You want to cover your whole backyard in one run. Your current strand is 50 feet short and you are looking at buying two of the same string and running extension cords. Here's the easier answer.

Who This Is For

The MGVIH 100FT is designed for one specific situation: you have a lot of ground to cover and you want to control the lights without walking to the outlet. That sounds narrow, but it describes a surprising number of real backyards — large pergolas, covered patios spanning an entire house wall, multi-zone outdoor dining and seating areas, and event planners who need consistent bistro lighting across a venue without a ladder trip every time a guest asks for lower lights.

What the ST38 Shape Is — and Why It Matters for Ambiance

ST38 stands for a straight-tubular bulb shape, approximately 38mm (1.5 inches) in diameter. The shape tapers at the top, which is what gives it the classic Edison filament silhouette — that slightly elongated, vintage-incandescent look you see in outdoor restaurant patios, rooftop bars, and bistros trying to signal “this is a place to linger.”

Compare it to the G40 globe bulb, which is round and fully spherical at about 1.6 inches. G40 bulbs read as fuller and more café-lamp; ST38 bulbs read as more directional and vintage-industrial. Neither is better — it entirely depends on what your space calls for. A farmhouse-style pergola with wood beams tends to look better with ST38. A modern patio with clean lines and string lights as the primary visual element tends to suit G40 better.

The 2700K color temperature on the MGVIH sits slightly cooler than the 2200K you find on some competitors. That is not a flaw — 2700K is the standard “warm white” used in most residential interior lighting and reads as natural and inviting rather than the very amber, candlelight-adjacent glow of 2200K. Both are warm; 2700K simply has a slightly cleaner look that works better with neutral or cool-toned patio furniture and modern decor.

The Remote Control: Unusual in This Category

Most 100-foot outdoor string lights do not include a remote. You plug them in, you unplug them, and if you want to dim them you buy a separate outdoor dimmer switch. The MGVIH includes the remote in the box, and it offers four discrete brightness levels: 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%.

This is more useful than it sounds in practice. During dinner you might run at 75% for conversation lighting. When you clear the table and switch to sitting outside later in the evening, 25–50% gives you the atmospheric, almost-candlelit level that makes outdoor seating feel deliberate rather than functional. Without a remote, making that adjustment means getting up, locating the outlet or dimmer switch, and adjusting it manually — which most people simply do not do, and so the lights stay at full brightness all evening by default.

The remote also handles on/off, which means you can turn the lights off without unplugging them and losing your outlet access. For pergolas where the outlet is at head height and plugging in is straightforward, this is a minor convenience. For setups where the outlet is near the ground behind furniture, the remote becomes a meaningfully better experience every single time you use it.

Shatterproof PET Bulbs: A Practical Advantage at Events

The ST38 bulbs on the MGVIH are made from PET plastic rather than glass. This matters most in two scenarios: during installation and at events. Installing string lights at height — threading wire through pergola hooks, stapling along a roofline, draping across a backyard — involves dropping bulbs. A glass bulb drops six feet onto concrete and you are sweeping up a mess. A PET plastic bulb drops the same distance and you pick it up and keep going.

The event-planning use case matters too. When you have guests moving under string lights, occasionally bumping into strands, and children running around, the zero-glass risk of shatterproof bulbs is a meaningful practical advantage. Two spare bulbs are included in the box for any that fail during a run.

The PET plastic does not produce the same optical sparkle you get from a real glass bulb in direct sunlight — but once the lights are on after dark, the difference is invisible. The warm 2700K glow at night is what you are buying, and the material does not affect that.

Honest Limits: What the 4.2-Star Rating Tells You

A 4.2-star average is good — it means the majority of buyers are satisfied. But it is worth being clear about what that rating represents relative to category competition. The Brightown 100FT G40 carries a 4.8-star average across over 3,200 reviews, which is an unusually strong signal. The MGVIH is a newer ASIN with substantially fewer reviews, meaning its rating is based on a smaller sample and is subject to more variance as more reviews accumulate.

The “top bestseller” status visible on Amazon reflects current BSR (Best Seller Rank) in a subcategory at a given moment — it is a snapshot of sales velocity, not a longevity or quality signal. High sales rank can reflect recent promotions, Amazon placement, or simply a well-priced listing catching organic traffic. It is worth knowing what it means and what it does not mean.

The things most likely to account for the gap between 4.2 and 4.8 stars in this category are: remote reliability (remotes add a component that can fail or come unpaired), bulb-to-socket fit (a common complaint in any string light with replaceable bulbs), and cord quality (cheaper cords become brittle faster in freeze-thaw climates). None of these are reasons to avoid the product, but they are the honest watch points on a newer listing.

Pros and Cons

Specifications

Who Should Buy It — and Who Should Skip It

Verdict

The MGVIH 100FT ST38 is the right answer for a specific buyer: someone who needs large-format bistro lighting, wants the remote control convenience that almost no other 100-foot option includes, and is comfortable with a newer product that has not yet accumulated the review depth of established competitors. It is not the lowest-risk choice in the category — that remains the Brightown G40. But if you have been looking at the Brightown and thinking “I wish this came with a remote,” the MGVIH is the answer to that specific wish.

The 4.2-star average is honest. This is not an exceptional product; it is a good-value product with one standout feature in a category where that feature is genuinely rare. For large patios and pergolas where remote dimming matters, it earns its place as a credible first-buy recommendation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Reviews and Guides

• Best 100-Foot Outdoor String Lights — Ranked Comparison
• Best Outdoor String Lights — Full Category Roundup
• Brightown 100ft G40 Review — 4.8★ Best Overall in the Category