Govee RGBIC LED Neon Rope Light for Desks Review (2)

We have recently had the opportunity to review the Govee RGBIC LED Neon Rope Light for Desks, and let me tell you, this is one of the most premium lighting experiences I have ever had the pleasure to witness.

With very few drawbacks, a great price, and an ecosystem that can sync up with smart homes, along with a plethora of extra features, I dare say that you won’t find a better solution.

Disclosure:

Before we get into the meat of why we like these so much, let me say that we were not paid to give a good review, nor were we coerced into writing anything specific; however, I did receive this product for free to review.

What’s in the Box?

First, let’s take a look at what’s in the box.

9.8ft/3m Neon LED Rope Light Strip
Switch Controller with multiple buttons for customization
Power cable, with hefty plug block.
Some cable management Velcro binds and clips
Some cover tips for splicing the rope if needed
Internal Angle Cover Rail for L-Shapes
A manual, and warranty documents

Overall I was happy with what is included. The additional cable management items and high-quality build of everything were very well received.

I would like to see more information as to how you can operate the lights included, but once you figure it out, the possibilities are endless.

What Even Is The Govee RGBIC LED Neon Rope Light for Desks?

To find out what you’re really getting here, let’s look at what separates this Govee LED Neon Rope Light from other LED options. Govee makes premium lighting products targeted at tech enthusiasts, gamers, and mood setters.

With a basic LED strip, the light is usually exposed directly, and the strip itself isn’t all that pretty to look at. Even with slightly higher-quality products, the visual appeal or the quality of the light may improve, but it’s still a basic LED strip to produce a color of choice.

This majestic beam of light emulating from your desk within a silky smooth silicone-like fixture that can react to the music around you is certainly not a basic LED strip. When it comes to the visual appeal and lighting quality, it simply blows away the competition at this price.

What you find here is a premium light aesthetic that can fit your needs in almost any room, especially if you appreciate setting the mood with a clean look. It is highly customizable and does integrate with modern technology.

Marketed towards gamers, there are a lot of use cases here aside from the recommended setup.

Mysteriously Awesome

To start, at first glimpse, you have no way to tell how seriously awesome these are or all the ways that you can use them. I noticed the manual included seems to lack information regarding all the different ways you can use the lights and sync them to Alexa, Google, its own proprietary ecosystem, or other ecosystems.

This is likely because they may not officially support some of the more complex options, but nonetheless, they work great.

So Many Options!

With so many options, I noticed an opportunity to include more information in the box. If you hold down the middle button for color, and press the power button three times, it will reset the light strip to a “Color Wave”, which beautifully shoots colors slowly through the strip one after another very pleasantly. Similar to the Color Wave you might see on a gaming keyboard.

You can also hold down the Music Reaction button to activate the Dimming mode, where it will cycle through different brightness levels, and you just release it at the level you desire.

So Many Combinations!

There are quite a few colors, brightness levels, and Music Reaction styles to choose from; just about everyone can find what they please; however, I could not find all the button combinations in the instructions or on the box.

These capabilities took me a little while to take shots in the dark to find all the features (Yes, I could’ve just googled it, but this is about the contained experience within the box).

Special Features

When it comes to the official support, you get a standalone product with a small switch attachment for control, which is only a few inches long, about an inch thick, and has three large buttons on it.

Audio Responsive

One of the three buttons is for power, one for color, and one… well, the last one activates Music Response Control, as I am calling it. You see, there is a small microphone on the side of the switch controller, which can pick up on vibration intensity and react accordingly in a multitude of styles and colors.

Perfect for a simple setup at a DJ table with no technical skill required, just press the button and find the style you prefer!

Smart Home Integration

Back to some of the features I love. Integration with Google, Alexa, and more means that you don’t even need those buttons I was just talking about.

While the buttons are fantastic for instant and quick control, you are also free to sync these lights up to your favorite smart home service and use a phone or voice assistant to control them.

This may involve a little extra work to get it set up, but is certainly worth it if you add it to a routine such as “Good Morning”, “Good Night”, or even, “Lights on/off!”.

This brings us to the ecosystem. Govee has an entire ecosystem that can work and run together, even going so far as to include “cuttable” sections of the LED strip so you can cut them up to your content.

All of this is compatible with Razer Chroma, Siri, Google, Alexa, and IFTTT.

What Sets The Govee RGBIC Apart From The Competition?

I liked a lot about this Neon Rope Light, but a few things certainly stick out. The “Neon” in the name does not apply to just the lighting effect. It represents a higher-tier item than the basic LED strips that are also offered by Govee.

Exceptional Construction

You may be wondering, “Why would I pay a lot more for the Neon edition?”. There is a silicone-like squishy outer shell that is easily malleable to your personal needs and looks STUNNING in the dark.

The ability to customize the light perfectly to your liking, combined with the high-quality shell, and perfect placement, means that the glow isn’t too sharp, doesn’t stress the eyes, and, at least in my opinion, sets the mood and calms the mind when you have cool colors like lavender and sky blue enabled.

I cannot stress enough, that this majestic experience is worth the price if a perfect environment is an important factor.

Variety of Uses

Now let me take a look at who it is marketed to, gamers. The official instructions suggest they are to be used around the closest outside rim of your desk, and even come with curve rails to support an L-shape.

I honestly don’t know why Govee limited itself in such a way because while it is extremely appealing to gamers and in this specific setup, you can use these lights in almost any way and anywhere you could think of.

Why not put them in the Kitchen under the cabinets so your countertops are illuminated in cool light during the night? Why not mount them behind your entertainment system, creating a backlight splash on the wall tailored on the fly to the mood of the program? Why not mount them inside your gaming PC, above your workbench, around your bed or nightstand, or anywhere else?

While marketing to gamers could be the best move, don’t limit them to only those purposes. They have use everywhere you can imagine.

The Stick Stays Sticky

What I really appreciated is that the sticky on the backside of the strip is very strong and very high quality. It did not leave marks on my desk when removing it, and I was able to place it again in different spots multiple times without losing any sticky power.

You’ll just need to hold it for about 10 seconds with pressure in one spot for a strong stick. Although if you happen to stick it on a dust pile or something, you won’t really be able to fix it fully and may have to deal with a less sticky part after making such a mistake; you will want to prep the area prior to applying.

What Could Be Improved

There were just a few things that stood out in contrast to an otherwise amazing experience. The noticeable heat, some lacking information in the box, and a premium price.

The heat does need to be considered, especially if plopping a few of these in the same area with high brightness settings. While the average user may not notice any difference, for those of us who are enthusiasts or already have a lot of tech in the room, we are already fighting this issue, and every bit counts.

The lack of information is only slight, but a “What the buttons do” card would be nice, and perhaps a few different ways you could consider aligning them. It is not a big deal by any means, but it would have saved me a few minutes of guessing the combination for “Rainbow Color Wave”.

Power Plug

Some consideration may be made towards a hefty power plug that does get warm after long use on high settings. When I first opened the package, before setting it up properly, I just turned it on while it was still coiled to take a look at the color options.

After about 30 minutes, the room smelled like glue, and the LED Strip was a bit warmer than I would have liked. This is likely due to the strip not having much room to dissipate the heat while coiled up, and once it was set up properly and customized, the heat and smell were no longer an issue.

However, the hefty power plug remained very warm if left on maximum brightness with effects on. If you are an enthusiast like me, I am looking to keep my computer room as cool as possible most of the time due to the heat my current tech already gives off, and was a little surprised with how much power this can use.

Higher Cost

These are not for running simple aesthetic lights. These strips are for premium lighting only, and if you’re looking to get many feet of LEDs on the cheaper side, Govee does offer that, but not in this package.

These are specifically to make the light look as good as possible, at a higher price. If you place them in the recommended way on your desk, it can be distracting if you’re trying to focus on something like work or competitive gaming.

I find that if you take some time to find the proper placement for you personally, such as a backlight that shines behind your monitor and desk onto the wall behind, in my case, it can have a much better effect.

Cable Management

This brings me back to the information in the box showing the “proper” installation in a very specific way that simply may not be the most appealing for everyone. You’ll want to experiment to find what’s best for you.

The control switch also has cables coming out of the bottom, which is sometimes odd. It would be better if it could be swapped to the top or bottom depending on your needs, but this is just a nit-pick issue.

I like to keep my controls and switches on the far side of my desk, and if I had left the LED strips on the front of my desk, then I would have to flip the switch upside down for cable management. This is nothing major but would be a nice touch if included.

Who Is The Govee RGBIC LED Neon Rope Light For? And Is It Worth It?

Now that you know everything about Govee’s RGBIC rope light, should you buy it?

For about 10ft of length, some may say it is a bit expensive, and compared to their cheaper LED strips, it certainly is. This is a more premium visual effect and aesthetic, along with being much more durable.

If all you’re looking for is some lighting in various areas, the longer, cheaper counterpart offered may be better, such as under countertops where the strip is not seen.

Although if you want a more premium experience, and the light strip itself to be visible, highly customizable, and downright beautiful, this is going to be your best bet.

If you are completing your new man cave, dad den, gamer room, streaming room, child’s room, or meditation room, these lights should be highly considered.

Even if in the bedroom, the living room, the entertainment system, the bathroom, the DJ table, or whatever you need to add some mood to, this may still be your best option.

Overall, we highly recommend these, and even if the price is a bit higher, it’s still worth the money–If you’re interested in buying them, you can grab them here on Amazon. Or, Govee also offers similar products on their official website if you need something different.

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