we used our own breath to inflate our balloons, helium is also an option.

After a short while, the glow was modest.

The balloons inflate to around 12 in. (30cm). Once lit, the LED – or more specifically the battery that powers the LED – is rated to last for about 48 hours, although your time will vary. When we lit our three test balloons, all lost intensity after a few hours, with only one of the three being particularly impressive when first activated. However, the red LED in each balloon did continue to have a weak glow for well after 48 hours.

My digital camera did its best to capture the subtle glow of the balloons as the evening wore on.

Although I wasn’t particularly impressed by the variable quality of the LED intensity in the three test balloons (we actually incorporated them into the decorations for our youngest daughter’s first birthday party), I will say that the material used to make the balloons themselves was impressively thick. While the LED technology needs some tweaking, balloon quality does not. As such, even with a likely repeat of the lackluster and inconsistent LED glow, we’ll definitely be incorporating the rest of these balloons into our middle daughter’s ninth birthday party decorations.

What my digital camera saw in our darkened house.

What my Apple iPhone 6 Plus saw in our darkened house.

Thanks to Echen for the review units.