The Govee Neon Rope Lights are a lot like the Philips Hue Ambient light strip, but they’re significantly more affordable at $66 versus $180. They’re also more flexible and allow you to write out messages on the wall or make a variety of different patterns to suit your personality. Best of all, these lights work without the need for external accessories, and over both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Thanks to the huge number of colors, scenes, and features, the Neon Rope Lights are a great way to add a little bit of light-up art to your home.
At first glance, I expected the installation process to be far more laborious than it was. The mounting hardware includes metal brackets that slip over the back of the lights and snap into a groove along the bottom half of the rope. There are holes drilled through the bottom of each bracket that allow it to be screwed into the wall (and the drywall screws are included if you choose to go that route.) Thankfully, each bracket is also fitted with 3M adhesive on the back. All I had to do was peel and stick to get the lights to attach to the wall.
The brackets served as a guide for designing a shape. When I’m not writing, I have a small gaming-focused podcast, so positioned the strip so it would be in view of the camera when I record. I tried to write out DDG for the initials of the show, but trying to form legible text with the lights flashed me back to my elementary school cursive classes. It did not go well. Someone with more artistic talent might be able to form words, but I found it easier to just make a swirl pattern on the wall that kind of resembles the Dreamcast logo. That said, half the fun of setting this light up was testing all the potential patterns. The possible shapes are limitless.
The box also includes a set of alcohol pads for wiping down the surface before you use the adhesive. The mounting process was easy; the only real downside came in trying to slip the strip into the mounting brackets. It’s a tight fit, and often I had to slide the bracket on where I could and then pull the strip through it until it reached the point where I needed it. Since the adhesive is a one-time use, the screws make it possible to re-use the mounting hardware and re-adjust as needed, albeit with a bit extra work.
The only headache came when adding the light strip to the Govee app. The app doesn’t automatically detect new devices. Instead, you have to scroll through a list of products until you find the one you’re trying to add. Govee doesn’t go out of its way with naming conventions, so it’s best to look at your box and search for the model number. It’s a minor inconvenience, but one that seems out of place with regard to modern smart home devices.
