I have loaded these with batteries and all work, which is a good start. I did need to fiddle with the flame top on a couple of them to get the contacts aligned with the batteries. The flame bulb doesn't look terribly real, but it gives an orangey-amber light with a nice flicker effect. The bottom is quite clearly a cap, so if the bottoms are exposed (as w/ the floating candle effect for a haunted house or Harry Potter party) that will be visible.I need them ready to go for a performance so, as there is no on/off option, I have left the bottoms loosely screwed on. When the time comes, I will make a pass through all of them to tighten the bottom. Hopefully they will light steadily when they are needed.Disappointingly, I received 23 rather than 24 candles.We bought these to hang them from the ceiling for a Harry Potter party and they worked great. However one was a dud that we couldn't get to work. They flicker which was cool but these are very dim so dont buy if you need them to put out a lot of light. But perfect for our application.Got these to recreate the Hogwarts candle ceiling. I read the reviews and purposely didn't get a set with a remote because these were supposed to be on timers. I turned them all on at 630pm and thought they would go off around 12am. When I woke up the next morning they were all still on. I can't fault them in looks. They flicker and look great but super annoying to have to turn 24 candles off/on that are suspended from the ceiling.These were ordered for our church Christmas program. They are not extremely bright but did serve the purpose.The battery life on these is amazing! We hung them up 6 weeks ago for a party and they are still flickering their little flames.Great for church service.I like them a lot and work well for what I needed them for but so far 4 of the 11 I’ve tried haven’t worked. Still have more to try so I’ll see what my rating will be when I’ve tried them allThese are all working well so far. Used them in a Christmas program and had no issues. Every one of them worked. Worked great for the kids to hold as they were pretending to be carolers in a Christmas program.