I have these candles on a decorative candle stand designed for fireplaces. Because they are somewhat obscured by distance and by the fireplace screen, they actually look very nice. The "flame" flickers but can also be turned off so it is just creating light. The timer feature is fantastic. They come on by themselves and shut off 4 hours later. I bought two sets and both sets work on the same frequency so one remote controls all 6 candles. Like someone else said, when I took them out of the box I thought these were so cheap looking they would never work, but they actually look great in the fireplace. I wouldn't buy them to place in a centerpiece. They are not "close-up" pretty.