Cascading LED string lights aren’t entirely new. A quick search on Amazon reveals several low-quality products with few features and colour modes that look like they’re designed to be avoided.
Govee has taken the Cascading LED light string concept and added its own modes and features to it.
The company has aptly named the product ‘Curtain Lights,’ which it first showed off at CES earlier this year.
The product is essentially a cascading curtain of 520 LED lights that can be placed anywhere in your house. Govee intends the light to be attached to your window, where a normal curtain would go. However, attaching it to a wall behind or next to your gaming setup provides an equally aesthetic look and makes gaming or watching movies more immersive.
The Curtain Light is a smart and customizable lighting system that can display images, GIFs, text, or patterns that you want.
Easy to install with a minor design flaw
The Govee Curtain Lights come in a box that contains the curtain itself, a power adapter, a controller, hooks, adhesive tape, and nails for installation.
The light strings themselves are 6.6ft in length and cover a decently wide 5ft area.
The curtain has a total of 20 strings with 520 teardrop-shaped RGBIC light beads. The strings themselves are coated with a type of plastic material that feels durable.
There are three installation methods; the most convenient is to hook up the provided G4 hooks and attach them to the desired wall/window pane with adhesive pads. Adhesive pads make it easy for the lights to be taken off in the future if you need to move them around.
You can also hook the lights up with screws and nails if you don’t intend to move them in the future.
The lights are IP65 rated, which means they can withstand rain, though it’s highly unlikely that you’ll want to install them outdoors.
Like most Govee products, the Curtain Lights also come with a control box powered by a power adapter. The Control Box serves as the brain for the operation, and its primary functions are to receive signals from your phone and to listen to sounds with its built-in microphone to support Govee’s ‘Music Mode.’
One design flaw I encountered with the curtain light was that since the LEDs are attached to plastic string lines, the lines were prone to twisting and turning. This resulted in some LEDs facing the wall while some faced the opposite direction. Some LEDs even twisted to the sides. While this doesn’t necessarily make or break the lights, I would have preferred that the LEDs remain in an outward-facing or wall-facing orientation for a uniform look.
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- LED lights twist and turn
The finger sketch feature is fun to use
For starters, the Govee Curtain lights are DreamView enabled, which lets you sync the curtain lights with other Govee smart lights in your home. This creates a stunning immersive effect that can enhance the look of your gaming setup. You can also sync the curtain lights with music or sound using Music Mode. The mode allows the lights to change colours and patterns according to the rhythm and beat of the music. In my experience, the change of colours is always consistent and according to the rhythm and beat of the song playing.
The lights can be controlled directly from the Control Box, though it only lets you turn them on and off. The best way to control the Govee Curtain Lights is through the Govee Home app on your smartphone.
The app connects to the Curtain Lights via Bluetooth or over Wi-Fi and gives you access to a slew of controls, including the above-mentioned Music Mode. A Scene Mode is also included with 80+ pre-configured scenes that animate the lights in various ways, such as ‘Wave,’ ‘Night Light,’ ‘Candle Light,’ ‘Fire,’ and many more, allowing you to set the mood of the room with additional holiday scenes like ‘Christmas Stocking,’ ‘Gingerbread Man,’ ‘Birthday Cake’ and ‘Valentines Day’ and more.
The quality of the scenes and the images on the curtain are impressive. The lights are bright and vivid and show clear details according to the scene chosen. The images and GIFs look smooth and realistic on the curtain, especially at night or in a dark room.
The highlight of the Curtain Light, however, is the new Finger Sketch feature found under the ‘Colour Mode.’ The feature essentially allows you to create your own design or pattern on the curtain canvas by scribbling on the Govee app. You can use your finger or a stylus to create any design you want, such as shapes, letters, symbols, or even portraits. You can also adjust the speed and brightness of the lights to match your mood.
Another great feature is the voice control function. The curtain lights are compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant (no Siri), so you can use voice commands to turn them on or off, change scenes or modes, adjust brightness or speed, etc. This makes it very convenient and hands-free to control the lights.
A solid addition to your setup
The Govee Curtain Lights is a unique product that can transform your gaming setup with colourful, customizable and dynamic lighting. It is easy to use and set up and offers several customization options. It is also fun to just watch, especially at night or in a dark room. The light is ideal for people who want to decorate their room with different themes and moods or who want to add a fun element to their gaming setup. However, the lights aren’t limited to gamers. They can also be used to add some life to home parties and events.
A minor design flaw that causes the light strings to twist and turn doesn’t make or break it, and overall, I think the Curtain Lights is a solid new addition to Govee’s vast catalogue of smart lights.
Govee’s Canadian website doesn’t have the Curtain Lights listed; however, the U.S. store does. The website has the lights available to order for $99.98 USD (roughly $130 CAD). Alternatively, Amazon Canada has the lights available for $179.99 with a $36 coupon, which discounts the Curtain Lights to $143.99 CAD.
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