Essentially the most spectacular panels thus far

Govee made a reputation for itself as a less expensive, however nonetheless extremely spectacular, various to manufacturers like Nanoleaf and Philips Hue. It is a system that is been working effectively, as many shoppers, myself included, have begun to grasp you could get an awesome expertise from Govee, and infrequently much more spectacular results, with out forking over a lot money.

With the introduction of the Glide Hexagon Gentle Panels Extremely, the proposition has modified considerably. These wall panels value considerably greater than Nanoleaf’s flagship panels, so how is Govee justifying such a premium price ticket?

Nicely, to chop to the chase, these are essentially the most impressive-looking gentle panels that I’ve ever seen, and that alone is likely to be sufficient. Let’s take a more in-depth have a look at the Extremely panels, to see what else they create to the desk.

Govee

Govee Hexagon Gentle Panels Extremely

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$280 $350 Save $70

The Govee Hexagon Gentle Panels Extremely are essentially the most impressive-looking gentle panels that I’ve ever come throughout. They’re certain to amaze, however additionally they include a hefty price ticket, which is able to restrict their enchantment.

Execs

• Shiny, vibrant lighting results
• Extremely adaptable mounting
• Clean and crowd pleasing animations
• Integration with Google Dwelling, Alexa and Razer Chroma

Cons

• Very costly
• No Apple Dwelling Equipment assist

Specs, value and availability

The Govee Glide Hexagon Gentle Panels Extremely launched within the US on September 25 2023. They’re obtainable to buy now both via Amazon or from Govee straight at a value of $350 / €350. They’ve but to look on the Govee UK web site or Amazon UK, although I’d think about they’re going to value round £350 once they do.

As I’ve already talked about, it is a sizable funding for a set of LED wall panels. A 9-pack of Nanoleaf Shapes Hexagons retails for under $200, for instance. It is value noting, although, that Govee tends to run wonderful reductions round Black Friday and Prime Day, so savvy customers can seemingly save on the MSRP. Actually, the panels are already decreased to $280 on Govee’s US web site, on the time of writing.

Setup and configuration

In the event you’ve ever configured a set of sunshine panels earlier than, you then will not be in for too many surprises with the Gentle Panels Extremely. The entire course of is guided by the smartphone software, and the toughest half is coming to a choice on the form that you just wish to make.

Within the field, you get 10 hexagonal gentle panels, 10 versatile linking cables, an influence adapter, a management field, a small spirit degree and the related manuals and documentation.

The panels simply stick onto your wall with self-adhesive pads, they usually join to one another with brief cables that clip into place. You will want to attach the panels in a particular order, utilizing particular numbered ports on the rear, so make sure to comply with the app directions and do not simply hook them up as you see match.

To be fully trustworthy, I jumped the gun and wired them up incorrectly at first, however fortunately, the panels are simply faraway from the wall if you have to entry the rear. It is because the self-adhesive pads additionally join with velcro to the sunshine panel, so you possibly can take the panel off of the wall whereas leaving the pads connected. Very useful should you make a mistake, or for future upkeep.

Nanoleaf is essentially the most well-known competitor, and its gentle panels use inflexible connectors slightly than cables. That is each a bonus and a drawback. The Nanoleaf panels are undoubtedly much less fiddly to get aligned and stuck to your wall, however they’re additionally much less adaptable. In the event you wished to make your Extremely panels go round a nook, for instance, you could possibly do this with the included versatile cables, whereas the Nanoleaf Shapes would require an extra accent.

App and good options

The Extremely panels hook up with the identical Govee Dwelling app as the remainder of the manufacturers good lighting, so I knew precisely what to anticipate from testing out the Smart Curtain Lights and AI Gaming Sync Box Kit.

The app is straightforward to navigate, works reliably and has infinite customisation choices to configure and sync up your Govee merchandise. The very best half, as is commonly the case with RGB good lighting, is the wealth of user-generated lighting modes, that are consistently added to by Govee followers all around the world. In the event you’re feeling artistic, you can too create your personal lighting modes from scratch, too.

It is not the prettiest app, in my view, but it surely’s very purposeful. Plus, it has the power to work with Google Dwelling and Alexa, so the Extremely panels can work seamlessly with the remainder of your good residence automations, should you use a type of platforms.

Personally, I handle all of my good gadgets via Google Home, and including the Hexagon Gentle Panels Extremely to the equation was as simple as could be. Now, they’re set to return on at sundown, with the remainder of my good lighting, and swap themselves off at bedtime.

They will show the final used impact when toggled on or off by way of Google Dwelling, however to vary to a unique impact, you may want to make use of the Govee app. You may, nevertheless, modify the brightness or swap to a fundamental single-colour mode utilizing Google Dwelling, or by chatting with Google Assistant.

Efficiency and results

The primary factor that differentiates the Hexagon Gentle Panels Extremely from different gentle panels is the variety of controllable zones on every panel. When Govee launched its Glide Hexa panels, it provided the power to regulate the color of every panel, in addition to show gradients, then with the Hexa Pro, it cut up every hexagon into three to create a 3D cube-like impact. With the Extremely panels, the 3D dice impact is retained, however a brilliant, addressable define now traces the dice shapes.

This implies the sheer variety of results that may be displayed on these panels feels nearly limitless. You may have the panels off and solely the define illuminated, illuminate a single aspect of the “dice” at a time, illuminate the hexagons and maintain the define darkish – you get the thought, there are plenty of choices.

Govee’s pre-configured results do an awesome job of showcasing all the chances, and the user-created DIY library is rising quick, with some actually artistic scenes beginning to emerge. To place it merely, I’ve by no means used a wall panel product that has provided such a wealth of aesthetically pleasing and distinctive choices.

The panels are astonishingly brilliant and vibrant, too. Mine normally reside at about 25 per cent brightness, and if I wish to showcase them within the daylight, then I solely have to bump that as much as round 50 per cent to have them trying their greatest.

As normal, there is a music-reactive mode, which depends on both a microphone that is constructed into the management field, or your smartphone’s mic. You will want to make use of the management field microphone to entry the extra spectacular results, although, because the smartphone microphone limits you to single-colour pulses of all the array, for some motive.

A number of the music-reactive results are fairly cool, however that is one space that would use some extra growth. At current, there would not appear to be a method to create DIY music results, so that you’re restricted to the six presets that Govee has offered. In equity, although, you do have plenty of management over these presets, you possibly can select which space you wish to gentle up, in addition to tweak the path, sensitivity and colors. Nevertheless, a full DIY possibility could be even higher.

Verdict

The Govee Hexagon Gentle Panels Extremely are essentially the most spectacular gentle panels that I’ve ever laid eyes on. They provide an nearly limitless mixture of brilliant and vibrant results that may simply brighten up your dwelling house. They’re additionally simple to put in, and have loads of flexibility of their mounting and positioning. The short and easy integration with Google Dwelling and Alexa is a bonus, too.

The one downside is the worth. $350 is some huge cash for a lighting product, so you may must be very severe about your wall decor to even contemplate investing in one thing like this. In the event you’re a Twitch streamer or YouTube creator who’s constructing out a futuristic backdrop, although, there are few, if any, merchandise that may make as a lot of an influence as these gentle panels.