Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I ordered this to replace a simple beach umbrella we had for several years. We live in Colorado and it gets HOT watching soccer in the sun. I searched in vain to find an inexpensive umbrella to replace the old one. I couldn't find one, so I started looking at these more expensive options. It came down to this and the Joe Shade. I ended up buying them both, comparing and returning the Wondershade. To be clear NEITHER is worth the price I paid BUT I needed one....so I chose the Joe Shade. Here are my thoughts on the two. Hopefully it will help someone make a decision and not have to order both! First, yes they are the same size. Second, upon opening both umbrellas I was struck by how cheap they felt. Lot's of plastic parts. My observations on the Wondershade: the option of using the stand or using the "screw" is a great idea—in fact I really wish that was an option on the Joe Shade. On the Wondershade I was never quite able to turn the screw that holds the bottom legs fully tight to hold them securely in place. In addition, the collar that holds the upper portion of the umbrella in the lower portion never fully tightened so the upper umbrella pole slowly slid into the lower pole lowering the umbrella. Don't get too excited about the cup holders. They are not very well made and not very functional. The ones that arrived with my umbrella had rusted ends on them. The material of the umbrella itself is rather thin. The material on the Joe Shade felt thicker and sturdier. (Don't mistake thicker and sturdier to mean well made!) I do like the little pocket on the bag for the stakes-- the Joe Shade lacks a pocket and I end up dumping the stakes out every time I use it. Also, I think the poles on this shade extend higher than the Joe Shade. Joe Shade: this arrived with the little piece of metal that is supposed to hold the umbrella in the open position stuck in the pole. When I went to push up the umbrella there was nothing to hold it up. I fiddled with it a while and bent it a little into position, then put some WD-40 on it. It seemed to do the trick and now pops into place when putting up the umbrella. (The Wondershade uses the same mechanism for it's umbrella so I suppose the same problem could occur with it.)The pole on this seems to be a tad sturdier than the Wondershade. Both umbrellas have the same mechanism for the tilt so no real differences there. Again, the material on this umbrella is slightly thicker than on the Wondershade. Ultimately I did decide on Joe Shade. I gave up the option of using the stand or the "sand screw" for the slight quality edge I felt the Joe Shade had.