Hi Anthony,
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave this review - we're really glad the setup was smooth and that you noticed the packaging.
That's also part of the same thinking that sits behind the cable, it was a deliberate decision to not to include a charging cable. The sensor uses standard USB-C, and people usually have plenty of these at home. In our experience those little bundled cables almost always end up in a drawer or, worse, in landfill. Pairing that decision with recyclable, minimal packaging felt like the right way to do it, but I completely understand it can catch people off guard - we appreciate you flagging it.
On the glow light reading - you've spotted something that is worth explaining (feel free to skip the technical bit; the short version is the sensor is working as it should be, and that it's about to be made it even smarter). Like most plant sensors, we measure light in lux, which is essentially a measure of visible light weighted toward the green part of the spectrum. Plants, though, mostly use the red and blue wavelengths for photosynthesis (making food from light) - which is exactly why grow lights look the colour they do. So a strong grow light can genuinely look "dim" to a lux-based reading, even though your plant is getting plenty of usable light.
The good news is that there's a lot more going on inside the SmartyPlants monitor than lux alone. We measure additional wavelengths, and in the next few weeks we're rolling out a new metric that analyses light quality alongside light intensity - how much of the light reaching your plant is actually useful to it. No other houseplant sensor does this (we've got a patent pending on it), and it's going to be especially relevant for your setup with the glow light.
Honestly, our goal is that you never have to think about any of the above if you don't want to. There's a lot of science under the hood, but our job is to translate all of it into one simple answer: is my plant healthy, and if not, what do I do about it? We'll reach out when the new light-quality feature lands, we would love your take on it.
Thanks again for the review and the thoughtful feedback.
Ben and the SmartyPlants team