Essentially the most spectacular panels up to now

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 nicely, as many customers, myself included, have begun to grasp which you could get an amazing expertise from Govee, and sometimes 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 price 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 probably the most impressive-looking gentle panels that I’ve ever seen, and that alone could 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

Advisable

$280 $350 Save $70

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

Professionals

• Brilliant, vibrant lighting results
• Extremely adaptable mounting
• Easy and crowd pleasing animations
• Integration with Google Residence, Alexa and Razer Chroma

Cons

• Very costly
• No Apple Residence Equipment assist

Specs, worth and availability

The Govee Glide Hexagon Gentle Panels Extremely launched within the US on September 25 2023. They’re out there to buy now both via Amazon or from Govee instantly at a worth of $350 / €350. They’ve but to look on the Govee UK web site or Amazon UK, although I might think about they will price round £350 after 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 price noting, although, that Govee tends to run wonderful reductions round Black Friday and Prime Day, so savvy customers can probably save on the MSRP. In actual fact, the panels are already diminished to $280 on Govee’s US web site, on the time of writing.

Setup and configuration

If you happen to’ve ever configured a set of sunshine panels earlier than, then you definitely 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 call on the form that you just need 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 quick cables that clip into place. You may want to attach the panels in a particular order, utilizing particular numbered ports on the rear, so be sure you comply with the app directions and do not simply hook them up as you see match.

To be utterly trustworthy, I jumped the gun and wired them up incorrectly at first, however fortunately, the panels are simply faraway from the wall if you must entry the rear. It’s 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 in the event you make a mistake, or for future upkeep.

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

App and good options

The Extremely panels connect with the identical Govee Residence 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 simple to navigate, works reliably and has limitless customisation choices to configure and sync up your Govee merchandise. One of the 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. If you happen to’re feeling inventive, you too can create your personal lighting modes from scratch, too.

It isn’t the prettiest app, for my part, however it’s very purposeful. Plus, it has the flexibility to work with Google Residence and Alexa, so the Extremely panels can work seamlessly with the remainder of your good dwelling automations, in the event you use a type of platforms.

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

They’re going to show the final used impact when toggled on or off by way of Google Residence, however to vary to a special impact, you will want to make use of the Govee app. You’ll be able to, nonetheless, regulate the brightness or swap to a primary single-colour mode utilizing Google Residence, or by talking to 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 flexibility to manage the color of every panel, in addition to show gradients, then with the Hexa Pro, it break up every hexagon into three to create a 3D cube-like impact. With the Extremely panels, the 3D dice impact is retained, however a shiny, addressable define now traces the dice shapes.

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

Govee’s pre-configured results do an amazing job of showcasing all the chances, and the user-created DIY library is rising quick, with some actually inventive 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 shiny and vibrant, too. Mine often stay at about 25 per cent brightness, and if I need 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 finest.

As ordinary, 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 may 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 your entire array, for some cause.

Among the music-reactive results are fairly cool, however that is one space that might use some extra growth. At current, there would not appear to be a strategy to create DIY music results, so that you’re restricted to the six presets that Govee has supplied. In equity, although, you do have plenty of management over these presets, you possibly can select which space you need to gentle up, in addition to tweak the path, sensitivity and hues. Nonetheless, a full DIY choice can be even higher.

Verdict

The Govee Hexagon Gentle Panels Extremely are probably the most spectacular gentle panels that I’ve ever laid eyes on. They provide an virtually limitless mixture of shiny and vibrant results that may simply enliven your residing house. They’re additionally straightforward to put in, and have loads of flexibility of their mounting and positioning. The fast and easy integration with Google Residence and Alexa is a bonus, too.

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