by Y’all.
As I write this, today would’ve been night two of the Map of the Soul Tour. My friend and I had tickets for BOTH nights and I would’ve been waving my new BTS Official Light Stick SE at Soldier Field, Chicago.
It’s really upsetting that the tour has been postponed indefinitely, but protecting each other from COVID-19 is most important. It’s also quite possible that the next tour won’t be OT7 if Jin goes into the military this year.
But I tried my best to push through this weekend with blissful ignorance LOL. I have to admit, it didn’t work. I felt sad whenever I was unintentionally reminded by my coworkers about the vacation that was still notated on my calendar.
Nevertheless, I am here to show you the new special edition light stick that I was hella fortunate to get! They sold out quickly on the US side of the Weverse app, but I had learned in a Facebook BTS group that I could still purchase one on the Global side! Shipping prep wasn’t quick, but once the light stick was in the mail, I got it in a week!
My last BTS light stick review was for Version 3 and it was very thorough. I’m not sure how the hell I did that. I’ll try my best to hit the same points, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask me in the comments!
ONWARD!
The package arrived in a week of being shipped. It arrived beautifully on a very rainy day where I was away at work and unable to save the package. The light stick box was wrapped in bubble wrap, which would’ve provided some protection from the elements (Bless the mail handler because they put it between the screen and front door of my house!). FYI: BigHit always schedules when merchandise will be shipped and although there was a slight delay, I didn’t have any worries once the lightstick was in the mail.
It’s no secret that the BTS Official Light Stick SE is BRIGHT! I’m sure you’ve been looking around for glimpses and other reviews online, so you already know BigHit packed a star inside. In-person tho, it’s marvelous! The brightness gives the light stick a bluish glow that accentuates its sleek outline.
Unlike the previous Version 3 light stick, there is a white bulb inside that covers the internal light. When the lightstick is turned on nicely with a flat sliding button, the bulb glows to highlight the BTS and ARMY logos. It’s very slick.
The SE light stick doesn’t remind me of a cartoonish bomb anymore. Even the detonator has practically disappeared. This shouldn’t come as a surprise since BigHit has been designing the ARMY Bomb to not have such a long wick. Also, the grenade stand on the bottom was removed. Honestly, does BigHit not want to reference a “bomb” anymore?
Many ARMY have said that the light stick has slimmed out over the years, but I beg to differ. Version 3 is still very bulky as compared to Version 2. This might be the case of mistaken identity: BigHit used the same case design but made a few color changes and internal tweaks such as debuting the Bluetooth mode. This doesn’t negate the fact that the SE light stick is thinner, yet a little heavier than Version 3.
The plastic body looks and feels so smooth, like granite. There’s something with the design that gives it weight. In my opinion (cause I’m not weighting these things guys), Version 2 is the lightest with the SE being the heaviest. Don’t worry though, it’s still designed so you can hold it for long concert hours (5 hours battery time!). You still won’t notice it’s in your hand amidst shaking it around LOL!
Speaking of shaking, there are no rattles with this version (thank gawd! I never understood those rattles!). The 3D BTS logo, which I loved, was removed for printed logos on the internal white bulb, but the improvement is the addition of the ARMY logo! It’s overall a sophisticated, mature, yet sexy design.
Here’s something I KNOW you’ll love! The Bluetooth mode worked peeeerfectly. The battery cage, which takes three AAA batteries, juts out further than on Version 3. Missing that extra length was a major problem for most ARMY. Some had to get creative to close the gap where the battery cage activates the Bluetooth connection and some, like myself, had to visit the Help Desk at one of the concert locations. This time, there’s no need to add the padding on the bottom of the battery cage to complete the Bluetooth connection because the new design fixes that. It actually comes with its own pad LOL!
Bluetooth mode is activated in the BTS Official Light Stick App just like with the previous Version 3. The app walks you through the steps to connect your ARMY Bomb. Be sure to select Self Mode if you want to play around with changing the bulb colors or Concert Mode if you’re at a concert or watching an online concert like Bang Bang Con to get the party started. Heads up to those of you that purchased tickets to Bang Bang Con: The Live!
I think that’s enough about the overall SE light stick design. Let’s talk about the perks! Again, the light stick comes with a carrying bag, OT7 photocards, and a wristlet…does the instruction book count too? Same as before, The Boys gave us cute selcas….JK gave us a bit more tho…
The wristlet is silver this time (so sexy!), same width but shiny, and still has both BTS and ARMY on each respective side. The bag is a nice touch. Some light sticks don’t come with bags, so even though the material isn’t the best quality. The material is made of a thinner, unlaminated reusable grocery bag fabric. It’s pretty much like a miniature black Love Yourself shopper bag! LOL!
I love that BigHit and BTS continued to keep ARMY in mind when designing the SE light stick, from OT7 taking selcas like they know us, aaaaall the way to the ARMY name and logo included in the finer details, just shows how much they value their fans. With the pandemic and current Black Lives Matter protests, it’s great to see that BTS is genuine in their care for ARMY.
Who knows what’s in store for the next version. Usually, a special edition version of anything is an outlier. The next light stick might be Version 4 and keep some of the same designs as Version 3 or maybe it’ll build off of the SE aesthetics. BigHit didn’t say LOL! These ARMY Bombs have been released almost on a yearly basis, so we’ll probably soon find out what’s in store for the next version.
What are your thoughts on the Light Stick SE? Let me know in the comments.
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Stay Fighting! 💜
BONUS!
Were you wondering why so many of the BTS standees were missing in photos and videos? I wanted a cute BTS background for this review, but my cat kept leaping to knock them over. See!