****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
UPDATE: 3/1/2023In February 2023, the bottom of my 1.2L glass container exploded on its own while in operation. During an afternoon, I had unsealed my container to take out a bag of loose leaf tea that I had been storing in the container. After taking some tea out of that bag, I put the bag back in the container, resealed the container, and left it on my coffee table. After stepping out for a few hours, I returned to find the bottom of my container had completely shattered. Not only does that obviously render the container completely useless, but I also had to toss out what had been a perfectly good bag of tea that was being stored in the container; the bag was open inside the container, so it's more than likely that fine glass particles reached into the bag of tea while the automatic vacuum of the lid was running.On something of a plus side, I'll give some credit to Soulhand's customer support for being reasonably responsive. They sent me a new glass container (even though it was a few weeks past my 30-day warranty window) and they gave timely responses to my questions, usually responding within 24 hours and occasionally within 48 hours.That being said, I'm really hesitant to continue using these glass containers. When I asked Soulhand why the container might have shattered on its own, they initially claimed this was the first time they had encountered such a situation. After pointing out to them that there have been several others who have left feedback on Amazon with written and visual accounts similar to mine, Soulhand offered a bit more detail, noting that the air pressure inside the container after vacuuming is lower than the atmospheric pressure, and if there's a "bump", it could "cause a certain part of the force to be unbalanced and cause fragmentation." They also indicated this situation is rare, and touted their use "high borosilicate high-quality glass." On my end, however, there was no major bumping or collisions while I was using my container. In fact, I had placed the container on a magazine catalog, so it wasn't as if the container had even been in contact with a particularly hard surface.Given my experience to date, I definitely maintain my previously-stated concerns about their quality control. If I could make my purchases all over again, I'd avoid the glass containers entirely -- it's just not worth the risk of the container breaking and having shattered glass particles contaminating whatever you're storing in there. If you really like the concept of this product, I'd recommend going with the steel version and would strongly recommend avoiding the glass version.____________________________________________________________________ORIGINAL REVIEWPurchased four containers around Nov./Dec. 2022 -- a 1.6L steel container; a 1.6L glass container; and (2x) 1.2L glass containers -- with mixed results.Two of of the containers (the 1.6L steel container and one of the 1.2L glass containers) came in good shape (i.e., brand new, giftable condition) and have been working fine so far. The vacuum seal has worked as advertised, and the operation is straightforward. Simply double-tap the Power button to vacuum seal, and double-tap again to release the seal. It takes around 20 seconds to vacuum seal, and around 10 to 15 seconds to fully release the seal. The container can be easily recharged through a USB-C charging port on the lid. It comes partially charged, but you should probably charge it fully before initial use.One of the containers (the 1.6L glass container) came with the top interface portion of the lid being ajar, such that you could see some of the inner circuitry of the lid. I just pressed the interface back in, and it seems to be working fine, but obviously not a great look if you're hoping to give this as a gift.The last container I purchased (a 1.2L glass container) did not work as advertised. Whenever I tried to seal it, the lid would try to create the vacuum seal for over a minute, but it wouldn't create the seal. After looking at it a bit closer, I found that the issue was with the width of this glass container. In the functioning containers described above, the width of the steel/glass container is slightly narrower than the width of the lid. Or maybe put another way, the silicon sealing ring of the lid should be just slightly wider than the opening of the glass/steel container, as this difference in size allows for the vacuum seal to be created. On the defective version, the silicone ring and the container were the same width, which meant a proper seal could not be created. I don't think there was anything wrong with the electronics in the lid. Rather, I think the glass container was manufactured to the wrong specifications. Instead of rolling the dice on a replacement that may suffer from the same defect, I requested and received a refund. Would rate this container 0 stars.Finally, I think it's worth highlighting the auto-vacuum feature of these containers. I think if the container is vacuum sealed and the pressure inside falls below a certain point, the container will automatically run the vacuum to get the pressure back to a certain level. If you're a stickler on freshness and want a "set-it-and-forget-it" device, then you'll probably have a favorable view of the auto-vacuum feature. However, be aware that the vacuum does create a sound that can be jarring, especially if you're not expecting it. Had one of these containers in my living room while watching a suspenseful movie, and during a quiet scene, the container automatically started sealing itself, which was rather startling! There's also no way to turn off or make any changes to the auto-vacuum setting. Ideally, a user would be able to specify certain timeframes when a container can auto-vacuum itself (the analogy I can think of is like how a PC will ask to update itself during non-active hours), but unfortunately, that's not a feature that's built into this device. As a result, you may want to consider storing these containers in a cupboard or an isolated room to avoid being startled by the sound of the auto-vacuum.Overall, I probably would not recommend these containers as a gift due to the quality control issues and the lack of a manufacturer warranty. The misspellings on the little User Guide card that comes with the product -- the word "stays" is misspelled "satys", and "Troubleshooting" is misspelled "Trobleshooting" -- also leave me feeling skeptical about the quality control. If you're buying this for personal use, the decision will probably come down to how confident you feel that you'll get a working product, and if you're OK with the sound created by the auto-vacuum feature.
