Govee today introduced its newest lighting product, Matter-enabled string lights with chromatic bulbs that have multiple LEDs inside. The Govee Chromatic String Lights feature large, pill-shaped bulbs that can display multiple colors at once, creating unique lighting effects.
Priced starting at $170, the Chromatic String Lights come in a 32.8-foot strand with 10 bulbs or a 65.6-foot strand with 20 bulbs. I was able to test out the lights ahead of launch, and I haven't seen string lights quite like them before.
Govee put 55 RGB LEDs inside each bulb, and the LEDs can be controlled semi-individually, with combinations of colors, shadows, and patterns able to make visually attractive scenes. The lights support millions of colors, and three layered cycling effects can be added per bulb. Patterns control how the lights change, and there are a lot of different options to choose from. Govee has tons of pre-installed scenes to select from, but there are also options to create your own with custom colors and patterns, or use AI to come up with something based on a text-based suggestion.
The lights have rich colors and the multi-color effect works well, but some colored LED lights struggle with certain shades. Govee's orange colors are more yellow than orange, and purple is more pink. I can get a truer orange by choosing a shade of red or setting a gradient that shifts between different colors, but most of the "orange" shades in Govee's app aren't true orange. The same goes for purple. It's not easy to photograph colored lights, so I don't have an example, but purple in particular is a color some RGB lights often struggle with.
The bulbs are large for string lights, and I'd say they're similar to a large egg. The top is black, the cord is black, and the bottom is a dual-layer shell with a diffusing layer covered by clear plastic. The shape and the multi-layer shell produce some aesthetic lighting combinations, though I didn't like how much cord there is to deal with.
10 bulbs spread across 33 feet is around one bulb per three feet (or 20 for 65 feet). I would have liked a shorter strand with more closely situated bulbs, or more bulbs on the longer strand. That said, these are large bulbs, and just 10 can put off enough light for a small patio. At full brightness in a shade of white, they put off a surprising amount of light. Govee says they're 240 lumens, which sounds about right. With the diffusion layer, they aren't hard to look at even at max brightness. I did test these at night and during the day. They look great at night, but the colors are visible during the day, and indoors with other lights on.
Outdoors at night, it'd be the perfect amount of light for eating dinner or just chilling on a deck. I don't have these permanently outside because I'm not sure how to arrange 10 lights over my deck without it looking unusual. The 20 bulb strand is probably the better fit for most outdoor spaces, unless the area is small. You can connect multiple strands together, but that would get expensive quickly.
Govee added T-shaped clips for each light, so you can decide how far you want them to hang down. You can clip the strands between two of the lights together to establish the length, and if you make them long, it can eat up some of the cord so there's less to deal with. I tested them at about three inches, but they can be longer or shorter. It was a hassle getting the clips on, but worth it for the length customization.
I wish I had a more sophisticated way to say this, but with the 55 LEDs in each bulb, Govee's lights have effects that are just plain cool. There's a "bubbles" effect that combines bubbles of one color with another base color, "ghost" that uses shadow to make it look like something is moving in the bulbs, and a whole range of gradients in different colors. Each bulb can have a gradient of colors, or colors can be set to shift between bulbs. Govee goes above and beyond with pre-set scenes. There are around 120 scene options, and most of those have a dozen color palettes to choose from. There are scenes for every holiday, plus some that are nature or planet-themed or aimed at waking up or going to sleep.
The Govee app has so much going on that I find it confusing. There's too much to choose from, and too many different tools to experiment with. You can choose a Scene from the Scene tab, but there's also a color tab where you can pick one color or paint colors on each bulb, and the DIY section is separate from the color section, even though it has a somewhat similar purpose. I'm still not entirely sure what Finger Sketch does, and AI is also its own tab. Govee also has a random color feature, an Effects lab, and a Color Slider that's distinct from the Color section. Some of these options could be combined into something that's more user-friendly to use and less chaotic.
Since there are so many scenes, it's easiest to use those, but I did like choosing colors for each bulb. I think most people will get used to the app interface after using the lights for a short period of time, but it takes experimentation. Kids will love playing with these lights, since there are so many colors and patterns to play with. I don't think these are the lights that are appropriate for a sophisticated outdoor dinner party, but they'd be ideal for a night time pool party. You can do soft, elegant scenes with fewer colors, or choose nice white light effects, but if you're not planning to go all out taking advantage of the multi-color ability, there are better lights to get.
I haven't had these lights long enough to test how they hold up over time, but they do have IP67 waterproofing and Govee says they can be used outdoors year-round. They're supposed to last for "more than 10 years" under typical outdoor conditions.
You can use the Chromatic String Lights with HomeKit, because they're Matter-enabled. You can turn the lights on, turn them off, or set them to a single color with the Home app or with Siri, but for most color options, you're going to need the Govee app. HomeKit is useful for automations with other HomeKit devices, so you can have the Govee lights come on with other HomeKit-enabled lights or when motion is detected, but I otherwise haven't used HomeKit for much. You can also connect them to other Matter platforms, including Amazon Alexa and Google Home.
The lights are priced at $169.99 for the 33-foot strand or $299.99 for the 66-foot strand, and they can be purchased from Amazon or the Govee website as of today.
Note: Govee provided MacRumors with the 33-foot Chromatic String Lights for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.
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