“I must admit, I was skeptical when I purchased the jacket. I live in New York City and honestly have never seen anyone wearing any of the Ororo jackets. I watched some reviews and they weren’t very positive, but the jacket has been improved since they published those reviews. I have worn this jacket for the last three days with temperatures ranging from 25 to 35 degrees Fahrenheit. It has been windy all days except for the 35 degree day when there was momentarily breezy.
Firstly, the battery size is now much smaller and has rounded edges. So it is not very noticeable, you get used to it pretty quickly. I have used the jacket with the heating on periodically on medium and high setting for a total of approximately 4-5 hours and have just reached 25% battery level. The jacket goes through it’s “warm up” period of approximately 5 minutes, during which time you do feel it warming up. The “flashing” red light of the button on the jacket as it warms up isn’t really flashing, it is more like a slow smooth dimming and brightening, in my opinion much better than a flashing red light on my chest. The light is pretty noticeable, I observed quite a few people staring at it, especially at night.
The jacket itself feels of good quality, and is a little heavier than I expected. The pockets have zippers. The cheat pocket is a little small, too small for a standard smartphone. The hood is a little large, it is convenient, but seems too bulky and oversized compared to the jacket. I may end up zippering it off and wearing the jacket without it. It would have been nice to have an inside pocket as well, you could put something in the battery pocket, but I’m not comfortable putting anything that could bang around the battery. It has not rained or snowed so I don’t know how water repellent it is. It does do a good job on blocking the wind. When it was 25 degrees, I wore a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, the Ororo jacket and a hat and I was comfortably warm standing around and walking the dog, about as warm as I would be in my heavy down coat, without the bulk. When it was 35 degrees, I was wearing only a t-shirt underneath the Ororo jacket and was comfortably warm.
All in all, I do like the jacket and recommend it, but keep in mind that if it is cold out, your warmth is limited to how long the battery lasts. It does take a few hours to charge the battery, so I may purchase a spare battery, they’re not cheap, they’re about half of the price of the jacket.
Little things I would change are to add an inside pocket, make the chest pocket a little bigger to accommodate smartphones, cuffs in the sleeves, a better fitting hood, and finally a lower price on an extra battery.”
“I bought this jacket for my BF as a gift. Since it's August he hasn't had a chance to really test it out in cold weather, which is the reason for the 4 stars. We charged it and tried it out. The jacket heated right up. We may get an extra battery to make sure it lasts his 12 hour shifts. It's also roomy enough to layer if you decide to wear a sweater, etc underneath. I would recommend the jacket.”
