Summary
While most lightstrips provide good ambient lighting for a reasonable cost, some are still better than others. TheGovee Strip Light 2 Prois an example that stands above the basic ones, with near-universal smart home support (Matter) and beautifully blended tones.
Govee Strip Light 2 Pro
The Strip Light 2 Pro beads provide exquisite color blending. Remote control LED strip lights to adjust lighting effects, brightness, and more with just your voice.
Price and Availability
The Strip Light 2 Pro retails for $99.99 for the 16.4-foot length version and is available for purchase now. The light comes in multiple lengths, ranging from 6.56 feet to 32.8 feet, but can be cut to various sizes if need be.
The Colors (Mostly) Make a Difference
While a lot of other generic lightstrips pull off-the-shelf components or use the same parts, Govee uses its own chip for lamp color and smart blending. Does that make a huge difference? Probably not. But the Strip Light 2 Pro did appear to have more vivid colors than some of the cheaper strips I’ve tested in the past.
Again, color can be a little subjective in how it’s perceived, but I thought the lightstrip provided excellent ambiance across its range of colors. So much so that I ended up shifting things around in one of my rooms to make it fit better because I like the lighting and features it provides.
The Govee mobile app, available for iPhone and Android, is probably the best way to show off the range of colors. This is how you can pick different styles of illumination, select scenes and access the LuminBlend Colors area.
The color styles in this section are more nuanced in their shades, instead of being overly stark. For example, a lot of the options can better define hues like teal, forest, seawater, dusk, and a brownish tan. While I really like the spread of colors in the LuminBlend section, they are all a bit sparkly for my tastes. For whatever reason, they also aren’t modifiable.
I especially liked one scene called “Sunrise to Sea” which started with orange and reddish hues on the left and transformed to blue on the other end. Instead of being a static glow, there’s a pulsing and blinking to it that I wasn’t fond of. Govee provides a lot of controls for its lights, but I couldn’t figure out how to make any tweaks to the LuminBlend selections.
By the way, if you do like the idea of this lightstrip’s color blending but want something that’s better for high visibility areas, Govee also makes theCOB Strip Lightwhich is probably best described as luxurious.
I reviewed the 16.4-foot length model, but the Strip Light 2 Pro can also be cut to trim it to your exact needs. I didn’t venture down this path because I used the strip in a room where I had plenty of space for it.
The Main Advantage is Matter
While I really like the color hues and overall lighting display that the Strip Light 2 Pro provides, one of the big selling points is its Matter support. I’ve gotten to the point that I almost won’t consider a product that doesn’t support Matter’s ability to link up with all main smart home platforms, including Apple’s HomeKit.
It should be noted that if you use the Strip Light 2 Pro exclusively through an app like Apple Home, then you will miss out on all the scenes and customizations available in Govee’s app.
That’s okay for my situation because I mostly need Home support for Siri voice controls. So I still use the advanced scenes from Govee, but I also need my wife to be able to ask Siri to turn off all the lights in the loft, without worrying what manufacturer the lights are from or which app they use.
Should You Buy the Govee Strip Light 2 Pro?
TheGovee Strip Light 2 Prois great. I have almost no complaints about it. It beats out cheaper lightstrips with brighter and more blended colors. It supports Matter so it will work with Apple HomeKit and other platforms equally well.
The biggest consideration is not the product’s performance, but rather its price. The full retail cost of $99.99 for the 16.4-foot version is a bit steep compared to other basic options. But if you really want Matter compatibility, like I do, then it might be worth it.
